Our Crates Arrived!!

After leaving Nova Scotia on Dec 23, they traveled across Canada and finally left Canada on Jan 21st. March 13th they arrived in Papua New Guinea! But we couldn't have them brought our way because the only bridge to the port city was broken. So we waited for our crates to go through customs and we waited for PNG to fix the bridge. They arrived at our NTM Center on April 9th!!

We were happy to have some help unloading it! It looked exactly as it did last we saw it... just very hot instead of freezing cold!

All we had to do was get the four-wheeler on our truck and off we went to Interface!

 

Our electric piano also arrived safe and sound! We are enjoying it!

  

 

 It is fun to learn how to play piano again after so many years without one!

 

Now, we have a taste of home in our living room... a hand crafted Nova Scotian boat by Roy!

 

Jacob was so excited when the four-wheeler was up and running! First he had to put everything back in it, gas, grease, coolant, etc. And then he was off!! Work goes so much faster now that he has help running back to the shop for tools and materials!! And soon I hope to learn how to drive it too! Thank you all for your part in bringing these crates over with our four-wheeler... there was a lot of prayers and support that enabled our crates to arrive safely here at Interface!

A typical day venturing into town...

Our drive to town takes about 1 hour depending on the road conditions. Some days are just bad and some days are really bad. :) On this day we were the only people that did not get stuck.

The road even washes away sometimes.

There are also pigs and goats along the way. This is the main highway that we take after making it through our muddy road. :)

 Papua New Guinea is different because there are no street signs along the dirt roads but there is something like this at a local hotel... makes for a fun picture. :)

We stopped at the Supermarket in town to pick up our meat at the Butchery... they just got a fresh shipment of pork in... quite the sight!!

On our way back from town the tractor needed to be rescued. They were fixing the road a bit, but ended up slipping into this 3 foot hole along the way. We were able to pull it out.

March Conferences...

We hosted two conferences in March... Highlands and Lapilo. It was a good time for all the missionaries to take some time out of their every day routines of life and be encouraged in the Lord through special speakers and each other. The Highlands Conference was held here at Interface, about 100 people attended. This year was the first time we catered the Lapilo Conference which took place at our NTM center about a 45 minute drive away. This picture was taken in the gym at Lapilo looking out over half of the people attending. We cooked for about 200 people, one meal per day. It was fun cooking for so many, quite a challenge!

The missionaries were very happy to have their meals catered this year... I think it will become a yearly tradition. :)

We made 9 pans of lasagna using 9 gallons of sauce with 10 kgs of meat.

 This is a cake I decorated for the High School Graduates as they celebrated the occasion with all the other missionaries here at the conference.

We transported the food via truck... so our methods of carrying food were thought out well. We had a warmer to keep our food hot for about an hour. The last day of the conference we came across a truck stuck in the road. We were thankful that we were able to go around him.

We were also able to help pull him out with a rope and some man power. We were just a few minutes late for our catering event. :)

Back in Papua New Guinea Once Again!!

 

INTERFACE Campus, the place of our first ministry together and our first home together! And also the place where we met in 2005! Notice the new Intern Kitchen in the center of the cabins. :)

  

Our first home together!

  

We live in the left half of this duplex housing unit. The right half is now the new office. This is the same duplex that I helped build when I was here as an intern in 1995 and 1996. :)

Our Living Room... you may be wondering.... "why in the world is there a wood stove?!" Well, we do live in the mountains so there isn't as much humidity. And in dry season our record low is 50 degrees. This is quite cold for us when the norm is 70-85 degrees F. Although I've been told that the wood stove has been ready to be lit for 2 1/2 years now... the couple that used to live here got it ready to go for the next cold spell. :) Maybe someday we will light it. :)

Our Kitchen/Dining room... I really enjoy our home, much bigger then my round house. It is very fun to have people over for meals and parties!

And my kitchen has 5 times as much counter space and an oven that works!! :)

  

 Jacob and I love to relax in our hammock on the porch. 

  

And we love the view from our porch!

  

We are very close to where we work as well. If you look to the right... you will find the workshop, where Jacob works every day.

 

And if you look to the left you will find the Kitchen where I work everyday, when we have a Interface program or Missionary Conference. We love our commutes to work! :)

Our Daily Lives at Interface....

Jacob has the privilege of being on rat and mice patrol. So far the total deaths are 2 rats (in our loft) and 3 mice who made themselves home in our kitchen and living room. He is doing a great job! Who knew that these critters like raisins!

 

 Jacob works with the German short term guys every day. He really enjoys working and hanging out with the guys. Last night we watched an NHL Hockey game and Jacob had fun explaining the game to a couple of the guys. (If anyone wants to send a package.... taped Hockey games are high on our list!) Here Jacob and Robert just finished the new steps for my old round house. The old steps had rotted out and someone fell through them. It was kinda funny that Jacob's first project was making these steps because in 2005 he built the steps that just rotted. (But don't worry, he built them out of hard wood this time!)

  

Here is the Mechanic side of the workshop... Jacob is thankful that Danny, our co-worker will be rebuilding the engine on the Hilux, not him! We also have three other vehicles, two Land Cruisers as well as a Canter, which carries about 20 people or A LOT of food and supplies for Interface.

  

 Jacob spends a lot of time in the wood working side of the Workshop which he enjoys. Recently he has been building many sets of steps and a door.

 

This tractor is used often to fix our road, or at least try to fix our road. :)

 

Here I am getting our Sunday Chicken meal in the oven while Jacob is busy upstairs checking out his rat trap. (No rat today.) I like to cook and bake in my new kitchen with lots of space. In the last few weeks I have been organizing our little home as well as planning for upcoming conferences. We will be hosting three conferences in the next three weekends. So I have been figuring out portions and ordering a lot of food. I am looking forward to being back in the kitchen again working with our national ladies, cooking for 100 people or so.

Hanging out in the Village...

 

Jacob is learning Pidgin English and culture from Kino. Kino lives in the village and also works with Jacob at Interface. It is always exciting to have someone who wants to help you learn language. Here Jacob is recording the story that Kino is telling about when the first missionaries came to PNG.

  

The best part about Jacob's language study is that I get to go with him to the village! It is always fun to go around and chat with the ladies.

 

Kino and Jacob

Next stop San Francisco....

 

 We stopped in San Francisco to visit my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin. It was a fun time together since I rarely ever see them. And it was good for Jacob to meet more of his new family!

  

 My Uncle took us to the Golden Gate bridge... there were some high tech photographers there from all over the world! It was a beautiful sunset!

 

We headed on our way to Papua New Guinea....

 

Our first stop was Phoenix to visit my sister, brother-in-law and nephews! It was great to spend time with Jay and Ruthie, Jack and Zander. It was a good for Jacob to get to know his new family!

  

  

We had a great time hiking with Ruthie, Jack and Zander... up the mountain!

 

  

We were amazed that the two boys made up the mountain!!