Well, we have made it back into the States. I suppose I should have written that....oh....about 2 weeks ago, but hey, better late then never, right? We were greeted at the airport by my mom, dad, sister, and niece with posters and flowers- so that was nice. The plane rides were tolerable, but nothing that we want to attempt again in the near future. Since arriving home, we have packed up all of our belongings, moved them to Nebraska, and are (tomorrow) headed back towards Ohio for Ben's graduation.
It seems like it has been years since we were in New Guinea and we miss everyone there terribly. It's kind of a depressing thought knowing that we may never have the opportunity to return....although we are praying for the opposite. I don't know how to summarize what our time in New Guinea meant to us, but we have come back as changed people. I might try in a couple blogs, but I think I'll just hit the biggest issue for me in this one:
We were only in Papua New Guinea for 2 & 1/2 months, but it's like we completely forgot what it was like to be in the States. It sounds silly, but the first time I watched cable television, I just wanted to cry. When we see it every day, we have a tendency to become desensitized to what we are watching. Even with so called "family programming" like Dancing with the Stars. Having my little boy in the room while these women wear little more than bikinis and call them dresses just made me sad. How am I going to teach him to respect women when other women don't appear to want to be respected. (Believe me, before we left, I was a reality show junkie. Not the good ones, I might add- if there are any.) Anyway, I won't say anymore about this issue except the Lord really spoke to me the other night and I was completely convicted on this issue. I want the way I entertain myself and my family to be glorifying to the Lord. It's going to be harder here than it was in New Guinea just because of the overabundance of crap that our pop culture has to offer.
Anyway, all that being said, we are really enjoying spending this last month off as a family. We've been to the zoo a couple times and have just been having fun. Caleb keeps saying that he wants to go back to Papua New Guinea, but I don't think he realizes that we would have to sit through the plane rides again if we were to do that. He is loving seeing all of his grandparents though and they are all spoiling him with new trains and lots of hugs. As for me and Ben- we have been keeping busy with our Wii. We stayed up until about 4 the other day playing- which doesn't help with the whole getting our sleep patterns straight endeavor. We have to do it now though, before he is actually a grown up and can't play all the time anymore!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Another week, another life-threatening event
Well, we are starting our final week here at PNG, and I know alot of people will enjoy being able to quit holding their breath for our safety. Like I said last week, it seems like everywhere you want to go around here is a life-threatening journey. Even driving along the main road you run the risk of being stopped by gunned men and robbed. I won't tell these stories I have heard until I am safely home. :) (I do have to say I am awful proud of Judy, there were a group of men in the road yesterday and she just plowed by, ignoring their gestures for her to stop.) Anyway, back to the event- I was NOT involved this time. Ben and a group of guys went repelling into an unexplored cave. I felt uneasy the whole time they were planning this trip, but, around here, I guess you just can't live in fear. The morning they left, I was laying in bed and heard Ben call my name. It was so real that I yelled back, "what?" only to find upon looking around that he was not anywhere around. I was so sure that I heard him call me that I even looked out on the front porch to see if he was there. Immediately I felt a strong desire to just pray for the men. I won't give too many details because I know Ben is going to write a blog about the experience tonight, I will just say that the Lord was with them, kept them calm, and protected them! I don't know all of the technicalities, but a D-ring came loose as Ben was assending the cave- about 50 feet up. He was able to struggle in mid-air for about an hour and get it latched enough for him to continue up. After the second came up, the youngest of the guys couldn't reach the top, and we had to send some men from the base into the darkness to retrieve him (2 hours away). Needless to say, us wives were praying. A big group of native children who are close to the guy stuck down there ran all of the way from the hospital to the cave to make sure he would be okay. Then, upon his return, they were all singing outside of his house, "Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God can not do."
We spent Mother's Day with the same two guys and their families. We rode into town to church, then the Highlander hotel for a poolside meal and swim. The sermon was interesting, and the message different than what you would hear in the states. His emphasis was on creation and how woman was created to be a helper for the man, not property or under the man, but equal and important. It's interesting how much women do in this culture. They are actually viewed as the strong ones, because they do alot of hard labor and carry their children everywhere. You also won't see a man and woman holding hands. Men hold hands all of the time as a sign of friendship with other men, but since men are viewed as above women, even if married, they do not walk around holding hands. I'm sure Ben and we got some strange looks yesterday, but I was clinging to that man knowing I could have lost him the day before! It ended up being a great Mother's Day though as we relaxed then played in the pool.
