What's New....

Here is a quick update to let you know what is new in our life….

Things have been really busy for us around here.  Caleb’s work has picked up again since things are being stolen from our center.  He has been working with the local police and the guard contract security company to try and recover the stolen property.  If you could please keep his job and the safety and security of the people living here with us in your prayers.

 

Benjamin has been doing very well considering that I have started working more regularly and started coaching the high school soccer team.  He goes to Daycare about 3 mornings a week. Above is a picture of him with his teachers- Tisa Maisen is on the left and Tisa Romis is on the right.  We call it school even though it is more like a playdate.  When he gets there, he runs right in and tells me he is not going to cry.  He likes to tell the world that he is a big boy now.  They usually start the morning off with some freetime where the kids play with all the toys.  Then, they go into storytime and singing time.  After they sing, they all eat a snack, then head outside to play on playground.  Since it is rainy season, the weather is pretty predictable.  There is usually lots of sunshine in the morning….then around 2pm or 3pm, the big thunder clouds roll in and drop buckets and buckets of rain on us.  Ben gets picked up (usually by Caleb on the motorcycle) around 12pm and they both meet me at home for lunch!  Ben has stopped taking an afternoon nap….it has been replaced by a quiet time instead.  So, on the days he goes in to Daycare, he is usually beyond tired when bed time rolls around.

 

I have really enjoyed coaching Girls’ High School soccer.  I am going to be the Assistant Coach, but the Head Coach was in Wewak (a coastal town) and missed the first 5 practices.  We had about 24-26 girls show up at the beginning.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about planning out the practices for the girls.  We started with a lot of running and conditioning.  The first week, I had to figure out which girls would be on A team and which ones would be on B team…..since anyone in grades 7-12^th can come out to try out.  I think we have the teams figured out…..but I would not be surprised (with injuries or other things) if they all get a chance to practice together and play together.  Time will tell…..Needless to say, I have really enjoyed spending time with this girls (3 afternoons a week).  They are such great kids and they are all really working hard to improve.  Our first game will be this Friday!!  Wish us luck!

 

I still feel like a majority of my time here in PNG has been spent making food from scratch, potty training Benjamin and adjusting to living this far away from everything I once held so tightly.  But, lately, I have been blessed to spend some precious moments with my haus meri (or house mary). Her name is Priscilla (and she is pictured above).

 

Priscilla comes to help me with the dishes and laundry and some cleaning twice a week.  She is a God-Sent.  She lives in the neighboring village and walks here to our center every day to work at someone’s house.  I am not sure how you feel about having “a maid”, which is essentially what she is.  But, it is culturally expected to have one here.

 

Recently, I have asked Priscilla to come three mornings a week for the next month.  Usually, she helps me on Mondays and Fridays.  Now, she has been coming on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Usually, she helps my friend Jessie on Wednesday mornings.  But, Jessie has recently left for the village (she’s a translator) and will be gone for about a month.  I asked Priscilla to come and help me for two reasons 1) I really want her to continue to have the same amount of money each week and 2) I really need her help now that I am working so much.  But, something wonderful has developed through this time.  Now that she comes three days a week, I have asked her if she would like to sit down and do a short time of Bible study and prayer.  She agreed and we have met twice so far.

 

Priscilla went through grade 8 here in Papua New Guinea.  She comes from a large family….and her father was not able to put her through any additional schooling.  Most Papua New Guineans have land….this land produces what they need to survive….food and the materials for building a house.  Money is mostly used for school fees, getting from one place to the next, paying the bride price for a marriage, or beer. Priscilla has shared with me that her father is a “man bilong spark”….he drank away her school fees.  Priscilla’s mother died a few years back.

 

Anyway, before I left the States, my Ladies’ Bible Study gave me devotional “Jesus Calling”.  A few times, I noticed Priscilla had stopped to read it during her morning tea break.  So, now, on Friday mornings, we sit down together with this book, an English Bible, a Tok Pisin Bible and some yummy breakfast type cake.  Priscilla reads the devotion in English to me.  Then, I try and translate it back in Tok Pisin to her.  This is a great way for her to work on her English and for me to work on my Tok Pisin.  There are about 3 or 4 Bible passages at the end of the short devotional.  She reads the verse(s) in English and then I read it in Tok Pisin.  We then talk about our lives and what is going on and what we need prayer for.  Then, we both take turns praying for each other.

 

Lest you think better of me than you ought….let me clear this up.  I am not witnessing to Priscilla.  She is a single mom of 3 who has faced tremendous hardships in her life.  Her village was burned twice in this year alone……and her house is gone (PNG houses take about a year to rebuild).  Her sister died a couple of months ago and life is just really hard for her because she doesn’t live in a village where God’s peace has been able to stay for any length of time.  But, in the midst of this, she has held onto her faith and trusted God through it all.  I feel as if I have more to learn from her than she from me.  But, it has been SO nice to share with her and pray with her and encourage her.  I know that God can use this time we have together for good…..and  I am so blessed to live here and have this opportunity.  It is moments like this that I know will change me forever….I just will not be able to look at life the same way again having known her….

 

It is hard to live here….knowing that so many people are supporting our work here…..and though I clearly see how much of an influence Caleb’s work is having directly on Bible translation, it is hard to see where I fit in at times.  I get so caught up in being a mom and doing all the things that I feel just have to be done on any given day. But, when it is time to go back to the States, I do not want to look back on this time and think, “What have I done?”  Instead, I want to look back on this time and think, “How have I chaged/grown?”  And, it is through relationships like this one…..relationships with my new Papua New Guinea sisters in my Bible Study, relationships with these amazing missionary kids……that I know will change me and mould me more into the person God would have me be……