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!

PNG Work Day #2

We had a very safe and profitable day yesterday. I Thought I would spare you the ramblings and just post some pics, since I'm certain that's why most of you are interested in this site anyway. This takes a while and I have to shrink the pics just to fit so I apologize if there is lack of detail but hopefully you get the idea. Just click on the link and you can either scroll them on your own or click on the slide show option.

Log-5 "Let the Work Begin"

ready to roll...

Ride over Jordan... OK not sure of the river name but Matt took this while I sat on top of the truck and took some video images. Not the most comfortable feeling but we made it safely!

As I sit here at 4AM listening to crickets chirp and eating a piece of pumpkin cheesecake, I realized two things. 1)All the worry I had about what I would eat while I was here in PNG was wasted energy 2)My goal of using this trip as a platform for a much needed shift in my diet has been thwarted, thanks to Amy and her kitchen skills. Oh well, going into the Holidays is never a good time to start a diet, guess I'll wait for January 1st again just like the last 15 years. I've never been the same since my high school metabolism fled my body, presumably angry because I had ousted my 21 inch Murry push mower for the luxurious Craftsman riding mower used in D&D lawn service.

Entrance to Bank... metal detector gig for each customer

"Rover" and master... part of the bank security team

Yesterday here in PNG was profitable (Monday, November 29th.) We spent the morning having waffles and drinking lattes that Amy makes with her single shot espresso machine (Kraig Tass, you would be proud of her.) Then we had to go into town to run some business errands for the college which consisted of paying some bills, mailing some letters and going to the bank. Downtown is definitely unique and a little disconcerting since there are many stories of crime and threats about past missionaries and those currently here on the field. The bank was our first stop and I knew we weren't in Iron Mountain any more once I saw the 5 police guards and a German Shepherd pacing around the bank entrance (of course the above freezing temps in November also helped verify this.) We arrived early, before the bank opened (not the plan) so we stood outside around 8:30AM to wait the 15 minutes or so before the bank was supposed to open. In that 15 minutes I decided to stay close to the bank with Dan (something felt right about staying close to the uniformed security guys) while Jake and Matt wandered a short way down the street where hundreds of "vendors" are displaying nick-knacks and bags, etc. The stream of people on the streets continued to ebb and flow but each swell seemed to get bigger. I had the feeling I was at the beach about ankle high in the water and the waves kept creeping higher each time a new swell approached. Yes, there were lulls in between, but more people kept coming from seemingly no-where and before long by mid-morning the town streets were white capping with people EVERYWHERE! All of them staring at the white folk from America. Thankfully we managed to make all the errands in record time according to Dan and get back to the house to prep for work.

It was about 11AM by now and once we were geared-up and had the SPF5000 sun lotion and bug spray on and smelled like a Pfizer lab experiment, we decided to load the truck with the supplies, get some lunch at the house, and off we were.

Thank you to those that prayed for my life as Dan drove to the church in the Mazda flatbed truck with me in the back. Recipe for success for stardom here is quite simple. Be white, look absolutely clueless, hold a video camera and sit in the back of a flatbed truck with a giant round water container and two other white guys as your chauffeur = Guaranteed fame. Matt decided to join me and we felt like movie stars driving through LA (minus the nice cars) with natives the entire way waving and occasionally shouting "White Man!" I guess my tan hasn't had time to "cure" yet, I'm thinking by next week I should blend in and will have lost my "star" status:)!

Once we arrived to the church we unloaded the water container which for the people in the community will be a HUGE blessing. With the church being the largest building in this particular local village area and perched on the side of the mountain. The large metal roof should fill the tank quickly if the rains continue to sustain. Our task list for the next ten days includes the following...

• Stain facia, trim and doors
• Install gutter and plumb the water container
• Make 30 pews out of the milled wood Dan made last year
• Paint the inside plywood walls of the church
• Install plywood on the walls and paint the office and storage areas
• Install plywood on the walls of the new house built for the Pastor next to the church
• Create a front door step
• Landscape around the perimeter of the building

Jake and Quiro staining

There was plenty of willing help there today but not much skilled labor and not enough tools/equipment. Jake and I worked on staining with the help of a local named Quiro, while Matt worked on the pew project with a

Dan staining corner trim

couple of others, creating the first prototype and getting a plan together to speed up the remaining ones he needs to make. Dan is "foreman" and was busy tending to the needs of our "crews" getting us the supplies, etc. and then chipped in helping stain the windows. Trying to beat the rain, we started on the outside and before long Dan asked me to do the inside windows while Jake and team worked on the outside. At one point while he was watching I got a little stain on the plywood surrounding the window (which will be covered in white paint mind you!) Dan got on me and I made the case that the stain was like tinted water and the brush was like using a broom (only have 3 or 4 inch brushes to choose from) trying to be put on 2" window casings! He of course didn't believe me, but my sinful pride did feel a bit redeemed when an hour later, while helping me inside, he doused a nice red stain trim around the base of a window! I could only smile:)!