Well, like I said, we have a week left and we sure are going to miss it here. I get teary-eyed when I think about it. We have made such great friends and I can only pray that God would allow us the opportunity to someday return. Caleb especially has really adapted and settled in. I know he will miss his new friends- especially Priscilla and Olivia. Olivia and him are both two and get along quite nicely if there are no toys involved- especially if the activity is simply throwing rocks or playing in the mud. 
Monday, May 05, 2008
Computer problems
Just wanted to let you guys know- one of the hospital computers has a virus and has been seding out SPAM from the network. Sorry if you have gotten any from me. Anyway, if you have an aol adress, then I will be unable to write you from my e-mail until the problem is fixed. :(
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Food and Fun
Another week that has just flown by here in PNG. It seems like we have been here forever, yet the time is just slipping away so fast. This weekend, we had a missionary potluck as missionaries came from all over the area. It was so yummy! (You know how at church pot-lucks, there is always that unidentifiable dish that you are afraid to touch? Well, they don't ha
ve those at these. Everything is made from scratch and tastes delicious!) We met some nice people from Wales that were translators for a community about 45 minutes away. These are the missionaries that just come to a tribe, learn the language, form relationships, and start teaching about the bible. Rachel, one of the wives was telling me about this process. (There are two couples there with their children.) She said they start with creation and go all of the way through the old testament before they even talk about Jesus and the resurrection. She said that if this is not all done systematically then the people have a tendency to just add what they learn into their own beliefs. The way they approach it, the people have a complete understanding before they get to the good news Jesus brought. She said that they know this is a 10-15 year commitment, but God has called them and they are ready to see it through. (They have been there 1 year.) I'm realizing more and more the amazing commitment that all of these families here have made. It's truly a God thing!
Caleb had a great time at the potluck- of course his favorite person was there- Priscilla. I don't know
how we are going to leave her. Ben mentioned this in his blog, but Caleb is really coming out of his shell and learning to play with the other kids and trust other people. Prodded by the other missionary kids, he even asked Priscilla to marry him. (He asked Olivia too, who is more his age at 2 vs. 17, but she said no. I was talking to her mom this morning and we agreed it was a good thing, because we don't want to have to start worrying about bride price and planning a big mumu.) I also want to mention that Caleb is finally completely potty trained. I'm so proud of him, and he is so proud of his "productions"- if ya know what I mean. :) My little boy is growing up!
After the potluck, we had a joint missionary service (I will touch on that again in a minute) and then a group of us headed to a rock slide. (It is exactly that: a series of waterfa
lls where the rocks have been smoothed out and are used as waterslides.) I didn't think it would be that dangerous since the missionary children were going- including Olivia- the other two year old. Anyway, I am learning that everywhere you travel to around here is life-threatening! There are these silly little "bridges" you have to cross, things you have to jump over, crawl around, climb, etc. After about an hour walk covering about 4-5 miles, we made it there alive, and ended up having a pretty good time. Ben fell a couple times- each time taking a child with him- but I managed to stay on my feet. (See mom, I am being very careful!) I have started to feel the new little Kumor moving around which is pretty exciting, but also a reminder that I need to slow down a little bit...that and the fact that I was more worn out than the seven year old missionary kid on our walk home!
At the joint missionary service on Sunday, Ben and I were asked to share a bible scripture. We talked about what each others favorite verses were, and were surprised to find out that both of them centered around hope. Mine is Psalm 71:14 "But as for me I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." In verse 20 it goes on to say "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again." I think the first few weeks I was here, I was discouraged for the people. I didn't think it was fair that we were able to call ourselves Christians, just the same as them. I thought that for some reason because of the hardships they endure they should have a stronger name. When I was reading through this passage though, I got to thinking about it more in depth. The issues that they face here are very much the same as we face in the States. They worry about rape, poverty, violence, disease, and infidelity. Sounds alot like things that have touched my life and the lives of friends in the U.S. Sure, we have alot more comforts and material things- but I am beginning to think those are more of a distraction than an advantage. The basic gist is that we are all living with the realities of a fallen world- and whether we are in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, or in the Suburbs in the United States- we have nothing if we don't have the hope that is offered to us through Jesus Christ....yet we have everything if we do have that hope!
