Language checks & birthdays!

This month has been an exciting month here in PNG!  We’ve had 4 (BJ, Jill, Jeremy, & Graham) birthdays and our first language checks!  Birthday celebrations have always been important to me, so we have been partying a lot!  Our partying consist of dinner, cake, and friends!  Although BJ did take me out to lunch on my birthday to a local Asian place, and then we went to this “store” that had some random stuff in it!  BJ bought some hair clippers (for his bday), and I saw a vitamix for 2000 kina…which would be about $1000!  So I settled on a magnetic notepad for my fridge!

We’ve been learning the language now for about 6 weeks, and last week we had our first language check.  We sit down with some leaders and our language helper and they “evaluate” us!  It’s not really a test, just to check our progress and give us some suggestions.  We both are doing great (which is a little comforting, thinking we might go to one of the hardest languages!)  There are basically 12 levels, Basic, Progressing, Capable, and Proficient, with low-mid-high for each.  They want us to be at level 9 (capable high) when we leave here…the rest of the levels will be completed as we continue on!

So…I checked in at basic high, and BJ checked in at Progressing mid!  (Check out the chart for all of you visual people!)

Please pray for us:
-for us to continue learning the language well
-for God to give us peace, if we are to continue pursuing a specific tribe
And always:
-for our marriage
-for our children
-for safety and good health!