Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May the grace and peace of our Lord and Savior be with you as you review my summary report.

First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to our Lord God Almighty for guiding everyone according to His divine plan and perfect timing. I am also deeply grateful to the Partnership office, especially Cathlyn and Pastor Kinim Siloi, for their unwavering support in making my travel arrangements a reality. Additionally, I want to acknowledge Reinhard and everyone else who took the time to pray for me and helped ensure that I completed the summer camp.

I would like to express my gratitude to my district, Yabem District, along with both the former and current staff, for establishing this partnership with the North Carolina Synod, which allowed me to visit them following the summer camp.

Thank you, North Carolina Synod, for the wonderful support; it has been a blessing to have you as a friend and partner of the Yabem District for many years.

Here’s a plan for my trip to North Carolina, organized by day.

After a week, the camp ended. Pastor Cassie Overcash kindly purchased a ticket for me from Minneapolis to Charlotte, and then from Charlotte to Greensboro. On Monday, August 10th, I departed from my campsite to St. Paul’s airport, following the route I mentioned earlier, where Cassie picked me up at the Greensboro airport. She graciously hosted me at her home for three days. To give me a warm welcome, Pastor Julie Tonnesen, Pastor Emily Harkins, and Pastor Cassie, an Assistant to the Bishop of North Carolina, arranged a dinner at an upscale restaurant.

On Tuesday, we celebrated Girls’ Day, which meant they didn’t have to work and instead spent the day with me. Towards the end of the day, we went to visit Pastor Emily’s workplace.

On Wednesday, Pastor Emily and I went to visit Pastor Julie at her workplace, where she serves as a chaplain at a university. In the morning, we headed to a synod staff meeting, where I had the opportunity to meet Bishop Emily, the synod’s Young Adult Coordinator, Mark Hustedt, and many other women pastors and staff members. During the meeting, they invited me to share a bit about myself, which I did. They showed particular interest in my church-related occupation, and when I mentioned my degree from Martin Luther Seminary (MLS), they asked, “Are you planning to become a woman pastor?” I responded with a “no” because, within PNG culture, women who have graduated in MLS are not permitted to be ordained as pastors. This surprised them, including Bishop Emily and Pastor Cassie. They suggested that if your church is unable to ordain women, the North Carolina Synod provides an opportunity for you and other women, particularly through the ELCA North Carolina Partner District in ELCPNG. You can serve in the ELCA, especially in the North Carolina Synod, until your church decides to ordain women, after which you can return to ELCPNG. However, I made it clear that there is a process to follow, and it’s the Church’s responsibility to navigate that, not mine. I’m only here for the visit.

After our conversation, they asked me to send their regards to all our partner district members in Yabem District, along with their staff and Christian believers, wishing blessings from God upon all of you. Please extend our apologies to the district staff who were prepared to travel to North Carolina; unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned due to the increase in the bond fee.

During our morning devotion, they prayed for my safe journey back to PNG. It was in the afternoon when Cassie and I headed home.

The following day, we visited Lenoir-Rhyne University and then went to Pastor Julie’s parents’ house. They are a lovely couple, kind and wonderful. They took us for a boat ride to a restaurant for dinner and hosted us for the night.

On Friday morning, we had breakfast, and then Pastor Cassie left for work while Julie’s parents drove me to the Charlotte airport. After checking in, we said our goodbyes, and I proceeded through security as they left.

Overall, the North Carolina Synod generously provided funds for my visit, and it was truly a blessing to be with them after the summer. I am grateful to God Almighty for uniting two churches together to collaborate in nurturing young leaders for the church today. A big thank you to the North Carolina Synod, and I would like to express my appreciation to my friends and colleagues, Assistant to the Bishop Pastor Cassie, Pastor Emily Harkins, and Pastor Julie Tonnesen, for the opportunity to connect and reunite. My heartfelt thanks go to Julie for introducing me to her wonderful parents, as well as to Cassie. I also appreciate Pastor Ethan and Emily’s husband for allowing their wives to spend time with me.

Thank you all; you are such blessings to me, my dear friends.

Thank you, Bishop Emily, for your warmth and compassion, as well as your outstanding leadership. Meeting you in person has truly been a blessing.

May our gracious Lord bless and guide you all. Amen.

—Vera Jonathan

Pastor Cassie Overcash, Assistant to the Bishop, reflected on the unexpected gift of hosting Vera. “Hosting Vera turned out to be much more meaningful than I expected. Getting to know her and hearing about her life and her dreams was a gift.”