Tuesday, September 16, 2008
I started on antibiotics this morning for my ear since it wasn't getting better on its own. Everyone else is staying healthy – thanks for your prayers!

Today is PNG Independence Day, so we had a half day of prayer this morning (a very sweet time together led by the student committee) and enjoyed the festivities across the street this afternoon. POC entered a volleyball team in the tournament. They lost, but the guys had a great time and were crowd favorites. Our was susa (watch-sister), Gladi, danced in a traditional dance wearing a bilas (a grass skirt), so we went over to cheer her on. Wish I could post lots of pictures of the different dances – the costumes are beautiful. Our waspapa, Henson, has malaria again (I'm told he gets it all of the time), but he's beginning to feel better now that he's taking meds. The kids made cards for him. Sarah even included a Bible verse in Tok Pisin.

Drum roll, please...
Katherine took her first steps last night! I know it's hard to believe that one of my babies walked before thirteen months, but she keeps on breaking the mold. We were at our fellowship group, and out of the blue she let go of Aaron's finger and toddled over to me. Throughout the evening, she continued to go from sitting to standing on her own and boldly taking several steps at a time. She was cheered on by an adopted grandmother, and several adopted aunts and uncles, so she wasn't neglected! Today, the word has spread like wildfire, and everyone is so proud of our "bikpela pikinini meri" (big girl). She is the youngest person here, and the apple of everyone's eye.

Monday, September 15, 2008
My ear has been hurting all weekend, so I finally went to visit the nurse this morning. I have middle and inner ear infections in my right ear. This has put a damper on my ability to soak up my lessons.

Aaron made a drum oven this afternoon for us to use during our haus kuk weekends and during our village stay. We plan to leave the oven in the village as a thank you. Tomorrow, he'll go back and make a loaf pan and a cookie sheet.

Sunday, September 14, 2008
We went to church in Madang this morning. The service went back and forth between English and Tok Pisin, so we were able to follow along pretty well. The three hours flew by! I was really proud of Sarah and Benjamin who chose to go to Sunday School with the rest of the children in the congregation. Our afternoon was full with laundry and cooking again – what a joy to be able to serve my family this way again! We're slowly learning how big the fire needs to be and long foods take to cook. Sarah did a great job of scraping the coconut we used in desert!

Saturday, September 13, 2008
I was so disappointed last night when the e-mail newsletter took so much time to send. We ran over our time slot by quite a bit (the couple behind us was very gracious), so I couldn't post on the blog.

Yesterday morning and evening, we heard drums pounding signifying that somebody had died. The funeral of a dear old lady was this morning. Our tisa told us that the drums are made from huge hollowed out trees that take days to make.

Our first day in the haus kuk was great fun! On Saturday mornings, ladies from the mountain top gather to ride one of the POC vehicles down the mountain to sell things at the market. We can go meet the ladies before they leave so we can buy some of their produce. Because of the funeral, none of the ladies went into town, so the POC directors graciously allowed several of us to ride the truck down the mountain to find another market. Olivia and I went and enjoyed a fun time together. Lots of people in the market wanted to touch her cheeks or hair, and many asked what her name was. We bought a coconut, aibika and tulip greens, a hand of bananas, and kaukau (sweet potatoes) to add to the fruits and vegetables we bought Thursday.

Friday, September 12, 2008
"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Psalm 145:15-16

We received a beautiful reminder today of God's omniscience! I know this is a little thing, but yesterday I couldn't find any taco seasoning in town. In Madang, there are several grocery stores in addition to the market. Since we are planning for five weeks with no refrigeration, we have to buy some prepackaged foods. Lots of foods are available (if you are willing to pay for the cost of shipping them to PNG!). We are trying to find a balance of cooking with local ingredients that we buy each weekend and cooking more familiar foods. All of that is to say that I had planned to have tacos a few weeks from now, but I couldn't find taco seasoning. If I had a full spice cabinet, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I don't! Today, we received two encouraging packages. The first was the clothes we left in Alotau (sorry!) with a sweet note. The second was a care package from a family who recently finished POC. Guess what they included – taco seasoning! My God knew that I wouldn't be able to find any yesterday and prompted this family to include the packet. Thanks for following my ramblings; I'm just so amazed and overwhelmed (again) at how much the Lord loves us.


Thursday, September 11, 2008
To mark the anniversary of 9/11, we brought the book "Fireboat" by Maira Kalman with us. It's a great picture book that tastefully handles the events that unfolded that day. Both the little school (Olivia's group) and the big school (Benjamin and Sarah's group) read the book aloud today.

Our big shopping trip was this morning. I found almost everything on our list, including a "meri blouse" for me at the market. We were pooped when we got home! Tonight, we met our wasfamili (watch-family); and we were thrilled to find out that we already knew our wasmama and waspapa. Dorcas and Henson work here at the POC campus, and they are very gracious to adopt us for the next few months. All of the wasfamili came to eat supper here tonight. Next Thursday, we will go to their house for supper. They will be helping us with our Tok Pisin, with learning to cook local foods, with learning culture cues, etc. They have four children ranging from 20 to 13. Please add them to your prayers as they shepherd us during our time here.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Our vocabulary domain this week is focusing on the garden, so this morning our tisa took us to his small garden close to his house. It would have been a long and strenuous walk to get to his big garden! We got a chance to ask lots of questions (in Tok Pisin, of course!) and practice our new vocabulary. Here is the dialogue we have to have memorized by Friday.

Sumatin: Nau e i de namba 7 mi skul long Tok Pisin. Inap long yu lainim mi long pasin bilong wokim gaden o nogat?
Tisa: Yes, mi inap long lainim yu. Pastaim yu mas makim wanpela hap graun. Bihain yu katim bus.
Sumatin: Katim bus pinis mi mekim wanem samting?
Tisa: Taim ol lip idrai pinis, orait yu kukim bus. Bihain yu brukim graun long stik diwai, na planim samting.
Sumatin: Gaden bilong yu em i stap klostu long Pat, o longwe liklik?
Tisa: Gaden bilong mi em i stap klostu tasol. Yu laik lukim gaden nau?
Sumatin: Yes mi laik, na mi laik wok wantaim yu.
Tisa: Orait. Yumi ken stretim wanpela hap banis ol pik i bin brukim. Yumi kisim tupela bikpela naip na go.