Jordan and Rachel Thompson in PNG

How to light the oven:

2011-11-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

I've grown up with an oven that worked like this:
1.) Turn a knob
2.) Done!

However, the oven that we currently have in our house works a little differently. It works like this:
1.) Open oven door
2.) Turn knob to 200ish degrees Celsius
3.) Get out your long pincher tool (normally used for laparoscopic surgery...i think?)
4.) Light a match
5.) Grab the match with the pinching tool
6.) Simultaneously hold the match at the back of the oven while pulling a little lever at the bottom right of the oven
7.) Hold the little lever until the flame stays by itself
8.) Done!

I never would have figured this out on my own...thankfully I'm surrounded by very helpful friends!! :)

Rachel vs the Tortillas (Round 2)

2011-11-18T23:22:00.000-08:00

In my battle with the the tortilla...round 2...the victory goes to the tortilla! :(

Someday, I will master the tortilla...but today was NOT that day. Still too floury and stiff.

Maintenance Movie Night

2011-11-15T22:53:00.001-08:00

We recently had all the maintenance guys over to our house for a movie night. Jordan borrowed a projector and speakers and we almost had a "stadium" seating thing going! It was the closest we've ever come to a movie theater in PNG. Plus, we had popcorn and cookies!!

Matt and Becky’s Wedding!

2011-11-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

Matthew and Rebekah are officially wed!! They had a BEAUTIFUL wedding on top of a mountain that overlooks the town of Hagen.

One of my favorite parts of the wedding was a time of worship, before the official ceremony, when we all faced out towards the valley and sang praises to the LORD!! There is something awesome about singing of the glory of God while standing on top of a mountain looking out over His creation!

I feel like the pictures just don’t do justice to how beautiful it really was.

We are so happy for the lovely bride and the handsome groom!! May the Lord continue to bless their lives together!

Becky's Shower

2011-11-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Allow me to introduce you to our friend Dr. Becky Wallace. Becky is a doctor, here at the hospital, who met and fell in love with Matt, an MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) engineer here in Papua New Guinea. It was lovely to see their relationship bloom!! (guess who is writing this post!! Jordan or Rachel?? haha)

While we were in the States they got engaged! We got back to PNG just in time for Becky’s shower with all the missionary ladies here in Kudjip! It was a great time…we played the classic wedding shower games like “Quiz the bride on how well she knows the grooms” and “Make the best dress out of toilet paper.” Of course, in true missionary fashion, we kept the TP to be used later for its intended purpose!

Rachel vs The Tortillas

2011-10-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

I am 100% committed to conquering the tortilla while I’m here in PNG. Last time we were in PNG I attempted making tortillas once and failed miserably!! BUT this time I’m determined to be triumphant. I’ve already had round one with the floury little boogers!! (huh…didn’t know floury was actually a word??)

It started out well…I got a recipe from a family who have been making tortillas here in PNG for 25 years! Then, it went downhill from there. My dough was SO sticky…which I found out later is not how it’s supposed to be. I was able, eventually, to roll a few into submission. However, I found that I have low rolling stamina and soon my tortillas were more like pitas in thickness. I then heated a pan to medium to low heat…which I found out later was supposed to be much hotter. I threw my leathery discs onto the pan and watched them bubble. Yep…that’s right…my tortillas bubbled. I could have made balloon animals with these puppies!! Once they turned light brown I removed my puffy, crunchy little creations. While they tasted kinda like a tortilla they were way too brittle to actually wrap around any type of taco substance. Since then, I’ve sought council on my tortilla method and let me assure you…there WILL be a round two!!

WE'RE BACK!

2011-10-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Things came together in a flurry for us to return to Papua New Guinea. We arrived in the country on Oct 12th and were picked up at the airport by our dear friend Apa, Judy Bennett, all the high school MK's and Stephen Hollenberg.

When we got back to the station we were welcomed by all of our wonderful Kudjip family!!

We are taking a bit of a "leap of faith" here, in that we left without all of our support raised. Crazy! I know! But we are confident that this is where God called us and that He will provide through the continued giving of friends in the States!!

If you are interested..check out our website:

web.nazarene.org/goto/thompson.png

We LOVE the Body of Christ!

2011-10-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

As many people who are reading this already know…Jordan and I were back in the States for the past four months and for the last couple of those we were able to travel around and share at several churches. What an amazing experience that was!! We met some of the most wonderful people who love the Lord and are super excited about missions! Jordan and I both knew that God placed many of these people in our path to be the encouragement and affirmation that we needed!!

So many times, I’m blown away by God faithfulness and in the last few months God showed us how He uses His children to deeply influence each other’s lives!

So, if you are reading this and you are one of those people God put in our path these past few months…thank you! You are precious to us!

Joplin, Missouri

2011-09-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Jordan and I had the privilege of speaking at the Joplin Calvary Church of the Nazarene. We met some wonderful people! The city of Joplin, though, is still recovering from the tornado that hit in May.

After the service, we were able to fellowship with several people. We met a lady who had been in the Wal-Mart when the tornado ripped through it. She told us about how her younger daughter clung to her neck while she checked the pulse of the people around her who were killed instantly. Then her husband told us about how their older daughter (who was also in the Wal-Mart) was pinned under a beam that had fallen. The daughter was fine but the people on both sides of her were also killed. We also heard stories of courage and community. Several people said that it was amazing how quickly people came together to start clearing the streets right after the storm. Normal people instantly became rescue workers, maintenance men, and firefighters...doing their best to reach people who were trapped.

While most of us have turned our attention to other things, the people of Joplin are coping with the after effects from that tragic day in May. Please keep them in your prayers!

2011-08-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

While we were in Papua New Guinea, God called us to full-time missions in Papua New Guinea. We are SO excited about what God has for us!! (We say that a lot but it's true!) We are currently back in the States in a transition time. We just spent a week in Kansas City (where we stayed at the KCC at the NTS, and visited the GMC...so many acronyms!). We are hoping to travel around and share our call to missions with some churches! AND raise all of our support. So...if you know of any churches that would like to hear from us -OR- if you are interested in supporting our ministry in Papua New Guinea, please let us know! Our email is:

jordan.rachel.thompson@gmail.com

Thanks so much for your love and support! Oh....and the picture above is from our new prayer card...let us know if you want one of those too!

The B'ski Ranch

2011-08-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post some pics of where my parents live. It's so beautiful!

Back in the States

2011-07-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's been about 2 months since we arrived back in America. We've had some great times with family and friends so far. AND, since internet here in the States, is SO fantastic, we decided to post a few blogs that we meant to post a while ago from our time in PNG. Enjoy!

Apa's Wedding

2011-07-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2011

Apa and Hannah

Jordan and I were able to witness our first PNG wedding. Small, simple and beautiful!

Haus Win

2011-07-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

On the first Sunday of every other month, missionaries from all over the area come together to have a pot luck in the hauswin (literally "house of wind") in the Myers' backyard.

One of Jordan's last big projects was an addition to this building. Between Jordan, John Gari, and Jeff Myers, they did an AMAZING job seamlessly adding more bench space and shade to the building (pictured below...notice the extra roof on the left). AND he built a grill (picture to the right).

John Gari, below, hard at work!

Game Night

2011-07-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Our lady's bible study had a game night:

This is me playing Telephone Charades...above is how a missionary crosses a log bridge...below is how a Papua New Guinean crosses a log bridge, for serious! haha :)

This is Dr. Steph acting out how to plant kaukau...she did a great job!

We also played Claymania, a game where you sculpt things out a clay while people guess what you are sculpting.

And we played Jenga...classic!

Chocolate!

2011-07-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Did you know...

...cocoa grows in these pod-like things? The cocoa bean are covered in this white mucus-ish stuff that tastes really sweet!

Oops...

2011-04-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's official...we're the WORST bloggers in the history of the blog! Hopefully these posts will catch you up a little on what we've been up to lately. Should be a few more to come...but we're not going to promise anything! :)

Gumang Church

2011-04-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

Jordan recently preached at the Gumang Assembly of God Church. We took a bunch of maintenance guys with us. We practiced singing a song on the way there...they did great! It was fun to step out of our comfort zones a bit and experience a different style of worship! It was a great experience. Jordan had a wonderful message on Christ's redemption and the privilege we are given to share that message with others. Then, after the service, they blessed us with a TON of food!!

Egg Launch

2011-04-22T20:00:00.001-07:00

The Egg Launch
Scenario: you will be given an egg that will be launched from a trebuchet.
Your Mission: to construct a device that will protect your egg.

Completed Mission: Lydia, Jessica, Jordan
Failed Mission: Josiah, Ethan, Allison, Rachel

Maintenance Cook-Out

2011-04-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

We had the maintenance crew over for a cook-out one afternoon. It was a great time!

The many sides of Jordan

2011-04-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I married a very multi-talented man. While you may be aware that Jordan is an excellent carpenter, a talented musician, a history-buff, and works very well with kids...you may not be aware that he also has a green thumb (notice the sunflowers), is a very good cook, and is an amazing snorkeler. AND I have pictures to prove it...Isn't he the best!! :)
(...no, Jordan does not know about this blog. We'll see how long it stays up!)

Boat Race

2011-04-22T19:19:00.001-07:00

Jordan has taken over art this year...although, I'm not sure we can still call it "art." Anyways, one of his projects this year was to have the kids make boats. The boats were judged on appearance, raced down the river, and then put through rapids. It was very fun to watch!

It's Begining To Look Nothing Like Christmas...

2010-12-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

Ev'rywhere you go

Take a look at market stores
They're the same as they were before
With no candy canes or silver lanes aglow.

It's beginning to look nothing like Christmas
The same cheap junk in every store
But the prettiest site you'll see is your ghetto rigged Christmas tree
On your living room floor.

