Update on the Bridge

 As you can see, it's time for us to update you on the bridge situation here! We have been amazed to see how quickly repairs are being made! These photos show a temporary bridge that can withstand smaller-vehicle traffic. They put the permanent bridge on a temporary footing while they build the much more solid, permanent footings (to the left of the bridge).

We are still on restricted fuel (5 liters per family per week), but smaller trucks have been able to deliver the necessities to our store for us to purchase.

Praise God that this whole process is happening a lot faster than expected and we are no longer totally cut off!

It's Happened!

Some of you, especially if you're friends with us on Facebook, know that this week the bridge (yes, as in the ONLY bridge) between our center and everywhere else, collapsed.

As you may have figured out by the masses of people with fuel containers, it was a fuel truck (bringing fuel to our autoshop/center gas station). We are now rationed to just 5 liters of fuel per week.

One of our friends here, Crystal Pennington, has written a really great blog about our situation here and I HIGHLY recommend reading it:

http://penningtonhouse.blogspot.com/2014/08/whats-big-deal-about-bridge.html

We'll try to keep you all updated on all of this over the next few months!

Matt looks happy in this picture, but I'm pretty sure that's a nervous smile.

Why We're Here (Laura)

Why are we here? Why did we move our family to the opposite side of the world from our home, family, and friends? The obvious answer is that we came to support the work of Bible translation, so that everyone can hear the Good News of God's love for them - and understand it because it's in their first language, their heart language. What I've been learning, however, is that God is so much bigger than even that great task. He is doing so much more...for us personally, for our family, and for our understanding of Him and His love.

Since Matt and I work mostly from our main mission base, we don't always get to see the individual language projects going on. So, we were thrilled to be able to be a part of a Bible dedication last month on a tiny island in the middle of the South Pacific...

The Arop-Lokep people group lives on Long Island, a small volcanic island off the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG). They are one of over 830 different language groups in PNG - that's right, on this small island nation there are that many unique languages! Last month, the Arop-Lokep people received the Bible in their own language!

We'd like to share our photo journal of this amazing experience with you...

Approaching Long Island after a 30 minute flight in a Kodiak airplane. We couldn't believe how beautiful the shoreline was! The coral reef was like something out of "Finding Nemo"!

This is the airstrip that we landed on - we are so thankful for skilled pilots here!

 We were welcomed by a crowd of dancers, singing in a traditional "singsing" dance. They were waiting for us at the airstrip and then led us to the village about a 15 minute walk away. They danced and sang the whole way there!

 Once we made it to the village, we ate lunch and got settled before heading out on a hike through the gorge. A deep gorge was formed some years ago, when the lake at the center of the volcano overflowed. We felt so small as we looked up the sheer walls to daylight above.

Our guides through the gorge.

Feeling small...the walls here were so high that we couldn't get a picture from the bottom to the top.

Matt's "doorstep".

Needless to say, Matt loved his accommodations while we were there. He shared this house with several other men and enjoyed fishing out of his window (yes, he brought a fishing pole - only the necessities!).

The day of the dedication was such a special day, especially for Jeff and Sissie D'Jernes, the Bible translators who spent over 20 years working on learning the language, building relationships, and translating the Bible into the Arop-Lokep language.

The women of the village, celebrating the arrival of the Bibles.

We walked down the beach to the dedication site as the dancers led the way.

They loaded the Bibles onto a canoe that was custom-made for the dedication. It carried the translators and Bibles to the dedication ceremony to symbolize God's Word arriving on the shores of their island.

Listening to the dedication ceremony.

These men helped with the translation project over the years and were deeply moved to finally hold God's Word in their own hands, in their heart language.

Before flying back home on the last day, we hiked up to the caldera lake (crater lake) at the top of the island. It took us over 6 hours to hike there and back, but it was worth it! Our guide had to hack his way through the jungle to clear a path for us at times. The freshwater lake at the top is over 800 feet deep at the center! Only a handful of "outsiders" have been to the lake so it was pretty awesome to be able to see it!

Our view of the crater lake from the sky.

We are continuously amazed that we get to be a part of the work being done here; to bring God's Word and the news of His great love to people like those on Long Island.

Click HERE to see a video ("The Word has come to Long Island")!

Village House: Building Up the Deaf MInistry (Matt)

Matt's crew with Nathalie and Foretin (black/blue) in center.

How do you build a house in Papua New Guinea, in a village that has no power?  Most people would say "I wouldn't!"; which is what I wanted to say at times.
We started this project over a year ago, taking over after the first builder left.  I can only guess why.
Situm is a village not too far outside Lae, one of PNG's bigger "cities"; which is why Nathalie and Foretin want to be here. They are a deaf married couple who have settled here to work with and have a ministry to the deaf in Lae, and as far as they can reach into the remote places of PNG.  Nathalie is Swedish, but for Foretin, this is home. He grew up in this village, exploring the jungle and playing around the river.

