It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas... Or Not

“I’m dreaming of a…. green Christmas??”

When you live in the jungle, a lot of popular holiday songs start to sound a bit strange. Wishing for cold weather seems like a foreign idea, and it’s almost impossible to imagine the Christmas bustle of a big city. It’s a bit difficult to get into the “Christmas spirit” when you have sweat dripping down your back.

Celebrating the holidays in a hot climate has forced me to examine my views of Christmas. Our first Christmas here was actually really difficult, mostly because it didn’t “feel” like Christmas. It wasn’t cold out. I didn’t want to curl up by a fire and drink hot chocolate. And bundling up to go Christmas caroling sounded like a terrible idea. It was tough last year. We missed family, and we didn’t really feel in a Christmas mood. 

This year, we still miss family. But something has changed in the way we view Christmas. Being here has helped me see that so many of my ideas of what Christmas is are completely false. 

Christmas isn’t a feeling. It isn’t something that should change based on my location or the temperature outside. It isn’t about snow and fires and hot drinks. It isn’t about being with family. All these things are wonderful and beautiful and special. But they aren’t really Christmas.

Christmas should be Christ. It should be celebrating His birth. It should be a thrill that comes from realizing that God came down to earth to live among us. To wage war on sin and death and evil.

I thought I knew that when I lived in the States. But I don’t think I really understood it until many of the things that I usually associate with Christmas were stripped away.

Don’t get me wrong, I love decorating for Christmas and all of the traditions that we celebrate as a part of the season. I will still put up a Christmas tree and wrap presents for my family. But I hope that each year, I can learn a bit more of what it means to truly celebrate Christ during this season.

Q&A #1 - What Do We Eat?

This is our first post in our Question and Answer series, so if you have a question you'd like answered, ask away!


How do you eat? Meaning, go to grocery store, grow or gather? 
  
Great question! The people of Papua New Guinea are mostly hunters/gatherers, so their diet mainly consists of garden vegetables, fruits, and the occasional meat that they get from wild pig, large bats, the cassowary bird, or other small mammals. Some also raise their own pigs or chickens for meat. People who live closer to town have access to stores, so they can get rice and canned tuna or mackerel.  

We, however, eat more of a Western diet. There are grocery stores in the main towns that carry a fairly decent selection of common Western foods, like pasta noodles, flour, sugar, canned goods, frozen meat, eggs, and dairy products. Although it can be a bit frustrating because you often have to go to several different stores to find the exact ingredients that you need.

A fairly modern grocery store

And we can get fresh fruit (and occasionally vegetables) from the open-air market in town.

Lots of home-grown food

Right now, since we're living on the mission base, we have easy access to town and stores. When we move out to the tribe, it will be a bit harder to get our supplies. There will be a missionary on the base whose sole job is buying groceries for the missionaries in tribal locations. So we'll send an email to him with our list of needed supplies. He'll go to town, buy what he can, package it all up in boxes, and send it out to us on the next available airplane flight. We're so thankful for this guy's hard work to help us out!

A bulk foods store in town

We can even get toiletries in country

We helped buy and package supplies for missionaries for a few months while we were there

Fun fact: the word for "eat" in the trade language is "kaikai". And it's also the word for "food". So it can be both a verb and a noun depending on context!

Question Time!

Many of you read our blog updates and receive our monthly newsletters, but we probably don't get to answer a lot of the specific questions you have about our life and ministry in PNG. So, what do YOU want to know? Ask away! No question is dumb. :) You can comment below, send us a message on Facebook, or write an email. We'll post the answers right here on the blog, so stay tuned!

Our Top 20 Reverse Culture Shock Observations

Since getting back to the States in July, a lot of people have asked us, "What's been the hardest thing with adjusting back to life here?" It's funny how many things there actually have been. Things that we didn't expect because they seem so insignificant when you live here and we still kind of feel like America is home. It's a phenomenon referred to as Reverse Culture Shock.

Now that we've been here a few months, I think we've had time to process a lot of those differences. Here are a few that really stood out when we first arrived.


1. Stores have so. much. stuff. And like 10 different brands for 1 item.

2. Americans don't drive on the left side of the road. Obvious, maybe, but a very key point to grasp.

3. Digestive issues... Our stomachs reacted to many of the foods that we loved before heading to the mission field. We never thought that we'd have to adjust back to "normal" food again.

