Jude is grinning and dancing around the living room on his tippy toes to the happy tune of one of the many Christmas songs he has learned to love. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!” I listen to the wonderful Christmas classic as I look out our window at hundreds of palm tree’s, a blazing sun, and feel the 115 degree humid heat hitting me. I could bake some Christmas cookies but I don’t really want to make my house even hotter so I just stand here and think about what this Christmas is going to be like and about all the things God has already done for us to make it...
Time for Tigak… Almost
As most of you know our first task after arriving to PNG has been to learn the trade language and culture. This is part of our “orientation” to the field and has been our full time job since our arrival. Another part of this busy orientation process is something called “Bush Orientation.” Bush Orientation involves […]
The Gross Stuff
Not all that happens in Papua New Guinea looks or feels like living in a tropical paradise. In the over three months we have been living here we have already encountered a host of the “not-so-pleasant” that PNG has to offer. A good handful of you who keep track of us have asked a […]
A Guide to Buai
Part of our job living in Papua New Guinea right now is not only learning the trade language, but also learning about PNG culture. We have asked questions like, “What do the people eat?” “Where do they live?” “How do they interact with one another?” We observe the material culture and note their social behaviors, […]
Koraate
Living on an NTM center here in the Islands region of Papua New Guinea never has a dull moment. Being at the center is like living at a “hub” of sorts. There are a few guest rooms here for missionaries to stay in when they are traveling through or when they need a small break […]
Singsing for Independance
September 16th was Independence Day here in Papua New Guinea. In 1975, Papua New Guinea gained full independence from Australia, and that day is worth some serious celebrating here in PNG! With very clear ideas about how WE celebrate independence day on our minds, we, along with some other missionaries, ventured a half an hour’s […]
My PNG Cookbook: Kaukau in Coconut Milk
If you want to save money, you eat like the people of PNG do. That’s what we have been trying to do as much of as we can since we moved here to the “land of the unexpected”. 😛 It has been fun for me as the cook in our family to learn about what […]
Mi Lainim Tok Pisin
Our full time job these days is “National Culture and Language Acquisition.” I know, it’s a mouthful. Basically we are learning the language and culture. 🙂 This job is a big one. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with how much we have to learn but most of the time it is exciting. It means we get […]
Special Delivery!
My heart almost hit my throat when I saw the massive truck approaching. I flew down our stairs to see the thing that Tom and I (and many others) had been dying to see for months and months. Our CONTAINER! Praise the Lord- our stuff made it! After being packed into a 40 foot shipping […]
8,000 Miles, Pt. 3: In Papua New Guinea
Our travel from Australia to Papua New Guinea went relatively smoothly. When we got to the capital of PNG, Port Moresby, we had to wait in a really short line for a really LONG time! It was very very hot and being crammed in with a lot of people did not make things smell that […]