Home Assignment 2019

Hi Friends!

We wanted to let you know we'll be back in the States THIS summer...June 3rd to September 15th!!  We'll mostly be in the Central IL area.  We'd love to get together! 

See you soon!

Miles and Dirt

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Macaroni and Cheese

Flip and Flop

Milk and Cookies

MILES and DIRT

They just go together.  And add in a shovel...AW MAN!  You have one happy boy!!

We recently had a new water tank put in by our house.  The workers, Apa and Elijah, were thrilled to hand Miles a shovel and teach him how to shovel the rocks and dirt.  And Miles was quite pleased to be "helping!"

Wapi

Do you ever have those days when you start to make dinner and realize that you have NO vegetables in your house to have with dinner (okay, okay....I mean the vegetables that you once had are now in a soupy, rotten goo at the bottom of your vegetable drawer in your fridge...and you're ignoring them because that's just something you can't deal with that day??), and you can't run out to the grocery store because it's 45 minutes away and just driving to the market means that you have to get a car and figure out what to do with your children and you're out of cash anyways so it wouldn't matter if you had a car and childcare??

On those days it's.....WAPI to the RESCUE!!!!

Wapi is a sweet old man, who is one of the few people in the highlands of Papua New Guinea to grow asparagus.  He comes door to door to sell us his asparagus and occasionally brings other various vegetables.  To my door....the vegetables are brought RIGHT. TO. MY. DOOR!!!

Thank you, Lord, for Wapi!

New Staff Houses Opening

Yesterday we celebrated the completion of 10 of the houses for our hospital nursing staff.  The houses are sweet and simple.  They have three small bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, an open living/dining area, and front and back porch.   

This is one of the rows of houses where they "cut the ribbon."

The men in the yellow vests are the project workers who built the houses. 

It was sweet to see how much pride they took in being a part of providing these houses for the hospital.

Jordan and Dr Andy Bennett

Just a boy rocking his crop top!  :)

Miles was woken up from his nap to attend the ceremony...so he was craaaaaaanky!!  But our little Graham cracker was his usual happy self!  

Also not pictured (because we can't all get out of the house that early), that morning Jordan was given the honor of killing one of the pigs they cooked for the party.  

**STOP reading now if you want to remember Jordan as a kind and gentle soul**

One hit...with a 2x4...between the eyes...the pig went down like a sack of potatoes.   OR so I've been told.

Maria John

If you've come to visit Kudjip, there is a good chance you've met John Opa.

We've known John for as long as we've been in PNG...he introduces himself as our PNG papa and us as his family.  I've lost track of how many times we've been to his home on top of a nearby mountain, and he's one of Miles's favorite Papua New Guineans.

John and his wife, Maria, need our prayers.  Maria either has a brain tumor or TB in her brain.  Unfortunately, she hasn't been responding to the TB meds, which means cancer is the more likely and untreatable option.  We are thankful Maria knows and loves the Lord.  Pray for Maria.  Pray for healing.  Pray for John. Pray for their son Peter and daughter-in-law, Rosemary.  Pray for their grandchildren, Junior and Rachel.  

Lena

One of my favorite people in the world is my sweet sweet friend, Lena.

I hired her a couple years ago to help me when I was getting overwhelmed with housework...but over the years she has become a wonderful blessing in my life.  She has an amazing heart of compassion and kindness that shines the light of Jesus!  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to visit with her when she comes over once a week.  I enjoy the casual chats we have about what's going on in the villages around us...but she also lets me ask difficult questions, when I'm not understanding something about the PNG culture or language, without judgement.

I'm also thankful for her willingness to help me clean (I know I would be drowning in housework without her!), and her patience with Miles who is continuously by her side asking, "Whatcha doin, Lena?  Whatcha doin?" or "Lena, come play toys? Come on?"

Miles adores Lena, and she will always lovingly take a few minutes to play on the floor with him or involve him in her work.

Thank you, Lord for Lena's friendship!

Our Normal: Water

After living in Papua New Guinea for 6 years certain things have become our 'normal'.  However, after each home assignment I realize how different somethings are compared to life in America.  For example...our source of water.  See those two big metal tanks?  Our entire gutter system flows into those two rain tanks.  Rain water is what flows out of every faucet in our house, it fills our toilet, flows into my washing machine, and comes out our shower head.  If we want drinking water we filter it first through a filter that sits on our counter in the kitchen.  On the very top of our roof is a solar panel that heats our water.

Usually in PNG it rains almost everyday and keeps our tanks quite full.  However, there are times when rain is more sparse and we need to go into water conservation mode.  That means we collect the water before it gets hot to put in our water filter before filling the sink to wash the dishes.  We shower less (and wear more deodorant...yikes!), Miles gets a very shallow bath, and we use that water to flush our toilets.

It's not always the most convenient...but we are ALWAYS thankful we don't have to bucket water up from the river!!  We've also been thankful for some heavy rains in the last few days that have filled our tanks!