To see all our friends and be home once again
is the wish of Jordan and Rach
Still we love it here and are full of good cheer
and have plenty of cookies to bake

It's beginning to look nothing like Christmas
a new language you will start,
And the carols that you'll sing, will certainly have a new ring
Right within your heart

Rusty Oxygen Tanks / Silver Bells

City sidewalks, littered sidewalks
covered in buai spit
In the air there's a feeling
of more rain

Worn dirt paths
muddy dirt paths
traveling mile after mile
at every market place you'll surely hear

Rusty oxygen tanks, Old tire rims
It's Christmas time in New Guinea
Ring-a-link hear them clink
Soon it will be Christmas day

The power is off
there are no lights
to blink bright red or green
as the lady's walk home
with their KauKau

Rusty oxygen tanks, Old tire rims
It's Christmas time in New Guinea
Ring-a-link hear them clink
Soon it will be Christmas day

Though these songs are a bit dreary, we really do like Christmas time here in PNG. We really miss being home for Christmas in the snow with family and friends but this is probably the second best place to spend Christmas. (Just in case you were a bit confused, instead of ringing a bell, people pound an old oxygen tank or tire rim with a hammer or wrench... and buai is PNG's version of chewing tobacco.)

How to decorate a tree when you have no Christmas decorations:

2010-12-23T18:27:00.001-08:00

Step 1: Develop a love for scarves.
Step 2: Become crazy obsessed with knitting.
Step 3: Randomly knit things you have NO use for. (this requires strength and determination due to the fact that you may have a husband that continually questions why you are working on your 23rd hat while the other 22 are sitting in a basket on the floor in your livingroom)
Step 4: Find a tree in a pile of junk in maintenance.
Step 5: Ask your ever-so talented husband to construct a way for the tree to stand on its own.
Step 6: Place tree in your house and toss on your scarves and random knitting projects!
Tah-Dah!

Gingerbread Christmas Party

2010-12-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

All the missionaries got together to celebrate Christmas with a gingerbread themed Christmas party! We ate AMAZING food, had a great devotion, had a gingerbread house decorating contest, ate too much candy in the process, watched "Santa" hand out presents to the kids, and had an auction for other misc. gifts. While we really miss our family, especially during the holiday season, God has blessed us with an awesome, hilarious mission family!!

The Christmas Program

2010-12-11T23:03:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure we have the cutest missionary kids ever!!

Check out the high school's temple backdrop...Ethan would appreciate you taking special notice of the top right corner of the sky! ;)

Our Baby

2010-12-11T22:50:00.001-08:00

You will be happy to hear that Jordan and I have successfully planted, nurtured, and harvested our very own pineapple. We named him Herbert and then devoured him. He was delicious!!

Becky's Un-Staying Party

2010-12-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

Dr. Becky Wallace (above) has been our friend and neighbor for the last 15 months. She came to serve in the hospital for two years and unfortunately, her two years ended a little while ago. However, before she left we threw her an "Un-staying Party" with a Mad Hatter / Alice in Wonderland theme (the old Alice in Wonderland...not the creepy new one!) Of course, we all had to wear some kind of crazy hat (some more crazy than others). I got to put my undeveloped knitting skills to use and let my imagination go wild. These are the results! We miss you very very much Beck!! :)

Geneva and the Cake

2010-12-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

Geneva used to be the principal at the Nazarene Bible College, just down the road from Kudjip. She recently left PNG, but before she went we had a going-away party for her. I got to decorate her cake...which is suppose to be a Papua New Guinea kundu drum. It was a lot of fun to make!! Even though we didn't get to know Geneva all that well, we will definitely miss her English Lotu stories!

2010-11-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

The internet likes me again! :) More pics from mom and dad's trip.

Mom and Dad

2010-11-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, my parents were able to fly all the way to Papua New Guinea to see us. They were here for about 10 days that just flew by! We had a great time. The highlights of their time here were probably watching/making/eating a mumu (food cooked in a hole in the ground), hiking up a mountain to go to a bush church, touring Hagen, and going golfing! They were amazing...by the end of the 10 days, mom could dispose of cockroaches like you wouldn't believe and dad was pretty close to fluent in Melanesian Pidgin. I feel so blessed to have parent who are willing to fly thousands of miles to come visit us AND who were so eager to embrace the culture and the people here! :)
(Pictures aren't posting...hopefully more to come when the internet decides not to hate me!)

Spaghetti Bridges

2010-11-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

This blog is really really late BUT it’s about one of my favorite things I’ve done with the kids since I’ve been here so I thought I’d share anyway. At the end of last school year we had a “Math and Science Celebration.” The high schoolers (plus, Allie and Lydia) had to construct bridges out of a package of spaghetti noodles and a bottle of glue. At the party we had a contest to see whose bridge could hold the most weight. In the end, Quinton and Cilla were victorious with their “Chinese foot-bridge.”

Harvest Party

2010-11-26T22:26:00.001-08:00

Every year around Halloween, the missionaries have a Harvest Party. We have all sorts of fall treats and hobo-dinners on the fire. It’s great fun! Especially when people dress up!! In the pics we have Becky Wallace dressed up as a clown…Jordan came as a security guard (notice their unfortunate acronym!)…I came in some 80’s gear…my favorite was Judy, who came as a bride late to her own wedding…and Bill came as himself! J

School so far...

2010-09-22T21:32:00.001-07:00

School has officially started…well, actually we’ve been going for about the past 4 weeks. I thought it’s about time that I introduce you to my students this year (as of now…we’ll be having a few more join us later on in the year).

On the far left, we have Jessica Myers. She is a 10^th grader this year and is a wonderful student! Her hobbies include reading, emailing friends, working out in the fitness center, and making tortillas!

To the right of me, we have Ethan Myers, younger brother of Jessica. Ethan is a 7^th grader this year and is great at making us laugh! He enjoys hanging out in the maintenance workshop, playing basketball, tubing down the river, and reading Frank Peretti books!

On the far left, we have Allison Dooley. Allison is also a 7^th grader this year and is probably the sweetest person I’ve ever met. In her free time she likes to read, go tubing, play Settlers, and eat Chinese food!

So far, we’ve had a fabulous time together! How blessed am I that I get to teach such great kids!?!

They made it!!

2010-09-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Jim and Jane/Dad and Mom Thompson have finally arrived in Papua New Guinea! After some very long plane flights and a week in New Zealand they made it to our little corner of the world which we have called home for the past year. So far, they have gotten a tour of the station, met TONS of people, visited the local market, played basketball with the Nationals, grilled out on Jordan’s homemade grill, and eatin Rachel’s home cooking (and they haven’t even gotten sick yet!). :)

We can't praise God enough for allowing us to come and learn from the people in this beautiful place AND then get the opportunity to share all of this with our parents! God is amazing!

The Saw Cake

2010-09-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

The head of maintenance recently resigned, so on his last day of work we had a little get-together for him and his family. I was asked to make a cake and since Ruben started as a carpenter, I decided to make my first AND last “saw” cake (hopefully you could already tell what it was!). I was told that it tasted pretty good, which was such a relief since it was the first cake I’ve ever made from scratch and the last cake that I’ll ever decorate with so many little jagged edges! :)

The Gari Family

2010-09-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

John Gari is a national friend of ours. Jordan met John while he was working on a construction project and John was hired as a day laborer. John, and his wife Acada have, four boys…the youngest boy (who is about 1 month old) is one of Jordan’s many namesakes (ok, he only has two, but sure seems like a lot when you only have a half of a namesake!). I, however, find comfort in the fact that had baby Jordan been a girl, her name would have been Rachel…*sigh* so close!!

We recently had the whole family over for pizza (which they either loved OR did a great job pretending like they loved it!) and then visited them at their place just across the river. They are such a sweet family. They live in a bush house and eat whatever they can grow in their garden…like most Papua New Guineans. John often comes to visit, and frequently tells me that he is so sorry he can’t bring me any food from the garden because it’s dry season and things aren’t growing well. It’s so humbling to be told they feel bad that they (who have so little!) don’t have more to give us (who have so much!!).

Enduwa Kombuglu / Mt. Wilhelm

2010-08-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

At 14,793 ft Mt. Wilhelm or Enduwa Kombuglu is the tallest peak in Papua New Guinea. Myself with a group of 12 missionaries made the 4 hour drive to the base of the mountain on a Friday morning. When we drove as far as the roads would take us we had some lunch and began the 3 hour hike to base camp. Upon arrival at base camp we relaxed for a bit in the small cabin there at the edge of a lake and had some dinner. Most people went to sleep but I just couldn't sleep so I stayed awake with the guides, PNG nationals, and talked. The women wanted to sing me a song in their tribal language. Their tribal language is far beyond me so I didn't understand the song, exept for one word. The song included my name, but they didn't remember my name so they all sung "Rambo." I laughed and shook my head, most of the time the Rambo stuff is just silly, but this was actually pretty funny. Since they had sung me a traditional song of theirs they wanted me to sing some traditional songs from America. So I thought for a while, and sang "She'll be comin' round the mountain," and they wanted another so I sang "Take me out to the ball game" (root for the Cubies version), and they wanted another but 2 was enough. Sorry, back to the whole Wilhelm thing. So I eventual got to bed and we all got up around 4am the next morning. We got some breakfast and split up into 3 groups with a guide in each group and headed out in the dark to conquer PNG, so to speak. As we hiked the groups began to separate. My group consisted of Scott Riggins, a missionary at Kudjip who is very fit, Apa, a good national friend of mine, myself, and our guide.

Before we left Kudjip I told Rachel that I wanted to be in a group where I was not the slowest, and I certainly failed. Of course the guide was in good shape, Scott was doing just fine, and when I was sucking wind and my legs were burning I looked over at Apa and he wasn't even breathing hard. "I asked him "Apa are you tired at all?" Apa replied, "Oh no bro I'm not tired, but I can see that you are getting tired so I will pray for you." I appreciated the prayer, but I told Apa "If I ask you again if your tired, tell me that you are, even if you are doing fine, OK?" So in ten minutes or so I asked Apa "so are you tired yet?" and of course he replied, "no bro I am doing fine." Can't get upset with a guy for being honest.

