Enough about me

I have been using this blog as a journal to tell you all my thoughts and feelings along the way. To share the ups and downs of living in a third world country and having limited friend and family contact. So you have been able to see deep into my emotions and reliance on God. But I have yet to talk much about Steve and Gracie and how they are doing on this trip so today’s blog will be devoted to updates on both of them.

STEVE
Yup you guessed it LOVES it here. He thrives on meeting new people and interacting with the nationals. He feels a real sense of connection with the people and usually bring someone home new each day. He has made several good friends and brothers in the Lord while we have been here.

Yesterday he met a fellow named Powell. He originally worked as security in Ukarumpa but has since married a national women that is involved in translating and has begun a farm and a coffee plantation. We will be going to dinner at their house next Monday for an authentic PNG meal. (Side note we eat much like American’s so I am excited to eat some traditional food and see what it is like, but thankful I can cook like home on a regular basis). Powell is also 27 years old and is not like the normal National. He speaks English well and it seems like you could drop him in America and he would fit right in.

Steve is also planning on getting involved in the Prison ministry here. He is very eager to go out and meet these men and women that often have life transformations while stuck in a small cell. The prisoners get very little food while interned here so the missionaries that go often bring fruit and vegetables. The Nationals call it their freedom food. They go every other Saturday so I think Steve will be going not this upcoming week but 2 weeks after that.

Steve has been busy every day doing escape plans fore each of the major buildings as well as teaching first aid and CPR. Yesterday he was assigned a classroom for the rest of our stay and will be teaching a rotating class of First Aid and CPR each morning for 3 hours. Anyone and everyone will be able to come and is encouraged by the director of Wycliffe.

Tonight Gracie and I will go watch Steve play a type of street hokey with out skates but inside. I cannot remember the name of the game but he plans to meet his friend Powell down at the teen center and with many other people from Ukarumpa and play. The way it was described was like the Swedish version of Bandi, so Steve was saying he has good blood for hokey but is not good himself. He also has been playing Ultimate Frisbee every Sunday and comes home exhausted from running for 3 hours straight. I’m sure he would like to go play Soccer on Saturday’s but I claimed that time to go to Zumba.

Please keep Steve in your prayers as well as he has much joy and excitement while here. I have a feeling he will morn the time here once we come home and he goes back to the usual routine of his daily job. Please pray that he will transition back home well and that he will find a type of outreach/discipleship that he will be able to be involved in back at home.

GRACIE
She also LOVES it here. Well for the first thing she gets to play outside every day in the sun and run around. When we first got here she wouldn’t touch the grass with her feet but now bolts as soon as the door opens. She is very happy that her parents are around every day. Mama is always here and Dada comes home every night. This is a huge luxury here for her in the fact the she often has both of us around.

She has been spending a lot of time with a girl named Kate. Kate is 10 and moved here from Tennessee when she was 5. Her parents originally came to be host parents. The Browns would be a home for teens that stayed back in Ukarumpa to go to school while their parents went to villages to do translation work. Because of the cost of food here in PNG the Brown family would need to raise $2.000 more a MONTH to stay, so they will be heading back to the US in June. They have had up to 17 children in their home at one time, 5 of witch are their own, but now only have 7. The Browns also believe in reformed theology and Charley Brown (No joke, that is his name) is in charge of Sunday school here. We are often able to see videos of John Piper or similar preachers that are very encouraging.

Gracie also LOVES the bananas here. They are so dense and creamy. Nothing like what we get in the states and they are so inexpensive. She often has 3 or more bananas in one day. Although I would be concerned about being constipated we have not run into that problem so I let her eat them freely. She is now able to open the refrigerator and pull one out, and brings it to me to open. I can not believe how big my girl is getting. I may have to put a lock on the refrigerator door once we get home.
I have also been making juice. It is so overpriced that it is much cheaper to make your own. Yesterday I simmered several dozen cherry guava and made a concentrate, then added some fresh squeezed lemon and boiled a pot of water added sugar and then the concentrate and we had juice or Muli as they call it here. Gracie cannot seem to get enough and often drinks at least two sippy cups worth a day. We are officially done with bottles. She no longer is drinking milk from a bottle anymore. Unfortunately she isn’t really drinking milk at all but often has water or Muli.

Cloth diapering is going very well. The first several days we leaked every time she went to the bathroom but now we maybe have one accident a day where I don’t change her fast enough and she is so well hydrated that she pee’s more then the diaper is capable of holding. Otherwise we have been using one disposable diaper while sleeping and cloth during the day. I purchased diaper liners before we left home and they have been AWESOME. I would completely recommend them to anyone who is thinking of doing cloth diapering. You place the liner in the diaper and it catches the solid waste. You can then toss the liner in the toilet and flush it (unless you have septic – like they do here). But it has been great even with loose and watery stools. Since I invested so much money in these diapers before we came I might just use them when we are around the house once we come back to the states. Other than the washing they are not really that much more work then disposables.

Now that I have officially bored all of you to tears, I will leave you with my encouragement of the day! This book was given to us by Steve’s dear friend Jake before we left and has a daily devotion by Charles Spurgeon. He ended his devotion today with a quote:

“Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer,
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low and keep me there.”

Love this. What an encouragement!
Love you all and keeping you in our prayers and we venture on!

xoxo
~Becky