Finished stained fascia and window trim

Matt with some help, sawing some pew parts

After finishing the fascia and the windows on one side of the church and Matt completed the first pew, we decided to head out for the day and get an early start today. Now that everything is staged and the tools and supplies are delivered we should be able to have an enclosed ride to the church for everyone and get a lot more done today! Thanks for your prayers and comments here and on facebook. They are greatly appreciated and encouraging.

 

Shout out to Uncle Na Na... Twoods goes Global baby! Did you come up with that logo yourself:)?

Log-4 Go Light Your World

The fam enjoying Sunday lunch at Pacific Garden Resort in Garoka

Once again, no snooze alarm on the biological clock... I'm posting this from Dan & Amy's dining room table at 3:20AM which actually works out well in some ways since no one else is using the internet so maybe I can post some more pictures this morning. The connection is surprisingly fast but still slow by normal US standards and gets progressively worse as the other missionary family's on campus access the satellite connection.

Today was an eye-opening day to say the least. No matter how many Discovery Channel documentaries I've watched or how many family pictures and video I've viewed of this place, none of that can accurately depict the entire experience of what it's truly like being here first hand. The 4-D experience is almost surreal at first.

Children of some of the GBBC students that didn't go home for the break

The sounds, touch, feel and smells of this land add unparalleled perspective to the visual experience. The natural landscape is incredible with Mountain tops randomly peaking through dynamic puffy white/gray clouds so that there is never the same picture in the background. The vegetation at ground level is dense with lush grass and bushes, interrupted by massive hardwood trees and an occasional evergreen or two. The most significant difference in what I thought versus reality, is the massive human "footprint" of the area. In my mind I thought there would be small collected areas of natives and then vast expanses of tropical "wilderness" with few to no people. It's nothing like that at all... from the moment we arrived at the airport there seems to ALWAYS be people present. For sure the density spreads out in numbers as you move from the heavily populated downtown streets and market to the "highland highway" that runs the expanse of the Eastern Highlands Province where we are located, but you NEVER stop seeing people. Walking, running, sitting, playing, drugging, drinking, eating, sleeping, buying, transporting, a seemingly endless array of people spread out for miles in a bazaar New York city meets Jurassic Park environment.

As I mentioned this "human footprint" doesn't shrink as you move away from the more densely populated areas. I read somewhere online that as of the 2000 census there was approximately 19,000 people in the Garoka district, which is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province. This seems suspect to me for a couple of reasons... First, how on earth could you actually collect accurate data on how many people there are in this

Amy's wonderful donuts and ice coffee... who needs Dunkin?

area. This is almost laughable to consider after surveying the landscape in person. The people seem to be constantly on the move and their geography doesn't exactly match suburban America where you can canvas thousands of cookie cutter homes in a matter of a day. To try and reach some of the "homes" in this area would take days to get to and you can't reach many of them by road. Second, this number is over 10 years ago and I swear I saw what seemed like 10,000 people yesterday just sitting on street corners and watching a rugby match in the field located near the center of town, let alone the myriads of people we passed on the way to church during the 30 min drive to Hosanna Baptist. But without regard for the accuracy of this number, God used it to provide a sobering reminder to me that each one of the people we passed is a soul created in the image of our God that will spend eternity somewhere. The convicting part is that we have the Light that can lead them out of their current Darkness so they will understand Truth and escape the reality of separation from their Creator for eternity. The message of Hope and of His Love represented through the Cross should be at the center of EVERYTHING we do so that others may see Him through us.

