Mini Dedication

God’s Word is HERE!

In a meaningful and moving ceremony this last weekend,

we dedicated a printed volume of eleven Kaluli Scripture books

along with audio devices mirroring what is in the printed book.

We had fabulous participation by church leaders,

and in addition, over 500 people attended from 20 Kaluli villages

(some of whom walked more than twelve hours each way

over steep slippery mountain trails to get there.) 

They were rewarded at the conclusion of the ceremony

with a huge pig roast with six pigs donated

by the translation team and the local church members.

The Kaluli audio-bible is one of 2 final projects that I was involved in recording and producing.  (Final being the last 2 projects before furlough).
Celebrate with me that it is now in the hands of people.  Pray with me that their lives will be changed because of it.

Gender differences and Building Materials

When we moved into this house, there was a half chain link, half sheet metal shed for firewood and tools.  But because I didn't like the fact that anyone could see inside, I put up plywood around the sides for privacy.

I was pleased because the plywood (normally $80 a sheet) was free from another job I had done where I had to remove a wall. 
My wife was not pleased because she felt it looked ugly.

We're preparing to leave, so I thought I might finish up the tin shed project.

I wanted to go with more sheet metal, make it all look nice, it's easy to work with, but 11 sheets would cost about $154.
My wife has always hated the look of this building.

A friend offered med what you see in the picture above "blain" (blinds).  It's woven mini bamboo.  They cut open hundreds of tiny mini-bamboo, flatten it, and then weave the strands back and forth.

20 meters of it is HEAVY.  It's sharp, it's brittle, and it's HARD to tack into place.  BUT, it's cheap!  $35 for 20 meters as compared to the sheet metal $154. 
It will last a very long time, but not as long as sheet metal.


My wife will not say 'it looks good' when it doesn't.  I could slave away all day on making something look good for her, but in the end, if she doesn't like it, she'll tell me so.

What a project this was, I got cut up, scratched up, broke out in  rash, tore my pants, etc.   As you can see above I got rid of the 'bush knife' cutting method and went with my circular saw.

In the end, the entire shed was encased in this stuff by the end of the day.

I stepped back, and took a look. 

My opinion was that metal would have looked better.  In my opinion, this stuff looks, 'junky'. 
Out walks my friend Iri (a woman) and said 'em luk nais!'

Soon my wife came home and said 'WOW! That looks really nice!'

Here I was thinking she'd hate it.  And she loves it.

Gender differences.

Another related gender difference.  I'm bloodied, bruised, and covered in dirt.  And I'm in a GREAT mood.  I accomplished something today, not only did I do the project but my wife actually LIKES how it looks.

I'm guessing if my wife were bruised and covered in dirt, she probably wouldn't be in a great mood.

It just goes to show ya, when you're doing things for other people, you feel better.
I have devoted the last 2 weeks of my life to just doing things for other people.  Helping them in a myriad of different ways, and I feel so uplifted, encouraged, and otherwise emcompassed in assorted feel-gooderies.

Praying for a Miracle

Got one!

I few weeks ago (maybe months now) some friends of ours were in a very unfortunate shipwreck at sea.  I am not permitted to divulge all of the details publicly.  Suffice it to say, they survived by God's provision. Almost all of their equipment was scattered into the ocean.

Among that equipment was a laptop which had translation data on it from the workshop they had just finished and were returning home from.

You know me, and my tech background, and my strong desire that no important data should EVER be lost!  And here there is a laptop in the ocean somewhere with days and weeks of translation data, lost.

So my wife and I began to pray.  Specifically for the survival of the translation data, on that laptop.

A few weeks ago we got news, that a laptop washed ashore in a nearby village, but we didn't know whose it was, or which one it was.

Today I got this news (in fact moments ago)

[a friend] writes: “When they arrived at Emira airstrip on the way to Mussau, the Brownies received the items that were recovered from the sea, and this included a computer. When John opened the computer case, he said, 'Yah, it's mine!' They said that other items were found wet but the computer case was kept dry the whole time. PTL! "

It appears that the translation data survived!!!  I have to wait until my friend John returns to ask him, but it is looking good!
God is amazing.

Flora

Some local flora in PNG.  Just taking a moment to recognize the beauty that is this country.

milestone

The Kunimaipa New Testament —500th Scripture publication posted to
ScriptureEarth

We celebrate a milestone, having posted the 500th Scripture publication
to the ScriptureEarth website today.
The 8,200 speakers of Kunimaipa can read, or download and print their
Scriptures. Or if they have an android smart phone they can download the
module for the phone app, MySword, or the module for the free computer
Bible study program, theWord.

Perhaps 500 seems like just a number and maybe tomorrow we will post the
next one. But each Scripture translation project represents hundreds or
thousands of people who need to hear the Gospel of Great News—God loves
us and wants to share an eternal relationship with us.

Pray with us that each Bible translation will be found by those who read
these languages, and that hundreds more Scripture translations will be
added to those available for easy distribution on the Web.

What I got to do

Today, I got to send a message to the Bible translator I've been working
with for the past year.

"Jeff, your 400 audibibles are ready for pickup. They've been tested,
programmed, assembled, and packed. They are ready for pickup and
shipment to the village.!"


!!!! That's an entire New Testament, done.! I would not be surprised to
get an order for another 200 within three months from now.

celebration time, long job, well done.

How to support a missionary till the end of time

This is a solar inverter called a 'sunny boy'.

Electricity in PNG costs 99toea per kilowatt hour.  Current exchange rate puts that at about 35 U.S. cents. per kilowatt hour.  My family uses on average 14 kwhrs per day (excluding December as we like to put up decorative lights).

That's about $279 p/month US.

Now, if I stood up and said to perfect strangers 'who wants to send us $279 p/month?'  A lot of people might say 'no way Jose.'

But if I said 'for a one time cost of $12,000, you could supply all our power needs for the duration of our stay in PNG, plus all the power needs of whatever family moves into our house when we leave, PLUS some of the power needs of other missionaries on the same center.'  ....

You might say 'hey, what a bargain!'

The most renewable resource we have here (besides rain) is the sun.  Up on my roof there is a ton of prime real-estate for solar panels.  I have been investigating this for a number of years now, and my neighbor just installed his system last week.

Okay, get ready to geek out, because this is fun stuff!

-There is a new model of solar panel out there, gauranteed for 25 years, and built to withstand 1" hail stones. !!!! that's more than double any other solar panel gaurantee (most gauranteed for 10 years).

-this same solar panel is highly efficient which means, even on partially cloudy days it produces well (all tested as per my two friends here who have already installed it)

-the panels produce 327 watts per sun hour.
-My house is located such that typically we get 4 hours of good sun per day (conservative estimate, sun in morning, rain in afternoon.)
-with 12 panels, that's 3.94kws p/hour for a total of 15.76 kwhrs p/day.  Remember I said we use 14.
-any power we DO NOT consume becomes credit, and sells back to the grid for whatever the current price is.