So we were the first group to make it to the top, and eventually every group made it up. When we reached the summit we were in a cloud and couldn't see very far. But the wind was moving those clouds around so fast that there would be breaks in the sea of white for a few minutes at a time. During those breaks we enjoyed some breathtaking views that the camera just fails to relay.

We all made it down the mountain safely and made it back to our vehicles. That night we stayed in the cook house of one of our guides and the following morning headed back home.

All together it was a great trip that will be remembered as a highlight of my time here in PNG. It was great fun to be able share the experience with Apa, who makes everything a little more fun. It took a good deal of effort to get my big self up the mountain but it was well worth it.

Pic labels; Top left(Apa and I, Rachel knitted Apa a bright green hat so couldn't loose him) Top Right(Me on top of Wilhelm, Glad its all downhill from here) Mid Left (Apa about halfway to summit, Apa didn't have long pants so he borrowed some of mine, he rolled them up 8 times and needed a belt) Mid Right (the whole group at base camp) Bottom Left (The guides, Willie the guy with his hands up, has been to the top around 50 times) Bottom Right (The Bridge with 2 boards, we crossed a lot of bridges but this one only had two boards so we went slowly)

Apa Update

2010-07-21T19:11:00.001-07:00

You may have read our last post about our friend Apa. The last few years of his life have not been easy, but they tell an incredible story of faithfulness and redemption.

Becoming good friends with Apa and hearing his story has been a great blessing to my life. As the previous post stated, Apa used to lead a life of crime. Throughout the valley everyone knew the infamous name of Apa due to his intimidation and violence. I never knew Apa when he was so feared, and it is hard for me to imagine the kind hearted man I know now to have had such a violent reputation.

Through a near death experience Apa gave his life to the Lord and never looked back. Though he has the body of an NFL linebacker he doesn't seem to intimidate anyone. His heart has truly changed.

In the last post Apa had just lost his job as a security guard because of lies that his ex-wife had spread. Apa should have gotten his job back but there were to many complications. I am happy to report that Apa got a better paying job, with better hours working with the mission station maintenance (where I currently spend my days). Though Apa isn't skilled he makes a great laborer, carrying twice as much as I could and working twice as hard as most other guys.

Several months ago some of Apa's relatives took control of Apa's land and in the process burned down his homes, burned all of his possessions, killed his mother, and buried her where Apa could never find her to morn her death. In a conversation not long after this had happened Apa told me that he really wanted to go kill the people who had done this to him, he wanted to follow his instincts from his previous life. But he told me that even though he wanted to go kill, Jesus wanted him to forgive. That his homes, his land, his coffee gardens, and all of his possessions were just that, possessions. That the most important thing was that he continue to follow Jesus. The thing that hit me the hardest was when Apa told me he was tempted to forget he was a Christian for a few days so he could seek revenge, and then return back to faith and ask forgiveness. He ultimately resisted that temptation, but really made me think.

As Apa tells it, "My life is so much greater now that I have given my life to Jesus, I am very sorry for the things I used to do but I do not like to think about those things. God has a plan for me and that makes me very happy, I am people's friend now, and not their enemy."

Since Apa was not able to pay the bride price, his wife's parents took her back which broke up the marriage. Things are still the same today, he is able to pay the bride price, but she is not interested in going back. This has left Apa a single father. His children are staying with relatives of to keep them away from the feud here, and his youngest son, Bobby, stays here on the station with him.

Through all of this Apa stays optimistic. Optimistic for the plans God has for his future, and for as Apa says "forever in heaven with Jesus."

Apa would like to save up enough money to go to bible college and become a pastor. This would be a long hard path of study for him since he does not have the proper education to go strait into bible classes. But we are doing our best to encourage him to become a pastor. His testimony, passion, and faith will surely make him a great preacher and spiritual leader.

PMV

2010-07-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Public Motor Vehicle, or PMV, is almost every Papua New Guinean's form of transportation. A PMV is simply a private owned van, truck, or bus that drives to and from local villages and towns. To qualify your vehicle as a PMV you simply show the right people that you have a form of transportation and a drivers license and your off. It seems like a quick vehicle safety inspection wouldn't be to much trouble for the authorities, and it would certainly give me greater peace of mind when riding in one.

There are several types of PMV's. There is the luxurious Coaster bus which seats 20 or so comfortably, is usually holding 35. There is also the van that seats 12 comfortably but will hold up to 25. Lastly there is my favorite, the PMV Dyna. A Dyna is a common term for a large truck with a small cab and a long flat bed. These Dyna PMV's will hold as many people as you can stuff onto the bed, sometimes standing room only.
The fair for a PMV ride averages out to around 5 cents per kilometer. Though much less comfortable and less convenient, it is much cheaper to take a PMV than take your own car and pay for the fuel. This is mostly because the driver of the PMV is paying for the fuel himself so he is trying to stuff as many bodies into the vehicle as possible.

Trying to get a PMV, more specifically the right PMV can be difficult. Most places we go to get a PMV, there are several waiting for passengers and they are all going different places. Sometimes there is a man hanging out the side yelling where the PMV is headed, but some times they just assume you know where they are going. The man yelling out the side is always speaking very quickly, repeating the destination so fast that it takes me a bit to understand what he is saying. During the time I am processing the info the man hanging out the side always looks at me like I'm an idiot. Example, a lot of PMV's go to a large town nearby called Hagen or Hagen town. The man hanging outside the PMV going to Hagen will say something like "hagetonhagetonhagetonhageton" in less than a second, and somehow I am supposed to decipher what that means.

My favorite part about the PMV's is that the owners like to label or name them. Names like Peace Maker, Fun Bus, Round About, Hugs and Kisses, or Nancy. But the greatest PMV name of all has to be the infamous "Lek Nogut" which means "bad leg" or when talking about a vehicle it would mean "bad wheel." I don't think I want to get into a PMV with a self proclaimed bad wheel. Later I learned that the driver of Lek Nogut had a bum leg and named his ride the same as his disability.

Rachel and the Giant Lau Lau

2010-07-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

Lau Lau: Large, crunchy fruit similar to the malay apple. Well flavored, although having a subtle sweet taste. Native to Papua New Guinea and some South Pacific Islands.

My definition of a Lau Lau: A fruit that looks like it would taste good and has the texture of an apple. However, expecting a delicious apple flavor only leads to disappointment. Expecting more of a radish flavor would be more appropriate for this nasty little fruit! :)

2010-06-27T02:58:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a bush church and after the service I was talking to a bunch of young girls. As I was talking, I started to fix my ponytail and saw all of them starring at my hair in awe! So, I took my hair down and let them play with it! They all wanted to feel it but were trying to be as gentle as
possible! It was so cute!

Playing "Baby Jesus"

2010-06-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

We have the most adorable little neighbor kids, Aden and Wiley Riggins. The other day they came to the door and asked if Uncle Jordan and I would like to come play "Baby Jesus" with them. Apparently, they needed a Mary and Joseph and Jordan and I fit the description.

Between our houses there is a small dip in the ground where the grass is always a little longer. This is, of course, the manger. Lawn chairs are pulled off the Riggin's porch and are used as the sheep. There must be a shepherd, a Mary, a Joseph, and a baby Jesus...occasionally there is also a baby Noah (Aden and Wiley's baby brother) thrown into the mix. If, for some reason, there are not enough people, it's common for each person to be two or three of the characters at once.

The game is played like this...the person playing baby Jesus rolls around in the "manger." The shepherd sits near the "sheep" and Mary and Joseph sit near the "manger." Then we all switch roles! It's great fun!! We love our neighbors!!

Baby Jordan

2010-06-23T23:49:00.000-07:00

We recently had Pastor Dan, his wife, and his little son over for lunch. If you have read past blogs you know that Dan works with Jordan in maintenance and his son is Jordan's name sake. I got to hold little Jordan after we ate and he DIDN'T cry!! In fact, he fell asleep in my arms. Little Jordan is now my new favorite PNG baby!! :)

Jordan's New Kicks

2010-06-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

Jordan brought two pairs of fairly new tennis shoes with him to PNG. Both those pairs of shoes lasted him a grand total of about 9 months. The soles of both of them are now barely attached to the rest of the shoe. It recently became necessary that he finds another pair of tennis shoes. Shipping from America sounded a little too expensive so we decided to look here in PNG...more specifically, Hagen (the town we do all of our monthly shopping). This month when we went grocery shopping we also kept our eyes open for shoes. We found some good ones...the problem: Jordan wears a size 11 and the biggest size we could find of ANY shoe was a 9 (people have small feet here). It wasn't until we got to the last store that we found a pair of shoes that fit!
The winner: a ghetto fabulous pair of knock-off Air Jordan's!!
The pictures just don't do them justice! I'm not sure how long these will actually last since they seem so cheap...but they will do the job for now. :)

knitting

2010-05-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I (Rachel) borrowed some knitting needles and decided that I was going to teach myself how to knit. I've crocheted for a several years and I wanted to try something new!
After knitting random trapezoids and a lopsided bag that took me WAY longer than it should have...I was ready to quit! UNTIL Gail Dooley came back from furlough (a four month assignment to America) and saved my knitting future. Apparently, she had learned to knit while she was back in the states and brought back, not only her knowledge, but an amazing stash of knitting supplies! She taught me how to make a hat and let me borrow all her stuff and now I've been knitting like CRAZY (just ask Jordan...I'm insane!) So far I've made 9 hats, 2 slippers (not a pair of slippers, two different slippers...I used scrap yarn and now can't make a matching slipper for either), and a mitten. I'm currently working on another hat and my first sock! It's fabulous!! :)
Some questions you may be asking yourself:

You live about a mile away from the equator and about two miles away from the sun...why are you making stocking hats?
-Three reasons...they are super fast and easy to make! For some strange reason, Papua New Guineans where stocking hats?? I guess it does get a little chilly in the morning?? AND I know other people who live in a land of ice and snow for 4 months out of the year...what better gift than a hat custom made for them!?!

