Hiking to Lone Tree

See that mountain in the center of the photo—the one with trees on top?  That mountain is what we call “Lone Tree” and I see it every day from our verandah.  But in the six years that we’ve lived here in PNG, I’ve never even gotten close to it.  Until today….

 

Our hike with friends started in the opposite direction and took us down the road and through the National High School.  We passed this billboard just before we started climbing.  Was it a warning?  Actually, it’s a fairly common advertisement here in PNG.

 

The road/trail starts to get steeper and we pass hillside gardens and “haus kunai” (houses made with bush materials).

The road (yes, cars drive on it) is rock-hard clay.  Fortunately, it’s dry clay today.  I can imagine the slimy, slippery mess it must be during the wet season.

Impossible to keep the boys from running off ahead and blazing a trail.  They’re happy to reach the first crest before the rest of us.

From the crest we can gaze down in the neighboring valley.  It looks like a plain perfect for gardens or grazing cattle.  A few houses do exist around the edges, but the whole valley is actually one big swamp.  Makes me wonder if it were a lake long, long ago.

Remember those trees at the top of “Lone Tree”?  We ate our lunch among them.  Seeing these giant (6+ feet high) prehistoric-looking ferns made me wonder if dinosaurs might be lurking nearby.

The hike down is breath-taking and the perfect setting for flinging your arms out and singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music!”

Had to stop for a Facebook cover photo.  <cough>  That’s Ukarumpa in the background.  It felt invigorating to be on the outside of the fence.

A closer shot through the smoke of burning grass.  The red arrow points to where we live.

At the bottom of the mountain we had to hike through some gardens, wade across the Ba’e River and stroll through a small coffee plantation.  Coffee plantations are scattered all over our valley and here are some unripe berries.

The whole trek took us about 4 1/2 hours.  That included stopping for lunch and a quick dip in the icy water of the Ba’e.  The boys, not me!  We all made it back with minimal blisters and bruises.  Claire even declared she’d do the hike again the next day…as long as she only had to walk downhill.  <smile>

Flew the Coop

It’s been two weeks since our coop went from this…

…to this overnight.

All 17 of our broiler chickens flew the coop, or went “wokabout” [went walking] as we politely say here in PNG.  What we really mean is that they were stolen--right from under our noses, but we’re pretty helpless to do anything about it.

And so we process….

• The carefully backed-out screws in the door locks, and scattered chicken feathers don’t allow us to linger in denial for more than a millisecond.
• Our Christian/missionary training won’t allow us to dwell on angry thoughts like--this is why it’s so hopeless to try to do anything here.
• So we move on to bargaining because maybe the security guys have a lead.  And maybe the culprits’ village will forsake the cultural value of clan loyalty to help some “rich” foreigners get justice and compensation for a few missing meals.  Or maybe not…
• …and we’re sorely tempted to sink into depression.  Someone out there is laughing at our futile attempts to keep our chickens safe.  Yeah, that idea to put the coop near a light and the road so the night guards would have a clear view of it—that worked well.  Not.  What a waste of time and money…etc., etc..

I think that’s the hardest part of it for us—feeling like we’ve been duped, and wondering if it’s worth it to get duped again.  We still don’t know.  But the cord of truth that pulls us into acceptance is knowing that God is still on his throne.  He holds the “why” in his hand, and He alone knows what the final outcome will be.  That’s OK with us because we trust Him.

Good News in Migabac

Our friends, Steve & Debbie McEvoy, are translators working among the Migabac people of Papua New Guinea.  In July, Steve completed the typesetting of the Migabac New Testament books—Matthew, Ephesians, Philippians, and Hebrews.  These books are now being printed at our center’s print shop.

Co-translators spent ten days in Ukarumpa proof reading the completed NT books.   Four other Migabac speakers also spent twenty-nine hours making audio recordings of these four books.  They took turns reading in a small sound booth while Steve recorded them onto his computer.  The McEvoys anticipate taking the printed Matthew, Ephesians, Philippians and Hebrews books to the village in September, and  the audio books will also be available to share on audio players and mobile phones!

