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 […]

Face to Face…Digitally

June 1, 2016

Living in a village on an island far removed from technology has limited my ability to connect with the ever growing social network across the world. But times are changing, even in these remote jungle corners. Now, while walking with the Patpatar people down a muddy road through the village or on a narrow path […]

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, […]

Cupcake Fail and Rotting Rats

November 27, 2015

It’s 9:00pm, I just walked my coworker home just in case the drunk guys out on the trail between our houses were still there. It turns out they had moved on and she was able to walk to her house under the light of the full moon by herself, letting herself into her house in […]

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 […]

Rocks, bark, and a changed old man

August 23, 2014

Tooldee is one of few in our area who still remembers when the Japanese overtook their village during World War II. He is a little old man with lots of spunk. He is barely 5’ tall and with his slight stoop seems even shorter. His toothless grin and high pitched voice draws your attention and […]

Mountaintop to Mountaintop

August 14, 2014

A month ago our family was hiking up an island mountain emerging out of the sea at one of the most northern points in Papua New Guinea. Even though the elevation wasn’t that high, being nearly right on the equator under a bright tropical sun made the conditions intense. The boat ride to the island […]

Family Separation

May 28, 2014

We’ve been updating you on some of the things going on in our ministry here among the Patpatar, but what about our family? What’s up with that man and his beautiful wife surrounded by 4 blonde girls living in the jungles of PNG? Aaron – Having been on a few international trips the last year […]