Mason and Kim Lockwood
Papua, New Guinea |
Tuesday, April 24th
Answers to four frequently asked questions:
- How is Mason?
Mason was diagnosed four weeks ago with a systemic fungal infection. We are so thankful though that as he has
followed through with treatment and stayed with a strict diet (temporarily) we have seen a huge improvement.
We are excited to see him getting better. He still has some symptoms on some days, but is able to live
normally and walk and talk just fine. Please pray for the last of this to heal.
- Are you going back to Papua New Guinea?
Lord willing, yes. We changed our tickets to leave in early August. We came home thinking Mason may never
walk or talk again…and we have seen healing. I was told that I had cancer and we were thinking that we were
not heading back….and once again we were blessed to find me completely healthy once again. So here we are
are, thrilled and thankful about what God has done. We took some time and considered not going back, but we
feel that God has made it abundantly clear to both of us that we are to continue down the road of bringing
God’s word to those who do not have the chance to hear.
- Why August?
We have round trip tickets and that is as late as we can go without re-buying the tickets. It also gives us
time to recover physically and financially from the past few months. We are praising the Lord already for
providing Mason with a teaching job for the next few months here in one of our supporting churches - that
should help to cover a lot of the expenses we have in getting back to PNG. Always fun to watch the Lord
provide.
- How are Kim and the kids?
I am finally starting to feel normal. It feels so good! The kids are doing great.
We are so so thankful for each of you who pray for us, write us, and support us.
Amazed at His blessing,
Mason, Kim, Ian, Andrew, Isaac and Brayden
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Saturday, February 4th
Here we go!
Mason is not getting better and needs some further medical testing. We cannot get what we need here in Papua
New Guinea. We attempted to go to Australia, but could not find a neurologist there who was willing to see
him in a timely manner.
That is why we are headed back to the United States on Monday. We plan and hope to
return to Papua New Guinea in 12 weeks. Only God knows what news we will receive and what recovery will look
like.
We have flown half way around the world with small children many times now and I thought you may enjoy what
we have learned along the way..
1. If you want to see a flight attendant get very upset…toss a dirty diaper in the trash along with your
dinner leftovers when they come by for trash
2. Bed wetters become airplane seat wetters on overnight flights…be prepared.
3. Escalators and elevators provide hours of fun for little boys.
4. If you or anyone in your family appear to have pink eye – wear sunglasses – otherwise they will threaten
to quarantine you
5. An adult sweatshirt can be easily fashioned into a pair of pants for a toddler who has had an accident
6. If someone steals the runway lights from the international airport, you cannot land until morning.
7. If a flock of bats is hanging out on the runway this will also keep you from landing
8. We’ve lost strollers in Japan, the Philippines, and New Zealand…and we got them all back eventually.
9. Airport security checkpoints are way more fun if you call them “secret tunnel tests.” The boys are
always thrilled when they “make it through.”
I wish I could write each one of you who have written to us and prayed for us. Thank you so much. We are doing
well and reminded daily of God’s love for us and that His plan is perfect.
Please pray for our trip - especially for our very active 1 year old and for Mason
Resting in the Lord,
Kim and Mason
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Saturday, January 21th
In the last couple of weeks I have spent a good deal of time unable to speak without stuttering, unable to
walk without tottering, and unable to use my hands without shaking. Medically speaking, my body has been
having a reaction to stress (according to 2 doctors and a neurologist) that results in my nerves firing almost
constantly and eventually resulting in the muscles throughout my body becoming one big knot. The sources of
stress are most likely me worrying about my wife having been sick and having to accept that I am completely
unable to use my right hand for any of the computer work that is so much a part of what we are here to do.
Spiritually speaking, it is clear to me that God just had some things to teach me about myself and about Him.
For the sake of brevity, I’ll just share one of those with you all.
1Cor 1:26 says, “For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according
to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called.” It goes on to say that God chose to save and use the foolish, weak, and of no account
on purpose so that nobody could boast in His presence. I don’t know about you, but I have to
admit that when I read the not many among you part of that verse, I assumed that
I must be one of the exceptions. I guess I figured God chose to save me because of my usefulness to Him, my perseverance, my ability to speak,
etc. I somehow missed the point of the closely following verse that says, “Of God
you are in Christ who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
I somehow failed to remember that I
- quit playing junior high basketball because I didn’t want to deal with the kids on the team who gave
me a hard time
- quit playing baseball because I matured late and was discouraged by how I compared to others
- quit competitive swimming in high school after 2 years of pretending to be sick at practice because I
was lazy
- lost a college tuition scholarship in my first term of school because I was too lazy to study
- and eventually became a lying, stealing, drug using, college drop out (and then I got saved)
A lot of my drive to finish and be successful in the work in Pal is me trying to prove to myself that I can
do something of worth. So far my moments of greatest personal effort have resulted in my losing the use of my
right hand and most recently in my temporarily losing the ability to walk and talk. In short, God is teaching
me this – “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Funny to me now that I could have thought something different,
but it seems pretty obvious to me at this point that I am yet another one of the foolish, weak,
and of no account that God has chosen to save and use so that He
might be praised for the work that is accomplished. “As it is written, ‘Let him who glories, glory in the
Lord.” Currently my physical condition leaves me able to continue in the work and yet almost constantly
reminded, through pain and shakiness, that it is by the power of God that the church in Pal will be born.