We are excited that the Migabac people will soon have access to more Scripture in their own language.  The McEvoys’ Migabac friends recognize the need for Biblical training in leadership, marriage and the family.  Please pray that God would prepare their hearts to receive His Good News!

(Photos by S&D McEvoy)

Go Red!

The kids have been training for the past 4 weeks, and waiting all year for this big day:  Sports Day!  Each year the Ukarumpa International School graciously invites home school students to participate in a day of friendly competition.  Events included an obstacle course, sprints, relay races, ball toss, sack race, target toss, oval run, long jump and the traditional tug-of-war.  Red against Yellow!  Guess what team Claire and Isaiah are on.  <wink>

Every family that serves in Ukarumpa or enrolls a child in the school gets assigned a team.  Some of Claire and Isaiah’s friends have even continued the red/yellow loyalty into the 2nd generation!

This year Red dominated and Claire and Isaiah did well in their own team and individual events.  Claire claimed 4 ribbons and Isaiah struggled home under the weight of 6 ribbons!

(Photo by K Weaver)

Goodbye from Afar

On 25 July, my maternal grandfather died.  With his rapidly declining health, we knew it was coming but somehow part of me kept hoping that he’d recover and allow me to see him again…in a year or so?  Sigh….

Saying “goodbye” from halfway around the world is a bit surreal.  Nothing changes in my life here to mark that he was here with us one day…but today he is gone.  I find that I’m most sorry for myself.  Is that wrong?  That I can’t celebrate his life with the rest of the family, and mourn the empty spot he leaves.

Actually, I think I began mourning 2 years ago when I said my final goodbye to in person.  We had just spent a wonderful month on the family homestead helping out and reconnecting with friends and family in the area.  We spent a lot of time sitting on that swing set talking and reminiscing.

And when it came time to leave, Grandpa asked us again why we had to go all the way to Papua New Guinea.  Did we like it better over there?

“No, Grandpa, home is always best, but the people of Papua New Guinea need to read the Bible in their own language.”  We hugged and said we’d be back in 3 years.  Grandpa commented that he didn’t think he’d be around when we came back.  I protested mildly that I hoped it wouldn’t be true…but I think we both knew he was probably right.

You were right, Grandpa.  But I thank God for all the wonderful memories and time spent with you.  You will be greatly missed!

First Day of Home School

 

Claire, barely able to contain her excitement to begin the first day of school, leaps out of bed at the break of dawn.  <insert dripping sarcasm>

 

 

 

The caramel apple cinnamon rolls Mommy made to celebrate the beginning of what we hope is another great year of learning together.  (Can’t forget the obligatory mug of Milo to wash down the anti-malarial meds….)

 

 

Claire’s math workbook assures her that “Math is a blast”!  (See the picture of the space shuttle launch pad on the left page.)  Somehow, I don’t think Claire is convinced.

 

 

 

Wow!  This lefty has amazing penmanship!  Keep working hard, Isaiah!  When you finish that copy work, you can have 5 minutes on the swing.

Upside-Down Refrigerators and Other Mental Drains

We’ve recently moved into this beautiful home.  I hesitate to even call it a move because we didn’t change states or countries…just transporting stuff from one house to another.  OK so maybe that’s moving, but as far as moves go, it was pretty easy. 

That is…until we got unpacked and I was reminded how much I usually function on autopilot during the day.  Repeatedly searching under the kitchen sink for the rubbish bin.  Groping uselessly on the wrong side of a doorway for a light switch.  Staring idiotically at the inside of the refrigerator because you can’t find the ice cubes.  (My opinion of freezer-bottom refrigerators has temporarily soured.)

Every transition requires re-learning those tasks we used to do “automatically”, and thus consumes an exhausting amount of brain power.  So although the house is excellent and I’m very sure I’ll love living here as much as the rest of my family, I’m still in the midst of my mini culture-shock.  Hey!  I just celebrated my 40th birthday and you know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Be patient with me and when I spend an excessive amount of time on my new verandah drinking tea, remember that the key to thriving during transition is to focus on the positive and keep a thankful attitude.  And I am very thankful for this positively gorgeous view!  <wink>