Until Next Time!

OK, between catching up on work, catching up on family and technology related issues, this blog has become increasingly anti-climactic. Instead of making more hollow promises and being unsure whether I can actually follow-through in a timely fashion I am going to sign off indefenitely on this blog for now. I wish there was some way to keep track of those who are sincerely interested in information and highlights of Dan and Amy's PNG ministry as well as our specific time there during this trip. There is so much to share and so much opportunity for the Gospel to go forward and I don't want any of us to miss an opportunity to be involved through prayer support and even tangible gifts to the expansion project they are looking to begin that could double the capacity for the college to send out nationals into the harvest, it truly is ripe!

The best way I can think of doing this right now is to provide you all an email address... dtrondle@gmail.com for you to send me a personal message and I'll send anyone who is interested in future updates and information a reply email as they transpire. I'm sure there is a better way but I don't have the capacity to figure it out right now:(! The other option is for you to post a comment with your email address to this thread and I'll note that in my contact management system.

Thanks so much for the amazing support we received while on our trip and please continue to pray and communicate with Dan and Amy (again their blog is http://www.thyng.abwe.org/blog) and the rest of the family. To Gob be the Glory!

Sorry

Sorry for the delay on posting more vids... Having trouble uploading videos as well as with my editing software... trying to fix both issues soon and will try to post some more. Thanks for checking back, hoping to remedy by tomorrow.

Toad Fun Video

Here is a video of Uncle Matt and Kate's expeditions. This is the first of 31 toads they caught on this night, then two days before we left Matt, Dan, Kate, Claire and me caught another 65+!

Disclaimer: No toads were harmed during the filming of this project. However, I can not say the same for roaches and mosquitoes. Since I have yet to hear either of these nuisance pests offer any compromise or any plans to change in their indecent antics, I feel no remorse for those infamous insects of the crawly and flying type that may have died by accident or intent before and after the filming process. RIP (Rest in Pain!)

I tried to embed this into the blog video app but it wouldn't work so ended up posting on YouTube, sorry to my Nland friends that may not be able to access this on campus.

Home Cold Home!

We Made it! Matt, Jake and I got in to Boston last night (Saturday at around 10pm.) Jake had a rough 14 hr flight from Sydney to San Francisco and got more familiar with the spacious plane lavatory than I'm sure he ever wanted. Hoping it's just a meal in Sydney (which would be ironic considering we all went two weeks with NO sickness during our stay in PNG, despite the normal risks for travelers like us not to mention the Thyng family sickness while we were there.) The flight was full, so the three of us remained in our assigned seats in a three seat section on the outside aisles. No sprawling for anyone on this flight!

Thank God for allowing us to get home on time and safely. I plan to try and post some video as early as this evening or tomorrow and throughout this week since I think some of it will be interesting considering that many of the still pictures don't capture the effect of each scene. Even so, the video can't get near the actual life experience but it's worth the added detail. Ck back soon for some fun.

Final Day!

It's 7:30am on Friday morning here in PNG and we are trying to figure out what to do with Santa's empty luggage bags... Since we brought so much stuff here to leave we have empty bags we need to get back. A much less stressful problem to have then the normal "too much stuff-not enough room," issue that usually plagues my travels.

Leaving with mixed emotions. We are sad to go and will miss Dan, Amy and the kids and the people of Hosanna Baptist a ton but obviously we are happy to get back to our families. We fly today from Goroka to Port Moresby to Sydney Australia where we spend the night. We make the remainder of our journey home from Sydney beginning Saturday afternoon. Between boarding, waiting in airports and actual flight time, we will spend over 26 hours traveling, but still arrive in Boston Saturday evening, basically living Saturday twice, making up for the day we lost on our way here, just not the way I'd normally choose to spend my Saturdays:)! Once we are in the states I will be uploading some video clips and a few more notes before signing off on this blog. Thanks again for all those who have followed this site and prayed for us as we worked here in PNG. PLEASE continue to pray for Dan and Amy and the Thyng family, that God would protect them and continue to allow the Gospel to go forward in this country!

Click on the picture below for final day pics... not many I know.

PNG FINAL WORK DAY!!!

What an amazing last work day at Hosanna! Thank you to all that prayed for us while we worked. God allowed us to get EVERYTHING done that was needed which Lord willing will be a huge blessing to Dan and his family as well as the church. The moo moo (pig roast)went well and was an awesome testament to this body of Christ's generous spirit. We left with gifts and full bellies. The pig was actually VERY good. It's Thursday morning here and we are taking the day to get ready for a trip tomorrow to Sydney where we have an overnight stay and then hop on the 15 hour flight to San Francisco and then to Boston. Hard to believe it's almost over. I uploaded more pictures than normal and some may not be appropriate for those with weak stomachs, so view at your own risk:)!

I'm hoping to upload some video when I get home to a better internet connection and will probably continue the blog a few days after our trip ends but will likely take a couple days off during our travels. Thanks to so many of you who have followed this on a regular basis. We are certain God has used you and your prayers to make this trip profitable.

Click on the link below for our final work day pics and the moo moo festivities!

