WHITEHEAD, Carl and Pat

Carl and Pat are both Canadians, she having been born and raised in Winnipeg and he having immigrated to Peterborough, Ont. with his family when he was 13. Since 1974, they have served in Papua New Guinea (PNG), where they raised their five children. All five are now living in Canada.

From 1975 until 2018, Carl and Pat’s primary assignment was among the Menya people group, who now number 25-30,000, most of whom are at least nominally Christian. The Menya New Testament in print, audio and digital formats was dedicated in 2018 and Carl and Pat continue to be involved with promoting Scripture engagement and life transformation. Since 2019 their primary assignment has been as consultants and trainers for PNG citizens and fellow missionaries who are working in other languages. Pat’s involvement is in literacy, ESL and biblical studies; Carl’s in the area of grammar analysis.

Since March 2020 they have been back in Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are planning to return to PNG in the summer of 2021 to serve a final three-year term there. Carl will be involved in a new program that is starting to train PNG citizens as linguistics consultants to help in ongoing translation work.