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!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
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.
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:)!
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:)!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
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.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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!
Friday, December 3, 2010
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:)!
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:)!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
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
Click on Picture Below for more Pics
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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.
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!
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!
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