LeBlanc Family Ministry: Recent Episodes
Michael & Morgan LeBlanc
There are over 850 language in Papua New Guinea, and a majority of them have yet to receive the Bible in their own language. Our desire is to play a small role in His global purposes amongst the people of Papua New Guinea.
Thanks for praying with us! If you have any questions, please feel to reach out and contact us! We would love to hear from you!
It has been a great privilege to be home in California and share with you what the Lord has done amongst the Kuyu people over the last four years. We made initial contact with the Kuyu people in 2020, built houses in 2022, and immersed ourselves in their language and culture. Our team is finalizing the Kuyu alphabet and praying that in 2025 the first Kuyu people would learn to read and write in their own language.
We feel grateful to have shared with so many of you in our home the extreme joys and deep lows over the past few years. Your unwavering support and partnership have allowed us to continue our work even amid unforeseen challenges, including those related to Morgan’s health.
In December 2022, shortly after we settled into Kuyu, Morgan began experiencing health issues related to toxic mold exposure. Our bush house was covered in unescapable mold, triggering severe skin issues, internal infections, insomnia, and other neurological symptoms. Despite working closely with our doctor in Papua New Guinea, her condition didn’t improve. After months of various treatments, our doctor urged us to seek specialized care in the U.S.
Since returning, Morgan has been under the care of an immunologist and mold specialist to detoxify her body and support immune recovery. Initial tests revealed dangerously high mold levels, a severely compromised immune system, and damage to major body systems. With targeted treatments, therapies, a rigorous diet, and a controlled environment, Morgan has made steady progress. Although we were initially told this journey could take 12-18 months, the waiting and uncertainty have been difficult for our family. Each time we received test results, we remained hopeful, only to be advised that further recovery time was needed, as a premature return could jeopardize Morgan’s health and long-term recovery.
The most recent bloodwork in October showed that Morgan’s inflammation has decreased and her mold levels have dropped significantly. Of the 14 different mold species, 12 have returned to a controlled state. However, our doctor strongly recommends an additional three months of treatment to target the remaining mold species and allow Morgan’s body to continue healing.
In light of this recommendation and through prayerful discussions with our team and church elders, we’ve decided to delay our return to Papua New Guinea until early April, awaiting the results of Morgan’s follow-up tests in February.
This decision has not come easily and is not one that we make lightly. We feel the weight of our Kuyu friends’ eternal destinies; however, we know that this journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and that this season of waiting is not in vain. There have been many days spent wrestling with God in our hearts, trying to make sense of it all. Though our hearts long to return, we find assurance in God’s providence. Even if we can’t yet see the purpose in our struggles, we hold fast to what we know of His unchanging character and trust Him beyond our circumstances.
Ten years ago, we began this journey with a vision of seeing a church planted among the Kuyu people, and though God doesn’t need us to accomplish His work, we are honored to be co-laborers in His field. As we prepare to return to Papua New Guinea in April, we are hopeful for long-term ministry, but it is impossible to know for certain how her body will respond. We are wholly committed to this work and will continue forward in faith as long as the Lord allows.
For the next few months, we will be assisting in a temporary role with Ethnos360, speaking at churches, colleges, and conferences to mobilize the next generation of church planting missionaries.
We deeply appreciate your prayers, support, and understanding as we navigate this process. Thank you for being a blessing to our family and those we are able to serve.
Trusting in Him,
Michael and Morgan LeBlanc
Thanks for praying with us! If you have any questions, please feel to reach out and contact us! We would love to hear from you!
We are back in sunny Southern California, but it doesn’t quite feel like “home” anymore. We may look American, sound American, and, to my wife’s delight, smell American again, but inside, we’re navigating two contrasting worlds. We’ve immersed ourselves in the Kuyu culture, only to now unlearn and relearn the basics of life in America. We planned to return in November, but due to some health concerns, we headed home 6 weeks early.
When we flew out for our region’s annual conference in September, we met with our doctor after months of emailing back and forth about Morgan’s health. We’d tried everything we could, but he advised us to return to the States for more immediate care.
