Starting Over...

It is surreal….we have now been in our new “home” for the past 4 days. It is like literally starting over. All the other phases of our training involved a beginning and not-too-distant end. Now, however, we find ourselves wanting to fit in this time….wanting to like it here….wanting to pace ourselves so we don’t burn out….wanting so many different things. 

 

I am trying to figure out where I should begin.  We arrived on Tuesday afternoon around 11am PNG time. Wow!  What a flight.  This was the first time that I ever boarded a plane without “checking in”. The organization we are with has their own plane which came to pick us up.  It was a twin engine aircraft that is capable of carrying over 800kilos. Our flight was all of me, Caleb, Ben, our friend from Argentina named Mariela, the pilot and a bunch of stuff.  We flew under the cloud cover, which made for a brilliant display of PNG landscape. We left the coast and traveled to the highlands…where the sites are different, but equally breath-taking.  (I am going to experiment with uploading pictures)

 

 

 

 

I have to admit that I was a little scared as we started our descent. But, we arrived safe and sound….and it was an experience of a lifetime.

 

We were welcomed by our “fellowship family” when we arrived at the airport. Also, our friends Kelly, Paul and their two children Piper and Will were there to greet us.  It was so nice to see familiar faces.  Our fellowship family had rented a car for the day….score!  They loaded us up with all our stuff and took us to our new apartment.  We also used the car to get ID badges, drop off our computers, etc etc.

 

We are living in what is called “the four-plex”. There are four apartments joined together.  Our apartment has a big open area for the kitchen, living room and dining room.  We have a dining room table that would easily fit 8 people.  There is one bathroom and three bedrooms.  Our crate had already arrived, so after a quick trip to the store to buy breakfast items, we got to work unpacking.  Lunches and dinners were set up for us for the first three days. We were able to meet some new faces and have many questions answered immediately.

 

Orientation began immediately on Wednesday morning.  On Wednesday night, we were invited over to Benji and Ester’s house. They served a delicious fajita meal.  Halfway through the meal, Caleb looked at me and said, “This is good chicken”. Ester then looked at her husband and said, “Yes!  They thought it was chicken!!”  We were eating crocodile!  Turns out, crocodile is a pretty inexpensive meat here that takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it in.  (I now have a 500kg stash of it in my freezer so that I can try and cook it another time).  Everything in moderation, right?

 

Thursday was spent with orientation in the morning then unpacking in the afternoon.  Both mornings, Ben went to the nursery here. After crying for literally only 5 seconds, he warmed right up and enjoyed the time playing with other friends.  His diarrhea is gone now….we are just hoping that it won’t come back.

 

 Today (Friday), we had our last orientation in the morning and then took a trip to the nearest town, Kainantu. Caleb got a driver’s license. I thought about getting one myself, but realized….what’s the point?  I can’t even drive a stick shift with my right hand…how would I manage to do it with my left hand??  Instead, I went second hand clothes shopping and walked away with three shirts for less than a $1.  Nice!  When we were on the coast, it was MUCH more expensive.  Tonight, we went to a pizza night that the local high school puts on every Friday night when school is in session.  We got to meet many more people our age which was refreshing.  (We were the only young couple at our last training which lasted over 3 months.)

 

Tomorrow, we already have a guitar hero “play date”.  We were invited over to a couple’s house who has AWESOME electronics…..if you recall, we were given a Wii before we left and the Guitar Hero game.  This couple has a projector with a screen that pulls down. We plan to play for 6 straight hours (it has been a loooong time).  It will be nice to get to know another family.  After we rock out, we will eat dinner with them….which is even better!

 

I am really tired….so I think I will head to bed.  We are here safe and sound. Thank you for all your prayers and financial support over the last couple of months since we left the states.  The next few weeks will be spend transitioning.  Caleb has already met with the men here who have been doing his role for the last couple of months. We have been reminded over and over again how he is filling a role that has not had a permanent person in it for a LOOOOONG time.  I think everyone is ready to hand over the role to him so that they can all go back to the jobs they came here to do in the first place.  By supporting us, you are allowing translators and pilots and aircraft mechanics and the like go back to their primary jobs…..which furthers Bible Translation.  Please pray as Caleb jumps into his role next week and begins making relationships with all the people he will be working with.  We now live in a very multi-national place….which makes his job even harder.  Also, please pray as I feel out how I will be involved.  I would like to try using my Spiritual Gifts here instead of my accounting skills. God could change this path later…..but currently, I really want to get involved in Member Care….or some sort of role where I can help provide Christian Care to the missionaries and expatriates that live here.  They have so many things that they deal with on a regular basis that goes “un-processed”  and not thought through or talked about.  This can easily lead to burn out which means they have to go home and may never return to the mission field.  I hope that I can find a way to be a listening ear and encourager to all the women God puts in my path.

 

Yeah…that’s about it for now.  We will be working on our newsletter…stay tuned!  It will have more information and pictures from the last three months.