Missionary Christmas Party

Every year all the missionaries in Kudjip get together to celebrate Christmas with a big party.  We eat food, sing Christmas songs, fellowship...all to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus!

Miles waiting to head to the party.  He got all dressed up for the occasion!

Each of our place settings was a little version of ourselves.

In the center of the room was a manger...a great reminder of why we were there!

Chalk it up!

My brother, Nate, has been doing chalk art for the past 4 years...last week we had the privilege of witnessing/helping him do his thing with chalk.  It was AMAZING!  

This is Nate's game face!  

Please note the beautiful yellow and black stripes...filled by yours truly!

Dad even got in on the action!

It's electric!

 FINISHED!!  (too bad the lighting isn't very good)

Jordan and I were the "filler inners."  Sort of like the bucket tool in Paint.

 Chalk is such frustrating stuff to work with and he just cranked this out like it was his job (well, I guess it is his job...but still!) 

Seriously, he is so talented...

Jordan would like me to point out the awesomeness of the blue haze around the lightning.  That was his job for about 2 hours.

You can check out more of Nate's stuff at:

StreetCanvasDesign.com

Amazing Race: Papua New Guinea

Teen Camp

AMAZING RACE: PNG

The first leg of the race: Each team had to dig a ditch to simulate the ditches that Papua New Guineans dig in their gardens for water run off. 

Second leg: Shooting bats with finger arrows!

 

Third leg: Rolling yarn like PNG women do before they begin making their traditional bags (bilums).  

                                        

The teens also had to learn a verse in Melanesian Pidgin, eat a dry tasteless cracker (similar to a kind you can get in PNG) without any water, and take a quiz on Papua New Guinea.

We had a great time!

NWIL Teen Camp

 In July, Jordan and I had the privilege of being a part of the NWIL Teen camp.  We got to share a little about the work we do in PNG and were a part of an Amazing Race PNG competition!  Here are some pics from our time there (a blog and pictures on the Amazing Race to come!)

There was a fabulous worship service, workshop/sermon every afternoon and evening!  We were a witness to many teens committing to put Jesus first in their lives...A-MAZING!

Part of the afternoon service involved a group reciting a verse they had learned in Pidgin from our time with them that morning!!

Miles was probably the most popular guy there!!

The little guy made a TON of new friends!!  :)

Lostman's Sistine Chapel Of PNG

Lostman is a local wood burning artist who creates small trinkets and souvenirs.   He uses a coconut shell to burn with and normally burns his designs onto dry bamboo.  Knowing that Lostman is a talented fellow and always looking for emplyment I asked him of he was interested in a job I had for him.  In the three houses my crew is building there is a large beam that spans the great room to support the exposed rafter beams.  The beam is 3 inches wide on the bottom and 24 feet long.  Normally Lostman does his designs on small things like nativity sets or picture frames, so he was eager to take on the challenge of working upside down on hard wood and on something this large.

Babies in the Nursery

A few days ago I took Miles to the hospital to get weighed.  I left the building concerned because Miles is a little small for his age.  Many things were going through my head...am I doing something wrong?  is he just a small baby?  why is he a small baby?
For some reason, I wandered into the maternity ward/nursery.

I love the picture above because it is usually the woman's job to care for all things baby related, but this father was patiently feeding his little baby with a dropper.  You could tell, when I asked if I could take a picture, he was very proud of his little baby.  

The baby below was one of the bigger babies in the nursery 

 This little guy below weighed about 2 lbs when he was born.

 He's beautiful.

 This is him (right) and his twin (left).

Our little trip the nursery helped put things into perspective for me.  While we are still closely monitoring Miles's weight, we are thanking the Lord that he is a healthy, growing little boy.  And we pray daily for those babies in the nursery and their parents.  

Three House Update

As many of you may know, Jordan's latest project has been building three similar 3 bedroom houses for long-term volunteer doctors.  Other than being a little behind schedule, they are coming together very nicely!

Here's a look at what they look like these days:

Jordan has gotten some assistance from a team of college students from Olivet who are here for a couple weeks.  They have been a huge help with outside trim and painting! (Don't be fooled by the picture below...they don't always just stand around)  :) 

Even though most of the students are pre-med or pre-PA majors (which means they are more interested in the medical part of Kudjip life), they don't complain about the hot, dirty construction work.  

Decorating a House: Missionary Style

Obviously, we don't have a Hobby Lobby to aid in our house decorating...so we've found we have to be a little creative if we want our little house to feel more cozy!  I've found that a Sharpie, some yarn, and a few scraps can go a long way.  :)

This is just a scrap of cement board and a Sharpie.

Window pom pom garland made from PNG yarn.

Just some yarn, knitting needles, and stuffing needed for this one.

I didn't make the pot but the balls are just yarn and glue, and the star is just paper. 

I covered the lamp shade with a scrap of fabric that I drew on with a Sharpie (yay for Sharpies!!)

I drew the design for this shelf and Jordan built it one random Saturday.  I also made the "O come let us adore Him" sign the same way as the above sign, and the christmas trees are just paper covered in yarn.  

On To the Next Project

Now that Jordan has finished the Stone Cottage, he just sits around and eats bonbons.  HA! Just kidding!! :)

Jordan has moved on to building THREE new houses, AND these are to be bigger and better than the last!  Right now they just look like a bunch of lumber randomly nailed together (and the lumber, by the way, Jordan was responsible for getting milled...yep, he's building these houses starting from the trees!).  The plan is to have them finished before we leave for home assignment in June...so far, I believe he is a little behind (a giant wind storm will do that to ya) but is looking forward to the help of a couple Work & Witness teams to get him caught back up.  I'll try to keep you posted on the progress!