Are There Crocodiles In Here? (Matt)

Throughout our stay in Surumuran I asked many people if there were still crocodiles in the river. "Yu lukim pukpuk long dispela wara?"  I would say. "Nogat (No)", was usually the reply. Although I did get a few of them to tell me that they had spotted a huge one a year earlier, close to where we bathed each night, at the mouth of the river. It was maybe 12 ft long.


My waspapa (guardian), Laboi and his father, Mum (a respectable term for "Father" in their language,) and I had spent two days in the jungle cutting down and up trees.We also had a small caravan of boys helping us. We dropped 6 trees into the river in order to get 3 good Limboom trees for my waspapa's new floor for the house that we were living in.

Once we had 16 logs cut to length, we made a raft with all of them and floated it down the river to the ocean. Floating, walking next to, pulling, and swimming it across deep parts with 3 kids on top took about 2hrs. Once we got to the ocean, we guided it down the beach to their village.

 Several times as we were swimming next to it, I pretended to get attacked by a puk puk. I would scream and go under. The kids' eyes would get real big, waiting to see if I would come up. Once we made it to the ocean, many kids climbed on for the remainder of the trip, including Grayson and Brianna.

Once we got to the beach, we rolled them all up on shore. Later we split them, chopped and shoveled out the middle, and broke them flat with an ax. That is how you get a free floor for your house in the jungle. Any takers? I will do it for $50 per square foot, installed! Plus crocodile insurance.

So...what about the crocodiles? Were they in the river?

YOU BET! Two weeks later as Laboi, his 5yr old son Nigel, and I were paddling a dugout canoe up the river, we paddled right up on one. It was probably 6 or 7 feet long. It rose up off its log when it saw us, and slipped into the water toward us. Then the wake from it came straight towards us. We could no longer see it above water. Laboi spun the canoe around and paddled out of there. It had come within 30 ft of us. Laughing, but a bit relieved, we headed home. I guess when they would tell us that crocodiles and other bad things didn't exist, they were just "protecting" us from reality. I wish I had my camera for that one!

Surumaran (Matt)

 
  We just spent 5 weeks in this house in the small village of Surumaran up the North Coast Highway above Madang, Papua New Guinea. We have now left to the mountains of Papua New Guinea.

Our dining room table!

Surumaran is a beautiful fishing village with black sand beaches. From there you can see two volcanic islands. The people there were friendly and welcoming. They became close to our hearts. We were sad to leave them.

Fish Tales (Matt)

Marcus ran up to our house one night while we were living in Surumarang about 4 weeks ago. "Kam, yumi go huk nau nait?" He wanted to me to go out fishing all night in the community boat with him and several other guys. It was already 8:30 at night. I was totally unprepared to go, so I said "No thanks!" This is what they came back with the next morning plus plenty of other fish.

 I am also including any other nice fish pics for all my fishing Posse. They pulled all of these fish up without a rod or reel. They just drop fishing line and when they have a big fish, it cuts into their fingers. Most of the time, they just fish from dugout canoes with outriggers.

This one is called a "Bik Mous" (Big Mouth).

Loved my "brata" neighbor Jacob. He is a master fisherman.

We always had a fish in our 8x13 pan!

This fish on the right is called "Sweet Lips".

They said we wouldn't see many snakes... (Laura)

A few days ago, we came back to our room from lunch to find a bunch of people pointing and staring up into the eaves of our dorm.  There was a small python hanging out of the rafters! It was wrapped around its next meal, a lizard. One of the staff here said he thought we should leave it to live above our rooms to eat rodents. However, several other students did not like that idea at all, so I (Matt) caught the snake as he dropped his meal and tried to get back up into the attic space. We put him in a tank at the school here for the kids to observe and keep as a “class pet”!

Here are some of the other amazing creatures we've seen...

First Impressions of Madang, Papua New Guinea (Laura)

Rather than write too much about our first few days here, I thought I would share some pictures. Our five flights to Madang went smoothly and we are loving this beautiful country! We have seen and experienced a lot of new things! We are amazed at the beauty of this place and the kindness and patience of the Papua New Guineans we have met. We have a "tisa" (teacher) named Met who is meeting with us in a small group several days a week as our language teacher as we learn Tok Pisin. It's rainy season here, so it rains A LOT; but it's very refreshing because it often cools things down a bit. The kids have made lots of new friends and so have Matt and I. We have been attending classes on medical care, language, culture, and life in Papua New Guinea. But, we've also had time to go on several hikes through the rainforest, swim in the ocean (Matt and I both swam a mile!), and get to know the other people that are going through the Pacific Orientation Course with us!

Anything, I would give up for you... (Laura)

I was made to love you

I was made just for you

Made to adore you

I was made to love

And be loved by you

You were here before me

You were waiting on me

And you said you'd keep me

Never would you leave me, I was made to love

And be loved by you...

Anything, I would give up for you

Everything, I'd give it all away

Cause I was made to love you.

I was dropping the kids off at school this morning so I could go home and keep packing when this song by Toby Mac came on the radio. It expressed exactly what I've been feeling lately as we prepare to leave for Papua New Guinea on January 19th (yes, we've bought our tickets!). We were created to love God and He has promised that He will keep us and never leave us. What an awesome promise for me right now!

In many ways, we are "giving up" a lot as we leave our dream jobs, comfortable house, close friends, and family. But we know that it will be worth it and that it is such a small thing for us to do in comparison to what the Lord has done for us. Matt said it well when he said, "This life is so small in comparison to eternity. We can do something now, during this short time on earth, to effect eternity for so many people."

The days between now and January 19th are going to be full of organizing, packing, vaccinating, studying, and enjoying family and friends that we won't see for two years. It can be overwhelming at times, but the Lord has shown us over and over again that He will work out the details - even better than how we would plan to work them out!

We are so very thankful for all of our friends and supporters for the encouragement, prayers, and giving over the past months! THANK YOU!

Grayson, stashing jingle bells in one of our boxes to be shipped. Only the necessities!





Fall has come and seems to be leaving quickly - snow in October! I told Brianna and Grayson to enjoy the fall colors and we've been spending a lot of time outside in the cool air. We didn't expect it to be snowing yet, though! We won't be seeing these fall colors and snowflakes in Papua New Guinea. When we first get there, we'll be near the coast for training, so it will be a hot, tropical January for us! Once we get to the highlands where we'll be living long-term (5,000 ft.), it will be a bit cooler!



The view we woke up to this morning: