FINALLY Heading Back to PNG!!

I now have my passport with my PNG visa in hand!! Once all the paperwork was done in PNG the US Goverment was very speedy in finishing it all up for me! I am leaving in the middle of July! I can hardly believe that I can actually really plan to go! :)

My arm is doing much better so I'm so thankful I've had this extra time to go to the Physcial Therapist! Please pray as I pack that I will be wise in packing my carry on luggage so that I don't ruin my arm once again.

Thanks so much for all your prayers during this HUGE delay! I just talked to my friend Janet in PNG via Skype (internet) and she is getting all packed and ready to go back home. I'm sad that I will miss her. But she has seen how God has worked in this whole thing! I'm glad God knows where we need to be and when! And I'm thankful that I can trust Him completely with my plans and life.

HUGE PRAISE!!

My work permit has been granted! So now I just have to wait 2 weeks for the PNG Government to process my visa, then I can send my passport to Washington DC!!! Finally!!! But God has been teaching me lots through this 2 1/2 month delay in my return to PNG! Plus, I am going to physical therapy two times a week now so hopefully my arm, Tennis Elbow, will be healed by the middle of July when I head back to PNG!! Thanks so much for all your prayers!!

Whale Watching...

Saturday, my mom and I headed to Gloucester, MA to watch some whales. It was amazing! Here we are headed out to sea. My first experience on a large boat in the Atlantic Ocean!

Waiting for the whales to come...

And the whales came! God gave us a wonderful show of His creation as we watched the whales come within feet of our boat. There were two whales that waved their flippers at us. One even did a back stroke within feet of our boat. It was so amazing. Whales are sooo HUGE! Now I know how Jonah could have lived inside the belly of one. :)

All 11 whales that we saw on Saturday swam and played around our boat for a while. A couple of times we had 3 whales right around us. And when they all left they always waved goodbye with their tails.

Me and my Mom relaxing on the boat! :)

And again...

Well, I am still here but the INTERFACE students just arrived in Papua New Guinea yesterday. It is very strange! Please continue to pray for my work permit and visa to be granted. I just received word today that my work permit was not one of the 8 that was processed this week. There are only about 80 more work permits/visas to be processed out of 440. But it seems to be going very slowly. I postponed my trip once again so now I do not leave until the end of June. I will miss the May/June INTERFACE program completely and arrive 1 day into the July/August INTERFACE program. Please pray for the staff at INTERFACE as they work harder to cover my responsibilities. And please pray for Janet, a friend, who is helping out there for 2 months. Now I will arrive after she leaves which isn't fun at all. Unless of course she can stay longer! I do hope!

Flights re-booked once again...

There is still no word on my work permit and visa so I have postponed my trip once again. Now I plan to head to Alberta and on to PNG through Hawaii and Aussie in the middle of June. Please pray that my work permit and visa arrive before then so I can fly!! Some missionaries have gotten their work permits and visas so the process has started, its just really slow. And they haven't gotten to mine yet. So I am enjoying spending time with my mom on her birthday and Mother's Day! My dad arrives back from Missouri tomorrow after helping out at NTM for 5 weeks. Pray also for my friend Janet who is now in PNG without me and will be helping out for 2 months. I hope to be able to arrive before she leaves!!

Cow Country...

Instead of heading to Alberta, Canada and on to Hawaii, Australia and Papua New Guinea I headed to Cow country instead to visit my Grandma. Please continue to pray for my visa, still no word!

I just got back from visiting my other Grandma in Western, NY where I helped her sort through everything in her attic. It was actually quite interesting finding things from my great Greatparents who I've never met. We found books and papers that were really old but in good condition, 1897 - 1908 being the oldest. She is getting ready to sell her house and belongings in an auction in the next months. So there is lots of work to do.

Waiting...

Well, I am officially not leaving the country this week as planned. Please continue to pray for my visa to be processed quickly. I really would like to arrive before the INTERFACE students, even if it is the day before. God knows what He is doing in this very slow visa process so I am thankful for that. And I'm thankful that I have more time at home with my family. My mom is quite excited that I will be here for Mother's Day and her birthday! But please pray for my co-workers at INTERFACE who have to fill in the gap as I will be arriving late. Thanks!!

VISA

Please pray for my visa! There is a back up of paperwork in Papua New Guinea right now. I still have not received the go ahead to send in my passport to Washington DC so that I can receive my visa. I am suppose to leave in 2 weeks!! I really want to leave when planned so that I can arrive BEFORE the INTERFACE students and finish the kitchen preparations. Please pray!

Friends...

I had fun visiting a friend from high school, Amy, and hanging out with her kids!

Easter!

My Mom and Grandma.

I really enjoyed celebrating Easter in my home church with my family! Afterwards we went to CT to take my Grandma out to dinner. I don't get to eat ham too often in PNG so it was very yummy! This is a picture of me, my sister Sarah, my parents and my grandma.

Visiting Grandma...

This past weekend I visited my Grandma in CT and shared at a supporting church as well as a quilting group from her church. The visit started off awful because we had to call the ambulance for my grandma. She was in the hospital all night but I finally had to leave around 2 AM so I could speak clearly the next morning church. She was released that morning and is doing fine now! Thanks EBC for praying! She is an amazing woman at 87 years old.

Sarah's (my sister) birthday

We celebrated Sarah's birthday by going out to eat and coming home for some angel food cake with stawberries and whip cream. :)

A visit to the CIA...

The original building of the Culinary Institute of America looked familiar to me but the campus has changed so much with 4 new dorm buildings, a car park (underneath where I am standing while taking this picture) an Italian restaurant, recreation center and soccer field.

On the way down to New Jersey on Friday I stopped in at The Culinary Institute of America on the Hudson river. It's hard to believe I actually attended because it seems like another life time ago.

To New Jersey...

This weekend I had fun visiting Jen Chambers, who was my next door neighbor at Interface for 9 months last year. It's always fun to remember good times as well as share many stories about what God is doing now in each of our lives!

The storm calmed...

The ride home to MA today was a bit boring with no storms to travel through but I enjoyed driving through the "mountains" (a little different from the Colorado Rockies ) In the winter they always look like they are covered with fur (the trees with no leaves) and you could reach out and touch them!

Headed through snow...

This weekend I braved the storm to head to my Uncle's house about an hour south of Buffalo. I had the opportunity to speak at my Uncle's church as well as my Grandma's church. The driving wasn't too bad because the snow wasn't sticking to the road yet.

As I travel to churches to share about Papua New Guinea, I set up this table of pictures, artifacts and brochures for all.

The Beginning of Who Knows What...

Apinun yupela! This is my attempt at starting my own blog. I'm not quite sure what I am doing so please give me lots of suggestions and let me know what I should change etc. I hope to be able to share lots of pictures with ya'll of my travels while I am home and then later as I head to PNG on May 3rd.

Swimming in Hot Springs

I got to visit my co-workers, Danny and Tammy Mixter, in Colorado. We went to one of the Hot Springs Parks. I can't say I've ever been swimming when it was 50 degrees outside. Snow was still in the background. But the water was nice and warm!

Colorado Rockies

The beauty of the Rockies driving from Grand Junction to Denver, CO on Thursday.