So wait, am I saying that we can actually MAKE MONEY?  Yes.  Although the goal would be to break even, yes any excess power will go to our neighbors.

IT IS SOOOOO COOL!! TO SEE our power meter run backwards instead of forwards!

It teaches our kids about conservation.... it is responsible, it's affordable, it's forward thinking..

But wait... (can you tell I'm excited) there's more....

-PNG power rises at an estimated cost of 11% per year.

So here's how it works out:

The initial cost of equipment is going to be about $12,000.  That includes shipping it all over here.  Installation will be free as myself and a friend can do it.

IF we were pay normal electricity in this country, it would take 3.2 years to pay that back (adjusting for the rise in cost of power).  HOWEVER if we make excess power, and sell power BACK to the grid, that time will drop even more.

So, I estimate, it'll take 3 to 3.2 years to get the system paid off to the 'break even' point.

Which means, any power used after that point, is all gravy. 

THIS system could drastically reduce how expensive it is to live here now... and how expensive it is to live here in the future!

A lot of the projects that I've looked at have considered the fact that there is still a ton of work to do in PNG, and we'll most likely be here a long time.  Even if it isn't my family, directly, whatever family comes behind, will find it easier not having to pay over $300 p/month in electricity.

NOT To mention that the power here goes off ALL the time.  I mean, multiple times a day.  The electronics in the house go off a lot, our pc's crash, hard drives crash, etc. 

Solar inverter means more reliable power.  (a battery backup would mean that as well), because if the PNG power goes out, but it's sunny out, I'll never notice that blip.

Lighting strikes will still be a concern however.

IT makes the power more reliable, and consumes LESS.  Already PNG power is over taxed.  The nearby dam is past due maintenance, and well over-extended. 

This project makes so much sense, that I would be going ahead with it right now if it weren't for 2 things:

1 - I don't have $12,00
2 - I'm going on furlough in a few weeks.

Why bother blogging this then?

I'm looking to interest someone, maybe a Christian run business?  Someone who wants to contribute or even NEEDS to (by law) to contribute to conservation projects. 

I'm asking for anyone out there to keep this in mind, because not only could we use this, but many other families on center could as well.

Currently we get our drinking water from the sky.  We're not on any centralized water system.
It'd be nice to get our power from the sky too, get off the grid, let the people of PNG who need it, use the power.

If you know of some company who has funds set aside for such a thing, please contact me!
I would really like to raise the money to get this going!

thanks!

Kerosene

The local gas pump also sells kerosene and used diesel oil. The people
from the village often do not have electricity or if they do, elect not
to use it often. So for light, they use kerosene lanterns, as they
often eat outdoors.

The PNG village house is often little more than a bedroom. Traditionally
the men and women sleep in different houses (called Haus Man).. but that
value has gone away and often times now, inside the house, the men/boys
sleep in one area, the women/girls in another area.

The bathroom is an outhouse, the kitchen is an outdoor area called a
Haus Kuk (house cook), and you often eat near the haus kuk on mats.

Today I went to get petrol. I saw an older lady walking with a cast on
her arm. I let my mind imagine how she wound up with that broken arm,
and then how she wound up with that cast. I've seen people borrow the
cast of other people, to save a trip to town or money. IT was a full arm
cast, but that doesn't mean she broke her full arm. In fact the cast
looked rather large and bulky and so, I (perhaps mistakenly) assumed it
was formerly a man's cast that she borrowed. (I didn't get a chance to
look for a cut, nor did I see it taped shut).

She removed from her bag, a 1.5 liter Pepsi bottle, and the fuel
attendant filled it up with the blue Kerosene. She paid her coins, and
left.

She made the trek only for the kero.

I began to think about the light that fuel would bring. How long it may
last, and how soon she might have to return for more.

I thought about the parallels of Christ being the light... and also
being the water of life, such that we would never thirst again.

I knew there were some parallels there that my mind was too lazy in the
afternoon sun, to put together. It was a nearly poignant moment, but
then, I see it often enough, so perhaps we weren't all that close to
deep thought.

Then I had this thought.... kerosene is a common fuel here. People know
what it smells like, looks like (and even maybe tastes like), and feels
like.

And I wondered how many of my friends back home knew these things about
Kero. Often we talk about the things people living here never see or
know about. Like... what a bluetooth headset is, but it works both ways.

The fuel vendor told me 'we buy the kero in 55 gallon drums, to dole it
out one liter at a time means leakage. But we do it, and we allow it in
any containter they bring, because it's such a huge need.'

There's something there about context, and making your work 'relevant' I
think I could probably dig up too, but like I said, lazy brain, sunny
afternoon.

Dr. Who at 13

Today is my son's 13th birthday.  To celebrate he has invited 3 close friends over to have a DR. Who themed party.  Kendal made this awesome T.A.R.D.I.S. cake before she got sick and had to go to bed.  ME and the boys watched some Matt Smith DR. Who episodes, played Dr. Who trivia, and had prizes (I had fashioned some party favors out of some old broken clocks I had saved)   

The part that astounds me is that I was watching Tom Baker as DR. Who when I was my son's age... and here they are, the next Gen of Dr. Who fans, watching it with me, with Matt Smith as the Dr.

We talk about Daleks and Cybermen and it's pretty cool to be able to geek out with your son and his friends and actually know what they're talking about.

Unknowingly, I attended a wedding

PNG is not a country where marriages are often registered.  44,000 marriages are registered over 50 years of history.  More deaths are registered than births or marriages.  Informal/de facto marriages are much more common, and fewer still are blessed in the church.

Which makes this story all the more interesting to me.

I was sitting in a village church in the area of Kokopo.  When a couple stood up and in their heart language that I didn't understand, they came forward, spoke for a while, then turned, the church leader/pastor said a few short words, and then it was over.

It was quiet, it was simple.

The first thing that surprised me was that the man and woman were sitting together.  Traditionally in church the men sit on one side of the room, the women on the other. 

After it was all over I asked someone who knew the language 'what was that about?'

They said:
This couple stood up to tell us that they were living a sexual relationship life outside of marriage and keeping it secret. They considered themselves married, but the village did not. (possibly because there was no bride price/tradition?)  But lately they have been coming to church together and have been convicted by the Bible, and their beliefs, and so they decided to ask the church for the blessing on their marriage.  And so the church did, and wed them right then and there.

It is extremely rare to see a PNG wedding because of the many traditions around it, and how all of those traditions are in flux.

For me though, the real story was that they were convicted by the Lord to make their relationship a true marriage in the eyes of God.