PNG Work Day #7

I created two albums today. One is the regular daily pictures with family and the work at Hosanna. The other has no people in it but instead contains several pictures of flowers I took in the garden in front of Pastor Abel's house near the church. It is amazing the detail and creativity our Heavenly Father has given us to enjoy. Most of the time I am "too busy" to take time to consider His creation but God gave me a special sense of His beauty today while taking these pictures. I have no idea what most of them are called accept for the popular day lily, of which there were several varieties. From small to large, this exquisite bouquet of color and variety cries out to a Creator. It brought to mind Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..."

Click on the picture below to access the full album of today's fun!

 

Click on the picture below to see the album of flower pics.

 

We are heading up to work a little earlier today so we can try to get done the remaining items. The plywood hanging in Pastor's house is the main thing we need to do and is very time consuming. The people at the church are planning to do a "moo moo" which is basically a giant pig roast. This could get interesting since I don't want to be rude but I do have a very picky pallet. Praying for an extra dose of Grace today so I can stomach whatever is necessary not to be rude:)! 

Please pray that we will get everything done today so Dan doesn't have to worry about it once we leave!

Post to come later today...

Hello Everyone!
Greetings from PNG. I am uploading pictures as I type but it's taking a while and I am exhausted so I'm going to go to bed and hopefully get them posted with a few comments in the morning. That will be mid-afternoon/early evening for most of our US friends! Thanks for checking, we sincerely appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. God has been so good to us during our time here.

Tomorrow we are going to get an early start and try to knock everything out so we can spend some time Thursday visiting a few other areas we haven't been to yet. We did a little shopping this morning in Goroka at the market and ate lunch in town, then spent the rest of the day up at Hosanna. Have a wonderful day and we'll be in touch soon!

PNG Work Day #6

Day Number 6 has come and gone... It felt like today wasn't as productive for some reason but in hind-sight God allowed us to get much done. I think for Jake and Me trying to hang plywood on walls like you would sheet-rock, around windows, doors, etc proved fairly difficult. The wood used in framing has "moved" due to the normal curing process. This makes for some challenging measuring and cutting, and usually required about 3 or 4 cuts to get it "right." Since we were sharing tools, the generator and saw were a mile away (or so it seemed.)

We came home to another tasty dinner consisting of hamburgers and onion rings. After dinner, Jake and I stayed and cleaned-up the dishes (wasn't too bad since we used paper plates, good night to volunteer:)) while Dan, Amy, Matt, Claire and Kate went on a nature expedition. The picture below is a bucket of toads they caught while on their adventure. It felt like the plague when they finally let them go in the front yard. There were exactly 31 toads of all sizes in this bucket and as they let them go the ground felt like it was moving in the pitch dark as they scattered every which way.

Click on the Picture below for more of today's photos!

Tomorrow morning I think we plan on going to do some souvenir shopping in town and then put in a half day at the church. We need to hang plywood on the inside walls of the Pastor's house which may prove to be the end of our unified team spirit. Four guys working in tight corners with substantial differences in the definition of acceptable... could get ugly:)!

PNG Sunday Pics

Click below for Sunday Pics... Ironically, I didn't get as much time this week-end to update the blog as I had planned. Thanks to those that have posted comments recently, they are fun to read and encouraging. Dan got sick today and has been feeling pretty nasty, so pray he will be better for work tomorrow! Hopefully this sickness has run it's course for everyone.

PNG Saturday Fun

Saturday was an awesome day with family (got some good pics, see album below)... after a slow start, we decided to head to town and see some of the stores and do some "shopping." We visited a couple of stores and Dan bought a nice guitar for use in ministry. Then we went to Pacific Gardens for lunch and came back home. Dan and I stayed with the kids and got his new guitar tuned up and ready to roll while Jake, Matt and Amy went back to town for more "shopping." I took a nap and then woke up to the sound of some serious basketball so decided to head out and watch the PNG jamz session:)! After dinner Matt decided to hold some wildlife sessions and catch some toads, lizards, etc. (see pics) It was a great day just spending time with family and taking it easy enjoying God's creation. To think it's snowing at our house in Wisconsin, while Matt and Jake are nursing sunburns is a reminder of the diversity God has built into our world. What an amazing Creator!

Click on the picture below for more pictures of our Saturday!

Week One Complete!

What a week! God provided wonderful weather with rain during some of the nights so the water containers are holding steady (which is good for Amy and the girls, because we need showers bad at the end of the work day!)but each day was sunny at the Church allowing us to get much work done that would have been prohibitive with weather issues. Most of what we have left now is inside work and details.

I'VE MADE CHANGES TO THE BLOG "COMMENTS" SETTINGS:
I have been told people were having trouble figuring out how to leave comments. I looked into the settings and realized it was set to require being a member which meant you would have to create a user name and such, which was complicated and not worth the hassle. I changed the settings to hopefully allow simple addition of comments. Simply go to the "post comments" box at the bottom of each separate post or you should be able to post comments on individual pictures as well. We would LOVE to hear thoughts and questions from any of you that are following this since it is encouraging to know people are interested in our time here and specifically the ministry Dan and Amy are involved with in this part of the world.