Where do you get yarn?
- Yarn (or rope as it's called here) is sold EVERYWHERE! Every woman I know uses yarn to make things called bilums, which is basically a purse or bag. They use all different types of colors and patterns! Unfortunately, it's a very thin, cheap, acrylic yarn. When it's used to making a bilum they twist two strands of it together to make it stronger. BUT I've adapted my knitting to make it work...using two strands of it at a time as well.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of my projects!! I used my students as my models. :) Oh, and this guy in the picture...his name in Pastor Dan. He works in maintenance with Jordan. He came over for lunch I gave him a choice out of 4 hats and he chose this one...I think he liked the pompom on top...go figure?

Digging

2010-05-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

If any form of digging where in the Olympics Papua New Guinea would bring home the gold every year. And as long as it was a summer sport they just might have a few medal sweeps (I don't think a PNG native would handle the winter to well).

Before we arrived in PNG I considered myself to be pretty handy with a shovel, spade, or any digging utensil. But digging next to a national, I feel like a one armed third grader. Using a spade is simply part of any Papua New Guinean's lifestyle. They are particularly good at digging what they call a barret, which is a square ditch to drain water from a garden, house, or anywhere you don't want excess water. When I say square ditch I mean square. There is great pride in digging a barret with strait sides and a flat bottom.

The picture above is from a project I started a few weeks ago. The hole is for the footing of a small building to house a new generator for the station (CAT Gen Set, all the way from Illinois). Before the ditch filled with rain water I took my framing square and set it on the bottom corner of the hole. Though I was impressed, I was not surprised to find that the ditch was perfectly square all the way around the 7meter by 6meter building. Just to humor them I took the level and checked several points in the ditch to find that the bottom was perfectly level (amazing since the only tool they had was a spade).

Normally the hole would have been dug by our backhoe, but since it is out of commission it had to be dug by hand. To my surprise it only took two days and three guys to dig out for the footings.

Whenever I am supervising a project I try to "get in there" and do the work with them as much as I can. But when it comes to any form of digging I just get out the way so I don't embarrass myself.

Names

2010-05-05T05:42:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was doing a little digging with some of the maintenance workers and realized the names of the fellas I was working with. Simon, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, and John. Except for Luke, we pretty much had the whole New Testament.
That's all, nothing to merit a long post but worthy of mentioning.

Warakar

2010-04-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Warakar is a fairly remote village about 30 min drive and 45 min walk from the station we live on. I was invited to go by a friend who works for the maintenance crew here on station. Of coarse I jumped at the opportunity to go. It's always a treat to go visit the "bush" to go for a hike and see how the majority of people in the highlands of PNG live. This however, was not the typical hiking trip I was used to. The day before the hike I got a letter from the Warakar village leader via my maintenance friend. The letter read very nicely at the beginning talking about how he and his people were exited about my upcoming visit, but the second half was concerning to say the least. The later half of the letter said things about Rachel and I promising to come back to PNG in 3 years to start an orphanage in the Warakar village. Like I said before this was concerning since we had made no such promise. Putting the pleasent first half of the letter in context with the second half made it clear the hike was intended to be a scouting visit for the potential orphanage.

Luckily I was able to express my concerns with Dan, my maintenance friend, before he left that day. Thankfully he shared my concerns and said that if he had read the letter he would have never given it to me. I did the best I could to tell Dan that he needed to go back to his village that night and make it clear that we were just coming for a hike, not a scouting visit. I feared that though Dan was not in agreement with the village leader, the rest of the village may be expecting something of me that I can't deliver.
After some good advice from a full time missionary here on station, Dan and I departed for his village early in the morning. To get to the village we took two PMVs (public motor vehicles), essentially just vans that people pile in to get around for a little money. When we went as far as a PMV would go we push started an old beat up truck that took us a few miles. When we were a far as the truck would take us we walked for another 45 min or so. Finally to the village I was greeted by what seemed to be the entire village. Probably the most interesting greeting I have ever received in my life was by and old man with no teeth who shook my hand, told me that I had big muscles, then proceeded to squeeze my arms, shoulders, and chest with both hands. After recovering from being felt up by a toothless old man we took off on our hike. We hiked for 3 hours or so up and down the mountain side seeing some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever laid my eyes on. The main highlight of the hike was a waterfall that was about 400 ft tall where the water crashed on a ledge and just exploded into mist. I took at least 20 pictures of the waterfall but none of them come even close to capturing the beauty of it all. This was probably the most difficult hike I have ever been on walking up and down streams, crossing rivers, and other things that I will not mention since I know that my mother reads this blog.

The whole experience is one that I will not soon forget. I got to meet some people who were unbelievably kind and hospitable considering my refusal to start an orphanage. I also got to meet my first name-sake, little Jordan the first son of my friend Dan and his wife. Rachel and I have started a small competition of who can have the most name-sakes before we leave PNG. In case you are interested, I am winning Jordan:1, Rachel:1/2 (Dichel, half DIane half raCHEL). Though we make light of it all with a competition I can't help from feeling honored.

Though the concerns with the whole orphanage thing, the people of Warakar have a great need for a school. When Dan was a young he had to walk 2 and 1/2 hours just to get to school, that's five hours of walking every day and it is still that way today. This great distance from school has lead to almost all of the children in the village not attending any kind of school. I am not sure what the best course of action is for the people of Warakar to remedy their education needs, but I know that God has a plan for it all. So please pray for Warakar.

Apa

2010-04-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

This is a post written by Dr. Andy Bennet, a full time medical missionary, on his blog site http://day-in-paradise.blogspot.com/. A good friend of mine (Apa) has not had it easy the last few years and has recently had more heart ache. Dr. Any knows Apa better than I and can tell you his story with greater accuracy and tact.

I didn't know how one life could contain so much heartbreak.

He was born with deformed hands. His left hand has a normal thumb and one finger. His right hand has a thumb and 3 fused fingers. Somehow, he seems to be able to handle things and do basic sorts of work.

Although raised in the church, he had never asked Jesus into his life. He followed a life of crime.

By about 2 years ago, he was married and had 3 children. As the only son in his family, he had inherited a large piece of land, and felt pretty well set.

Then one rainy night, he was walking along a familiar path near a river with his 4 year-old son on his shoulders. He was depending on his knowledge of the route, along with the dim moonlight of an overcast night. What he didn't know, and couldn't see, was that there was a place where the heavy rains had washed a section of the path into the stream. He stepped off into the washed-out section and fell and tumbled into the river. He grasped his son's leg with his left hand, but his arm struck a stone, which loosened his grip. They both plunged into the cold, rain-swollen water. He was disoriented at first--perhaps he also struck his head in the fall. In the swirling water he heard a voice saying, "give your life to Jesus." The words were repeated 2 times. There in the blackness, he gave his life to Jesus. Quickly his mind cleared, and he was able to lunge to the surface of the water.

Apa called his son's name, and thrashed around in the water trying to find his son, but to no avail. It was not until 3 days later that the little boy's body was found, some distance downstream.

Sometime after this, his wife's family came and took her away from Apa. He had not paid any bride price at the time of the marriage, and because he couldn't work for wages (no one would hire him because of his had deformities), and because he didn't have any brothers or other close relatives to help him, he had not been able to pay, and her family had allowed him to postpone payment. But now their patience was at an end. Besides, they accused him of killing his son. If they were serious about this accusation, I don't know why they didn't try to take the other children away from him, but they didn't.

He was recently able to get a job as a security guard at the hospital, and thing were looking up. He assumed that if he could save up some money to pay bride price, he would get his wife back. A friend even offered a generous gift to help with the bride price. But then it became obvious that she did not want to come back to him. There were rumors that she had moved in with another man. Then she went to his employer with false accusations that lead to the loss of his job.

A few weeks ago, it became obvious that some of Apa's cousins were determined to take his land away from him. His coffee gardens were about his only source of income. Because there were many male cousins to divide their family's land, they didn't have much for each one of them. They told Apa that they wanted the land. However, Apa's mother was living on the land, and she had enough influence in the tribe to make it difficult for them.

Last week, Apa's relatives accused his mother of using sorcery to cause the death of another relative. In many deaths, especially ones that aren't understood, it is assumed that sorcery is involved. It is culturally acceptable to take revenge on sorcerers, and the sorcerer's family has no right of counter revenge. It therefore becomes convenient to bring an accusation of sorcery against someone whom one wants to hurt or kill. So the cousins accused Apa's mother of sorcery. They found her in the market, with Apa's 2 children. They attacked her and killed her.

They apparently intended to kill the children as well. The little girl was left on the ground unconscious, and assumed dead. The little boy got lost in the crowd, and was rescued by a female relative, who hid him under her coat. The murderers carried the body of Apa's mother away, and buried her in a location that is unknown to Apa, to deny him of the ability to hold a proper funeral and burial for her. After the murderers left, someone noted that the little girl was still breathing, and she was brought to the hospital, where she recovered. Both children are now safe with other relatives.

Finally, the relatives have burned Apa's house, along with all his possessions. The items he mentioned specifically that were lost were his Bibles.

He came to the house Sunday afternoon, along with Simon and Esther, mutual friends. We had known bits and pieces of his story, but not many of the details. Obviously, most of what has happened to Apa can't be fixed, but we are going to try to help with a few things. Judy had a new Bible which had not yet started "feeling like mine", and she gave it to him. I know someone who can talk to his former boss to see if there is a possibility of getting the job back, and I have shared the story with him. Apa has been given a little cash to help with immediate expenses. Most of all, we are requesting your prayers for him.

Late note: Apa may be getting his job back. His wife, who works at the hospital will probably be reprimanded for lying to the security company and getting him fired, and if he doesn't get the job back, she will probably be fired. A tiny shred of justice in this painful situation.

We're back in the land of blogging!