Thank you for standing behind us in prayer. We’ll be heading back to Pal as soon as seems wise.
If the first 15 years of my Christian life could be described as a steady pushing ahead, it is my hope
that the one’s I have remaining might look a lot more like a wobbly legged, quivering lipped, shaky handed
man being carried a long by an undeniably divine source of power.
Stuttering on the Rock,
(you have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes)
Mason for the Lockwoods
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Wednesday, January 11th
Quick update
Thanks for praying for us and thanks for all of the encouragement.
God has answered your prayers. The full body "pins and needles" or numbness I(Mason) was experiencing is gone.
We aren’t totally sure what caused the issues; not sure if it was the vitamin B that helped or not - just glad
to be feeling better.
With thankful hearts, Lord willing, we are headed back to Pal two weeks from now. It has been good to be
reminded that even our physical bodies are held together by the Lord.
Learning to depend on Him,
Mason and Kim
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Friday, January 6th
Hey out there,
Having some physical issues I wanted to ask you to pray about. For a couple of weeks now and currently
I (Mason) have been experiencing a "pins and needles" sensation all over my body. A couple of days ago I went
for a jog and the whole left side of my body went numb for about 8 hours. After seeing a family doctor here
in PNG, we started on some vitamin B complex. It is possible that my symptoms are related to a vitamin B
deficiency.
If about a week of vitamins doesn’t fix the problem, we will likely be needing to head to some
other country (possibly Australia or the Philippines) for an MRI and other tests. The list of possible things
that would cause my current symptoms range from pinched nerve to multiple sclerosis, hence the potential need
to get some testing done.
Praise the Lord that Kim is feeling good and God has been supplying for our needs.
We could use prayer for:
- Wisdom as we make decisions about if, when, and where to get tests done.
- Healing. (It would be such a relief to us to see this clear up and be able to get right back to serving
in Pal).
- That we might be sustained in peace and joy as we fix our mind on the incredible hope and deep love we
have in Christ.
Meanwhile we have been very burdened for our friends in Pal. The blindness and bondage that the enemy is
holding them in has been very apparent lately. We want to head back in there, finish up language and to
get going on what we are there to do. Please pray that we could be back there soon!
Thank you to those of you who took the time to read and pray – I appreciate it and have hopes that the Lord
might have in mind to respond to His people on this one by sticking a healthy Mason and Kim back into the
midst of the Pal people for the sake of His glory among them.
Thanks again,
Mason and Kim
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Saturday, December 17th
After 11 months of language study Mason is somewhere around 2/3 of the way towards fluency in the Pal language.
Mason went back to Pal this past week for the language evaluation and enjoyed seeing our friends and co-workers
again, as well as gathering more language recordings to work through. We are eager to return!
I (Kim) will be evaluated next time. Every day is bringing us closer to the day that the 1300 Pal speakers will
have their first chance to hear about and believe what Christ has done on their behalf!
We are still studying language out in town while continuing to explore some medical concerns. January we plan
to return to living among the Pal people. We are thankful that in our absence, our co-workers are faithfully
loving people and working hard to learn the Pal language and culture.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy the fact that you were born into a language group that can read God’s Word and know
Him as your Savior.
Please pray:
- for fully restored health for Kim.
- for plans and flight schedules to work out so that we can get back to Pal soon.
- for continued progress for us and our co-workers.
- for prepared hearts among the men, women, and children in Pal.
Thank you for praying for us and for God’s work here in PNG!
Mason and Kim
Ian, Andrew, Isaac and Brayden
(and the toads that join our family occasionally)
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( Holding one of these in each hand while learning to rollerblade could end up being a gutsy experience… )
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Saturday, September 3rd
The Lockwood's Life Learning language…
- The language (PAL) we are learning has never been written down. We cannot take a class or pick up a book
about it.
- Mason puts in around 50 hours a week of formal language study, I don't count my hours, but do as much
as I can…. We are feeling the urgency of getting the gospel to these people.
- We once thought that the word for "I just had a bowel movement" meant "rolling." (due to a misunderstanding
about a dung beetle) I kept pointing to my son rolling down the hill and repeating the phrase over and over.
That was in our first months… We have come a long ways since then… I hope.
- We've been doing language study a total of 7 months, we are hoping to learn the language before Brayden
learns English (He's 7 months old… He says "dada" so we are winning!)
- I am very accustomed to receiving the puzzled look of a Pal lady who is saying.."mayandapi??" What is
the crazy American lady trying to say?!?!
- We are now conversing in the language and really enjoying being able to say and hear more each day.
The Goal:
That they may hear and understand God's word in their language.
Praise:
Our co workers are back in here with us and we are really enjoying that.
Language and culture learning is going well.
Please Pray:
For continued ability to learn, hear and speak the language.
For good health.
For good relationships.
For prepared hearts to hear the good news of Christ.
We appreciate each and every one of you who pray for us, encourage us and sacrifice so that we can be here.
We love hearing from you.
Mason and Kim Lockwood
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