Hospital Kiddos!

Here are some pics of adorable kids who have been admitted into the hospital:

Pit Toilets

Pit toilets...a very simple concept.  Dig a big hole.  Cover most of it.  Built a hut around it.  Voila!  Pit toilet!

Jordan took this picture while at work.  The guys had just finished digging the hole and Peter (the guy in the hole) is checking to make sure it's deep enough!  These guys are AMAZING with shovels!!

p.s. I've also decided that one of the worst things that could ever happen to a person on this earth would be to fall into an old pit toilet!  Just sayin...

The Church with the Bird

After a treacherous journey, we finally arrived at a church a few miles past the village of Sigmil.  By the way...worship takes on a whole new dimension after a trip that makes you check whether or not you're ready to die and face Jesus!  (Just Kidding MOM and DAD...it wasn't that bad!!)  :)

We never caught the name of the church, so we lovingly refer to it as "the church with the bird."  When we arrived, we noticed a bird perched on the roof of the church.  I hurried to get out my camera to take a picture before it flew away.  It looked really neat from a distance...but then I got closer and realized it was quite the creepy looking bird!  Jordan and I decided later that a toucan must have mated with a vulture and created this ugly little creature.  There was also no need for me to have rushed to get out my camera because the bird hung around for the ENTIRE church service, INSIDE the church.  Yep, our unsightly feathered friend popped right into the church and spent the service hopping around the rafters.  Talk about distracting!

I'll post some pictures and we'll play find the birdie!

Esther lead worship. 

The Tausi family shared a special item.

Apa shared his testimony.

It really was a great church service!  We had a wonderful time worshiping and "fellowshiping" with our PNG friends!

Over the river and through the woods...

Actually it should be...THROUGH the river and through the JUNGLE to Sigmil Church we go!

This was not your ordinary Sunday trip to church...

We had a car full!

Our trusty driver!

This was the "good" part of the road.  

Allow me to explain this picture...starting from the bottom of the pic and working our way up.

The hood of the car

A river

The opposite bank of the river

A man

The rest of road

(Missing something?  A bridge perhaps?)

Ah....here's a bridge!  I guess they figured this river would have been a bit more difficult to drive through.

The view out my window for most of the trip.

Leadership Training Seminar

We had the privilege of attending a Nazarene Leadership Training Seminar in Kiam, PNG.  General Superintendent, Eugenio Duart, shared a great message and several inspiring stories.

"Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God"

I'll be honest...(besides getting to hear Dr. Duarte speak) one of my favorite parts was watching them try to put a PNG hat on Harmon's (our Field Coordinator's) head that was about two sizes too small and made him look slightly Jewish.  haha...no worries Harmon!  You pulled it off very well!!

A Spot of Tea?

Have you ever thought of what goes into making tea?  I hadn't.  

Apparently, the weather of the highlands of Papua New Guinea are perfect for growing tea.  So, many tea making companies come and set up tea plantations.  We got to tour one of these plantations recently...and now I see tea in a whole new light.  

This is the tea harvesting machine.  I want one to cruise around in!

Then they empty the leaves and take them to the factory.  We couldn't take pictures inside...BUT I can tell you about the secret tea making process.

Step 1: Dry the leaves by putting them on giant air hockey tables

Step 2: Grind the leaves into teeny pieces.

Step 3: Ferment the ground leaves.  (Yeah, did you know they ferment tea leaves?  I didn't.)

Step 4: Sift the leaves

Step 5:  I'm a bit fuzzy on this step...I think they did something to the leaves with fire but I wasn't paying attention to the explanation.  (I was distracted by a GIANT furnace...the kind I imagine they put Shad, Rack, and Benny in.)

Step 6: Sift the ground cooked leaves.

Step 7: Sift again.

Step 8 Sift one more time.

Step 9: Put the tea in huge bags

Step 10: Stack the bags in dangerously tall piles.

Step 11: Sell giant bags of delicious tea.