2010-04-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Alrighty...so we may have underestimated our ability to maintain a blog. Apparently you have to write things now and then and we are amazingly good at putting that off!
BUT we are prepared to give it another shot!! YAY! Part of our problem may have been that we felt the need to write about huge exciting things and now that we are in some what of a routine, big exciting things don't seem to happen quite as often....SO our blogs will now be about things that happen in our normal day. Hopefully some of you will find that interesting!?!

To get you a little caught up...here are some of the things we've learned so far:

-Pineapples grow on low spiky bush like plants...NOT trees.
-Peanuts that come right out of the ground don't actually taste like a peanut. Apparently it has to be roasted first before it tastes like the familiar nut we all know and love. (AND...this just in...raw peanuts can grow a deadly fungus! Good reason to roast them!)
-96% of dogs are NOT friendly.
-A banana tree will only produce one bunch of bananas.
- If you are a child and haven't seen a white person before...we are very very scary!
- There is a difference between sugar fruit, passion fruit, and tree tomatoes...even though they still all look the same to me!
-The local tribal language sounds like it's about 90% vowels, 6% consonants, and 4% grunts. (Thank goodness we can communicate in Pidgin instead!)
- Sarcasm does not translate.
-Everyone despises the Chinese for their cheap products.
-Everything moves a little slower in PNG. Jordan's new rule is to estimate the time to finish something and then double it.
-There is no such thing as standing in line. You just work your way to the front of the crowd to get what you need.
-Be mindful of the babies you hold, some of them are....well...some of them are not properly "sealed"
-AND most importantly...God is SO faithful!

Hopefully we'll have more blogs soon!! :)

My Friend Jon

2010-02-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have been friends with Jon Opa since the first week Rachel and I arrived in PNG. Jon was working on the new hospital as a painter. Jon's skills as painter leave something to be desired but, after seeing the other guys paint, Jon is a pro. Anyway, Jon is not the smartest person you will meet but he has a heart made of gold. But Jon is more than a painter and a nice guy, he is a quote machine! His English is pretty good, but he still doesn't understand that different cultures have different social standards. All that on top of not have a verbal filter makes for some pretty funny stuff. Every time I see him he will say something that makes me want to burst out in laughter, but I have to hold it in because he didn't say it to make me laugh, he said it to be informative. He are a few of the most memorable Jon Opa quotes...

-"Jordan is like my son, they are both very fat, and my son he takes after his mother." (This isn't as insulting as it might seem, being a little fat in PNG is a good thing since it means you are healthy and well fed.)
-"When I was young, one day I went to Mt. Hagen (a large town near by) and I got very drunk. Since I was drunk I started to play card games for money, and I took everyone's money. Then I ran away because I was afraid the men would want their money back.
-"In PNG we do not like our wives, we like our children. Our wives give us the children, so that is good, but we like our children more."

There are many others, but those seem to be a good sample of the hilarity of Jon.

Soon after i became friends with Jon I learned that he, like many other nationals, did not know his age let alone his birthday. So I declared that he would turn 53 on October 22nd (just an educated guess). So when October 22nd rolled around Jon came over for lunch and I gave him an umbrella, a practical gift in the land of constant rain. I told Jon, "this umbrella is for you, you can't give it to anyone else". By then I had figured out that Jon liked to give things to his family, which is great but he really needed that umbrella. From his house, Jon walks an hour and a half down the mountain to the hospital station and if it is raining he holds a piece of cardboard above his head the whole way down and the whole way back up. In spite of my insisting, Jon gave the umbrella to his wife so that she could have some shade while selling extra fruits and vegetables at the local market. (So Jon really does love his wife he just loves his kids a lot more)

Jon's heart really is made of gold when he is with his young grandson (pictured above). He loves that kid more than life itself. Jon makes about 60 cents an hour, when he has a job, so he doesn't have a whole lot of money. But when he does have money he does what ever he can to make the lives of his son and grandson better than the life he has had. Jon's shoes are always falling apart yet when he does get some money he will buy shoes for his grandson and everyone else in his family before he buys anything for himself.

Jon's life has not been easy and hearing the stories of his youth makes me very thankful for the life, opportunities, and safety I have had. When Jon was young he lived on the land he does right now, but before Jon came of age his father died. After his father's passing his mother took Jon back to the village she was from, a long way from here and any familiarity young Jon had. Once Jon came of age he moved back to his fathers land the land that was rightfully his and began a life of his own. But moving back to his fathers land meant that he was leaving his family, his seven sisters, some he has not seen or heard from since. Jon told me that he thinks four of his sisters are dead and three are still alive, but he only knows the whereabouts of two. But Jon did make the tough decision to leave his family and start a new one of his own. In starting his own family Jon married not one but two wives, an acceptable practice for non-Christians in PNG. After becoming a Christian Jon repented the error of his ways and gave his second wife the choice of staying with him and his first wife only as a worker, not a wife. Or returning to her parents free to remarry if she wished since the second wife's marriage to Jon was not valid in the eyes of God. She returned back to her parents. Also before becoming a Christian Jon was not afraid to fight in tribal disputes. I won't go into detail but Jon sustained a bullet wound to the neck which nearly took his life. Since He gave his life to the lord Jon does his best to avoid fighting since he knows that is not how God wants him or his people to settle their disputes.

Jon's life has been noticeably changed by God through Jon's faith and commitment. He says he is happier now with his life than he ever was when he was getting drunk, fighting, or had two wives. His life is a true testament to the will of God being fulfilled not only for the good of our faith but for the good of our own lives here on earth. Seeing Jon's commitment to his family and the sacrifices he so willing makes for them everyday brings new insight to what my parents did for me, and what Rachel's parents did for her. Like Jon they sacrificed of themselves to give their family the best they could. Without our parents support throughout our lives we would not be able to be here right now. Weather or not they knew it, they were fulfilling God's will in preparing us for the ministry we are involved in right now. And for all this, Rachel and I are thankful. Thankful to our families, and thankful to our God who provides.

Madang!!

2010-01-04T22:40:00.000-08:00

School on Christmas Break + In between construction projects + Super nice missionary family willing to share their vacation with us = Trip to MADANG!!

Madang: a city on the coast about a 10 hour drive from Kudjip
Climate: Hot and humid
Scenery: Beautiful blue ocean in one direction, misty mountains in the other direction
Best known for: HAHA, well, I’m not sure but they have some pretty sweet resorts and great snorkeling
Duration of our trip: 1 week!

Those who went:
- Jordan and myself (HA! Hopefully you already had that one figured out!)
- Andy and Judy Bennett (Missionaries who are now known to us as the King of Coffee and
the Queen of Snorkeling!!)
- Alanna Watton (volunteer staying with the Bennetts…and she’s super fun to vacation with)
- Dave and Rosie Kerr (Missionaries over at the Bible college…also fun to vaca with!)
- Grace and Anna Kerr (Children of Dave and Rosie…these two girls have more energy than I
can ever hope to have in the rest of my life combined)
- Sparkles, Sweetie Bear, Cinderella, and Pretty (misc stuffed animals belonging to Grace and
Anna)

Our trip down:
- Miserable for some and only slightly miserable for others. The roads aren’t really that great but in addition you have to factor in car sickness and certain people already being puking sick before we even left. I would try to describe some of the potholes but you wouldn’t believe me!

Our stay in Madang:
- We stayed in a house that belonged to Pioneers Bible Translators. The house had 3 bedrooms and air conditioning…yay! We ate a few lunches and one dinner at restaurants but we ate in the house most other nights. We also had some pretty amazing neighbors who felt the need to share their music, conversations, and arguments with us by doing everything at very large decibel levels! Most nights, after dinner, we would play a game…usually Settlers of Cataan! If you have never played…you’re missing out! If you’ve played as much as we have…you’d need a break from the game for a while!

The fun stuff:
- SNORKELING!! Three of the days that we were in Madang we went to a resort called Jais Aben (pronunciation is debatable) where they have AMAZING snorkeling! AND this was my (Rachel) first time ever snorkeling…I picked a good time to start! After much convincing from Jordan that the tube was actually wide enough to provide a sufficient amount of air to my lungs…I started out on my first snorkeling adventure. We saw all sorts of BEAUTIFUL fish and coral!!
- PIG ISLAND!! A remote island about a 15-30 minute boat ride off shore. I pretended like I was stranded and had to think of ways to keep myself alive. After smashing open two rotten coconuts, briefly trying to start a fire, and gulping salt water…I realized I would probably die if I was really stranded. BUT I had a great time…it was probably my favorite part of the trip!
- CHILLAXING (chilling and relaxing)!!
Conclusion:
- We are so grateful to the Bennett family for including us in their trip! We feel very blessed to have gotten the chance to hang out with the Kerrs, Alanna, and the Bennetts! God has placed some really sweet people in our lives!!
- Our trip was super fun and we hardly even got sunburned!!

I'm dreaming of a Green Christmas.....

2009-12-24T04:41:00.000-08:00

...just like the ones I've never known
where the banana trees are drippin'
and the Thompson's are wishin'
to be, back home in the snow

I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas
with every blog post that I write
may your days be merry and dry
and may all your Christmas's be White

It doesn't really seem like Christmas since it's 75 degrees outside and we haven't seen a flake of snow since last march, but I guess we will just have to suffer through it :)
Please pray for us and our feelings of home sickness as we spend our first Christmas without our families. Even more importantly please pray that the people in America, PNG, and all around the world would celebrate the truth of the Christmas rather than materialism.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Who is John Rambo?

2009-12-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

If you ask a Papua New Guinea native, who is John Rambo? some will tell you that he is a film maker who came to Papua New Guinea to make a documentary. Others may only know that he is a film maker. So why ramble on about this John Rambo guy? Well... apparently I am easily mistaken for the man known as John Rambo from the 1980's blockbusters Rambo 1 through 4. I haven't gotten a hair cut for a while and being a big white person has lead to the idea that I not only look like him but could be mistaken for Sylvester Stallone (the actor who plays John Rambo). Just this morning a man near the grocery store approached me, shook my hand, and said good morning John Rambo. It wasn't a question at all, he sincerely thought that I was the one and only Rambo. It took a little convincing from Rachel that I was not Rambo, and that I just looked like him.