As we drove to church Sunday morning, it was also a lesson in Faith. If any of you have ever driven with Dan Thyng (whether on land or sea:)) you likely know that he's not exactly Mr. Conservative. To get a glimpse of the experience, just take a normal American street, remove some asphalt, add a lot of curves and some serious elevation changes, move the steering wheel to the opposite side of the vehicle and try to remember this means oncoming traffic is coming at you from the opposite side you are used to. Now add some large delivery-type trucks barreling at 60 miles an hour and finally speckle animals (pigs, goats, etc.) and some people on both sides of the road (many of them kids.) When it's all said and done, for me this experience has probably been the single most evidence that there is a God and that miracles still do happen:)! We are all alive and so are the other drivers and pedestrians on the road.

On that note, I have a prayer request... I'm told that today we need to haul supplies up to the church nestled on the side of a mountain. These "side" roads are incredible, especially this time of year with regular down pours of rain causing massive craters and drainage ditches. Well the truck we are taking is a flatbed and we won't all fit in the cab so I've been told I have the unique opportunity to ride in the back of the truck with a water tank and some lumber and guess who's driving!!! I suppose since I married into the family last, I have less tenure and therefore less decision making capacity, let's just say there is certainly no hint of democracy in the Thyng family politics:)!

Our lonely vehicle at Sunday Church

The church service was amazing... We arrived a few minutes late so they had already started. Parking wasn't an issue since our vehicle was the only one there. Yet inside this newly built church building were over 85 men, women and children, all arriving by foot through terrain that would put most of us latte-blooded Americans on a gurney headed for the hospital after only a few minutes, yet some of these folks had literally walked an hour or two just to get here. What a testimony and rebuke to the "domesticated" church. The passion behind their singing was intense and even though there were n o instruments and the tune wasn't exactly broadway material, there was obvious engagement in their voices and in their bodies! This was a reminder to me that divisive antics on topics such as music, that the American church wastes so much time disputing, does little to promote true worship but in my experience seems to promote man and cause disunity which ironically isn't a lifestyle of worship (see Phil 2)! Worship is truly from the heart and these brothers and sisters in Christ, over 8,000 miles away from my local church body in Wisconsin, were truly worshiping their God without regard for how good or bad they or their neighbor sounded and what man might think of them.

Sunday Service at Hosanna Baptist Church

The friendliness of the congregation was infectious, with almost every single person shaking our hands and saying "Morning" which is the common greeting before 12:30pm, when it becomes "Happy Noon!" Several spoke English but most speak either a tribal language of the area or Malaysian Pidgin, neither of which I know yet so deep conversations weren't in order. Hopefully before I leave I'll have it down:)! We were surprised when Dan told us that the Pastor had asked us to come up front and introduce ourselves... Awkward! Matt went first while Dan interpreted into Pidgin, everyone cheered when they heard he was Dan's brother... I went next and told them I was Dan's brother-in-law, so Dan explained I married his sister. Jake went last and stated that he had also married Dan's sister... in a land where polygamy is alive and well the slight nuance of leaving off the fact we had married DIFFERENT sisters seemed significant:)! Dan clarified to the congregation and everyone had a good laugh.

 

Dan and Matt with some of the congregation at Hosanna

Amy talking to a lady about some physical issues she's been having. Amy is a trained Nurse and this has presented neat opportunities for ministry through random conversations such as this as well as through a formal clinic on the GBBC campus where she helped another missionary lady prior to expanding their family:)

 After church we traveled back to town to a neat secluded resort called The Pacific Garden. Owned by a wealthy Aussie businessman with ties to PNG through his business ventures, he created an oasis of sorts in the middle of the undeveloped culture of Garoka. A hotel/restaurant combo we ate some good food and enjoyed some fellowship together over our meal.

Later in the afternoon Dan and Amy gave us a complete tour of the campus and an adjacent village. This was

Tour of GBBC Campus

a phenomenal experience and one I will expand on in a later post with more pics. The ministry here is truly "Lighting-up" the country of PNG with the Gospel message and God is receiving Glory through the efforts of his faithful workers here at the Bible College and the many graduates that have gone out into the land to preach the Good News. Like I said, I'll try to outline the ministry here in a more in-depth way soon since the vision the missionaries have and the opportunity are both great. However, it will take much prayer and many resources to make it come to fruition so hopefully some of us "stateside" can get involved in very pragmatic ways as we learn more about God's work here on the other side of the world. Never has there been a more exciting time to be His Child! God Bless.

Dan and Amy's house on campus

Some children in the village next to the campus

Log-3 Not in Kansas Anymore!

