I woke up this morning to find two different beetles (one is now in the bug cage) and a praying mantis on our porch. Micah stepped on one of these beetles a week ago, and while they don’t bite, its claw-like little feet latched onto his foot and he did a nice little scream and one-legged dance until it was flung from him. No harm was done, he was just scared. We have a light over the porch that stays on all night and attracts all different kinds of bugs so one of the first things I do in the morning is to go see what has come to visit. The worst thing I’ve found is a giant mutant fly. I actually have no idea what it is but it looks a bit like an ordinary fly only many times bigger. The body of it was probably the size of my thumb and then its wings folded behind it stretched another inch or so off its body while resting. I chased it away.
Have I mentioned how wonderful the weather is here? Its mostly sunny just about every day and although the sun is quite fierce the air temperature never gets that hot. The reason for this is we’re over five thousand feet above sea level. Our house sometimes gets quite warm in the middle of the day but usually by late afternoon or evening clouds are filling the sky and the temperature takes a little plunge. The nights are cool enough to sleep in warm pajamas and use a comforter. It’s quite nice here. You should come and see for yourself.
Yesterday, Cole, Maisie, and I went to our first PNG Church. Micah was and is sick and so Maggie stayed home. The music was lively and the sermon about an hour (of which I understood very little) and it was ‘run’ quite similar to our American churches. One big difference was that the women and men were separate. There was a big mat on the floor where all the women and most children sat and then a bench in the back where the men sat. Afterwards most of the people hung around to converse and were very slow in returning to their homes. Time is not money here.
Pray for our sick kids to get better. Micah has been sick for a few days (fever and vomiting), and Cole has a slight fever today. Continue praying for our language learning and that people would be drawn to Christ through the relationships we are building here. In the next few weeks we will begin to look at possible tribes for our future ministry. Pray that God would make it clear to us which people group we should go to and with whom we should partner with to go. Lastly, praise the Lord for all our partners in ministry, both here and at home. We are so blessed by all the people praying and giving. Thank you!