An interesting note is that the people here can not wrap their mind's around the idea that Rambo is only a character being played by an actor, and if he is real it must be a documentary. Also the setting for the Rambo movies is in the jungle, and to some nationals if it looks like a PNG setting it must be in PNG.

The man near the grocery store was not the first to mistake me for John Rambo, people from far away bush churches who have extremely limited access to TV and movies have seen the resemblance. In the more remote area's of the country their are small huts called picture house's where someone has acquired enough money to get a generator, a tiny TV, and an old used VHS player. In these huts they charge a little money for people to watch an old VHS from America and apparently Rambo 1, 2, 3, and 4 are very popular. So everyone seems to have seen at least one Rambo movie.

At first I didn't mind people thinking I was Stallone, in fact it was quite flattering since he is ripped in all the pictures I've seen (I looked at plenty of pictures on Google images of Stallone denying any resemblance to the seeming dim witted actor). But the more I hear from people saying hello John Rambo..., the more I worry about them always identifying me as the man who looks like Rambo rather than the man who preached that sermon or who helped build that home in the name of God. Those are the impressions that I want to leave on the people here, not that I look like a guy from a movie.

The thought of pretending that I actually am Rambo did cross my mind. I thought that maybe they would be so impressed with the heroism of Rambo that they would respect me so much that they would hang on every word I had to say about God and salvation. But I pretty sure God doesn't want our evangelism to be through or based on a lie.

Rachel vs. The Spider

2009-11-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

I’ve always taken some pride in the fact that bugs didn’t scare me or gross me out. In fact, I seem to have had a special place in my heart for worms and caterpillars. Mom has told me that when I was little, if I found a caterpillar or earthworm in the yard, I would put them on my arms and “take them for rides” on my tricycle. Apparently, I thought they enjoyed this. Spiders, on the other hand, I didn’t feel the desire to offer a thrill ride to the end of the driveway, however, I’ve never been afraid of them…until now.

In our house we have a backdoor that doesn’t get used very often. We really only go out there when we are taking out compost, burning garbage, or doing something in the garden. On this particular day, I was taking out the compost. As I opened the backdoor, I was looking down, noticing how much the little porch needed to be swept off. When I finally looked up I realized I was about an inch and half away from walking into a gigantic spider (NOT just the spider WEB….the ACTUAL SPIDER). He was at the perfect height to land directly on my forehead!

Now, let me tell you a little about this spider (since we were all “up close and personal” I got a pretty good look at him). His body was gray and about the size of my thumb. He had a black head with red pinchers and little black eyes that I just knew were looking at me…wondering what I tasted like. His legs were skinny and long. If you included his legs, he was about the size of my hand.

My neighbors should be thankful I’m not a screamer. Instead, I gasped and stepped back very slowly. What happened next is probably what caused the death of this horrible little creature…I just stood there! I was about a foot away from him now, unable to move, and letting my imagination run wild. I thought about what it would have been like to have actually walked into him and have him on my head right now. These thoughts sent chills up and down my body. Once I had finished playing the scene through my head I knew that, unless I disposed of this spider, my imaginary spider attack could eventually become reality. So I grabbed the tool that was closest to the door, our bush knife (basically a large machete). Without thinking, I sliced at the top of the spider web that was holding him and he fell to the porch near my feet. Then, another wave a panic swept though my body as I allowed my imagination to picture him running into the house through the open door behind me. After composing myself a little, I positioned my hands on the bush knife with my best golf grip and chipped him into the grass (Dad should be so proud…I had my pointer finger and pinky linked and everything!).

Now, if you ask Jordan (who wasn’t there at the time), he will tell you that I hunted down the spider to kill him in cold blood. I would like to defend myself by saying that, while I do believe I hunted him down, I did it for the good of the entire mission station! Anyways, I found him in the grass and poked pretty hard with the point of the bush knife. BUT he started to run away so I knew I was going to have to take drastic measures. First I chopped him in half, but would you believe that the front of that little stinker was still trying to run away. So, I proceeded to hack at him with the bush knife (a tool that was probably a little bit larger than the job required) until he was definitely dead. Again, it was for the good of the ENTIRE mission station...in fact, probably for the good of all PNG. Who knows what that spider was capable of?

Moral of the Story: Next time you have a little spider in your house, be thankful you don’t have a giant spider on your head!

Mmmm...Bats

2009-11-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday I experienced something very new. It was exciting, entertaining, and weird all at the same time. Myself and a volunteer, who is here for a month, took a long hike up one of the near by mountains with a national friend of mine. The hike was up a decent sized mountain so it was fairly tiring but any exhaustion was well worth the view of the the large valley below and the feeling of just being deep in the jungle. As we hiked we picked up a few more nationals who wanted to tag along, like women and children. Now, before leaving on this hike I was under the impression that it would be fairly long and hard, not a trip for women and children to come on. But they came, and made me feel like less of a man. The kids were running up and down the path playing games while some of the women were carrying trees they had cut down for poles in their home. All the while, here I am going at a decent pace but with no extra energy to play games or carry anything more than my 15 pound pack. I guess it is their home and has been their entire life. And I've lived in Illinois my whole life so I'm sure I could have smoked those kids on flat ground, so I gain some man points back, right? Anyway, aside from my shame, the hike was a great experience.
We were not just hiking for the sake of seeing the bush, we had a goal to see and explore a cave near the peak of the mountain. Along the way up we picked up Pastor David, who's family owns the land that the cave is on, without him we would have had to pay the owner of the land to go in the cave. As we got closer to the cave my anticipation was growing, not only to explore inside, but to stop walking uphill, which we had been doing for 3 and 1/2 hours. Also as we grew closer to the cave the nationals started cutting down branches with lots of twigs on them, I wasn't sure why they were doing this but I didn't ask questions.
After crossing over a fallen tree and stumbling down a small hill we we finally made it to the cave next to a small mountain stream. After a short rest we got our headlights on and went in. The only real climbing we had to do was at the beginning, repelling down a waterfall to get into the cave. Once inside, my national friend handed me a tree branch and told me to spread out from everyone else. I complied not thinking to ask why because I was busy checking out the first room inside the cave. What I hadn't noticed while checking out the cave was that Pastor David went on in the cave deeper on his own to scare up the bats, and he did a good job, because soon after he went in there were bats flying everywhere. It seemed that they liked to fly right at my face and turn at the last second because of their sonar. After recovering from the shock of bats flying at my face I noticed that everyone was swinging their branches attempting to hit and kill the bats. They wanted the bats for food since their protein intake is limited so they will eat what ever animal they can get their hands on, even bat. I started in on the swinging, not because I was hungry but because I didn't like them flying at my face. Soon swinging at the bats was less protection and more sport, we were counting to see how many each of us could kill (I only got 4). We must have killed around fifty bats between the five of us, at least thirty of the kills were Pastor David, he has been killing bats for food since he was a kid so experience must help. (You may ask yourself..."So did they put the bats in a bag and carry them home?" Oh no my friends, they stuffed their cargo pockets full of dead bats. As many as they could fit!) The bat killing was merely a side activity to climbing down the cave. We went through holes that were no more than 2 feet square to enter rooms the size of our house. Through underground streams, up and down guano (bat poop) covered rocks, and to the back end of the 600 ft deep cave. The air was cool and my pants were wet as we sat down at the bottom to take a break. As we sat their we decided to turn all of our lights out. The pure darkness and silence at the bottom of that cave was so peaceful, for that minute that our lights were out I was completely alone.
We climbed back out of the cave with minimal wrong turns and got out safe and sound with nothing more than a few scratches. Once out we dusted ourselves off, refilled our water in the mountain stream and began the long walk home. We had planned to stop and make a fire to roast our bats on the way down the mountain but a thunderstorm rolled in quickly so we had to skip the bats to make it home before we had a Mount Humbolt experience (inside joke for the Sauder family)
The whole day was an exhausting one, but like anything else in PNG the pain is well worth the reward. Seeing the deep parts of the bush and having so many new experiences made it well worth while and I will go back again soon for sure.
Oh, by the way, for all those serious animal lovers out their who might have a problem with us killing fifty bats... we were merely controlling the population in the cave.

Engage Magazine

2009-11-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to an online magazine that has a few articles about the new hospital and the transition that is taking place from November 4 through November 6. Also there are a few nice pics from the old hospital and construction of the new.

http://engagemagazine.com/Magazine-Content/Articles/November-2009/Kudjip-Nazarene-Hospital-moves-to-new-medical-comp.aspx

Sunday October 25

2009-10-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week I was asked by a pastor to speak at a church on Sunday, he told me that I could give a short devotion for about 5 min and he would preach the rest of the sermon. As the week went on every time I talked to the pastor he talked me into speaking just a little longer until he somehow got me to agree to preach the entire sermon. Now I would have been happy to preach without any reservations if I were able to speak in English. But my reservations laid in the fact that I have only been here for 7 weeks and I barely know their trade language. The church we were going to was a church way out in the bush where the members barely knew pidgin let alone English. But none the less God was with me and encouraged me to take another leap and go to this place to preach his word. The process of getting to the church could be a whole blog post in itself but I will spare you the details. In short we took the PMV (public motor vehicle) with the pastor down the road from the hospital about 10 miles for 1 kina (about 40 cents). Then we walked up a small mountain till we got to the church; interesting side note, the church was such a bush church that they didn’t even have a building, they just sat on the grass outside. This is pretty neat because they didn’t seem at all concerned with the fact that they didn’t have a building, and it was a great model for the church all over the world. When Paul talks about the church he is not talking about a building he is talking about a body of believers in fellowship with one another. Today we tend to think of the church as a building and not a body of people, but at this place all they had was their fellowship, no building yet they still call themselves a church. As we were walking up the mountain together the pastor sprung new information on me. He let me know that once we were done speaking at the church without a building, we would be going to another church that was a 30 min walk farther up the mountain. It was funny how I had first agreed to talk at a church for 5 min and it grew giving full on back to back sermons. As we were waiting for the service to start at the first church we got news that the church I was going to speak at second was coming down the mountain to the first church to combine services. So I only preached once. Once the service was over and I was all out of pidgin words to say we sat around and talked with the people there. Their pidgin was not that good since they rarely use it, they were much more comfortable with their tok ples (native/tribal language) so having conversations with them was difficult. But through the language barriers we still had a great time and the people of the church at Tombil seemed pleased that we came (Rachel and I were, somehow, the first missionaries to speak at this church and the first white people some of the children had ever seen).

