Wow, I don’t know if I can put into words all of the things that have happened since my last update. Life is a whirlwind! Some of the things that come to my mind are: our daily lectures are so important. I’ve learned so much about different cultures. It is amazing just how different an American can be from an Australian; there are incredible differences in worldview and cultures! We had a 2 day discussion with 5 countries present and we could have gone on a lot longer than the time we had available, just talking about cultural differences. Open your heart. When you see or hear someone do or say something that seems insane to you; ask God to help you and listen with your heart. You might learn something new.  Another thing that I think of (with a smile) is that the rain comes down so hard and so fast. I absolutely love it!! One day this past week Lynn (our directors wife) was giving a lecture and it rained so hard and so loud that her husband, Mark went and got her a bull horn (I think that is the name) so that she could be heard over the rain falling on the roof and ground outside. There are no windows in our classroom, only screens. I haven’t shut the windows in my room because there is a slight chance of a “cool” breeze during the day, and an even better chance of a nice cool evening breeze; but I don’t think there has been a night I’ve not had my fan on. In fact, I turn it on about 99% of the time I’m in here. The eaves are far enough out that I’ve not had it rain in here at all. I don’t keep anything very close to the windows anyway because they warned us about sticky fingers :-} Another thing that touches my heart is when my wasfamili’s granddaughters tell me that they “didn’t have school today, because there was no teacher.” Anybody wanna come here and fill a teacher position? I feel bad that they only have school a few times a week. It is all English, so maybe you could come here, start teaching and learn the language as you go; kind of what I’m doing. I don’t know exactly how it works, but I wanted to toss it out there in case anyone might be hearing from God and thinking that they can’t do it because they only know English.

So those are some of the wonderful things I’ve learned recently. Now check out some yummy looking dinner :-} this is the PNG version of boiled dinner; consisting of pit pit, taro, greens and some tinned meat. It’s not my favorite by far, but it is a typical meal.

Here are some cool BUG photos:

My first village overnight:
We went on a Thursday. It went pretty well! Papa Ganig, pictured below, works for POC. He has for 46 years!. We walked to his house when he got off work. I had a big backpack packed with things (I thought!) I would need. Come to find out (not only did everything end up way in the bottom of the bag ~ totally unreachable!) I didn’t need most of what I took!  We also took food to add to what Mama would cook (Mama pictured below). So we got there around 5:30 or 6:00 and 2 of the granddaughters, Missy and Michelle were there with mama to welcome us. It was nice.

It was a nice evening; we and fun playing UNO. Mama even played. Then we had dinner. They always have rice with their meals; even breakfast. After dinner we played more UNO and “storied” as well as we (mostly Coralie) could ~ in Tok Pisin. Then we went to bed around 8:00. The next morning we had breakfast, storied for a while and then Papa walked us back to POC. The first overnight was a success! Pictured here are the mosquito nets in our room and the home of my Wasfamili.

My second overnight visit:
We serve an amazing… (Amazing) God! I think that you’re actually gonna be a little jealous.
I went back this past Thursday alone because Coralie was sick. It was a.maz.ing. I knew that I didn’t say much the week before; simply because Coralie is louder and quicker to speak up than I am, through no fault of either of us; it’s just where we are right now. I had no idea what God had planned for me that night (of course).

Since I am not allowed to walk alone in PNG Verna and Ulys (our POC nurse and her husband) walked me to my wasfamili’s village.  You guys … I never imagined that God would give me a visit like He did. We played UNO and had dinner just like before, but it was only me and my Tok Pisin that could keep the conversations going. It was GREAT!!! I love this language. After dinner and games Mama and I went in to my room to set up my bedroll and mosquito net. While we were in there, I could hear Papa singing a song. I didn’t recognize any of the words as they weren’t Tok Pisin… but I recognized the tune of “Rock of Ages!” When she and I finished, I wandered out and asked him “papa yu sing-sing lotu buk?” Basically “Papa, are you singing worship songs?” he showed me a book, and said that he was, and continued to sing; barely paying attention to me. He sang quietly until each grandchild went to bed and then he came over and sat on the stool next to where I was sitting, and had me read the English words in the front of his book and he explained about each of the editions of his worship book. It is written in “Nobonob” his mother tongue. Verna and Ulys (mentioned above) are translating the Bible into the Nobonob language (an incredibly complex language). After that, papa went through each page of the book and told me stories of the men who wrote the songs and then he continued to sing the songs. I hummed along with “What a Friend we Have in Jesus, Rock of Ages again and A Mighty Fortress among many other songs… he sang for me and with me for TWO HOURS!!! I can’t even begin to tell you what that did for my heart. It was so above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Mama sat leaning against the center pole with her eyes closed enjoying the evening. It was 10:00 before we knew it. I went to bed with an overjoyed heart. I will never forget that night. I wish they could be my village living wasfamili (but I am also excited to see what God plans for that time here too).  The Lord surpassed anything I could have ever imagined. Before I left Ohio, I put a reminder to pop up on my calendar monthly… it says “I want to watch You move far beyond anything I could ever imagine Lord ~ I’m watching You move far beyond anything I could ever imagine.” Now I understand those words with a much deeper meaning.

