Aloha! No, that would be Hawaiian! We made it to Papua New Guinea! It’s great to finally be here. For all of you who have been with us 5 years ago, you know it’s been a long time waiting! It is absolutely beautiful here! Everything is green, except the flowers! There are fruit trees all over the place! We have a papaya tree in our yard. We picked our first one off yesterday, but it needs to ripen a little! Whatever tree you have in your yard is game to eat. If you want something from someone else’s yard, you just have to ask! The other trees at our friends are banana, mango, and coconut! It’s totally a different world here!
If you see the picture of our house, you might think that we are on vacation! I told you it was beautiful, but we are far from vacation! Here is a list of things that I have had to adjust to:
-time difference: We are 16 hours ahead (always wanted to go to the future!), and our kids were waking up in the middle of the night. This morning they finally slept until it was “light outside”
-“light outside”: We always tell our kids they can get up when it’s light outside…it gets light at 5:45am!! In America, that meant about 7!
-We (BJ and I) have been going to bed at 8:30pm! We are completely exhausted! But if you do the math, we get about 9 hours! That will probably change!
-Internet: it’s crazy expensive! We bought some data and it was all used up after one facetime! We are in the process of figuring out how much to buy, etc. So for now, we have to limit facetime and uploading pictures.
-Shopping: I have lost my rights to go shopping by myself! It’s just not a good idea! So BJ went to the markets without me with my list. I had no idea what they had there and he stuck to my list! So we didn’t get much! I will get to go next week with him and the kids and our leaders here.
-Food: We eat really healthy! We get everything from the farmer’s market mimi! They have a lot of fruit and vegetables that you can buy very cheap! The milk is shelf stable=not good, so we found a powdered coconut milk that we all enjoy! Our snacks consist of “bush biscuits” with peanut butter and bananas! My proudest food item so far is yogurt! We have a yogurt maker where we mix water and a powder mix and let it sit for 12+ hours. It is amazing!!
-Cooking: My first meal was a beef and rice meal that I made for the Hambrices…yuck! The meat was terrible and chewy! We decided that we’d have to be vegetarians! I then found out that they bought us the cheapest budget meat, so it gets better from there! Last night, I made chicken, carrots, and potatoes in the pressure cooker and I have to say, we might be eating that every night! Yum!
-Sunscreen and Bug spray: Every time we go outside, we have to put sunscreen and bugs spray on all 5 of us! I hate it, but it’s part of our life now!
-Ants: Sadly, we just let them roam around now. If you leave a crumb on the cabinet, they will be there. If you don’t’ notice a smidgen of peanut butter on the jar, they will notice! Ants everywhere! I’m not quite over them, but getting there!
-Cleaning: so you can imagine, we have to clean after every meal or snack. Hand wash dishes, sweep, wipe the table, etc. Call it genius, but I started training my girls to help out with this…they love it!!
-It’s hot: It’s constantly like Oklahoma in the summer…without air conditioners!
-Language barrier: BJ went out to a village yesterday with a leader, and didn’t understand anything! We will be working very hard over the next few months to learn this language! And that’s what it’s all about!
**All of these things have been very hard; all of these transitions and being away from friends and family…but all of this is just a small sacrifice to be doing what the Lord has been preparing us to do. Thank you for all of your emails of encouragement so far…keep them coming! Thank you for praying, we need it! And thank you for financing us to be here…to one day, bring the Gospel to a people group! We love ya’ll!
Susan Fowler says
Jill – I wanted you to know that Juanita would be so proud of you. You and your family are following God’s plan for your lives. I will pray for your family and what God has planned for you in this new place. May God grant you understanding as you learn this new language. What a blessing for your girls!
Margaret Martens says
I am so proud of you all, so glad you made it. It sure is a long trip to get there. So cool that the Hambrices are there with you. I love you and am praying for you. Keep your eyes on The Lord, He is always faithful.