It's 3:30AM on Sunday November 28th (at least here in PNG) and my body has no business being awake. After sleeping less than 5 hours in the span of two days, I really shouldn't be up but the biological clock alarm has gone off and there doesn't seem to be a "snooze" button!

Praise God we finally made it to the Thyng's after a grueling itinerary, but thankfully it was a relatively uneventful trip comprising almost two entire days of our lives. I'm sure the Apostle Paul would have something to say about my complaining of the modern day luxury of air travel. Truly, all things considered, what amazing technology to be on the other side of the world in a matter of a couple days. What a neat time in history we live in.

We arrived to a balmy 90+ degrees in Port Moresby and then boarded a plane to our final destination of Goroka. The last plane flight was beautiful with the intermittent sand beaches and jagged ravines outlining the massive ocean against the dusty, dry land of Port Moresby. However, the conditions changed dramatically as we moved west along the coast and came to an obvious region that was much more watered and lush. Thunderclouds loomed ahead as we made our way inland to Goroka and you could see swaths of rain covering concise areas of densely forested mountains. These mountains are amazing, cropping out of the land like bulging muscles on a weightlifting champs biceps. One after another in succession each varying greatly in height and breadth and intermittent with rivers snaking through deep valley's between the steep "hedges" on either side.

The pilot literally navigated dark thunderclouds like a Nascar driver in a Sunday afternoon wreck and we were thankful that a flight we all thought could turn ugly, turned out to be extremely smooth! As we approached the Goroka airport there was a blanket of rain directly over the landing strip but we landed safely in a matter of minutes despite the inches of water covering the asphalt. Exiting the plane to the "terminal" (I use that term loosely) was wet but exciting. To know we were just minutes away from seeing family negated any dampness caused by rain drops that doused our clothes on the "run" to the "baggage claim area" (also use that term loosely), no jet bridges in Goroka... see pics.

The temp had dropped probably 20 degrees according to Dan since the rain started and this was refreshing compared to the sauna we had experienced a couple hours earlier in Port Moresby.

Matt and Jake after landing in Goroka... finally here!

We arrived around 5pm PNG time, loaded up the luggage and made our way the short 10 minute drive to the Bible College. Dan and Amy's house is the first building on the left. It was neat to see in person the house and landscape that I had only seen in pictures or videos. Like the tree I had watched them tie a chain to and remove their shipment container from the truck in the absence of a fork lift, or the water tanks we had been praying would be filled soon over the last few months of rainless weather (God was blessing with plenty today!)

Baggage Claim in Goroka:)

But the best of all was seeing their precious family in person. The kids are absolutely adorable and the house was decorated for Christmas already which was a pleasant surprise and added a little Holiday flair to the air! Kate and Clair gave a great exposition on the different ornaments (there are lots!) while Amy bathed Ben and put him to bed. Jake, Matt and I were able to shower for the first time in a couple days Hallelujah for us and the Thyngs:) Thank God for water and hot water to boot!

After Ben was asleep Amy got to work in the kitchen... I was unsure of whether I was going to eat because my stomach had not responded well to the malaria medicine, making for some interesting travels:( But once I saw the Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Tea, crescent rolls, etc. I couldn't resist. It was AMAZING! I must admit that a couple days earlier I had internally griped about the fact that we didn't get to have a traditional Thanksgiving feast since we left on Thanksgiving day. We had opted for left-over Chinese take-out at Jake's house in the midst of packing and all the normal craziness encompassed by a trip of this magnitude. But here we were in PNG having a Thanksgiving feast with all the fixins (did I mention the sweet tea?) It was a special treat and needless to say I decided to partake after all, surprise I know! Thanks AMY!


Well, I guess I better try and see if I can force myself to sleep so I'm not useless the rest of my stay here... I've got to pay for that meal you know!

Log-2 Still Going... (November 27th 2010)

Technically it’s still November 26^th in Boston where Shelby and fam are just going to bed at 11:15pm, however, for the three amigos there was no TGIF for us, since we literally skipped Friday during our travels, flying for 14 hours and arriving in Sydney on Saturday morning (it's about 8:15am here now) just in time to grab a McDonald’s egg mcmuffin and hop on our flight to Port Moresby.