As many of you know, from the moment we moved into Kuyu, Morgan’s health had slowly been declining on multiple fronts. The humid Kuyu environment is a petri dish for mold growth, which has re-aggravated Morgan’s childhood asthma. At the same time, a severe hand rash developed, causing painful open sores and itchy fluid-filled sacks that would then burst and scab over. The pain was intense for many many months, waking her up nearly every night and rendering her incapable of normal household tasks. Combined with other infections and symptoms, we knew the doctor’s recommendation was the right decision.
Over the past month, we’ve consulted with multiple doctors, begun treatment, and feel we’re on the right path to getting the best long-term help. Many of the symptoms have resolved since being out of the bush, so now we are trying to address the underlying issues that caused those symptoms. We are being seen by a great doctor who specializes in neurology and immunology, with extensive blood work scheduled for next week and follow-up results due later next month.
Our family has processed a lot of hard things over the past couple of months and it’s been a whirlwind since our return. The severity of Morgan’s health is a tough reality, but we’re grateful to have a plan and move forward.
In the midst of this prolonged season of health challenges, the Lord’s kindness has been so evident. He has provided all of our needs and met us at our lowest points. The past year has been an emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental battle on multiple fronts.
Despite our routine home assignment turning into more of a medical one, we are still so thankful to be here and enjoying the time of reprieve. We are eager to engage in different speaking opportunities and share about what the Lord is doing in Kuyu, and hopefully to meet up with many of you along the way. This road to recovery may seem long and uncertain, but we are entrusting each step and each day to the Lord. Thanks for partnering with us and lifting our family up in prayer.
Life in Kuyu is difficult to encapsulate into words. It's a tapestry woven from threads of joy and sorrow, survival and celebration, learning and unlearning. The past eight months have been a whirlwind of raw and unfiltered moments.
We have witnessed the miracle of new life and the sorrow of too many deaths. We have seen the relentless pursuit of survival as they hunt for whatever the jungle provides - creatures that crawl, run, and swing through the undergrowth. We have participated in marriage ceremonies, harvested the fruit of their gardens, aided in constructing their homes, and shared meals prepared over open fires.
With every sunrise, we surrender ourselves to the challenge and privilege of learning the Kuyu language and culture. We don't seek to merely convert them into followers of Jesus but to help cultivate them into mature disciples who can confidently handle the Word of God in their own language. It's a challenging journey, but we find our strength in the grace of the Lord, as we ask for His guidance and perseverance.
Our home, nestled in the heart of the village, is an epicenter of cultural explosion. We've learned to hold our plans loosely, surrendering our American ideals of order and predictability to the ebb and flow of the village's rhythm. There are days when our clumsy attempts at their language or unfamiliar ways provoke laughter, and we feel like toddlers taking their first steps. Other days, we encounter deep-seated animistic beliefs that obscure the Gospel truth, but these moments fuel our determination. Just a few days ago, we began treating a baby with severe pneumonia, only to find out that the parents didn’t follow our directions and instead sought out the local shaman. Their ancestral ways are deeply rooted, reminding us of the immensity of the task ahead of us.
In April, our language consultants flew out to Kuyu to evaluate our team’s progress and understanding of the indigenous language and culture. I reached level 4 of 9, while Morgan reached level 2 of 9. We were encouraged by our progress and are eagerly preparing for our next evaluation in September.
Our coworkers, the Ames, are currently in the States for their home assignment, and the Devalves will leave in a couple of months as they await the arrival of their new baby. We too will be taking a brief home assignment to reconnect with our supporters, friends, and family in America from November to June.
Your prayers, letters, and packages have been a huge blessing to us and a source of encouragement during the highs and lows of bush life. Thank you for journeying with us as we navigate this wild, challenging, yet incredibly rewarding task.
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Please pray for us as we work to finalize the Kuyu alphabet and continue in language/culture study over the next few months. To see more prayer requests, click here.
Building a house in a remote location is no easy task. Spanning the course of 6-9 months, the missionary team will develop house plans, purchase materials, transport the materials into the bush, and then begin building structures. The indigenous people are often eager to help in this process and the missionary team will begin modeling teamwork and discipleship to the people. Each house is equipped with solar, running water, and all of the necessary components to help missionaries thrive in the bush.
See More Updates
Once a location is identified by the missionary team, the next step is to prepare land for housebuilding and sign land agreements.
We are continuing to serve in the central area of PNG, but are excited to take the next steps ahead!
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I feel like I've been asking this question a lot lately. Of myself, of my circumstances, of God.