Thank you everyone for your prayers and overwhelming support as we mourn the loss of our dear friend, Glen. Knowing that we are not alone in our grief gives us strength to press on.
The outreach team made it back to Queenstown safely this afternoon, where we received them with warm embraces and tears in our eyes. The team will be staying with some of our local elders who have graciously offered their home to host the team. There they will have time to decompress, grieve, and chat with counsellors.
The process of repatriation has now been passed off to a professional repatriation organisation who are working with the family, the US Embassy, and the local PNG authorities.
Glen’s mother has requested that we share the following message from her:
We received an email with so many precious stories about our Glen from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The summary of it all is that he loved Jesus and loved people so well, and his amazing smile brightened everyone’s day. He had a special way of making people feel seen, loved and important. He truly epitomized the quote Pastor Jeff gave in his sermon the other day:
“The thing we would remember from meeting a gospel-oriented person is how genuinely interested they are in us”
This perfectly summarizes Glen’s heart and character in life, and all of the stories we received from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea about him reflected this truth.
Glen’s homecoming to Heaven was a few days ago. He was swimming at the reef in Papua New Guinea, but instead of coming up, he went on to heaven.
“God is not looking for strong starters, he’s looking for strong finishers”
This is a quote that Amber Dyer, our headmaster at Great Hearts, shared with me today. By God‘s grace, Glen finished so well, so very well. We are SO PROUD of our PRECIOUS BOY!
As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, will give me. - 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NLT)
Oh Lord, you have searched Glen’s heart and know everything about him. You know when he sits down or stands up. You know his thoughts even when he’s far away from us. You saw him when he traveled, and now that he is resting at home with You. You know everything Glen does. You know what he’s going to say even before he says it, Lord. You go before him and follow him. You place your hand of blessing on Glen’s head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, his mother, too great for me to understand. He could and will never escape from Your Spirit. He is never away from your presence! He is in Heaven, and You are there with him. As he passed from death to life, You were there with him. As he rode on the wings of the morning and dwelled by the farthest oceans of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and now in Heaven, You hand guides him and Your strength supports him. You made all the delicate, inner parts of Glen and knit him together in my womb. Thank you for making him so wonderfully! Your workmanship is marvelous. You watched Glen, as he was being formed in utter seclusion, as he was woven together in the dark of my womb. You saw him before he was born. Every day of his life is recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about him! Oh God they cannot be numbered! I cannot even count them. They outnumbered the grains of sand! And now that he has woken in eternity, You are with him and he is with You. Thank you, Father and Lord, for leading him along the path of everlasting life, home to You. - Psalm 139, rewritten
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 (NIV)
Words cannot express how deeply saddened we are to share that a participant on one of our outreach teams has tragically passed away during a day off in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Glen Ray, 18 years old from the United States, was missing for nearly 24 hours before local search teams recovered his body on Monday, 3 November. We understand that he was swimming on a coral reef with some of his local friends. We are awaiting further details about the incident.
Our hearts are broken alongside Glen’s family and loved ones as we all grieve this devastating loss.
At this time, our priority is to support his family, care for the team members and volunteer-staff affected, and continue working closely with local authorities to ascertain exactly what happened.
We are very grateful to the local community and authorities in West New Britain for their assistance with these search efforts.
We deeply appreciate your prayers and compassion during this tender time.
All future updates will be posted on this page.
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