Things that Make Me Smile :)

This week has been one full of changes (school starting!) and difficulties (someone attempted to break into my apartment early Monday morning—I’m all right, just a little jumpy and not sleeping very well at the moment). A few months ago when I was struggling to adjust, a friend back home challenged me to make a list of every blessing and provision from the Lord and dwell on those things, rather than the struggles. Anyways, I thought this week would be a good one to revisit the list—so here are the things that I’m thankful for this week:

1. Kids: Does this really need any explanation?! Nothing brightens my day like being with kids—hearing stories about their imaginary friend, Yak, playing games, teaching them, reading bedtime stories, all of it.
2. Christmas cards in January: Mail takes a while to get to Ukarumpa, but that just makes trips to the post office more fun!
3. Friends: I’m so blessed with great friends here in Ukarumpa, in Mexico, and at home in the States.
4. School: When I was really young, I got up and got dressed only a couple hours after my parents put me to bed because I was so excited to go to school…while I definitely don’t do that anymore, I do still love school.
5. Sunny days: They’re just cheerful and make hot water (solar powered hot water heaters)! (And help with #9!)
6. Playing guitar (or flute): I love everything about music, especially making it.
7. Spanish worship music: Again, I love music, but it also reminds me of my friends in Mexico and to pray for them.
8. Baking: Mmm, there’s just nothing like fresh baked cookies or bread (even if it doesn’t turn out quite right)!
9. Clean laundry: Folding clean, dry laundry, fresh off the clothes line is just much more enjoyable (albeit a bit more work) than from a dryer.
10. Earthquakes: Weird, I know, but they remind me of where I am and God’s faithfulness in getting me here and sustaining me.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  -Romans 15:13

Calling All Teachers!

Remember when you were a kid and school was called off for a day, or maybe even two? Why was school called off—snow, ice, -30F temperatures? Now imagine that you are a missionary on the field with school-aged children; there is a school on your mission center, but it isn’t fully staffed, and can’t offer classes until they find qualified teachers. This scenario is exactly where Ukarumpa International School (UIS) Primary Campus found itself last week.

Better than TV

Life in the village is typically slow paced and very routine: work in the gardens in the morning and then around 2 pm, it’s off to market with produce to sell. (Read about my market adventure here.) After the evening meal, everyone sits and talks for a while, and then it’s time for bed.

On occasion, though, things that are slightly out of the ordinary happen…

My Favorite Things

During the last week of school we talked about the Christmas story; I read the story out of the Bible to the younger kids and had the older ones tell me the story (which they did in great detail!). After we finished reading, I had the kids write out what their favorite part of the story was and why they liked it. When they finished writing, they illustrated what they wrote.

Where's the Beef?!

We don’t eat a lot of fresh meat in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for a variety of reasons: for one, it’s quite expensive, and for another, many translators and linguists live in village allocations where there is no electricity, so by necessity we eat a lot of tinned (canned) meat. Think Spam, only not actual Spam (even if the store does have it, it’s a bit pricey since it’s imported). If you haven’t ever had the pleasure, you should try some…it can be reasonably tasty when prepared correctly!

To Market, To Market

One Thursday morning during Village Living, one of my roommates and I decided that we needed to get out of the village for a few hours. We asked our wasmama (host mother), Patrisia, if we could go to market with her later that day; she was pleased as punch that we wanted to go again (we had gone the previous week), so we quickly ate our lunch and gathered up what we needed for our trek through the jungle down to the Mediba market.

The four of us (waspapa (host father) went, too, to help carry the produce to sell) headed down the bus rot (bush road or trail), which wasmama was pleased to inform us was much shorter than taking the main road, as we had done the week before.

Washing Laundry...in a Bucket?!

What does the phrase “do laundry” bring to your mind? The washer and dryer in the basement laundry room? Folding clothes still warm from the dryer? Well, in the village that’s not quite how it goes…

The laundry bucket

First you collect your dirty laundry, which isn’t usually very much, because you typically do some every day. The dirty laundry, laundry soap, a bar of Klina soap (good for getting stains out), and the laundry scrub brush all go in the laundry bucket, which you take down to the river; and since you’ll be down at the river anyways, you may as well waswas (bathe), too. (See my post about waswas here.) After you’ve gathered up what seems to be everything but the kitchen sink, you head down to the river.