Dealing with Stuff

In five weeks we will leave PNG for ten months of home assignment. 

As well as making preparations for our time away, I'm working hard to get the house ready for others to live here.  One part of that is getting rid of items that our family no longer needs.  There aren't many recycling programmes in Papua New Guinea, but that doesn't mean that things get thrown away!

Some items are given directly to colleagues and local friends; these items range from used plastic food or drink containers, all of which will get reused, to clothes that our children have outgrown but which other children in Ukarumpa or around the country will appreciate. Boxed up items can be donated to the 'Everything Sale', an annual event run by the teenagers here to raise money towards their youth centre.  Some things are sold to colleagues; there is no Ebay here and the range of products available in local stores is limited so people appreciate the opportunity to buy things from each other.

It always amazes me how many lids I find with no containers to go with them.  Those, at least, will get thrown away if no matching container appears!

We would appreciate prayer as we enter this time of transition:

*Heidi is concerned about being away from PNG, from her friends and from our dog.  Levi was distressed when he heard that he'd have to pack up his bedroom before we left.  Eowyn has no memory of living outside PNG.  Please pray for all of our children as they face these big changes in their lives.   Of course there is a lot to look forward to as well.  They are most excited about seeing family.  Heidi also wants to see a giraffe and Levi is looking forward to visiting science museums.

*We are grateful for the opportunities that we have to connect with friends and churches back home.  It's been encouraging to see our schedule start to fill up:

* Please pray for Andrew and I as we work to complete many tasks that we want to get done before our departure on 6 March.  An added complication is that Andrew can't work on some of these jobs until spare parts arrive from overseas; he'd appreciate prayer for these parts to arrive quickly.

*We are thrilled to hear that there should be someone to live in our house and care for our dog from May onwards.  We are praying that someone would be willing to look after our dog in the first couple of months that we are away.             
  

What's in the Box?

The box below is carried on the back of the 'Jesus Video Bike', a motorbike that Andrew often works on.  The Papua New Guinean book-salesman has travelled over 50,000 miles in the last few years distributing hymn books, Audibibles and school supplies to speakers of the Kamano Kafe and Agarabi languages.  Recently a waterproof Kamano Kafe New Testament has also become available to purchase - with a banana leaf design on the cover.  (It's been discovered that if Bibles are simply given away they tend not to be valued; so they are sold for a subsidised fee, which also helps to cover the printing costs.)

We are having a very busy year so far.  Andrew has been attending many meetings recently (last week he had one set of meetings in the mornings and another set in the afternoons!).  Next month, we also have the biennial conference for all members of our organisation here in PNG.

I am enjoying teaching Levi's Kindergarten class.  Heidi and Eowyn are being well cared for by our cleaner/babysitter one morning a week and at the Ukarumpa daycare on the other morning that I teach.  I'm also keeping busy with teacher recruitment.  Recently this has involved facilitating trips being taken by student teachers and other visitors who want to investigate opportunities to teach here.

Eowyn and I will be back in Brisbane from 11th - 16th March for a check-up with the the kidney specialist.  I'm looking forward to that little break!

We greatly value your prayer.  Here are some pointers:

* The Jesus Video Bike travels on lots of remote dirt roads. When it rains these roads quickly become dangerous mud pits. Pray for safety for Franky our book salesman and wisdom and creativity for Andrew in finding parts to maintain the motorbike.

* Pray that those people who are hungry for God’s Word would have the money and see the motorbike as it travels to 22 different open air markets.
           

*Pray for wise decisions to be made at our conference, including the decision about whether to re-elect Andrew to the 'Executive Committee'!

Back in PNG

Greetings from England!

There are a lot of things to enjoy about living here in the UK:
 1) Seeing family and friends who we rarely get to spend time with.  We've already taken part in four family celebrations.

2) Experiences that we don't normally have.  Can you spot Andrew and Levi on the pirate ship?

3) Being able to buy the ingredients that the recipes in our cookbooks call for, as well as the occasional take-away for a special treat.

Our baby is due on 8th December, so hopefully not much longer to wait! 

We then will need to obtain the baby's birth certificate and passport quickly so that we can all apply for new PNG visas.  We will apply for these in early January.  Please pray for the visas to be granted quickly so that we can return to Papua New Guinea as soon as possible.  We have a house to stay in until the end of January, but would appreciate prayer that we will have somewhere to live until the time we leave for PNG.   Thank you!

Family Photo 2013

Greetings from Ukarumpa!

We had this photo taken so that we could send it to 'Ken's Cycle Center' in Tennessee, which is where Andrew worked before he came to Papua New Guinea and also where the T-shirts came from.

These are Andrew's two vehicles that currently run.  We affectionately refer to the 1963 Landrover as the 'Coconut Car' because 'Powered by Coconut' is written on the side. Andrew won't be driving this car very much over the next few weeks though: Once again, the bridge to Kainantu (our nearest town and our only access point to the 'Highlands Highway') is in a bad state of repair.  At the moment, small vehicles are still driving over it (if the owners are willing to take the risk) but it means that it's increasingly difficult to obtain supplies.  Diesel and petrol/gas are usually sold at the Autoshop but last week Andrew had to put out a notice saying that sales would be limited for the foreseeable future.

It wouldn't help if the 'Coconut Car' really was powered by coconuts because coconuts only grow in coastal areas, which we'd have to cross the bridge to get to!


To find out what this photo is about, see Andrew's latest blog post!

Prayer Points:

- We praise God that the first five months of Clare's pregnancy have gone very well.

- We have have had several months of good health.  Levi and Heidi are both doing well, with Levi enjoying his new preschool class.

- Andrew has a lot of engines to work on at the Autoshop, but not a lot of time to work on them.  He has 'Executive Committee' meetings for the next two weeks, and then we'll be leaving for the UK in a little over two months.  Please pray that he will prioritise well and not get discouraged.

- Please pray that more people will join our team of financial supporters so that we are able to cover all of our regular expenses for the rest of this year and in the future too.