Heading Out!

Well, tomorrow is the big day! The P2 bus is picking me up at 6 am to go out to the airstrip and from there I’m heading up to Madang for the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). Madang is about 90 miles north of Ukarumpa, only a 30 minute flight!

I’m excited to take this next step and learn about the culture and language of this beautiful place. We’ll be learning Tok Pisin (the local trade language), medical information, how to work in a multi-cultural setting, and other skills to help us in the Village Living phase of the course—such as hiking, swimming, and outdoor cooking. We’ll be “adopted” by a wasfamili or host family, one family for short visits, including a couple overnights, and another family for a longer, four week stay in a village. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice the skills we learned in the classroom.

I’ve heard that the POC staff keep us pretty busy and internet access will probably be limited, so I may not be on email or Facebook as often as I usually am, but I will do my best to send out updates when I can.

I appreciate your prayers as I head off to this new adventure and see what God has in store for the next 12 weeks. Pray especially for physical endurance and safety, that I will be able to take in all the information and use it well, and for unity among the POC students and staff.

Thank you again to all who donated specific items from the list that I sent out; as I was packing up to leave, I was encouraged as I remembered your generosity. It was (and is!) such a relief to have all those things already taken care of.