4. We felt sad that people we passed on the street didn't greet us or ask what we were doing.

5. It felt weird to blend in again. We suddenly weren't a minority anymore, which meant nobody really noticed us. 

6. People are clean and (generally) don't smell of sweat or smoke.

7. Not to mention the streets are (generally) clean and don't have garbage strewn all over.

8. While we're at it, everything is (generally) clean!

9. We found ourselves stumbling over our words at times, knowing the sentence or phrase we want to say, but not being able to think how to say it in English.

10. Or else accidentally throwing a Pidgin word in our English sentence and not even noticing until we saw blank stares.

11. Also, just because a person is black doesn't mean they speak Pidgin (oops).

12. When we first arrived, it felt weird that it stayed light past 6:30 PM.

13. Air conditioning! Oh my word, for the first few weeks, we were freezing if the inside temperature was below 78 degrees!

14. And with that, Kyler was cold at night but he didn't want a blanket because he's so used to sleeping without one.

15. Roads are smooth, well-marked, and nicely paved (mostly).

16. Church is loud. Or at least the music is. And drums! (don't worry, that's a very excited observation) And it's all in English!

17. Finding out that how you pay for things with a credit card can be different now if you use that funny little chip thing (why change a good thing when you've got it?).

18. Not recognizing certain areas because new buildings had gone up or been torn down.

19. Not recognizing any of the songs on the radio because they're all new.

20.  It's easy to plan a menu because you can pretty much guarantee that the grocery store will have the items that you need for your meals.


I'm sure there are more things we could mention, but those are probably the most noteworthy. Reverse Culture Shock is a strange thing, because you don't really expect it coming back to you "home" country. But it's definitely a fact of life, and it was kind of fun in some ways to see our culture again in a whole new way.

And now that we feel adjusted back, we'll be heading back to PNG in just a few more weeks. :) I'm sure I'll have another Top 20 list for that...

Last Day

Today is the day we leave Georgia. I don't quite know how to process all the emotions swirling in my brain. Excited to see more family. Broken-hearted to lose the precious face-to-face relationships we've had for the past three and a half months.

This aspect of missionary life--the goodbyes--is one I think I will never master. I don't think saying goodbye will ever be easy, even though I love my life and coworkers in PNG.

It's especially hard with family. My heart aches to leave them. I'm so thankful for the precious memories we've made and the special fellowship we've shared. It has ended too soon. We love you guys so, so, so much!!!!


And our churches. The precious people who have welcomed us with open arms and hearts while we've been back. They have celebrated God's work with us, cried over the lost with us, and loved us and our kids to pieces. We love you all so much and are thankful for each of you.

Our hearts are full. Full of joy. Full of memories. Full of sorrow. Full of anticipation. Full of excitement.

Thank you, Georgia family and friends, for a very special and memorable time. We are richer because of it.

Marry a Man like Daddy

Dear Daughter,

I know you are only a few weeks old, so maybe this is a bit premature. But I know how fast the years go. Before you know it, you'll be holding a child of your own. And if it's a girl, I think you'll tell her the same thing I want to tell you.

Girlie, I want so many good things for you. Most of all, I want you to love Jesus with all your little heart.

But second, if it's God's plan for you to get married, I want you to marry an amazing man. Marry a man like your daddy.

Marry a man who loves Jesus with everything he is. A man who points you to Him, even before you are dating. A man who inspires you to walk closer with God every day.

Marry a man who doesn't use you, but instead pursues you.

Marry a man who stands by his convictions, even when the world calls him crazy.

Marry a man who puts your needs above his own. Who is willing to admit when he is wrong.

Marry a man who is willing to be a strong leader of your home.

Marry a man who loves you, not just when you have your makeup and clothes just right, but also when you wake up with terrible hair and bad breath.

Marry a man who will still call you beautiful, even after your body has been stretched and marked with pregnancy.

Marry a man who will stand by your side through the thick and the thin. On the good days when you can have fun and laugh together. And on the days when your hormones are driving you insane and you're crying all day for no reason.

Marry a man whose mind is focused on eternity and who lives this life as though he is made for another.