Schindler's List

There is school around the corner called Schindler school.  It isn't named after Oskar, but after Professor Charles Schindler.  Still every time I pass it I think of that final scene in Schindler's list where he breaks down in tears:
-----

Oskar Schindler: I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don't know. If I'd just... I could have got more.
Itzhak Stern: Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them.
Oskar Schindler: If I'd made more money... I threw away so much money. You have no idea. If I'd just...
Itzhak Stern: There will be generations because of what you did.
Oskar Schindler: I didn't do enough!
Itzhak Stern: You did so much.

-----

If you haven't seen the movie or know the story, it's about a business man who saved the lives of many Jews during the holocaust. 

We're looking at furlough here in a few weeks.  And thus it'll be time to tell people back home, about what we did, what we're doing, and share the stories and excitement we have.  What we have done personally, is a long list.  3.5 years is a long time.  What we have been a part of, is a much longer list.  And what remains to be done, is yet an even longer list.

So which list do we focus on?  If we focus on the list of 'this is what we have done' we might be able to feel good about our time here, our labor, our work.  But if we look at the longest list, we find ourselves saying "I didn't do enough!"

I look around this country, and all it's many spiritual and physical needs.  The need for people of character to rise up and lead, the HIV epidemic, the rise of Islam, the lack of good role models, the absence of Scripture in hundreds of languages, the need for .... just the need.

And I think to myself "there is soooo much to be done, I haven't done enough."

I had intended to develop more relationships than I did, invite more people into my home than I did, preach the Gospel to more people than I did, make more audio recordings than I did.  And yet, it's been a long hard term.
Part of the paradox of furlough is that we feel a great responsibility to the place we're leaving, and a great responsibility to the place we're returning to.  As we tell you of what we've done we're thinking of more we want to do.
As we tell stories of what has been achieved, we're thinking of how to achieve more.

The truth is, we can't really allow ourselves to revel in what we've done because we know it is God doing it.  All our work is pointless if God doesn't move in the hearts of people.  Without His hand stirring hearts, our work is meaningless buzzing about.

And so it it with extreme humility that we enter into our furlough.  We are humans, we're tired, we need rest, but we also need to ramp up so we can return and do more work.

It is funny, because someone comes to me and says 'I respect what you are doing over there.'  And I have two immediate thoughts.  The first is:
1) I respect and am grateful for all that people do to send us over there! 
2) there is always someone else, doing much more.  Some super-missionary out there achieving more, living harder, getting more done.

People here, that we work with, have asked us "how do you do so much? How do you get so much done?" and that question strokes our ego a bit.  We like to think it is good planning, time management and a strong work ethic.
But the truth is, God paves the way.  There have been weeks when it seems we can't make any forward progress, too many obstacles.  We ask for prayer, we pray, and then often they are followed up by weeks of extreme productivity!

So, I remind myself when I'm feeling like Oskar Schindler "I could have done more"... that in reality, all I have do is keep on putting one foot in front of the other and trust God to be making the progress He has paced out to His purposes.  And then I discipline myself in the face of all that remains to be done, that I am only 1 person (with an awesome other person in my wife), and that God is in control.  I take a deep breath, remember that the first thing they teach all first-aid students is 'you can't help the patient until you've secured yourself', and then, once secured, continue on in prayer.

We have learned to wait on God. To give God the credit, and avoid assuming blame that is not our right to accept.  Part of trusting God, is not allowing yourself to despair.  What we've done is a small dent, a drop in the bucket.  But God has a way of turning seeds into huge trees.

The end of our time here, won't have a tearful scene.  We won't break down and say 'we could have done more.'  We will say 'God, whatever we have achieved, let it be for Your glory, and thanks for having us along for the ride.'



EDIT:
-----
Tonight during our small group I was reminded of how enjoyable giving is.  While this post is focusing a bit on how I cope with facing a vast need, I also have to comment that giving in this way, living this life, has made me the happiest I've ever been.


Truly giving moves us closer towards what God intended us to become.

Islam in PNG

There is a mosque in the capital city (port moresby). Current
attendance is about 1000. (200 of which are women).
I met a Catholic priest named Father Franco who has been in this country
for a long time, who has researched and published papers on the growth
of Islam in PNG.

Current census statistics are still pending, but the projected number of
Muslims in PNG is between 3,000-5,000.

Father Franco states in one of his papers that he has interviewed PNG
Muslims and he listed their answers in the paper. The bottom line from
my interpretation of the paper is that Islam is growing in the country.
The religion meshes with the culture well in some respects, and
therefore is attractive.

However certain aspects like, not eating pork, and not drinking, seem
prohibitive. One man replied 'I own many pigs, I will wait to convert
to Islam until after I have sold all of my pigs."

Speaking with Father Franco personally, and having read his published
work on the topic, it is true that Islam is growing in PNG, but they
have not yet reached critical mass (the point at which the religion will
grow on it's own without as much momentum from the local Imam).

You can join me in prayer, as this is a fact that will change the
environment in which we serve, once it does reach critical mass.

Plop Plop wheeze wheeze

3 weeks ago I was outside cleaning my house on a Saturday.  I didn't feel like doing any hard labor that day so I decided just to dust for cobwebs outside.  Spiders can leave a huge mess if you don't stay on top of it.  We get some rather large spiders here.

I was 1/2 way into sweeping one wall when, BOOM, SPLASH.

The hatch over a concealed septic tank, broke and gave way beneath my feet.  I fell into the septic tank, catching my entire weight on my left side.  I was covered in things best left unmentioned, and couldn't catch my breath.

Long story short, the doctor said that I have a costacondrial separation (in my left flank).

Not sure if the ribs are cracked or not, it's hard to take a full breath, but I'm rather sure they're not broken.  The Doctor says this is gonna take a long while to heal. 

I'm cool with dealing with chronic pain, my only concern is the flight we have in June coming up.  It's been 3 weeks and I still can't sleep well at night because I have to lie very still or I feel bad pain.

Anyway, pray for my healing please.  This last year I feel like I've been a punching bag a little bit.  I would prefer not to be in total discomfort for the entire flight if at all possible.

Thanks for the prayers.

book on CD or book?

What type of person are you?
Would you rather read the book?
Watch the movie?
Listen to the book on CD?

For me, I'd watch the movie first, then if I liked it, I'd read the book.
I read a lot of books though and sometimes I'm happy that they made a
movie of a book I like, until I see the movie and am inevitably
disappointed.

But I'm happy to have the choice.
I have the choice because A) I can read and B) they're making the
books/movies/CD's

What WE do here in PNG, is make the books.
What I do here in media is make the movies and CD's.

Next month, 400 audio players will be in the hands of PNGians, some of
whom cannot read. AT the same time, there will be a printed New
Testament available. Currently the audio versions are doubly popular
than the printed text.

It is evident that there is a huge need for audio here.

I'm privileged to be a part of it.

Jury Rig #732

Imagine trying to charge 20 cell phones all at once, every hour.

One of the last things we do before sending an Audio Bible out into the village, is to make sure it works and has a good charge.  We want the units to be trouble free right from the beginning.