Log 1 - Travel "time" (November 26th 2010)

It’s about 9:25AM ET. Matt, Jake and Me are on our way! I’m sitting on a plane in the middle row of four seats with only one other gentleman. Both of us were opportunistic in snatching some empty seats once the passengers originally in that row got upgraded (lucky them and coincidentally, luck us.) Matt also found a spot to move and spread out, leaving Jake with the best set-up of all, with three seats side-by-side to sprawl out. Thankfully he will get his beauty sleep!
Time is kind of a bazaar phenomenon when traveling such distances in one trip. My simple finite mind has trouble keeping track of what time it is where and then translating that into my biological needs (i.e. SLEEP!) We arrived at Boston Logan airport around 3pm Thanksgiving Day and it was a virtual ghost town. We didn’t wait for a single person to check-in or get through security. We finally left Boston at 5:30pm vs our scheduled departure of 5:05pm due to a mechanical problem with the plane we were supposed to take. This required the crew to move all luggage, food, etc. to the new plane a few gates away and for all passengers to switch gates. It has now been 18 hours that we have been either in airports or on a plane. The itinerary is from Boston to San Francisco (6 hrs) From San Francisco to Sydney (14 hrs) Sydny to Port Moresby (3.5hrs) and Port Moresby to Goroka (1hr)… Tack on a few hours of lay-overs and you get a big number of hours to be traveling! So from awaking yesterday at 6am at the Hart’s house, to sitting on this plane at 9:40AM I just realized I haven’t slept but maybe an hour total in the last 24 hrs. Funny thing is, I’m on my second or third wind, another bazaar phenomenon since at home I can rarely engage in any mental activity after 9:30pm and yet here I sit, awake and typing about our adventure (at least I think I’m awake?)
Shelby and I had flown with Ashton and Alexis from Milwaukee to Boston last Saturday so we had pretty much adjusted to the one hour difference in CT and ET. But I’m not sure you can “get used to” the 15 hour time difference from Boston to PNG very quickly. Probably should be good to go just about the time we are ready to fly back.

Intro (Who, What, Where, When)

WHO:

Jake Hart - Bro-in-law; Amy Thyng Hart’s husband, Amy is Shelby’s sister

Matt Thyng – Bro-in-law; Shelby’s Brother

Me-Dean Trondle - Shelby’s husband

WHAT: The main purpose for this trip is a pragmatic need for physical help in the form of construction type work. In an awesome testament to God’s sovereignty in ALL things, including death… the funds given in memory of Tyler Thyng (Dan and Amy’s son that went to be with Jesus a few years ago at the age of four) have gone towards building an indigenous church in Papua New Guinea (PNG) called Hosanna Baptist. In an amazing microcosm of the Gospel, natives of PNG will be able to hear the Good News and grow in their faith and knowledge of our great God in large part through Tyler’s life and death. We can only imagine the rewards Tyler and his family will be blessed with in eternity. God promises to one day restore to perfection His own children and bless those who are faithful in life to His work!

Our task while here in PNG is “finish” type construction since the bulk of the heavy building was completed this past summer by a much more skilled crew from Johnston Chapel of Princeton West Virginia. This is the Thyng family’s sending church. You can check out their blog at http://www.thyng.abwe.org/blog to see pictures of the church from this summer and to get to know more about the Thyng family and their ministry in PNG.

When: November 25^th through December 11^th, 2010

This trip came about very quickly… Amy Thyng sent an email on behalf of Dan near the end of October just asking if anyone may be able to come and help since Dan is teaching and managing full-time in addition to having spent much of the summer working on the church prep and construction which didn’t allow him suitable time to prepare for classes this past semester at Goroka Baptist Bible college, which is where his primary ministry takes place. They have a break starting after Thanksgiving so a couple of us decided we’d try to see if we could do this and God has provided in amazing ways. Thanks to much prayer by family and friends and the financial support of Fred and Linda Thyng (Shelby’s parents) God has provided passports, visas, shots, medicine and other logistical needs in a very short time-frame to make this trip a reality.

Where: Final destination - Goroka Baptist Bible College, specifically the home of Dan and Amy Thyng located almost in the center of Papua New Guinea in the mountains. Positioned North of Australia, PNG is a tropical climate and right now it is their rainy season but I understand they’ve been having less rain than normal which can cause problems on the culture there which depends significantly on sustenance farming and living off the land.

Look forward to posting pictures and updates soon on our traveling adventures. Keep checking back or subscribe to this blog site to receive email updates when new posts are created. Please pray for our time in PNG that God would show Himself through the work of the Gospel and protect our families while we are away. Thanks!