Girlie, I know these things sound like perfection. You may be tempted to settle for less. But please don't. Please know that men like this still exist. Your daddy is one of those men. And I want to assure you that there are other daddies out there like yours who are training their boys to be men of God.

On today, his birthday, I want you to know what an amazing daddy you have.

If you do get married some day, Little One, I pray that you will marry a man like him. You won't regret it for a minute.

Love,
Your Mommy

Our Second Marriage

We have a team!!! Yes, I know we’ve mentioned this several times before, but can I just say, we are SO excited and thankful for this incredible team that God has brought together! The last few weeks, we’ve been spending lots of time meeting together to work through our team’s strategy statement and philosophy, and we feel spoiled by how God has allowed us to be so unified and gracious with each other. We have the best teammates ever!!! And the most amazing thing about them: they all are totally in love with Jesus!

In years past, we’ve looked forward to these days with much anticipation and excitement… kind of like when you’re single and wanting to be married.  And it is really exciting. I think we’re in the honeymoon phase still… everything seems rosy and bright and we all get along great. But, just like a newly married couple, there are lots of things we have to talk through so we can be on the same page.

There are so many factors that go into planting a church in a tribe, and, while we can’t anticipate everything, it’s really nice to hash out some of the details beforehand so we can be unified as we begin this ministry. 

Meeting with a veteran missionary couple who helped us through our orientation and are consultants for teams as they go through the church planting process

Our goal is for a mature church that is growing, is functioning on its own with strong leadership, and is reaching out to others around them. We want to work ourselves out of a job, but not so quickly that the people are left floundering with no clear direction for the church’s future.

So that means we’re prayerfully discussing all kinds of aspects of how we will go about this ministry in Wabuku. Some of the topics include things like:

• How often will we have supplies flown in from the New Tribes base?
• Will we teach in the trade language or wait until we are fluent in the tribal language first?
• What things will we bring in to the tribe when we move in?
• How will we handle all the “askims” (people asking us to give them things… a very acceptable part of PNG culture)?

Believe it or not, how we answer each of these seemingly small questions will have a huge effect on our ministry and, consequently, on the Wabuku church.

Home Again, Home Again

We're home again! At least temporarily. :) We've done a lot of moving in the past few months, so it's really nice to be able to settle in one place for a while.

Up until March, we were mostly located on the New Tribes Mission base where we initially did our 4-month-long orientation program. We were helping run the base while the missionaries who normally do that were on furlough.

Now, we’ve transitioned to another NTM base in a town called Wewak (where we came for conference in March), located on the north-eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. This base serves as the support center for all the NTM missionaries located in tribes in the northern part of PNG. We've been here for over three weeks now, and we're loving it!

Our apartment is on the other side of this building

A little playground for the missionary kids

The base store that supplies tribal missionaries. We can buy stuff here too or in town if we prefer

We have our own little 2-bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment with an unbeatable ocean view and an awesome, long covered porch where Kyler can play. And since we live at one end of a four-apartment building, we get to live right next door to our teammates, Jason and Laken, which is pretty much amazing!

Kitchen/eating area

Living room

The amazing ocean view

We’ll be here until the end of June when we start our trek back to the States for the baby. During the next few weeks, we’ll be spending our time:

• Settling in to our new home
• Getting oriented to the base here and how it operates
• Getting to know the missionaries who live on base
• Helping with a few jobs on base
• Spending time with our teammates talking through our strategy for working in Wabuku

So thankful to be here and to be a part of such an awesome team of missionaries working here in this part of PNG!

Back from the Bush

Every experience in our lives shapes us, whether it be for good or bad. Our lives have changed drastically since we arrived in PNG, and it has been so good. God has used every circumstance to open our eyes a tiny bit more to see the incredible things He is doing here, and it has changed our whole outlook on life.

Our time in Bush Orientation was one of those experiences. We spent most of April in the Dinangat tribe, located in the mountains of PNG. We flew by plane and landed on a grass airstrip. Since the nearest grocery store is a few days’ hike away, we had to buy all our food and supplies ahead of time to take with us.

Loading the plane with our cargo

The missionary house where we stayed

The terrain and the people were very different than our previous interactions with the coastal people we saw near the mission base where we were living. The Dinangat people are a lot more reserved than your average PNG national, and they have a very strong work ethic, another uncommon trait here. They live off the land, spending lots of time working in their gardens, which were often at least an hour hike away through some crazy steep terrain.

