Home Sweet Home

We are home. I keep telling myself this, and it’s hard to believe. We are home! It’s a strange home… far different than any Western city. The sights, sounds, and smells are all so different. But it is home.

In front of our new house!

Currently, we are living on a mission base with 5 other new missionary families. We have our own 3 bedroom house, complete with electricity, running water, a fridge, stove, and washing machine. No AC, but overhead fans keep the air cool in this tropical environment. 

The kitchen and hallway in our new house

Right outside our front door, we can see palm trees and a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful.

It’s so green here. Trees grow like weeds, and many of them produce fruit. We have a banana tree right beside our house. No bananas yet, but I’m sure we’ll snack away when they grow big enough!

Clint enjoying some fresh coconut milk (behind him is the banana tree!)

Man, we are so incredibly excited to be here! Yeah, it’s been stinkin’ hard saying goodbye to family and friends. It’s been hard getting over jet-lag and dealing with a little guy who doesn’t understand all the changes in his life. But it is so, so, so good to be home. Finally home!

Headed Out!

I always feel so strange on the last day before a move. So many last-minute details. So many memories that will be left behind. So many goodbyes and tears. So many "lasts". 

I can hardly believe it... we're leaving today. Our hearts are excited, our minds are prepared for travel, and our eyes are full of tears. It's a bittersweet day.

Later this evening, we'll be flying down to California, where we'll spend a few days with my (Ashlyn) grandparents. Can't wait for them to meet their great-grandson! Then we fly out to Papua New Guinea on Monday, July 27.

We would really appreciate prayer as we head out! Here are a few requests you can keep in mind.

• That we would have safe travels with few luggage hassles or delays. You never know how things will go when you travel internationally!
• That Kyler would travel well. On Monday, we have a 14 hour flight to Australia, so we're hoping for a happy boy rather than a fussy one. :)
• That we would find comfort and strength in God as we leave family and friends
• That we would be able to get settled in on the New Tribes base and get ready for our orientation which starts August 3.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We are excited to finally be going, but we will miss all of you! We'll definitely make sure to keep you updated on our journey!

What to Bring...And What Not to Bring...

Ever tried fitting all your belongings into 5 suitcases? I'll let you in on a secret... it's pretty tough!

 

So how in the world are we fitting everything we'll need for the next 4 years in just 5 bags? Well, we actually aren't. New Tribes Mission recommends that we bring mostly clothes and personal items. Since we'll be living on one of the mission bases for the first 5 or 6 months that is near a pretty big town, we won't need to bring any household items, toiletries or furniture with us. That helps a lot! And then when we move into a more remote tribal village and build our own house, we can purchase anything we'll need from the bigger towns or ship it over from the US.

 

Even though PNG is a third-world country, the bigger towns actually have a lot of stuff that we have in America because they can import it from Australia. The quality may not be as good, and it's usually 2-3 times the price, but at least it's available! :)

(Yeah, we're already up to Bin #14 of stuff to store...)

It's been a whirlwind week packing, sorting, and getting rid of stuff we don't need. But it's another exciting step towards PNG! Starting our journey in just 6 more days!!!

15 Days And Counting!

I can't even describe the intense range of emotions we're feeling right now. The most overwhelming is elation. We are so, so, so excited to finally be close to actually leaving for Papua New Guinea!!! But we're also experiencing some fear and sadness as well. It's scary leaving everything you know to go live in a country that's unfamiliar. And the thought of saying good-bye to our friends and family in Oregon nearly brings us to tears already. But overall, we are excited, and really feeling ready for this new chapter to start!

When we arrive in Papua New Guinea, we'll spend the first few days getting over culture shock and adjusting to our new home on the New Tribes Mission base in one of the bigger towns. Here's an ariel shot of the base

Our orientation program starts August 3 and will run for several months. During this time, we and several other families be learning the trade language (Melanesian Pidgin English) and the basic culture of PNG. We'll get to spend lots of time with native language helpers to help us get immersed in the trade language. We'll also have some class sessions with veteran missionaries. We're really excited to begin this next step towards reaching an unreached people group!