So we take the unit out of the factory packaging.  We plug it into a wall charger, we charge it up.  We turn on the unit, turn the volume to max, and make sure the unit works.  Then we put some final assembly touches on it, repackage it, and send it off.

This helps us to weed out any factory failures, etc.  (believe it or not we've had people claim they were broken because they hadn't turned the volume up.... so we do that).

This week's Jury rig has helped speed up how fast we can charge the units.  Each unit takes 45 minutes to charge.
We originally had 10 wall chargers, with their wires dangling every which way.
There are 20 units in a box.  So, each box would take a little under 2 hours to charge.  That means every 45 minutes I get up from my desk, to go unplug 10 units, hunt for the wires, and plug in another 10.

I decided to dig up 10 more chargers.  But then we had a mess of wires.  So you would have to hunt for the little silver ends of the wires and then plug in the units.  (in my dreams I'd have built a unit you could just slide the units into for charging, instead of hunting for cables and connecting them).

I decided we needed a way to organize the ends of the cables, so that we could quickly grab them.  I hunted around and found a thin piece of plywood, then took my leatherman's and hand sawed a few notches and voila!


now the ends of the cables are super quick to find.

These two changes, easy and free, have drastically sped up how long it takes us to prepare Audibibles.  And that's a good thing since the current order I'm working on is 400.  Due by end of next week.

The thing about a good jury rig is:
-it should be cheap
-it should be fast
-it should fix the problem, while also identifying the need for a longer term solution.

Often a jury rig convinces someone 'hey this is a good idea' and then you have popular opinion behind you and can go and find a more permanent and better solution.

Getting things done, one day at a time.

Crazy Theory #17

I jokingly come up with humorous and crazy theories from time to time just to see how my kids will react to it, and possibly to trigger their critical thinking so that they engage with a concept.

One of my theories is the usage of the interaction:
"HE is Risen!"
and then people reply "He is Risen Indeed"

Easter morning is one of those rare mornings when a non-churched individual will attend church.  And imagine their surprise when someone says 'He is Risen' and the entire room responds with 'HE is Risen INDEED!' as if they practiced it.. perfect unison, strong, loud, joyful.

It's a Christian thing, it's a church thing.  And it could make you feel on the outside.

One time my children asked me 'dad why do people do that?'

and this is how I responded:

"Because one day, being a Christian is going to be illegal, and Christian need a way to know who they can trust.  If you come across a stranger and you need to know if you can trust them you say 'He is Risen'  if they reply 'He is risen indeed!' then you can trust them and go into their house for shelter.  But if they reply 'um.. yup, sure whatever dude!'  then you know they are not Christians and you can't trust them, and you need to run for your life."


Of course that's not the reason.  But its what I said and they knew I was joking.

The real answer seems to be findable on Wikipedia.  Apparently it's called a 'Troparion'..

The Paschal greeting, also known as the Easter acclamation, is an Easter custom among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Christians, as well as among some Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. Instead of "hello" or its equivalent, one is to greet another person with "Christ is Risen!", and the response is "He is Risen Indeed" (compare Matthew 27:64, Matthew 28:6–7, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, Luke 24:34).^[1][2]

In some cultures, such as in Russia and Serbia, it is also customary to exchange a triple kiss on the alternating cheeks after the greeting.

Similar responses are also used in the liturgies of other Christian churches, but not so much as general greetings.

At the Cross

4/20/2014 06:54:54

 
Our favorite Ukarumpa tradition is the Easter Sunrise Service.  It starts outdoors in the dark, under the tall pine trees, with a wooden cross on the crest of a hill, facing where the sun will rise.  As the service progresses and we sing and worship and pray, the sun rises and the light overcomes the dark.  Then near the end, we bring flowers we picked from our garden and decorate the cross, thus transforming it from a reminder of pain, to a think of beauty.  Much as Christ did.

Then each year we snap a photo, and each year I am wearing that same jacket and that same hat. (yes I plan that). 

(also apparently each year I misplace the photo but here are a few more).

2012 (oh look, no jacket! Calvin makes up for it in wearing the same sweatshirt)

2012

on making mistakes

I am going to make myself a little vulnerable here. I make mistakes.
Ecc 7:20 says "...for there is not truly one righteous person on the
earth who continually does good and never sins."

I'm not talking about sin in this entry, I'm talking about human error.
This week has been full of days where I'm confronted with some recent
errors.

I put 4 saber players out the door with errors in 3 of the files, such
that all of Acts chapter 13 was skipped. WOOPS. How did that happen?
Well, I keep backups of backups of files, and I caught the error, fixed
it, and then proceeded to put the OLD file onto the player.

I skipped all of Luke and Acts for another language on the Audibibles.

I have spent weeks trying to get a video to render properly and finally
got it all edited and rendered and it's too long to fit on 1 dvd. WOOPS!

Thankfully, I'm aware that I make mistakes and I ask others to double
check my work before calling the project 'complete' and giving it to
PNGians. And, those other people (my safety net) caught the mistakes
and sent them back to me.

When you make mistakes, you have to redo the work. Which is ironic
because mistakes often happen because you're overworked in the first place.

When I was younger, starting out in the professional market, I wasn't
aware of the mistakes I might make. I proceeded to learn from any
mistakes I made and I rarely ever made the same mistake twice. My mind
was sharper and faster then, so I could keep track of multiple projects
at once.

Now I'm older, and my mind is not as able to track the details of many
simultaneous projects, but I'm also more experienced and know how to
manage my time better, and avoid time draining obstacles that I
otherwise could not foresee.

Knowing that my mind can get cluttered with a lot of simultaneous
projects going on, I have created a system for myself. I have several
'reminder lists' as well as backup systems that tell me where I left
things with each project. I WRITE thing down.

Digital friends of the Silicon Valley, don't mock me, I use pencil and
paper to track my lists most times. It's quick, it's portable, it's not
affected by dropping it. It's resilient, to most thing but water and fire.

When I was young I saw a movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".
Silly movie. At the end of it, the two are trying to break into a
police station and they said 'Ted, let's use the time machine, go back
in time, grab the keys, and hide them so we can get them now!" "Okay
Bill, where should we hide them?" "Right behind this plant!" then they
reach behind the plant, find the keys and cheer together.

That scene forever stuck in my head as an illustration of setting up
practices and systems to protect yourself.

For example, I ALWAYS put my keys in the same place every day when I
come home from work. I don't plop them down any random place.

There have been times when I've wandered the house saying 'where are my
keys?' and then my inner Ted tells my inner Bill 'the past you, should
have put them in the key basket' and I go to the key basket and there
they are. When I was younger I could remember what I did the previous
day with the keys, but not now. Now that I'm older, I just know that
they would be in that basket.

The difference is subtle, but its all about acknowledging that you make
mistakes, and setting up systems to avoid other people having to suffer
from those mistakes. Safety-nets.