Out on a family hike

Most of our mornings were spent working with national language helpers to help us polish our Pidgin and to teach us some about the specific Dinangat culture. With our helpers, we got to visit their gardens, sleep overnight in a garden house (Clint), learn how to make a wool bilum (string bag, Ashlyn), learn how to wrap growing banana stalks so flying foxes (large bats) won’t eat them (Clint), and hear their testimonies of belief in Christ.

Clint with his language helper

We also had the chance to learn as much as we could from the NTM missionaries who are living in this location. They are currently working on translating the New Testament into the Dinangat language and discipling the maturing church. It’s a lot of hard brain work, but their dedication and love for these people is so incredible and inspiring to us as we are just starting on this church planting journey!

I think the best thing we gleaned from our Bush Orientation was seeing the Dinangat church and getting to worship with them. The majority of the people in this particular Dinangat village are believers, so it was so encouraging getting to interact with them and hear their stories of transformation. They have their own Bible teachers, lead their own worship sessions (with songs that they have written themselves in their language), and work closely with the missionaries to help with the translation process. It’s so amazing and humbling seeing their passionate love for God and His Word!

The Dinangat church

While it’s somewhat nice being back to “civilization” on our mission base in Wewak, we’re also missing the Dinangat people, and we’re so grateful God gave us the opportunity to learn from them for a few weeks. Can’t wait to see how their input into our lives will someday impact the Uriay church!

Wabuku Visit

Many of you have been faithfully praying for us as we have been considering partnering with a single lady and another family to work with the Uriay people in the village of Wabuku. THANK YOU for praying!!!!! March 23-25, we had the opportunity to visit Wabuku. Here’s a bit about our time there, and check out Facebook for more pictures.

 

Our team left the New Tribes base in Wewak and headed out to the airport where we boarded the 10-seater NTM Kodiak plane. After an hour flight over lots of jungle, we spotted the grass airstrip where we would be landing, located in the village of Sinow (a different language group than Wabuku). There used to be NTM missionaries in this location, but they have since finished their work, and there is a church in Sinow that is functioning well on its own.

Plane landings are always a big hit in these remote locations, so there were lots of people to meet us at the airstrip. We unloaded our gear and watched the plane take off (after some villagers had to chase a dog off the airstrip). Then, with the help of some of the villagers, we headed down to the river, about a half-mile walk away.

The Sinow people are experts at navigating the river, and many of them use handmade dugout canoes with motors for long trips (the canoes are actually really sturdy and have lots of room). One of the Sinow church elders was our river captain for our trek up the river.

We hopped (very gently) in the massive dugout canoe (at least 50 feet long and 3 feet wide) and took off, with only an hour of daylight left for our two hour trip (which turned into three hours because it got dark).

I wish I could describe to you the feeling of arriving at Wabuku for the first time. Seeing the flashlights piercing through the darkness and hearing the welcoming shouts of the people. After years of praying, preparing, and training, we finally were here… the place where we may spend a good part of our lives. The place our kids will call home. It felt so surreal!

We spent some time greeting the people, but, since it was pretty late already, we quickly made our way to the missionary house where we all would be staying. It’s been sitting empty for a while, but it wasn’t nearly as dirty as we were expecting. Most everything was still working, so we had electricity, running water (cold), and a working stove. A lot of things in the house were covered up or kept in totes, so we also had clean sheets and beds for sleeping. HUGE, HUGE blessings!!!

The next morning, we got to meet with the small Wabuku church. It was amazing hearing their hunger for someone to come and finish teaching them through God’s Word, even though they have had so many missionaries come and leave again. We thought they might be burnt out, but they were eager for us to come, as long as we were committed to come and stay until the work is complete.

It was a short trip, but already, we are in love with these people and this precious church that is struggling to grow without much guidance. God really used this trip to confirm in our hearts that this is where He wants us to serve, and we are thrilled! Lord willing, we’ll be moving in to Wabuku sometime at the beginning of 2017 to begin culture and language study.

Thank you SO much for praying us to this point and for walking on this journey with us! You are a vital part to reaching the Uriay people, and (hopefully in time) reaching many others through their outreach to other people groups around them!