We have two more weeks to go, and plan to just
soak in as much as possible. It has been such a wonderful experience and we can't wait to come home and share more about it with you all!
I'll leave you with a Caleb quote- and yes, he came up with this all by himself- he starts kicking around rocks on the road and says "look mom, I'm rockin".
ve those at these. Everything is made from scratch and tastes delicious!) We met some nice people from Wales that were translators for a community about 45 minutes away. These are the missionaries that just come to a tribe, learn the language, form relationships, and start teaching about the bible. Rachel, one of the wives was telling me about this process. (There are two couples there with their children.) She said they start with creation and go all of the way through the old testament before they even talk about Jesus and the resurrection. She said that if this is not all done systematically then the people have a tendency to just add what they learn into their own beliefs. The way they approach it, the people have a complete understanding before they get to the good news Jesus brought. She said that they know this is a 10-15 year commitment, but God has called them and they are ready to see it through. (They have been there 1 year.) I'm realizing more and more the amazing commitment that all of these families here have made. It's truly a God thing!Caleb had a great time at the potluck- of course his favorite person was there- Priscilla. I don't know
how we are going to leave her. Ben mentioned this in his blog, but Caleb is really coming out of his shell and learning to play with the other kids and trust other people. Prodded by the other missionary kids, he even asked Priscilla to marry him. (He asked Olivia too, who is more his age at 2 vs. 17, but she said no. I was talking to her mom this morning and we agreed it was a good thing, because we don't want to have to start worrying about bride price and planning a big mumu.) I also want to mention that Caleb is finally completely potty trained. I'm so proud of him, and he is so proud of his "productions"- if ya know what I mean. :) After the potluck, we had a joint missionary service (I will touch on that again in a minute) and then a group of us headed to a rock slide. (It is exactly that: a series of waterfa
lls where the rocks have been smoothed out and are used as waterslides.) I didn't think it would be that dangerous since the missionary children were going- including Olivia- the other two year old. Anyway, I am learning that everywhere you travel to around here is life-threatening! There are these silly little "bridges" you have to cross, things you have to jump over, crawl around, climb, etc. After about an hour walk covering about 4-5 miles, we made it there alive, and ended up having a pretty good time. Ben fell a couple times- each time taking a child with him- but I managed to stay on my feet. (See mom, I am being very careful!) I have started to feel the new little Kumor moving around which is pretty exciting, but also a reminder that I need to slow down a little bit...that and the fact that I was more worn out than the seven year old missionary kid on our walk home!At the joint missionary service on Sunday, Ben and I were asked to share a bible scripture. We talked about what each others favorite verses were, and were surprised to find out that both of them centered around hope. Mine is Psalm 71:14 "But as for me I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." In verse 20 it goes on to say "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again." I think the first few weeks I was here, I was discouraged for the people. I didn't think it was fair that we were able to call ourselves Christians, just the same as them. I thought that for some reason because of the hardships they endure they should have a stronger name. When I was reading through this passage though, I got to thinking about it more in depth. The issues that they face here are very much the same as we face in the States. They worry about rape, poverty, violence, disease, and infidelity. Sounds alot like things that have touched my life and the lives of friends in the U.S. Sure, we have alot more comforts and material things- but I am beginning to think those are more of a distraction than an advantage. The basic gist is that we are all living with the realities of a fallen world- and whether we are in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, or in the Suburbs in the United States- we have nothing if we don't have the hope that is offered to us through Jesus Christ....yet we have everything if we do have that hope!
We have two more weeks to go, and plan to just
soak in as much as possible. It has been such a wonderful experience and we can't wait to come home and share more about it with you all!I'll leave you with a Caleb quote- and yes, he came up with this all by himself- he starts kicking around rocks on the road and says "look mom, I'm rockin".
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