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.
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.
