Beginning Again
“Fasten your seatbelts, lift your
trays to the upright position and prepare for landing,” said the flight
attendant. Thus began a new phase of our lives.
We are not flying anymore. We’re
simply driving down the road. But the thoughts going through my mind when we
first returned from New Guinea are hard to erase. Life was going to be
different, I knew, but what would it be like to start all over, just the three
of us? Would we fit in? Where would we live? Driving down Route 81 toward Maine
gave me plenty of time to think about our future.
“Mom, are we almost there? I need
to use the bathroom. I’m hungry!” chorused both girls, returning my thoughts to
the present. Considering we had been on the road for only an hour, this was
going to be a long trip,
“Well girls, we are getting
closer,” I responded. I thought that was a safe answer for the first question.
The other two issues could be quickly solved by visiting a gas station.
After John passed away and we
returned to the States, many people offered us a place to stay. We are so
grateful for all the generosity. What a decision I had to make, but this time I
did not have John to rely on for answers. “Please, Lord, make it clear to me
where You would like us to move,” I prayed. I longed to return to the country
to think and reflect on our future. It was up to God and me now.
It seemed to take forever to
reach Maine, but after 18 hours we finally turned down my brother’s driveway.
“Oh boy, oh boy!” the girls squealed. “Mom, we are here!” They nearly flew out
of the car and ran up to the house. Yes, we were here to begin a new life.
Melting snow, beautiful sunny
days, walks in the woods, sitting by the river at 6 a.m. and working in the
garden are just a few things that keep us busy. God sure knew what He was doing
when He lead us to Maine. There is nothing better than learning the lessons of
nature.
I know the Lord has a new mission
for the girls and me, but my heart is still back with the Ama people in Papua
New Guinea. What will happen to them now? I would like missionaries to take our
place, but I need to rely on the Lord’s timing in revealing them. He knows what
is best for the Ama people and also what family will work best. A few families
have shown interest, and we need to continue to pray for them. One day, the
girls and I hope to go back and see our Ama people once again.
If you would like to join the Ama
team, please call Adventist Frontier Missions at 1-800-937-4236 and begin your
support for the unreached Ama families in the upper Sepik Region of Papua New
Guinea.
Even though I am no longer an
official missionary with AFM, I am still a missionary at heart and will be
helping the Ama people in any way I can. For the foreseeable future, I plan to
send out personal family updates and information about the Ama from our new
little mission field here in Maine.
To respect your rights to
privacy, I will no longer be using contact information from AFM’s mailing
lists. If you would like to maintain communication with Alissa, Abby and I, you
will need to be on our personal
mailing list – the one we use for friends and family. So if you would like to
continue receiving updates from us and stay up to speed on what we know about
the Ama people, then please send a note or email using the information below.
I pray that God will richly
reward you for what you have already done and will continue to do.
Your
Missionary family
Pam,
Abby and Alissa Lello
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