This week, my safety nets have been in full swing, as they've caught a
few mistakes.

Sure it's humbling to be reminded that you're not perfect. It's tiring
to have to re-do work. But my commitment to excellence is high because
I want the people of PNG to be hearing the Scripture as clearly as I can
get it to them.

Even if it means re-doing the job several times (which I have done),
until it's right. Not perfect, but right.

As I think about this professional sense of safety nets, I also think
about a spiritual safety net. My two chief parts of that would be
accountability and prayer.

Thankfully I have a good accountability team here. I lose that team
when I am in the U.S. or rather, that team becomes a remote team.
On the prayer side, we have all of you. Praying for us. When we go to
the U.S. I get a chance to update those people who are praying, spend
time with them, and be around them and hopefully re-excite them to
remember to pray for us again for the next term.

I would highly recommend to anyone in the field to have these two
things. Accountability doesn't have to be only 'I messed up, help me
not to.' it can be 'I need someone to talk to, I'm stressed, lend me an
ear.' as well as lending an ear.

And prayer doesn't always have to be an hour of knee bending, deep
laments. It can be a quick 'God, please protect Chad and his family
today, right now.. thanks, Amen.'

But both of these things will enable you to be more successful in your
mission.

Geocaching Dog Tag

 years ago before we left the U.S. we placed three Geocaching dog tags with a kina coin around them, in various caches across the U.S.  One in California, One in Northern Carolina, and one in Oregon.

If you don't know what geocaching is, check out geocaching.com

When people found the dog tag, they looked up the serial number, saw our story, and then moved the dog tag along to another cache.

Our story was that of why we decided to move to PNG.  Our challenge was to pray for us (if you're a praying type or person), and to further the dog tag towards Papua New Guinea.  We hope that one day, someone will come to us and say 'I have your PNG dog tag here in my hand!' while we're in PNG, and we'd invite them in for dinner.

Along the way the finders of the dog tag, write notes on our website wall and tell us something about themselves. 
(I got this idea by having found a journal with entries written in it, in which a couple on their wedding day, told their story, then dropped the journal off in the hopes that at their ten year anniversary it would find them again).

About 3 years into the experiment the Dog Tags disappeared.  I should never have attached unique coins to them.    But then suddenly one surfaced in Germany.  (we know several Germans here, and so, it could very easily job the pond to get here). 

The funny thing is, all the status update posts have been in German since it re-surfaced after a 4 year hiatus.  And we don't know German.  I have been meaning to have someone interpret for us.... but haven't gotten around to it.

For fun today, I had Google attempt to translate and this is what today's has said:

"who has been his goal but misses neat. participating with you after. then is true times the direction"


This is just one of the many 'unique' ways we're trying to share our story of how God has moved in our lives.  Geocaching is a family fun hobby that we enjoy when we can, and we happened to be able to find a way to tell people about our ministry through it.

Was it Worth It?

I feel I need to expand a bit on my answer from my previous blog post regarding the question:

"Was it worth it?"

I'm getting some private comments from folks that make me think I wasn't very clear.

I'm a somewhat literal person, and when people ask me 'was it worth it?' I have a hard time answering what I perceive as a vague question.

Are you saying:
"Was the sacrifice worth the reward?"
If so the answer is:  I'm not seeking a reward, so I can't really say that the sacrifice is worth something I'm not trying to get.

or "Was the sacrifice worth knowing people are coming to know Christ?"
A: God highly values finding lost sheep. Following God I condition myself to ignore what I want and learn to want what He wants.  So from that perspective yes, it is worth it. 

But with my shocking 'yes and no' answer from before,  what I probably should have said was:
A. I can't really answer that because the question is irrelevant.

If the question were relevant, I would have to spend a lot of time figuring out the value of things that I can't comprehend.  I can not comprehend the value of an eternity spent in heaven.  I don't know how to put a pricetag on a few precious moments with a loved one.   I don't know how you would answer the 'worth it' question because we're dealing with variables that have a worth beyond measure.

My point from yesterday was that the question was irrelevant because God has put this desire on our hearts and obedience is the only way we know how to live.

At certain points in your life you look back and assess.  From that assessment you think 'that worked out well" or "I should have done something different at that point" possibly you have some regrets, possibly you get some smiles.

But we're not done.  It really isn't time to assess the entire act.  Our lives are continuing on, we plan to return to PNG.  The only assessment I can make at this point is that it was the best decision of our lives thus far, to come to PNG.

I think, I'm going to stop asking people 'was it worth it?' and start asking them 'was it a good decision?'.  Yes it was a good decision.  It was a hard one, but a good one.

When I was in college my friend told me a story, which I later found out is called the "Story of the Taoist Farmer" or "The Horse that Ran Away".  Digging a little there apparently are many versions of the story from multiple cultures. 

Here is one version:
----
This farmer had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to console over his terrible loss. The farmer said, "What makes you think it is so terrible?"

A month later, the horse came home--this time bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, "What makes you think this is good fortune?"

The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck! The farmer said, "What makes you think it is bad?"

A war came, and every able-bodied man was conscripted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer. "What makes you think this is good?" said the farmer.
----

My point in sharing this story is this:
We look at our lives through a very small window of time.  Our life spans are short compared to the history of man.  We also look at our lives through a very selfish lens.  'This is happening to me', 'how is this affecting me?'  I'm not judging, I'm just stating how we see the world.

When we expand that view, past our lives on earth and think with eternity it mind, and with God's kingdom in mind, then our perspective changes on a lot of things.

So with that 'was it worth it question?' we get asked, I think I would ultimately answer:

-I can't see what's going on in heaven, nor what my time on earth has produced.  I am unclear if I will ever get to see if my life displayed and how it bore fruit in heaven. ('Thank You' by Ray Boltz comes to mind).  I have faith that we've spent our time and effort doing things that will expand God's kingdom, and glorify Him.  I'm aware that we're not needed, instead we're privileged to be asked to help.  God could use anyone, we're not necessary, we're expendable and replaceable, and yet He loves us enough to ask us to serve Him.  From an earthly selfish perspective, since I can't see what God sees, there are days when the sacrifices seem overwhelming.  Those are my selfish days.  But God has taught me through this life to have Faith that our struggles and our toils have meaningful and lasting results.  With that faith I can firmly say that anything would be worth it.  Any level of sacrifice would be worth it.  Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and so even without this faith that I have, I still have a debt that I'll never be able to repay.  Regardless of worth, there is debt.  But even if there were no debt, and our actions produced folly and had no worth whatsoever (which I do not believe they do) I would still have absolutely no choice but to follow and obey because a life lived outside of obedience would be a miserable one.  God loves us and wants to bless us abundantly, and He does when you act in faith and obedience.  God has blessed us in so many deep and meaningful ways since choosing this lifestyle.  Ways I can't fully comprehend sometimes.  There is a depth of understanding of His love for us that I just didn't grasp before coming to PNG.  Just that closeness to God alone was worth it all.  I'd do it again in a heart beat.


