We pray you are doing well this summer! Our family has had a packed summer, filled with many travels and more importantly, time with our dear family that we’ve missed so much. It’s been an immeasurable blessing to watch the kids reconnect with grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, great aunts and uncles, and even distant cousins. We’ve been reminded how blessed we are to have such a rich heritage of godly love running through our veins. 
Many of you have been praying for us during this time of transition and we want to say a big, “Thank you!” There’s no earthly way to measure the value, nor the number of times we’ve felt and seen evidence, of your prayers over our family. We need them just as much now as we deal with reverse culture shock in the USA as we did in Papua New Guinea. Praise God for his faithfulness to hear and connect our spirits. 

We have been incredibly blessed by the cards, the money, the gift cards, the gifts of toys and clothes and books, and even a vehicle (!!!) that many of you have lavished so generously on us! Our Tennessee church, First Baptist Concord in Knoxville, has lovingly prepared and provided a wonderful home for us to live in during our time in the States. It even has a huge yard for our wild kids to run freely and explore together. Right now I (Rebekah) am sitting on our front porch in a rocking chair with beautiful summer flowers blooming in pots all around me, while the boys are playing, climbing trees, and riding bikes. It still doesn’t quite seem real! Thanks be to God that through you and your consistent giving and prayers, our year of being stateside is off to a great start!

We got to spend a week in July with part of our extended family at this beautiful Florida beach!

Aaron has been spending every spare moment preparing to re-start his graduate coursework this month. He will spend this year working to complete his Masters in Bible Translation. This will enable him to help and influence more than one language at a time later in our ministry in Papua New Guinea. It’s important to complete this coursework before his previous credits begin to expire.

Many of you have been asking us, “How are the kids?!” Praise the Lord, they are thriving and healthy. In His goodness, God has led us to put Evie into Concord Christian Middle School, which is just down the road from the mission house we’re living in. She and Aaron walked together this morning to begin her adventures in 6th grade! Abel (4th grade), Judah (3rd grade), and Zeke (1st grade) will be attending a wonderful school called The Christian Academy of Knoxville, where most of their cousins attend. Their school begins next week, and they are truly and rightly excited about it. We’ve been busy preparing uniforms, supplies, and reading assignments as we begin this new season! Silas will continue to be taught at home and have the freedom in his schedule to spend as much time with family members as possible. 

Aaron will be returning to PNG for a little over one month to visit our translators and other friends in the village and make sure they get to the next Luke Partnership Workshop in Kokopo, where he’ll continue teaching. They will be finishing some final checks on the Gospel of Luke and beginning to record the Jesus Film in Mamusi! Praise God for all He has accomplished so far! He leaves towards the end of September and will return at the end of October.

Exploring Washington, DC with some of our cousins!

If you are one of our many Tennessee partners and would like to catch up with us in person, please let us know and we’ll be happy to schedule a time to get together! It would be so nice to hug and chat with each of you, but we understand life can be incredibly busy here. We also hope to travel back to Texas in November to visit Our First Euless family and many of our Texas friends and partners.

Our last bit of news is so exciting – we have been blessed with another sacred opportunity to have a baby and raise another child in our family! Wade Baby is due in January. We’ve made it through the first trimester of sickness and weariness and are grateful to God for sustaining this life, as well as all of ours. He has given us one more beautiful thing to trust to Him and we couldn’t be more thrilled. 

Well, we’ve given you lots of things to pray about! We hope you’ll keep returning to this message in prayer over the coming months. Please take a few minutes and let us know how you are doing and any specific ways we can pray for you as well. May God’s abundant grace fill your hearts and draw you to His guidance. 

You are dearly loved,
Rebekah and Aaron Wade and Family