I’m back in the tribe now, for a few days. Half way through our two months of travel before we are able to return home to the village on a more permanent basis again. The meetings in South Asia with missionaries and leaders from several countries went great and the 2 workshops held in another part of Papua New Guinea were a success as well, so thanks for praying.
I was able to get back into the tribe just before Easter and was so encouraged to here testimonies from several of the believers as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. Unfortunately, I had to leave my family behind at one of the centers her in PNG in order to come out here to the tribe. Thankfully, I’ll see them again next week for our annual conference, but not before I boat, ride, and then hike into a remote village to help two other missionary families for a few days as they begin Bible lesson writing.
I miss my wife and girls (check out this 1 minute video about our girls and “Their Part in the Patpatar” http://youtu.be/jF7Jgv_HS3Q). There are a lot of things we have had to adjust to being here in the mission field with our family. One is homeschooling. Last week we said good-bye to our 2nd homeschooling teacher assistant. Last year we had a young lady come and help us for 3 months, and this year we had another young lady, Miranda Bohlender, come and help Lori for 3 months primarily in the task of homeschooling. What a huge blessing. Lori was able to spend extra time with the Patpatar literacy students and with the Christian ladies doing Bible studies and discipleship. She was able to spend time with our girls more as a mom and less as their school teacher.
Miranda, you did a great job and we are so thankful for your time, sacrifice, patience, and hard work. We are so grateful you came!
This fall, we’ll be going through another transition with our girls and school. Avalon will be in high school and will be attending the boarding school at the mission center. She is excited, but anxious. She has already met several friends who will also be attending and has enjoyed them. Mom and dad are busy making sure we are doing all we can to help her through this new phase.
Makes us realize more and more the importance of education, teachers, and both short-term and long-term volunteers who are willing to help out. The school she will be attending has some needs this coming year. Check out this video about the need: https://vimeo.com/115151866
Aaron
Fact – The girls field trips this year included finding World War II wreckage, village food production, types of waterfalls in the jungle, and a few other not-so-normal events.