Even though it's close to Lae, Situm is hard to get to.  The roads are rough and you must go through a river to get in and out (see pictures in last year's blog "Where There Is No Bridge"). We tried to time this trip between rainy seasons and with God's help, were able to manage the river.  It came up one or two nights but we had no need to cross then.

We brought in two portable generators; one for back up.  We ended up using both and ran the backup until it nearly ran out of gas on the day we were leaving. We had everything else packed up, and we planed boards for them to use inside later. We had completed almost everything we came to do and finished the last board moments before the gas ran out.

Bradford

Kevin

Can you find the gutter guy?

This woman is carrying maybe 30 coconuts, plus bananas. Women here work the gardens and carry unbelievable loads!

 Local River Mangies

Lord of the Flies!

Solar hot water - no electricity needed

We equipped the house with gutters to catch rain water, along with 3 water tanks, solar hot water, a shower, and kitchen sink - all electricity-free!

Josua

Home base and mess hall

When things were hard and tools were breaking, I was reminded why we came to Papua New Guinea. I was here to build for people who were here to minister to others.  I am here to build because I can. Nathalie and Foretin are here to fill a role that only they can.
 Deaf people have so many skills that many of us do not have. They can feel a vibration in the floor and know which direction it came from, just like we can tell the direction of sound.  My crew loved learning sign language and being a part of this project.

After working 11 hours a day for nearly two weeks, bathing in the river at 8 pm each night, and eating village food, I was ready to go home. Village food is usually boiled: a variety of boiled potatoes and tubers, boiled bananas, boiled leaves from a variety of plants, plus rice. Sometimes boiled eggs. I was so thankful there were a couple hot meals prepared for us every day, but when Laura had lasagna in the oven when I got home, it was the the best lasagna I've ever had!

Nana and Papa's Visit

Looking back, it seems impossible that Matt's parents, Bruce and Carolyn, were actually here in Papua New Guinea with us. It's like we blinked, they were here...then we blinked again, and they were gone! It's hard to put into words what is was like to have people we love and miss so much, here with us. To have Brianna and Grayson make memories with them again was amazing, especially Grayson who often has a hard time even remembering the U.S. and our friends back home.

That's one of the hardest parts and biggest sacrifices for me...knowing my kids are missing out on getting to know their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and my own friends. But, we're so thankful for the short time we had with Nana and Papa! Here's the story in pictures...

Waiting at aviation for their plane to arrive. Can you tell we were excited?

They've made it...5 days and 5 flights after they left home!

The kids enjoyed some special gifts from Nana and Papa and other family in the States. Papa was quite impressed that Grayson could put his new Lego truck together! He's growing up!

Nana got lots of cuddles in while she was here!

Brianna, reading to Nana.

This turned out to be quite a challenging game of Memory!

Going to the market, bright and early!

After a week at home in the Highlands, we headed to hot Madang Province to visit our old stomping grounds from our first 4 months in Papua New Guinea. We were so excited to show Nana and Papa a different side of PNG!

Papa and the pilot, finding our way to Madang.

We enjoyed being able to go out to eat while we were in Madang Town. A restaurant...what a treat!

Grayson ran over to show Papa the room that we called "home" for several months during our Pacific Orientation Course last year. He remembered right where it was!

Beautiful Brianna, sitting on the coral reef outside the Guesthouse we stayed in. The day before, she hit her head during an unexpected jolt in the car and we thought she was going to need stitches! Unfortunately, the hospital was closed for the day...so...we made a make-shift butterfly band-aid out of tape. Good to go!

We had a great time exploring the coral reefs and swimming in the ocean together. This is such a wild, beautiful country!

 

Our last day together was spent visiting our village, Surumarang, where we had lived for 5 weeks. We hadn't seen our wasfemili (host family) and friends there for almost a year! It was surreal to have Matt's parents sitting in our little village house, sharing a meal of kaukau (like potatoes) and boiled fish.

Matt's dad, Bruce, meeting the chief of the village, also named Bruce! They really hit it off!

Here I am translating the conversation between Matt's parents and the chief and other members of the village.

There's nothing quite as refreshing after a long, hot day than a kulau (green coconut). Jacob, the man passing them out, had just climbed a 50 foot tree to cut them down for us.

Before we knew it, it was already time for Nana and Papa to head back home. No amount of time with them here would have been long enough!

It's always hard to say good-bye!

We praise God for health and safety for Matt's parents while they were traveling and while they were here with us! We thank Him for making it possible for them to come and we feel encouraged as we continue our time serving here.

"Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4b-5