The Best Terrible News from Home

August 12, 2017

We’ve been back in the States for a few weeks now and it’s been awhile since we’ve heard from anybody in the church in Patpatar. One of the elders of the church named Tokiung called me from a small town almost an hour from the village. He was waiting there with his family and all […]

Hello and Goodbye

July 3, 2017

Goodbye to the Patpatar After over 14 years in the tribe, we are saying goodbye to our Patpatar friends and family. In 2003, we move into a the village not knowing the Patpatar language and culture. Our goal was to learn from them and build relationships. We wanted to be able to eventually create a […]

Living out of a Box

January 27, 2017

As I piled into the boat with Aaron and my girls, I shook my head and felt like crying. I thought I’d have another week for this transition. I wasn’t quite ready to leave the Patpatar behind yet. … This is just one illustration of some of the things that have been happening in our […]

Shaken and Changed

May 23, 2016

As I sat with Aaron contemplating the scene that was before me I felt tears well up in my eyes. My Patpatar friend sat holding her 14 year old boy, Jordan on her lap tightly trying to keep him from hurting himself. Just a minute earlier I had noticed him put his head on his […]

Broken Bones

January 27, 2016

One of the leaders of the clan told them that they would have to move out of the hamlet and that the teaching of God’s Word would no longer be allowed to happen there. Tokiung’s uncle was ‘at it again’ and this time it was even more severe. Tokiung, the pastor of the Patpatar church, […]

Poison Man to Pastor

November 8, 2015

In some parts of the world they are referred to as sorcerers or witch doctors, here they are known as poison men. Men who can, through the use of incantations and potions, cast spells to either help, harm, or even kill other people. Kiung was one of them. He used to be sought out my […]

Freezing and Burning, all in PNG

September 28, 2015

It was the first time for me to be in a village in Papua New Guinea over 7,000 feet in elevation. At 5:30 in the morning, just as the darkness begins to slowly give way to another day, I stepped away from the wood burning stove in the missionary’s home and walked outside into the […]

Sweat and Cappuccino

May 24, 2015

It was 6:30 on Saturday morning and the sun was just beginning to peak over the mountains in the East. With clear skies, and the temperature already at 85 degrees, it was shaping up to be another steamy tropical day. I set out in my flip-flops down the pitted graveled road winding down the coastline, […]

There is no school bus here

April 9, 2015

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 […]

Leaving the Tribe

March 20, 2015

We left the tribe. It involved a four hour boat trip over rough and stormy waters, a plane trip to the capital city, a visit to the embassy, and a separating of the family to different countries. We have spent years doing translation, literacy, and Bible teaching. They are the main 3 things we are […]