My first all day hike:
actually it was my first hike ever due to my injury!! I was able to hike for 2 hours and 27 minutes. Here is a picture of Nobonob in the background to give you an idea of how far we were from POC.

We got a ride part of the way for various reasons, but “me and the boot” did really well! I was super pleased with how far I could hike. I had a big backpack loaded (so I/we could get used to carrying more weight) with the same things that will need for my next hike ~ on Monday (!!!) we are going on our overnight hike. We have to carry food, bedding, a change of clothes (including something to sleep in), matches, a couple of bottles of water and purifying filters or pills for extra water, dishes, toiletries, mosquito net with bilum string for hanging it, sunscreen and bug spray, a notebook for the assignments that I need to complete, pens, bedroll and my Tok Pisin Bible. It might not sound like much, but the weight adds up quickly!

When we arrived at Kamba Church on our all day hike, these people were there to greet us.

Actually I think it was more like to watch us red-faced “non-Papua New Guineans” stagger in ~ all sweaty and completely spent! They are wonderful people! After I regained my breath and strength by eating the lunch that I had made that morning; and the kitchen manager had brought up in coolers, I went over and sat with the ladies on the water thing and talked to them in Tok Pisin. It was one of the coolest things ever! I showed them all of the pictures on my camera and talked about things at home, like my family. It was so much fun. I love the fact that the ladies, when we first meet and shake hands, they hang on for a long time as we chat. It is so loving and kind. The lady I am thinking of, looked directly into my eyes as she held my hand to greet me and allow me to speak to her in Tok Pisin. It’s uncommon here to keep the gaze of another person. It’s actually unacceptable for the opposite sex to hold their gaze unless they are interested in each other. If I talk to a man I look at “his face,” his chin, his teeth, his eyebrows and I only glance at his eyes once in a while. That is hard for me as I think that I “hear” better if you are looking at me ha-ha. It was an amazing visit at the church, I met a lady whose granddaughters told me is 155 years old. Yeah, you read that right. I had to see her for myself. Isn’t she beautiful in this photo?!? I think that they are a couple of years off on her age, but I am sure glad I met her. Even though she was clearly very old, she was spry and walked right out to greet me while looking directly into my eyes. I think she is beautiful!

There is a lot in this update ~ because I leave for village living in less than 2 weeks (March 12), and I won’t have my computer for 4 weeks.

And now… the moment you have been waiting for! Today we received our village allocations and I want to share some pictures! This is a photo of my village.

My village has some cool things in it that some of the other students villages don’t have. It has a market that is open 3 days a week, which means that the women in the area and from quite a distance away, arrive (they walk) in the market with their bilums (mine is pictured to the right) loaded down with the things they harvested from their gardens. A lot of them bring different varieties of bui (beetlenut ~ people young and old chew it and it gives them a buzz. It turns their teeth red ~ no, I haven’t tried it and don’t plan to, ha ha!!). People spit it everywhere… it’s kinda icky … like when cowboys spit their chew on the ground, only blood red!

My village has a trade store, which carries things like sugar, rice, noodles and biscuits (which are crackers to us Americans). It has an Aid Post in case I get cut or really sick or something; I will be able to get some sort of care (please pray that I don’t have to use the aid post) and there are PMV’s (public motor vehicles) that go by. Maybe I will get adventurous and go with mama? The PMV’s typically consist of a truck or a van where as many Papua New Guineans cram in as possible. I understand that (from some of the villages they talked about) it can cost 17 kina to get to town and back. That is only about $8 but ~ wow have my priorities about spending money changed ~ that is a lot to me. I am so incredibly grateful to those who have answered the call from God to support my being here. I couldn’t be here if you were not right alongside me on this journey ~ thank you very much!

There isn’t a waspapa; my wasmama is a widow. Her name is Warumai ~ here is a picture of her in front of “my” Haus Kuk ~ do you see the kitchen? It’s located under the front of the house. She is standing directly in front of where the fire goes, look down. 

And this photo shows a clearer view of where the fire goes and more of the “openness” of the Haus Kuk.

Next is the bathing and dish washing area; looks cool huh? One thing that kept being repeated today was that the women bath in a certain area and the men bathe upstream… I have no words except maybe a little “euw.” I would rather the ladies bathe upstream of the men!

This is a picture of our liklik haus (the potty). They said that it will remain unfinished for a while because if they finished it “other people would use it” so I am ok that it isn’t done yet, ha-ha!

Here is a photo of where I will sleep. Look! Its air conditioned :-} a breeze is free to flow through the walls and the floors… works for me! It is still pretty warm when it is bedtime. I was grateful for the breeze flowing freely through Papa Ganig’s walls.

Here is a photo showing how Papua New Guinean children sleep… in a big bilum hanging from a hook. This little boy is from Holland and around 2 years old.

Lastly here is a photo of one of our POC children cooling off in a dishpan, just coz he’s cute. Hey, whatever works, right?

Please keep me in your prayers especially as I leave Monday (Sunday night in the USA) for the overnight hike and when I leave for village living March 12. I don’t think you will hear from me during that time.

From one of my readings this week: “Whatever you desire to say Lord ~ whether it is an encouragement, an exhortation, a prophecy or a rebuke ~ I want to hear it ~ I need to hear it.”

Thank you so much for journeying with me… I couldn’t do it without you beside me!
God bless you