That's what I should have said in my blog yesterday.  I was having a hard time coming up with the words.  I hope this helps.


Q.People have asked me "Chad, what if one of your gets gets sick or injured or worse? Would you feel your decision was foolish?"
A. In preparing to come to PNG we asked ourselves, 'where is the line we draw that says 'Okay God, I'm not willing to cross THIS line'?'  Honestly, before He asked us to move to PNG the answer was 'I'll follow you but please don't ask me to move to a foreign country'.  Then He did.  So I wasn't about to draw another line.  Definitely not "Okay we'll follow you to a foreign country but please don't let my kids get hurt."   That seems like a bad idea to me.  No, instead we had to resign ourselves to the fact that our kids may suffer.  THAT is a very hard process to do for parents.  To knowingly say to God, "I will obey you, even if it means I lose everything I love and care about."

Why do you think we ask for so much prayer?    I'm addressing these questions because people have asked them before.  I would not feel the decision was foolish.  It wasn't foolish.  We spent years considering it, praying, training, investigating.  We didn't go off half-cocked.  We were as cautious as could be and ultimately obeyed.

Q. How mad will you be if something very bad happens to your family because of your choice?
A. Mad at who myself or God?  The answer is neither.  I've never subscribed to the 'its okay to be mad at God' theory of therapy.  Part of relinquishing control to God is the understanding that bad things might happen.  I read a book 'why bad things happen to good people" and the author was a former rabbi who lost his son.  In the end, he lost his faith too.  There are reasons for that.  One reason is, asking the question 'Why?'  'Why God? Why did this happen?"  My entire life I've found that question to be a really dangerous one.  Who are we that we get to demand answers of God?  How entirely selfish is that question... why?   When I tell my children 'go to bed' and they say 'Why?'  I say 'Because I told you to!'  We don't often get to know why before something happens, and rarely after it happens.  In Acts ch8 Philip was told to get into the Eunich's chariot, so he did.  No idea why.  Turns out, it was for a really good reason, as that Eunich came to know about Jesus.  But Philip didn't ask 'why' he just started running. 

Asking Why assumes God owes you an answer, and He doesn't.  He is sovereign.  Just ask Job.
So knowing He is sovereign I often don't bother with 'why' questions, but begin working on reminding myself that all things work together for God's good.  And then further reminding myself that the Bible doesn't say 'that all things work together for Chad's good'.

It could very well be, that bad things happen to me and mine.  But when they do, I do not question that God is supreme, God is in command, God is good, and I am His servant.  That won't make me mad at myself, nor at God, nor at the decision.  I may experience anger, but it would be focused elsewhere until I can get rid of it.




I think that's enough of my personal philosophy on life for now.  This blog is supposed to be about what life is like over here.  I guess I was sharing some of the mental process.  I rarely get into 'preachy' mode because I figure most people have this stuff figured out WAY more than I do.

7 years

We've lived in Papua New Guinea for 7 years now. We arrived in March
2007. It is time for some reflection.

Q.What have we given up?:
-the birth of a nephew
-multiple funerals: three uncles, two grandfathers, two grandmothers, an
aunt, friends and more
-the birth of twins
-the birth of a friend's only son
-visiting sick loved ones in the hospital
-a good friend's wedding
-church Sundays and community events
-countless hours with loved ones, time with grandparents, moments that
we can not regain, celebrations with friends and family that we did not
attend.

and today, a very close friend of mine experienced the birth of his
first child, a boy, and I was not in attendance.

You'll notice I didn't list foods, amusement parks, clothing that fits
and other modern conveniences. It's true we've given much of that up,
but it doesn't cut to the heart like missing life changing moments with
loved ones.

Q.What have we gained?:
-moments like this video describe (start at 6:10 for the quick version)


-or testimonies like this one: (start at 00:24 for quicker version),
the story of how 1 man reading his Bible, changed a community.



Q.Was it worth it?:
Yes and No. Maybe I could wax poetic here about the worth of a single
soul entering into heavenly gates. But that's God's economy, not mine.
My selfish economy says to me that no, it in fact wasn't worth missing
out on the most wonderful moments of life with those I hold dear. I
battle with my more spiritual nature and say 'but surely your reward
will be in heaven', but to be honest I'm not seeking a heavenly reward.
I don't deserve one, I'm still a selfish human being with sins that get
forgiven. No I really really want to be alongside those I love for
these events. I really really want to be an uncle, a brother, a son,
and my wife and children want to be in their relational roles as well.
We want to be able to go and be with those we care about. To hug, to
cry, to comfort, to cheer, to celebrate to LIVE together.

But we aren't and we don't. God has seized our hearts and put a vision
and burden on them so that we can not be happy unless we are pursuing
that vision.

The act of taking the things we've missed out on, and making our
attitudes that of a generous giver, and then giving them, as a sweet
smelling sacrifice to God is how I worship Him.

On the days when I would rather be in a hospital room in California than
standing on a muddy road in the rain in PNG, I am worshipping. Because I
can honestly say I don't begrudge God that I am called to PNG to do this
work. I am sad to have missed something special back home, but I am not
sad that I get to participate in this wonderful ministry God is doing.

I won't put a candy coating on it, missing out on things hurts. It cuts
deeply to know you are missing out on lives that matter most to you, and
trading it for souls that matter most to God. I can not love a perfect
stranger as I love my sisters, but God can instill that in me.

I am rather certain God would tell you it's no contest. He seeks after
the lost sheep. He tells us to depart from family.
I on the other hand, would tell you it's a daily contest. One that
requires daily sacrificing my will to God's to continue doing this work
with a cheerful heart. And I can honestly say we have accomplished
that. We don't live in constant homesickness or regret. Instead we
live cheerfully.

Some days are harder than others. But we don't view our time on earth
as ours any longer. Our time belongs to God, He's asked it of us, and
we've given it freely and obediently. When our attitudes stink, we pray
and work on correcting them.

And then, from time to time, we get to return home, and be with those we
love. For a short while. There is much work to be done here, and we
feel the urge to return before long.

We are a people caught between two places. Where we call home - our
heart is with our family, and where we live home, our mind is with our
work. And what better analogy for a people who are not to see this
world as their home.

a song we sang as children goes:

"Oh Lord, you know, I'm just passing through, my treasures are laid up,
somewhere beyond the blue.....I can't live at home in this world anymore."

Don't we all feel a constant tug in two directions. It seems to be the
way with life.
Heaven and hell
Selfish will and God's will
Temporary home and permanent home
Men Mars, Women Venus

Tugging, tugging always pulling. When we make a choice, to do that
which honors God, it is worship. When you choose to depart with some
money to support us, to depart with what you're doing at the moment to
pray for us, to depart with valuable free-time and email us, you are
making a choice and acting and that is worship, because you choose to do
it to glorify God.