This experience was both exhausting and exiting all at the same time. There are so many frustration things here in PNG yet for everything that is frustrating or emotionally draining there are three more things that can make you smile or lift your spirits.

MUMU!!!

2009-10-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. This past weekend we had plans to write you all but this weekend was just crazy. Friday Rachel’s students we’re all on weekend getaways with their parents so Rachel got to shadow a doctor for the morning. She got to see all kinds of weird things, people, cases, and some crazy stories from the patients. In the afternoon Rachel worked with me, helping me with my lists of things that need to be done to finish the new hospital. It was nice to have a helper that spoke fluent English. The date for the hospital move is set for November 4 and there is still a lot to be done. So myself and the other workmen have started working much longer days to make sure the new buildings are ready for the move.

On Saturday we went to our first Mumu (moo-moo). A mumu is a traditional feast here in PNG to celebrate just about anything. The main food is mostly pork, a delicacy, along with chicken, cooking bananas (really gross and starchy), and lots of greens. That morning we left our house at about 8am (very early for a Saturday) and walked down the road about 2 miles to a village where a fellow workman lives. He invited us to come to the mumu to celebrate the naming of his new granddaughter. We arrived just after they killed the pig and they had just started to kill the chickens (talk about fresh meat). We were encouraged to watch them operate (gut) the pig, which Rachel found very interesting but I could only watch half of it. After the pigs guts were everywhere and the pigs fat was cut out and laid on the ground in front of me they started a huge fire. When the fire was hot enough they put stones from the river on the fire to heat them. Once the fire burned down to ashes they placed the stones in a big hole with fresh cut green banana leaves. Once the stones were in and the leaves were set they proceeded to pile in the Kaikai (food). A huge pile of greens went in, then some bananas, then more greens, then some cowcow (sweet potatoes, a staple food), then the pig (that’s right all of it, everything but the guts and bones), then more greens, more bananas, more cowcow, and more greens. Once all of the food was in a giant pile in the steaming pit, they covered it all up with more banana leaves. The banana leaves have a lot of moister and evaporate easily, this causes a lot of steam inside the pit and that is what cooks the food. 60 minutes, a hike up a mountain to see a waterfall, a tour of the 500 person village, and a baby naming ceremony later, the food was ready. Before I talk more about the food I have to mention that the baby girl was partly named after Rachel. Rachel and I were with another missionary couple named Mike and Diane Chapman, they wanted to name the baby after some missionaries (which is a common thing to do) so they made a hybrid name from Rachel and Diane to name the baby, Dichel (they pronounced it Dishel, they can’t make the “ch” sound very well). So Rachel has half of a namesake. Ok, back to the food, since we are missionaries and white people they insisted that we eat first and gave us a giant plate piled high with food. The natives know that Americans like the meaty parts of the pig so they happily take the fattiest parts they can get to let the missionaries have the meat (it’s kind of gross watching them take massive bites of pure fat and chew for minutes.) There was no way we could eat all of the food given to us and we were told that we were expected to take some home. So we pulled off all the meat we could, took a few gross bananas, left the nasty greens and a pile of bones and fat (which they love), thanked them for everything, and went home. We got home around 3pm exhausted, and I went to the new hospital to work with some of the guys who were working on their day off. I was so tired but I couldn’t let them slave away while I’m napping and sipping cool water. I got home from work at about 5:30, and thankfully someone had invited us over for dinner that night so neither of us had to even think about what to make for dinner. We enjoyed our Chinese dinner that night and played a quick game of settlers (a popular missionary board game) and went home early to gear up for all that Sunday had in store.

More about Sunday October, 25 in the next post

Blessings

2009-10-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

To almost every Papua New Guinean their garden is their life. A woman’s full time job is tending the garden to provide food for her family. Typically, a family’s only source of food is their own garden. I was first under the impression that the unemployment rate was nearly 85% primarily because people chose not to work and that they were content with living a subsistent lifestyle. I recently learned that most Papua New Guineans would much rather work and buy their food like you and I do, but there simply are no jobs for them. Because they are unable to work they are forced to garden/farm what they need to survive. Thankfully the ground here is very fertile and the rain is more than plentiful. If it were not for the ideal farming conditions and the 365 day growing season I don’t know how the people here would survive.
Rachel and I recently started our own very small garden, laughable compared to the fields of fruits and vegetables that a national tends to. In America we do so much to make sure our crops and plants get enough water to survive, sometimes we even build ditches and large sprinklers to get water to our crops, plants, and grass. In PNG we do the opposite, there is too much water! We dig barrets, small ditches, along the edges of the gardens to take the massive amounts of water away.

Though the nationals here say they would much rather buy their food, they have become accustomed and happy with their lifestyle. This is such a testament to God’s provisions and blessings each of us. The people here are not able to work but God has provided the resources, tools, and knowledge to produce food for themselves.

An American may observe the lifestyle of a Papua New Guinean and say they have so little, how can they consider themselves blessed, and if they could observe my life they would say God has truly blessed me. Yet a national friend I work with named John said that he and most Christian nationals consider themselves to be blessed because of the salvation from sin and death God gave them. He went on to explain to me that they do not consider worldly items to be blessings, and that he sees having a lot of things as the contradiction of a blessing. John’s point was simple yet powerful. The things we have and consider blessings from God may be the opposite of a blessing, something that hinders our relationship with him.

This post is now far from talking about gardens or subsistence farming, but there seems to be a lesson in faith around every corner. Today’s was John’s simply profound words that the one true blessing we have is the blessing of Salvation.

We’re not in Kansas/Illinois anymore!

2009-10-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

I’m not exactly sure what culture shock is. I don’t know if I’ve gone through it already or if it’s waiting somewhere ready to strike me when I least expect it. Perhaps I’ll never go through it at all considering our house and all the missionaries here make life seem very similar to life back in the States. BUT I do have a story in which I was quite “shocked” by this culture.
Let me start my story out with a few details. First of all, Liz Hollenberg told me similar story before I left for PNG but I guess I had to see it happen myself in order for it to have an impact. Secondly, there is a very common tool used here called a bush knife. Basically it’s a machete. It seems as though EVERY male and some females have one with them at all times. From what I’ve been told, they use them to cut their way through brush, clear land for gardens and such, build houses, and if needed…they will use them as a weapon in a fight. (Don’t worry mom and dad…they don’t fight around us!!)

The second Sunday we were here one of doctors at the hospital was invited to speak at a “bush church” (a church in a fairly remote area). Since we were some of the newbies at the time, we were invited to go with. We jumped at the chance to go out into the bush and “experience” the culture!! The church ended up being a small hut of a building with woven walls, a thatch roof, and dirt floors covered by a grass mat. There were no seats so we sat on the floor (which I have come to prefer over hard wooden benches with no backs). Typically, women and children sit on one side and men on the other…so I found myself sitting next to a little boy. On his other side sat a woman who I assumed was his mother. After all the singing was over and the pastor began his sermon, the little boy began to get a little whiney and fidgety. (It reminded me of the days when we would get a little cranky in church and mom would pull a Tupperware container of cheerios out of her bag…or maybe even a coloring book) Since this was what I was used to it didn’t surprise me when the lady started to rummage through her bag. In my head I was even thinking, “See, this lady isn’t even that much different from my own mother.” When she apparently found what she was looking for, she pulled out a pair of scissors. For a moment, I was a little disappointed. She wasn’t looking for something to keep her child quiet…she must have found an out of place thread. BUT to my shock she handed the scissors to the boy!! This is what she had decided would keep her child occupied. (Important point: these were NOT some plastic fisher price scissors. They were big and metal and sharp). Of course the little boy took them, happy to have something to play with and put them directly into his mouth while his mother turned her attention back to the sermon. I tried to do the same but the boy began to swing the scissors around and eventually I began to fear for the boy’s fingers, my skirt, my skin, his mother’s arm, etc! Finally the mother moved the boy to the other side of her so that my life was no longer in danger, but I did feel the need to look over at the boy every once in a while to make sure that none of his fingers or toes were missing. I’m happy to report that we all left the church with our appendages intact.

I’m not sure why this shocked me as much as it did…especially considering I now remember seeing very young boys a little older than this fellow carrying bush knifes. BUT, for some reason this is the moment I remember realizing…”This culture is very different from ours!”

A whole month? No way!

2009-10-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

It’s really been 4 weeks since we arrived and the time has flown by. Yet looking back on the past 30 days, a lot has been accomplished. Rachel and I are both well acclimated, not only to the mile high elevation, but to our new lifestyle here. After getting settled into our new home, recovering from 15 hours of jet lag, and meeting all the new people here we are starting to feel at home. Though we are beginning to feel somewhat comfortable we are still looking forward to the countless things this place has to offer.

Truly God has shown us that big homes, nice cars, and the American dream is not the place to find happiness. It is in relationship with him. The thought that keeps coming to mind is that we are equal to each person here. I may have a car, a bank account, and a computer but the man I am working next to whose pair of new boots is his most prized possession is my brother. God desires the same from us both, to honor him in what we say and do.