An Awesome Present

Hands down, I'd have to say the best earthly present I've ever received is my family. But tonight's birthday present was a pretty awesome one too.

Yup, that's right! We've finally got our PNG visas!!!

We are so excited to see how God has brought each detail together on this journey so far. It's hard to believe we're actually about to go to PNG. It's been a dream for so long. But as I looked tonight at our visas attached to our passports, it really hit home. We're really going!!!

It's not going to be an easy road ahead. Language learning is going to be tough. Culture shock is always difficult. Our stress levels are going to increase.

Yet through it all, we're so excited to have this opportunity to take the Gospel where it hasn't gone. And we know God is faithful and is strong when we are weak. He has done such amazing things already!

Approved and Amazed!

Attention ladies and gents! We have a very important and exciting announcement to make!

We have reached our required financial support level (they say we're at about 79%), and we are officially approved by New Tribes Mission for going to Papua New Guinea in July!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are absolutely thrilled with this news (in case you can't tell)!!! :) One (giant) step closer to being able to take the Gospel to people who haven't been able to hear it!

So as soon as we receive our visas (our passports are on their way to the embassy as I write this), we will purchase our plane tickets, hopefully by the first week of July!

Thank you all SOOOOOOOO much for your prayers!!!! It's so surreal... we almost can't believe it's really happening... we're really going! Praise God!!!

Thank You!

About 34 days until we leave! Time is flying!

As we start to wrap things up here in the States, I wanted to take some time to thank all those who have stood behind us in so many ways. I can't even begin to say how much it's meant to us!!

Thank you to all those who are standing with us in prayer! We know there are so many who faithfully pray for us. It's so comforting and encouraging to know this, especially when times get tough. Thank you!!!

Thank you to all those who are supporting us financially! We recognize that financial giving is a sacrifice, and we are so humbled and grateful for your desire to stand behind us in this way. Thank you!!!

Thank you to all those who have given gifts! It has been such a blessing to receive some of the items we would like to take overseas with us. Below is a picture of just a few of the items we've received (and yes, that is homemade goat's milk soap in the box! Amazing!!). Thank you!!!

A HUGE thank you as well to the elderly lady who is allowing us to live in her fully-furnished home for free while we are here in Oregon! What an incredible blessing it has been to us! Clint has been able to log on the property and sell firewood to cover our living expenses. We've been able to keep two horses here while we waited to sell them. And it's in a beautiful location with a bit of land. So thankful!!!

As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 9:12-13: "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else."

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbyes

There's one thing about missionary life that no amount of training can ever prepare you for. When it hits, it hits you hard. And it hurts. Bad.

Goodbye. I hate the word, yet it's a reality of life, especially for a missionary.

We had to say goodbye to my family today, and it hurt. Even though we don't leave for Papua New Guinea until the end of July, we probably won't get another chance to get back to Georgia again.

It hurts. I've left part of my heart in Georgia, and I know they've left some of theirs with us. It hurts knowing that Kyler isn't going to grow up knowing his extended family very well, and they are going to miss seeing the precious little moments in his life.

It hurts! And yet I'm reminded of the truth that to hurt is precious because it means you love a lot. If I didn't love, it wouldn't hurt, and that would be far worse.

One day, God is going to remove that hurt forever. It will be so, so worth it all in the end. So thankful for that beautiful hope!

Worth a Thousand Words

A few pictures from our time in Georgia so far. Loving this little baby!

 

Wishlist

We've created a small list on Amazon.com with a few items that would be helpful for our move to Papua New Guinea. You can check it out at the following link or click on the "Wishlist" tab on our blog page. Click here to see our list

If you can't access the link or want a few basic ideas, here are a few:

• Baby Boy/Toddler clothes: Between 6 months and 2 years. Preferably light, summer clothing.
• Amazon Gift Cards: To use for purchasing music, eBooks, and durable clothing before we leave. 

Thanks so much for checking it out!!!