Click on the picture below for more pictures of Friday 12/3/10



Tomorrow is Saturday and we plan on staying around the campus and spending some time with family (hopefully I can get more pictures of Ben and the girls to post!) We also plan on hanging out with the college students that are still around during break and maybe test some of our mad Basketball skills:)! Ironically, my would-be height "issue" that is noticeable in America, happens to be somewhat neutralized here since most of the natives aren't very tall either.

I hope to be able to post more details this week-end about the actual ministry here and what God has been doing in PNG through the work of these faithful servants at GBBC. The Truth of God's Word transcends cultures and is the only sure foundation we have in a world that has so much evil. God is NOT surprised or wondering what to do as He watches Fox news each day (in no way do I mean to be blasphemous with that comment.) When you see His Kingdom moving forward in places like this in ways that NO human being could possibly manufacture... you start to see a much bigger picture of the redemptive plan that is unfolding throughout all ages. The fact that those of us who have accepted Christ as our Savior have the opportunity to be a part of that plan should spur us to action each day. There are people all around us that are lost and need the truth and we need not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is truly the only thing worth living and dying for!

Going to bed now, as many of you reading this are likely just waking up to start the day we just lived, Trust you will have as good a Friday as we had:)!

PNG Work Day #4

We went with the whole family to New Tribes Missions campus on the other side of town where they have a Doctor on staff. He took a look at Ben and said he has a virus, so they gave Amy some meds for him and he seems to already be doing better this evening. This was worth the time with family but only allowed us a half day of work. We still got a good bit done and here are some pics. I will try to update in more detail in the morning (afternoon for most of you, if anyone is actually reading these posts???...)

Click on Picture Below for more Pics

PNG Work Day #3

So yesterday (Wed) didn't start as well... the girls (Kate and Claire) have been sick since we arrived and it seems that Ben couldn't escape the inevitable so he came down with something the night before (Tues.) When I woke up to my unwelcome biological clock at 3am, a few minutes later the power went out (a common occurrence I am told.) Dan got up and said Amy was extremely sick too and had been up most of the night. Once the power came back on and the rest of the crew got up (around 6am) we were able to skype some family and then decided to have Dan drop us off at Hosanna so he could come back and take care of the family.

Click on the Pig below for more pics...

This put us a little behind and Dan was making jokes about pews being built backwards and paint being all over the building since we weren't there to supervise... Once we arrived, what we saw made Dan seem like a prophet! One of the well intentioned workers had proceeded to stain one of the inside rafters which we hadn't planned on doing and didn't have enough supplies to do. At 200 Kina per gallon the amount needed would be equivalent to another $100 US dollars. He also used a table they had built for the Pastor's home and dripped stain all over the top surface. Needless to say Dan was not happy since this project already has gone well over budget.

The next surprise was when we opened the white "paint" to apply on all the walls we had primed the day before and realized what they call paint here is actually white tinted water, sort of like washing out your American paint brush in a can and using the reclaimed water to actually apply on the walls. It would literally start separating on the wall as you applied it leaving speckled blank spots all over which had to be brushed out two or three times as the paint dried and became tacky. This became very time consuming and "dangerous" as our helpers attempted to roll and paint around freshly stained window sills, etc. Water tends to not be very viscous and drips were rampant! Just try cutting-in around a window sometime with a bucket of water, gravity ceases to be your friend. Thankfully Jake felt my pain and decided to chip-in, which was a huge blessing! What felt like 15 coats and three days later (in actuality it was about 3 full coats and 6 hours later) we had finished the majority of the church and only have a couple walls to hit once more today (Thursday) and we should be completely done. Definitely won't win any contractor awards but thank the Lord it looks pretty good overall.

Matt and his pew building team are getting read to go public... Watch for the IPO of the "PEW CREW COMPANY" on The Street soon! After reading a few books Tuesday night on "Lean Manufacturing" techniques and some "Six-Sigma" material he went from 1 pew every for hours (Monday) to cranking out 9 Tuesday and 14 yesterday hitting his quota of 24 by Wed! After they were sanded I was able to poly two of them before we closed up shop for the day. They look great and will now allow the old pews which were less stable and a bit smaller to be used for Sunday School classes held outside.

Dan came back around 4pm to pick us up and had the girls with him while Amy rested at home. On our way home we stopped in Goroka at the grocery store again and then went next door to get some Mandarin food. Not sure why, but it just seems odd to have cheap Christmas decorations, choppy Asian Christmas music and dozens of people staring at you while you shop for rice and toilet paper. While ordering the take-out, Dan gave me a hard time because I tried to order plain sweet and sour chicken (basically I just wanted Chicken nuggets) since I rarely branch out in America, starting in PNG didn't seem appropriate on the risk meter. Bottom line, the sweet and sour chicken and fried rice were really good even though the sauce was still on it but they left off the chunks of tomato and pineapple so we made it halfway! Five days here and I haven't eaten anything I didn't like, incredible! Hopefully we can keep pace the remaining 8 days:)!

Well, gotta get to work... Pray the family will get better!