Katterson PNG Update: Arrival

 Dear friends,

We made it! At 10:30 this morning, we touched down in Minneapolis! God brought us safely back home again. Thank you all so much for your prayer during our trip. We really needed it the whole time.

We have been noticing how nothing really went wrong on our trip except for the episode on the way back. God has used us to bless the Moes and the community of Ukarumpa beyond our expectations.

For example, during the Men's retreat, someone commented that they had not had anything like that for over two years! 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/27/25

 [From Amy]

Dear friends,

As many people started praying last night, God worked. Victor tried some Dimenhydrinate Dramamine (per our great pediatrician's suggestion), and he was finally able to stop vomiting and get some sleep.

At midnight I heard that their LAX flight had been delayed, so they needed to switch Chicago flights, now to arrive at about 1030am

At 603am Ben texted to say they touched down in Chicago. Victor is doing way better and has been able to keep fluids down. Praise the Lord! One more flight to go...

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Much grace to you,
Amy Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/26/25

 [From Amy]

Dear friends,

The travel homeward continues. An hour ago I got a text from Ben:

Just landed in LA, Victor had a terrible flight. Threw up at least x8.

Meds haven't stayed down so far, and it's still a long haul before they are home.

Remaining flights:
Depart Los Angeles 1am (our time) to Chicago at 5am
Depart Chicago 7am to Minneapolis at 9am tomorrow morning

Please pray for the Lord's mercy, for rest and hydration, easing of nausea, and a grace-covered re-entry.

Katterson PNG Update 8/25/25

 Dear friends,

We are back in Port Moresby on our return trip home! We are staying here for the night at a very fancy hotel. We are excited to be on our way back, but it was also sad to say goodbye to the Moes yesterday. We had such a wonderful time with them. Please pray for little jet lag for us as we are already tired from an early morning this morning.

Please pray for sleep on the planes because we are flying mostly when it is light out, which will make it hard to sleep. 

Please pray that our luggage will arrive safely and the same with us.

PNG Fact of the Day: Mumu is regarded as the national dish of Papua New Guinea. It is a slow-cooked assortment of fruits, vegetables, root crops, and meat, and is composed of pork, sweet potato, rice, and vegetables.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us,

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/23/25

Dear friends,

Today is our last day in Ukarumpa! We have had an amazing time here with the Moes in Papua New Guinea. We have met lots of people here and God has blessed us with a fruitful time. The four boys are sad that we are leaving tomorrow. We had a great time together! We leave at 6:30 in the morning here which is 3:30pm Sunday afternoon in Minnesota. We would appreciate prayer as we get ready to depart and for safe travels back. Also, please pray for lasting effects on Ukarumpa because of our time here. 

 

PNG Fact of the Day: The time in Papua New Guinea is 15 hours ahead of the central time zone. That means that at midnight here, it is three in the afternoon in Papua New Guinea.

Thank you for your prayer, 

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/21/25

 Dear friends,

Sugarcane has a very unique flavor. At the market today, we got some sugarcane to try. You peel off the skin and cut off the ends. Then you bit off a chunk and chew it thoroughly. You swallow the sugar water and spit out the pulp. The juice tastes amazing and is apparently healthier too. Then repeat.

Tonight we had the first session for the men's retreat. Would you pray that the second session tomorrow goes well and that the men would be greatly encouraged by the teaching? 

PNG Fact of the Day: The Papua New Guinean currency is called Kina and is 0.23 US dollar. The kina is round with a hole in the center and was adopted in 1975.

Please continue praying for us,

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/20/25

Dear friends,

Today was a very bumpy day. 

This morning we we drove to a nearby city, Kainantu, and all that drive we discovered that the roads are made up of at least 70% pot holes. The roads were unkept, and were probably not paved for about 50 years. When we got to Kainantu, there was trash everywhere, and the roads were just as bad. However, this city has the biggest grocery store for hundreds of miles around. It was an interesting experience. 

We are doing well, and would continue asking for your prayer. 

 

PNG Fact of the Day: The national animal of Papua New Guinea is the tree kangaroo. This fascinating marsupial is known for its unique ability to climb trees with ease, thanks to its powerful hind legs and strong tail. Tree kangaroos are native to the rainforests of Papua New Guinea and are considered a symbol of the country’s rich biodiversity and natural beauty.

Thank you for your prayer, 

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/19/25

 Dear friends,

It is a lot of fun exploring Ukarumpa, hanging out with the boys, playing games with them, jumping on the trampoline, and all the other fun things they like to do.

