Our Work

 

Sewing Assistance

I (Clare) have been assisting a Papua New Guinea lady, Betty Orami, who runs a sewing class here in Ukarumpa for people from all over the local area.       
        

Betty (wearing the apron in the photo above) was employed by our organisation for several decades before retiring five years ago; when I first met her she was the cleaner at the high school here.  Towards the end of her time in that role she was asked to be one of the teachers at a sewing club for women from the surrounding villages.  Sewing machines were sent out to these villages, and one woman from each village was trained as a teacher.

These days, Betty runs and manages the sewing classes by herself.  She does this as a volunteer, believing that God has given her this work to continue.  To help support herself, Betty takes on paid work from members of the Ukarumpa community, such as sewing curtains or mending clothes.

I've been helping in a few small ways, such as bringing Betty sewing jobs from people in the community and producing the certificates for the 2015 graduation ceremony:

*Please pray for Betty as she runs these classes, and also that God would provide all the resources she needs.  Pray too for the people attending, that they would benefit both spiritually and practically from their time at the sewing class.

*From 9th - 14th March, Eowyn and I will be in Brisbane, Australia, so that Eowyn can have another ultrasound scan and see the paediatric kidney specialist again. Please pray that all the travel goes well, and for good results from the scan of her kidneys and urinary tract.  We praise God that Eowyn has had a very healthy year :-). 

*Andrew has branch Executive Committee meetings from 4th - 10th March.  Please pray for wisdom for him and the rest of the committee during that time as they discuss various issues.  This will be an especially busy time for Andrew as he will be looking after Levi and Heidi while I'm in Australia, and also helping to hold things together at the Autoshop!   Please pray for stamina and encouragement for him. 

Effects of the Drought

In our updates over the last few months we've mentioned the drought that has affected PNG so profoundly.

Just before the drought started, we attempted to turn part of our vegetable garden back into grass:



But it didn't rain for weeks.  The view from our house ended up looking like this:


 
Of course the colour of our grass is not of great importance in itself, but it shows how much deviation there has been from the usual weather patterns.  This is the only time in our nine years of living in this house that the grass has been anything but green.

We are now well into 'wet season' and are happy to report that it has certainly been wet.  The grass is green again, and the new grass is finally starting to spread:



It is exciting to see our local vegetable market overflowing again with strawberries, cucumbers, beans and other faster-growing fruit and vegetables.  However we're aware that the people around us are still struggling to eat a balanced diet and to get all the nutrients they need.  It will be several more months before the staple food, sweet potato, is ready to be harvested.

The following picture is of the water tank at our house that normally stores our drinking water.  After getting emptier and emptier over a period of months, the tank started to rust.  Not only does the water now come out brown, but there is also a hole half-way up the tank, meaning that it doesn't get more than half-full.   At the moment we're drinking water from a tank that we filled with river water during the drought, so it's important that we filter it before pouring it into our glasses.  For more details about what it will mean to replace our water tank, see this informative blog post by our colleague, Catherine Rivard




If you would like to pray for us, we'd be most grateful.  Here are some ideas:

-We continue to look to God to provide for our financial and practical needs, including a solution to our water tank issue.
-Many Autoshop staff are currently on home leave.  Please pray for those who are still here and covering a wider-than-usual range of tasks .
-We thank God that the second semester of the school year has got off to a good start for Levi and Heidi.  Two of their teachers will leave the country at the end of this school year; please pray for others to come and replace them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here in Ukarumpa we are all enjoying a two-week break from work.  Andrew and I were both very busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so are grateful for this time of rest. 

We have also had the excitement of a visit from my parents:
             

Thank you very much for your encouragement throughout 2015.