Read Ecc. ch 2 some time. This way of living is the only way that makes
sense to us. This constant battle of wills and choosing to please God.
And make no mistake, we aren't the only ones doing it. Everyone who
knows us is doing it, in one form or another. Whether they like it or
not... they're making a sacrifice.

To everyone who has ever said 'I wish Chad and Kendal were here right
now to see this...' your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed.

We miss you, we're excited to see you soon!
It's been a crazy 7 years, and I wouldn't trade a moment of it.

Why do I say all of these terribly honest things? Because I know that
there is someone out there like I was 7 years ago thinking 'God has
burdened me with becoming a missionary, and yet, I am finding it very
hard to leave my family. Aren't I supposed to get some supernatural
power that allows me not to miss my loved ones, now that I've committed
to going where God is sending me?'

You can ask for that. The Lord knows I tried to at first. But it
didn't come. It tore my heart out at first, it was painful. When
return on furlough I'll be reminded of that pain when I try to catch up
on lives I've missed out on, and when I have to say goodbye again. But
then I realized, the act of giving this cheerfully in worship to God
shapes you and benefits you and I believe God takes it as a sweet
smelling offering and is pleased with it. At least I hope He does. For
those in that position I was in 7 years ago, I have this to say.

Your life will never be as fulfilling as when you are doing what God has
burdened you to do. You have a choice. You can seek your own comfort
and pleasure as Solomon did and find that it brings only temporary
happiness. Or you can give it up to God and find that your life is
permanently fulfilling. Missing family is a small blot of sadness on an
otherwise fulfilling life. If God has truly impressed a burden on your heart, then choosing to ignore God's calling would mean
your family/friends becomes the center of your happiness, and would be a large
portion of happiness on an otherwise lackluster life. It's your choice to
make. We made it 7 years ago.  Not everyone gets the opportunity to make that hard choice. Consider yourself fortunate that you have such a cross to bear.

To all of our friends and family whom we miss and who have missed us....
we thank you for your sacrifice as well, and we look very forward to
seeing you soon for 1 year in the U.S. come June 2014.

At this time we're praying for a house to stay in for that year, please
join us in prayer.

Kaboom

Lunch time, power is out because the guys are working on the power lines.  Sun is out, sky is clear.  KABOOM! CRACK!! .. the house shakes with thunder.  We all jump half out of our skins.  Turns out lightning struck near a neighbors house.

Lightning damage is very real here at 5000 feet.  Seeing lightning strike is not a rare occurrence but often it's pretty off-in-the-distance.

Today it was local.  People reported modems dying, surge protectors melting, etc.  Outside of the normal electrical damage, there is EMP damage... it can make electronics behave oddly.

Because of this part of life here, we have surge protectors, power guards, UPS battery backups, generators, all kinds of things.

I have always found it fascinating how man adapts to his environment to live, and what once seemed exotic and new, becomes a daily behavior.  For example, if you live in a very snowy area, putting on snow coats and boots wouldn't be a hassle after a while as you adapt and develop habits.

Such is life here, we adapt to the idea that there are earthquakes and lightning storms, and land slides and that sort of thing.  Once you remove yourself from worrying about danger, you start to appreciate the beauty.

We often sit outside and watch the lightning storms, it's really a wonderful thing to see.

Roads

This video doesn't quite cover the experience of being there, but it
gets you close. The other day I was out driving and a man, unused to
the road didn't know that the Kunai grass had overgrown a drop off,
wanting to give oncoming traffic more room, he accidentally dropped his
vehicle half into the drop off that the grass was disguising.

the Ride from....

If you'll allow me to walk you through our afternoon drive home. Rather
typical for PNG. We were heading along a 2 hour drive in 2 vehicles.
One was four wheel drive, the other a 2 wheel van.

We checked all the fluids to make sure all was good. As I went to start
up my car, it wouldn't start. The battery was dead. That's fine, I
parked on a hill in case that happened, roll start, and away we go.

We drove through beautiful country, but the driver rarely gets to see it
because there are too many obstacles on the road. School had just let
out so the road was flooded with red-shirted children who holler and
wave as you pass. We wave in return, and if you're me, you holler back
in fun. They're genuinely excited to see you, but don't get distracted
if you wave back and aren't looking you'll hit a pothole.

We follow each other hoping that if we hit a bad pothole in 3rd gear,
and bust an oil plug, the car behind us will notice we're leaking oil.
Thankfully that didn't happen.

We counted about 18 goats, 13 dogs and 6 pigs on the road, none of which
we hit.

We passed by grass huts, people selling anything from coffins to chewing
gum along side the road, people sitting or laying on the pavement to
warm up, kids not aware there was a car coming on their 'walkway' etc.

We had a pit stop along the way to look at some baskets and such, at
which time I checked the fluid levels in my battery and realized why it
wasn't charging. Bone dry. I emptied my drinking water into it in the
hopes that it would charge on the remainder of the ride home.

I felt foolish for not having checked it before. I had checked my
spare, that I had a jack, a tow rope, spare oil, water, my fluids were
good, belts were tight, etc.

The car started right up, but I had stopped on a hill in case. The rest
of the drive went remarkably well. We stopped for the wives to get
something quickly at a store. I stayed in the car for security, watched
a crazy man bother people and beg for money. Another man came up to us
and spun a very long lie about something while men behind him gave us
the hand signal that 'this man is a liar don't give him money.' We
weren't new to the country, nor were we naive, but 'traim tasol' as they
say, which means 'give it a try, what could it hurt?'

Finally only a few turns from home and we notice a landcruiser half
rolled over in a huge ditch. We pulled over to see if anyone was inside
and if we could help. Inside was an ex-pat gentleman whom we didn't
know. He had somehow gotten this borrowed vehicle stuck in a very deep
and muddy concrete drainage ditch.

My son and I remained behind and sent the other car in our caravan on
hope with the women and children, while we stayed to help.

We gave him a few tugs before our tow rope broke. He was very stuck.

Then along came a large 'hino' truck. Since the landcruiser was
borrowed, and the driver didn't know how to work the wench, I offered to
work it for him. We hooked the wench up to the front, and to the large
hino truck and with a little bit of heaving and elbow grease, we got him
out.

He was very thankful.

I looked around and we were surrounded by Papua New Guineans. Some of
which were looking, others were helping. To show our gratitude I
offered several small bills to the men who helped, which is customary.
(and often times why people HURRY to help when you don't always need
that many 'helpers'.)

The driver was thankful to have gotten out. He could have been stranded
there. He thanked me for being a good 'Samaritan' to which I replied
"that's what we do here!" we smiled and he was about to go on his way
when the police showed up, made a big show shouted 'what is going on
here, how did this happen.' Didn't lend a helping hand, but was sure to
issue the drive a ticket for nothing in particular.