It is really fun to see them get excited over a new game we got them or a book series they enjoy. We are really finding opportunities to encourage and strengthen the Moes in Christ. Thank you for your prayer and support during our time here.

Long distance prayer from the North Church pastors' meeting

 

PNG Fact of the Day: The National anthem talks about the country’s rich fertile land and how it is a free country.

Thanks for praying,

Victor and Ben Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/18/25

Dear friends,

Spiders the size of your hand, cockroaches that can get anywhere, and mosquitoes that carry deadly viruses. These are some scary parts of living in Papua New Guinea, but there are also some fun things about living here: the bananas that make the crummy US “bananas” taste like garbage, the beautiful varieties of butterflies, the amazing weather, the delicious passion fruit, and many more wonderful aspects. 

Would you please pray for us as we continue to support the Moes, things I need to get done and more importantly, to strengthen them in Christ?

 Walking uphill to the guest house

 Eating passionfruit

PNG Fact of the Day: The stars on the National flag show the Southern Cross Constellation and the bird is a Raggiana Bird of Paradise, the national bird, symbolising freedom and the nation’s rich environment. This flag was adopted on July 1, 1971.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support,
Victor and Ben Katterson. 
(we actually did see several spiders to size my hand.)

Katterson PNG Update 8/16/25

Dear friends,

We have spent our first full day here in Ukarumpa,(yesterday didn’t really count because we were in the village!) We had a great church service here and got to spend more time with the Moes. We had a youth Bible study night tonight with the middle schoolers and high schoolers here. 

 

PNG Fact of the Day: The current Prime Minister in charge of PNG is a man named James Marape who has been in office since 2019.

Thank you for your support and prayers, 

Ben and Victor Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/15/25

Dear friends,

We flew in a helicopter today! The Lord answered our prayers and granted us a trip to the Domung village where the translating team is working. We got to fly over 15,000 mountains, and deep valleys where we really realized how remote villages are. Thank you for your prayer! We really appreciate it.

 

 

 

PNG Fact of the Day: Papua New Guinea is positioned directly on the ring of fire, a volcanic ring surrounding most of the Pacific Ocean. The biggest, most active, and most dangerous volcano in Papua New Guinea is Ulawun. With a height of 7,657 feet, There have been 22 large eruptions in the last 200 years, the eruptions growing more constant and powerful.

Thanks for praying!

Ben and Victor Katterson

Katterson PNG Update 8/14/25

Hi all,

I didn't get much news, but the team arrived in Ukarumpa (our time) at 11pm last night! Here are a few pictures.

 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Swimming pool was on the 7th floor

Our hotel room porch

 Bush plane to Ukarumpa (MAF [missionary] pilot)

 

 

With the Moes!

According to their itinerary, there is the possibility of a helicopter ride to the remote mountain villages (an early morning departure on Saturday, which I think is about noon today for us) to see that part of the Moes' life and work, weather dependent. So you can pray for a safe, fruitful, and Christ-exalting time as they fly, hike, and get a closer experience of the labor to bring the Bible into the heart language of these people.

PNG Fact of the Day: The highest mountain in Papua New Guinea is Mount Wilhelm and reaches an altitude of 14,793 feet. That is almost 3 miles!

Thank you for your prayers!

Amy for the guys

Katterson PNG Update 8/13/25

 Hi there, friends,

How does it feel to be living in yesterday? Tonight we flew from Tuesday into Thursday. That is because we went over the international date line. We had a whole night on the plane. We did not get a lot of sleep. Our main prayer request is that we would recover from the lack of sleep quickly so that we would be able to serve the Moes well. We landed in Brisbane, Australia, where it was still dark. (Arrival was 4:50am local time.)

We we have one more flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea before we'll get to spend the night in a hotel room.

 

The city of Brisbane, Australia in the distance

Papua New Guinea Fact of the Day:  Papua New Guinea has 832 known languages including English. Tok Pisin is the most common language, used to communicate with other tribes with different languages.

Thank you for your prayer,

Victor and Ben Katterson

PNG Update 8/12/25

 

Hi there,

Praise Report: Mrs. Stein's visa arrived at 1am this morning!

We have had a safe trip so far and are thankful for your prayers. We made it to Chicago and Los Angeles safely. 

 

Would you please pray that we get lots of rest on our cross-Pacific flight tonight? We will need the energy for the new day. Thanks!