The new hospital is very close to being finished. The project has been finishing for nearly 4 months now. The anticipation of moving the hospital instruments and supplies into the new buildings is growing. Giving an estimated time of when the new hospital will be done and things can be moved seems to be a running joke around here. I have heard estimated times from October 1st to November 15th of when things can be moved. The Hospital move doesn’t concern Rachel at all, but my job is now focused on finalizing lists of small projects that need to be done for the hospital to be ready.

Rachel’s job is going well. She’s got her teachin’ “groove” back and seems to have a really good handle on her classroom and how it runs. She is most excited about the series of art projects we are doing with the students every Friday afternoon. Rach decided to go with a theme on Surrealism. The kids seem to really like the projects. Surrealism is something that the students have never done before, so they not only have a creative outlet but they are learning something along the way.

Please let us know how you all are doing, we love getting emails from people back home. Updates on what’s new in the family, news from church, or just a funny story, we want to hear it all. Our email is Jordan.rachel.thompson@gmail.com

Sorry no Melanesian Pidgin translations this week. But I do have a puzzle for you all! The following is a bible verse from the New Testament in pidgin. Take a guess and let me know what you think by email, or you can just enjoy the jumble of letters below.

“God i got wanpela pikinini tasol i stap. Tasol God i laikim tumas olgeta manmeri bilong graun, olsem na em i givim dispela wanpela pikinini long ol. Em I makim olsem bilong olgeta manmeri i bilip long em ol i no ken lus. Nogat. Bai ol i kisim laip i stap gut oltaim oltaim.

Enjoy!

3 Weeks

2009-09-23T19:39:00.001-07:00

It’s been 3 weeks!
If you so choose, throughout this post you shall receive your first lesson in Melanesian Pidgin (the trade/common language in Papua New Guinea). The words in parentheses are Pidgin for the English word or phrase that proceeds.
Jordan’s job
On Wednesdays and Friday afternoons I work at the High School writing American History lesson plans and helping Rachel (Meri bilong mi)grade. The rest of the week I work (mi wokim) with the construction crews, working on various projects. Most recently I built a shed for the Generator (haus bilong generetor) to power the new hospital’s operating room (operatim rum bilong nupela haus sik). The electricity goes out a lot so a reliable generator with high output is a must. All of the guys I work with are nationals, native to PNG, and speak only a little (lik lik) English. Communicating with them is very frustrating and slow (isi isi) but it has forced me to learn (skul) Pidgin, their trade language, quickly. I’m nowhere near fluent yet but I can understand them if they talk slowly (tok isi isi) and I slowly can get my point across to them. My grammar is terrible because I only know Pidgin words, so I simply say the Pidgin (tok pisin) words in the same order as I would in English. Apparently when I talk like this, it is hilarious to them because they know what I’m trying to say, but I’m nowhere near the correct grammar. At least we can communicate and I’ve been told that everyone appreciates Americans attempting the language even if it sounds terrible.
The wood (diwai) here is ridiculously heavy! I carried some timber(diwai) to a site and I could only carry two 10ft 3x2’s at a time. The wood is still wet and seems to be about three times the weight it would be dry. Another “joy” to the wood being wet it that it takes forever to cut. I’ve never seen a blade create smoke until I got here. Also, driving a nail takes about twice as many hammer swings as it would with dry timber. And when you drive a nail the wood bleeds a clear/white liquid. The first (pastaim) time I drove a nail a few drops of liquid hit my face and I thought it was raining till I realized it was just the wood’s juices splashing on me!
There are 4 construction projects going and enough tools for 2 projects. So there is a lot of walking (wokabout) back and forth between sites to find and trade tools. All of these small (lik lik) setbacks make things move very slowly. It gets frustrating to work a whole day and not get much done. But for every aspect that is frustrating there is something refreshing or pleasant (amamas o amamas).
All of the nationals are so nice to us and are eager to meet us, shake our hands, and have a good laugh (lap). We (mipela) can walk anywhere without someone saying good afternoon (apinun) with a big smile. And all we have to do is look up to see and amazing view. It has been three weeks since we arrived and I still can get over how beautiful this place is. We are surrounded by mountains that are in the clouds. Pictures just don’t do justice to the beauty of this place.

Things I miss from home:
-The comfort of Family and Friends
-A hot shower for more than 20 sec with enough pressure to wash my hair
-Restaurants (making every meal from scratch is getting old)
-TV (I haven’t seen a Bears game this year or a Cubs game since we left, and we are going to have to wait to see the last season of Lost!!!)

Things I will miss when we leave PNG:
-The people and their unbridled willingness to talk with you
-The amazing scenery and landscape everywhere you go
-The Pineapple (mmmm… so fresh and juicy, we could eat a whole one every day!)
-The Coffee (The valley we are in is full of coffee and tea plantations, it is so fresh and so good!)

Please Pray for:
-Jordan’s patience
-A man named Boni Guli, a fellow carpenter, who had over a year’s wages stolen from his home Monday.
-The ministry done here in Kudjip would be more than a healthcare provider, that we would inspire people to be strong Christians and further the Kingdom of God.

First Week

2009-09-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

I just finished my first week of school. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. The first three days one of the missionary moms, Kathy, (the one who had been doing my job until I got there), was in the classroom with me showing me how everything worked and where things were at...I was overwhelmed for a while. There are only four students (who are very smart and polite) but they each have 6 or 7 subjects. I'm responsible for doing their planning, grading, and answering questions for each of their subjects. Most of the lessons are on DVDs that the students watch and they are responsible for following my plan (doing which lesson I tell them to do that day), getting their homework to me, and letting me know if I need to give them a test or quiz. It's been funny because the first day I was like "No problem...this is the easiest job ever! I only have 4 students...I'm used to 120...piece of cake!" But the next day, Kathy i think let me take over a little more and I felt like the whole day I was constantly being asked for a test or quiz (that I had no idea which of the fifty books it was in) or was given homework assignments that needed to be graded before they started the next lesson(and wasn't sure where the answer keys were), all while trying to plan our their schedules for the next 2 weeks (without knowing for sure where they were in the books). It was crazy! But now, they have their schedules, I know where things are a lot better, and I have more time to grade things as they get turned in. I'm enjoying it a lot more now than I did the second day. I'm even begining to plan a semester long art lesson/project for them. Jordan got his assignment the other day...he will be working with the building guys for most of the week, helping to finish up the new hospital so that they can get moved in! Right now his job is to go around and find mistakes that were made (which apparently there are a lot of) and fix them. Plus, he is going to be in the high school a little bit helping me grade and possibly doing a history projects with the kids. Later he will a be leading a bible study with the HS boys and helping with some history related things at the MK elementary school.
Other interesting things:
- We began our Pidgin lessons this week
- Cockroaches here are the size of my thumb and like to crawl into the middle of our bedroom...roll over...and play dead.
- We haven't gotten sick yet! (well, i had a cold but that doesn't count)
- We went to our first "bush" church. It was awesome...we were greeted with lais (flower necklaces)...we sat on the ground...the church was a grass hut...we didn't understand a word...children were staring at us the whole service...it was fun!
- Our neighbors have all the seasons of LOST! So we borrowed season I and have been watching them on the laptop.
- The view from our backyard is amazing! I'll send pictures later...don't let me forget!
- I played basketball in a skirt for the first time the other day...and I helped with PE on Tuesday which was tennis! (tennis is very exciting here, there are so many cracks and holes on the court you never know where the ball will go!!)

We're HERE!!!

2009-09-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived on tuesday afternoon. And have had a whirlwind of things to do since then. Tuesday we got a little settled in to our new home and got to eat dinner at the Radcliff's home. The Radcliff family has been here in PNG for nearly 25 and are highly regarded among all missionaries in the country. Yesterday(wednesday) we experianced something very new, food shopping. Since the store is 45 min away we can only go once a month for food. This means we not only have to figure out what we can eat, we need to buy enough food for a month. The whole process took several hours and was suprizingly draining. Today we are about to get a tour of the Hospital grounds from the children, so we are looking forward to accually finding out how to get around this place! Please continue to pray for us and the people serving here in Kudjip PNG.

In Port Moresby

2009-08-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

We're here in Port Moresby waiting on our last flight to Mt Hagen. The feild office worker from Kudjip is here in the capital with a few doctors for a conference, so we are on his laptop now. Sorry if my writing is uncreative or drab but we are really starting to feel the jet lag. We're are about to head out to lunch with some of the doctors at a hotel near by and then we have our 1 hour flight to Mt Hagen and will get to Kudjip at around 5pm. It's a funny feeling, being so exited and anxious as well as being sleep deprived and stressed all on top of seeing all there is here in Port Moresby. We'll be sure to put a new post up soon after we get settled in Kudjip. Until then...

In Singapore

2009-08-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Singapore!!! after a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong and a 3 1/2 hour flight to Singapore we are here and exhausted. We are lucky enough to stay with the Ward family here in Singapore. The Ward's served in PNG for 21 years and are now here in Malaysia as directors for Missions in this region. I would love to write more but I'm pretty tired since we left at Eureka at 7am on Sat. the 29th and we just arrived here at 1am Monday the 31st (Crazy time change=massive jet lag). So good night, or good afternoon, whatever it is in your neck of the woods!

Got our Tickets

2009-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

We finally have all of our visas and our plane tickets! Rachel and I will be leaving on Sat the 29th and getting to the Hospital in Kudjip Papua New Guinea on Sept 2, which is sooner than we recently thought. Rachel and I are both exited and nervous the the adventure that is so close but once seemed so far away. It is only by the grace and love of God that we are able to embark on such a mission. We have seen that God works on his time, not ours, and learned a great deal about patience in the last few months. Wow, we haven't even left yet and God has taught us so much already. Also we would not survive with out your prayer support from our family, friends, and church families, for that we say thank you!
This is the first of many posts on our blog. We will be posting here and sending emails regularly, so please feel free to check out how we are doing any time and let us know how you are doing back in your neck of the woods.