He accused the man of speeding, but the man was never out of second
gear. After staying to help him because I didn't hear him speaking
tok-pisin, we went on our way, sure that all was good.

And then we arrived home not much longer after that.

It sounds like an adventure, but really, it's very typical for a 'ride
into town' here. And if you were paying attention you noticed that at
least two times, Papua New Guineans were very helpful. One helped us
avoid being conned, and the other helped a stranger get unstuck.

It's a hospitable place, full of adventure in daily life, and beauty, it
was a beautiful drive.

All in all, I enjoyed it.

Grocery fun 2

Grocery fun

Arop Lokep

I've blogged about the recording I've been doing with the Arop Lokep language.  Weeks of recording staggered over several months.  This week we finished the post-production of the NT recording, and have begun compiling it into Audio Bible players.  We are on schedule for a June dedication that will have both the finished print version AND the audio version.  This is a huge deal.  Not only is there a printed version, but right along side of it will be the audio version.

I am excited about that.  If all goes to plan I'll be able to be there at the unveiling.

But maybe it'd be better to hear from the words of the man and wife team who have been laboring over this project for decades:

"I wasn't expecting such a powerful reaction when I handed Sakaria a copy of the newly printed Arop-Lokep New Testaments.  It wsa the first time for him to see the finished product.  He held it up like an offering to God and with tears brimming in his eyes said, "Thank you Christ."  Then he turned to me and overcome with emotion, simply shook my hand.  Only then did he unzip the cover and begin to read God's Word in his own language. 
That's powerful!  I can hardly wait to show others around Long Island a copy of the New Testament and a sample of the now completed New Testament audio recording on an Audi Bible player."

Staying Cool

This is my homemade cooling unit at work.

It is a high speed electric motor, with a fan, put into a home-made sheet metal casing.  Originally created to simulate fire for some activity, where an orange cloth would be attached to it and set upright to make it 'flicker'.

I inherited it when a friend went home finish.  I inherited a lot of odds n ends to be made into something else.

Yesterday I returned to my office after a 7 week absence.  I had been in recording sessions for 5 and board meetings for 2.

I discovered that:
-the server was down
-the AC unit was broken
-the UPS unit was dead

Years ago the windows in my office were replaces with pane glass, because we are at or under ground level with a popular road.  Which means we were getting dust into our equipment all the time through the louvres.

So currently I sit at the end of a tunnel like office structure, with only my AC unit to give me an environment in which I can work.

Yesterday I was sweating buckets trying to get my work done in my work office.  (recall the computer setup I have? most of it puts off a lot of heat)
I have too much work to accomplish to miss being in the office any longer.  (2 NT to post produce to Audibible and a video to edit).

So, I traded my work pants for shorts, my work shirt for a t-shirt, my shoes for 'crocs' and brought my makeshift fan into work, propped it up with 2 cd bundles and went back to work.

It's still warm, but I can at least get a little work done.  Even if my forearms are sticking to the desk.

Choir girl

EC Finished

I just finished my last sitting day in session as EC Secretary. I still
have responsibilities that will take the next few weeks.
13 weeks until we get on a plane to return to the U.S.

It was a good experience, a challenge, but a rewarding one. Now that my
stint is over I am not jumping up and down in celebration but instead
thankful that I have a deeper understanding of the process, and along
the way discovered a few skills I didn't know I had.

Leaving a team you work well with, always has a tinge of sadness that
accompanies it. Thankfully the team hasn't disbanded, it is still going
strong, only my time on that team has come to an end.

God sometimes challenges us to say 'yes' to things that frighten us.
I've come to realize that the reward from rising to that challenge often
is directly related to how much fear you felt before accepting it.

Showing Jesus

Over the past year I've been working with a lady named Beth to compile media for showing and listening to in her language area (16 different languages).
For those who don't know what the Jesus Film is (and I didn't either before coming here), it's a movie based on the book of Luke about Christ and his ministry, death and resurrection.  We take that film and dub it into local languages so they aren't hearing it in English (or Hebrew).  It is very powerful as people see Christ speaking in THEIR language for the first time, and often the showing of this film changes lives and opens eyes and hearts.

Please pray for Beth and seven YWAM team members as they finish showing the tokples Jesus Picture Story DVD almost every other night in 16 villages of the Aitape West Translation Project for the last 6 weeks. They are focusing this time on the two largest language groups in the project. They visited 10 communities in the Malol language area and 6 communities in the Sissano language area.

They finish their program tomorrow evening and will travel to Wewak on Monday. Please pray for safe travels by boat along the coast early in the morning before wind and waves pick up, and for them to be able to meet the plane.

Please pray for Beth.  There have been some rumours preceding them regarding her skin color and the spiritual context of white-skin.  I prefer not to get into specifics on a blog, but the rumors need to be squelched for her ministry to reach people and be clearly understood.

Media is powerful, let's make it about something meaningful!

God in the Numbers

Money talk time. It's an ever present reality for most everyone. Today
I decided to crunch the numbers and look for patterns, update
spreadsheets, and figure out how much financial support we have to raise
during furlough. Knowing this number will determine exactly how much of
our furlough is spent recovering from a very difficult term in the
field, visiting existing partners and friends, and how much is spent
visiting new places and churches and people.

Kendal's biggest prayer has been that we won't have to spend a lot of
time doing fund raising, because we want to spend time with family.

Today we had the money talk.

See if you see God's hand like I see God's hand.

Over the past 3 years, we've lost some financial support. We've also,
miraculously gained some (almost never happens while in the field). If
you calculate the losses, we dropped from 98.1% of our goal, to 95.8% of
our goal.

But, then if you calculate the additions, we jump right back up to 98.1%
of our goal again!

This means that our decrease was exactly matched, dollar for dollar by
our increase. As God saw people stop giving, He moved in the hearts of
other people to increase giving or to start giving!

That is remarkable to me, it's not even 1 dollar off, it's an identical
match. Amazing.

But that's not all.
Many of you know my affinity for the number 3. "333" is the perfect
number to me. Long story short, I love 3's.

In looking at our new goal, (assessed annually to incorporate the cost
of living increases here).... and you divide that into what we need to
raise monthly, and it's $333 p/month.

Hello!! 333 p/month more has to be raised on furlough. But the coolest
thing is God knows that number is a message to me personally that
everything is going to be alright!!!!

(right now that's a working number, and after a few official meetings
with finance it may go up....) But still, God continues to tell me 'Yes
you're meant to be in PNG, you're doing what I want you to be doing' and
He often does it through the numbers. He speaks to me of His provision
through you, by confirming to me through our numbers the most miraculous
things!


If you know of people we should meet on furlough, churches looking to
take on a new Wycliffe volunteer, etc, please contact us. We're ready
to tell people about the good work going on here in PNG!