 

Send-off at the airport

Flight number one

Chicago airport

Flight number two

PNG Fact of the Day: The nation’s capital, Port Moresby, is located on the south east peninsula off the Gulf of Papua. This town became an important base for the Allies during World War Two as well as a primary Japanese target. The population of Papua New Guinea is 11 million people. Only 12% of that population lives in urban areas. That means that the other 88% live in the countryside and in villages.

Thanks a bunch,

Victor and Ben Katterson

PNG Update 8/11/25

 

Dear friends,

It feels exciting to be departing for Papua New Guinea tomorrow. We are hoping to see and try some fun new things while we minister to the Moes. We really appreciate your prayers over the past few weeks and would ask you to continue praying for us as we prepare to leave in less than a day!

Would you please pray that our trip to Papua New Guinea goes smoothly? Our first flight leaves at 10 am tomorrow and we still have several issues to take care of including a missing visa for one of our members.

• So please pray that God will grant the visa to be approved. 

• Please pray that we don’t forget anything important and that if we do, that it will be something easily replaceable.

• Papua New Guinea is on the other side of the world so please ask God to grant us rest and recovery after the sudden time change. 

• We arrive in PNG on Friday the 15th and the next day we hope to take a helicopter to the Domung village for a day to watch their life and see what it is like. This trip depends on the weather so please pray for clear skies all day.

And now for your Papua New Guinea fact of the day: 

Papua New Guinea, officially named the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is made up of half the island of Guinea, the eastern side, and is located directly above eastern Australia. Papua New Guinea is the third largest island country in the world, covering almost 200,000 square miles.

With thanks,

Victor and Ben Katterson

13 Years Old!

13 years old!

 

12 years old

11 years old

For nostalgia's sake...

 

10 years old

 9 years old

8 years old

 7 years old

 6 years old

5 years old

4 years old

3 years old

2 years old

18 months

One year old

11 months

10 months

9 months

 
8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

 Dear Victor,

Happy birthday, teenager! Having already surpassed me in height (and Dad in shoe size), there is no question that you are growing up. And we are so pleased and thankful to see the ways that God is shaping you to be a delightful young man.

You've continued developing skills through your piano lessons, and Dad regularly comments on how enjoyable it is to hear you play. 

School has taken a big jump up in intensity this year, but you are faithfully digging away, and even though you still really love sleeping in on weekends, you also love chasing down stories, investigating deeper details, and reading a wide variety of genres. When we asked yesterday something you'd like to do in the year ahead, you said maybe learn a language!

When you have free time, especially with buddies, you are up for games of all kinds. Football, basketball, playing catch (now you have a baseball glove :) ), board games, card games, mind games... You, Dad, and Josiah got up at 6am on New Year's Day to start a 4.5-hour game of Risk! 

You are also generous with your spare time to love on your little sister and brothers. You are very patient and gentle with Jemima, and you've begun doing some babysitting for the crew on occasion so Dad and I can go out. You are responsible, conscientious, and considerate. We are very thankful for your dependable character.

We are also so thankful for your good friends, and as you grow we are also glad for opportunities to see you expressing your convictions. Sometimes it means challenging some remarks that were not made thoughtfully or wanting to look at the Bible with a friend. Strength of heart, even when it is unpopular, is something we pray will continue to grow as you gain more and more independence. 

At the same time, I am grateful for your openness to input. When things go wonky or decisions lack wisdom, you are receptive and humble to accept correction.

You are also taking on more responsibility in various areas. You and a buddy are starting to lead the kids in our small group with some small Bible lessons and other planned activities. It is so cool to see you guys invest your creativity and thoughtfulness in that.

You are a hard worker--not just with school but also with the little Katterson Kitchen business we have. You also show industry to make snacks for school or to share at youth group. You love tackling a project, or exploring creative ideas with cousins or friends. (This includes a recent endeavor to make a 5-star stuffed crust double-decker pizza and "Reese's Peanut Butter Oreos.")

I could go on, but I'll close with one last attribute that I appreciate about you. You are quick to express thanks, gracious when things don't work out quite as hoped, and a good encourager of others. Many times I have been blessed when you ask what's for supper and then respond, "YES!!!"

As you grow, gain responsibility, and explore new horizons, I pray that the Lord will always keep you anchored to the foundation. As our Comp 2 class has been memorizing together, 2 Timothy 2 charges:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 

There is no greater legacy to receive or to pass on than the gift of the gospel, granted to us in Christ, and guaranteed to endure until the end, when Christ is revealed in all His glory. May you continue to grow in that grace and stand on that Word.

I love you!

Mom