Catching Up

An overdue update:

The people who took pity on us and gave us a ride (from my last journal entry) have really blessed us and have become friends.  Peter & his wife helped us while we were looking at cars and thankfully, we now have our own car. No more riding the smelly PMV’s!!  I have not felt any kind of culture stress for awhile now. You just have to go with the flow here, or you would be stressed out and frustrated all the time. Example: the driver's services office still has no cards to print licenses....

We have been running a successful morning pre-school, and afternoon tutoring for a few months now. We had one student the first day, a few more each day, and now we have 20-25 coming each week. We do classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tom spends almost every day over in Gereka at the iCare4U construction site.

We have really been blessed by becoming a part of the Ulamagi Church in Gereka. I go to women’s fellowship Wednesday mornings, the kids go to youth fellowship Friday nights, and we attend on Sundays. It is a precious group of believers led by two pastor-couples: Lilly and Ako, and Salome and Ricky. They have such huge hearts!

Moving forward, I would like to invest more time in the women I meet. I have taught a bread baking class and a pizza making class, as well as some basic laptop skills. There is a huge need for not only English literacy, but computer literacy as well. 

(Written July 6)

Culture Stress

Today was one of those days where we struggled with culture stress. Tom had to deal with getting our washing machine repaired or replaced.  It’s been broken for almost 2 weeks. Nothing happens fast here. Things are night & day different!

Before we left the house today, I was chatting with my brother on WhatsApp. He shared an inspirational quote with me. The line that stuck with me was to see the beauty around me. It’s easy to lose sight of the beauty in this city. It’s filthy, smelly, suffocating. There is rubbish and waste everywhere, betel nut spittle spewed on walks and walls, poverty and disease everywhere I look—both humans and animals. I see filth and desperation, and I lose sight of the beauty. I needed to hear that today—to look for the beauty.

So I looked for the beauty as I rode the hot, smelly, dusty, crowded, suffocating PMV. I reminded myself to see the beauty when my anxiety was getting the best of me and my stomach was cramping on that bus. Today we had to take 3 buses to town and 4 home. I tried so hard to see the beauty as I walked the streets of Port Moresby with the relentless sun and humidity bearing down on me.  I tried to find humour in the fact that after finally arriving at the drivers license center, we were told to try back next week because they were out of cards!

And God did not disappoint. There was beauty in the bus ride to town. Out my window, I saw the rolling hills, the coastlines, and the beautiful people. In town I saw friendly smiles, some bubbling streams, and the beauty of people going about their day, determined to keep surviving despite the poverty.  We met new friends who took pity on us and gave us a ride when we were unsure of where were going. There was beauty in smiling eyes when Joy and I shared some potato crisps with the children behind us on the bus home.

Tonight I enjoyed the beauty of friendship while visiting in the cool of the evening with my two neighbours who have become my dearest friends. I pray I can continue to see the treasures in the ordinary and find beauty in this city filled with heartache and sickness.

Written on Thursday, 3 May 2018

Coming Home, Part 2

When we arrived at the airport in Port Moresby, we were excited!  After leaving the airplane, we had to go through immigration and customs. As it turned out, the instructions we were given on board our last flight was not correct…they told us we only had to fill out one customs & immigration form per family…turns out it was one per person. Thankfully we had a very patient and sweet immigrations worker who really blessed us with her kind words and helpful attitude. After getting through that long line, it appeared that we would need to wait in another long line to go through customs.

As we entered the waiting area for customs, God blessed us again with a kind worker. The gentleman asked me if we were moving to Papua New Guinea, and I responded affirmatively. He then pointed to a doorway and told us to go and he welcomed to his country!  We never even had to go through customs!  

We loaded all of our bags onto Ismael's truck and began our short ride to our new home. Joy and I stayed and unpacked, while Tom and the teens went to town with a list of some necessities that we needed to settle in and be able to cook for the next few days.  I still have no idea how Joy and I stayed awake!  We were exhausted and I felt like I was sleep-walking. But I kept resisting the urge to lay down and nap. I just robotically unpacked one bag after another after another.... Boy did it feel good to sleep that night. I'm glad we all pushed through. It really helped with the jet lag.

(At the time of writing this,) we have been here two weeks, and have certainly had our ups and downs. Rather than progressing through the different stages of culture shock and acclimation, I feel that sometimes I go through them all in a matter of hours or a day!  I am so glad to be here and amazed at how God has worked on our behalf and blessed us so much. We still have needs, and stress over things, but we need to have faith that God will continue to provide for us.

We have made some sweet new friends. We love our neighbors! Yesterday I met a dear sister who lives down the road and has a heart for orphans and children.  I met another sweet sister at church Sunday, and I know many more friends are to come. I am excited to see God work everything together is His time as we minister to vulnerable women and children here in Port Moresby.

Written on Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Coming Home, Part 1

There were times I never thought returning to Papua New Guinea would be a reality. I often thought it was only a dream that would never be fulfilled; a longing I would carry with me the rest of my life. That just makes this homecoming all the more sweet!  I am back where I belong. I can feel it in my bones. This islands girl is HOME to stay (God-willing)!

I had every intention of keeping a regular journal after arriving here. I wanted to document everything. But, as always, life and busyness got in the way. I will share what I have written, and try to do better going forward. Ha!

We left our house around 5 o’clock PM Saturday, 14 April 2018.  We had a longer trip to the airport than expected. The GPS we were using took us on a very long and roundabout way through NYC to the airport. We arrived, checked in, and had a very short wait to board our first flight.

Our first flight left at 12:30 AM Sunday with a stopover in Vancouver on our way to Manila. The first leg to Vancouver, BC, was about 5 ½ hours. We were there about an hour to pick up more passengers, and did not get off the plane.  We soon departed for our LOOOOOONG trip across the ocean to Manila, Philippines. This flight was around 13 hours, 50 minutes long. We arrived in Manila around 9:30 AM Monday morning (Manila time).

We had a 14-hour layover in Manila, and departed for Port Moresby around 9:30 PM, Monday. After a 5-hour flight, we arrived in Port Moresby around 7:30 AM Tuesday.

Our landlord and friend was waiting for us, with a few guys to help get all of our bags onto his truck and to our house.

Prior to leaving on this journey, I was experiencing a lot of anxiety and fear about traveling with the whole family, and more specifically with Joy.  A few hours before leaving, I sent out a prayer request email specifically about traveling with a child with special needs. I know many people were praying for us…I could feel it and felt like the whole trip was a series of small miracles.

Joy amazed me throughout the whole trip. It was unbelievable how great she did!  I know that dealing with the changes, lack of sleep, different food, people, environment…sights, sounds, smells, tastes, etc., could not have been easy for her. She loved her first experience flying and took it all in stride…she is my champion and hero!

I did get really sick in Manila due to some food poisoning, but it was still an amazing trip overall. I prayed fervently for healing and God did not disappoint!  My nausea and other symptoms passed before our final flight. This whole trip greatly increased my faith in God!  It also made me feel as though my faith is small. I know I can count on Him, yet why do I worry and doubt?