Me workim kaikai long kaukau

I know, you are just itching to know what I just said. Me workim kaikai long kaukau means I make food from a sweet potato. Today we went to the village and our task was to cook kau kau (pronounced cow cow) and learn the Tok Pisin words involved in the cooking process. My language helper, Rose, speaks very good English, but she told my group today that she would no longer speak English to us. She was going to do every lesson in Tok Pisin. That way we are forced to understand the language and start picking up words contextually. I was a little scared when she first told us that, but it actually was not that hard at all to understand her.

Even though I have only been here 1.5 weeks, I absolutely love it. The heat and humidity doesn't bug me anymore, and the people here are just phenomenal. God has really laid a lot on my heart, and everyday that I am down here I desire to come back. Please pray for me that I would listen to God's will and not make decisions based on my own desires. If God wants me back here, He will provide the way. I need to sit back, listen, and go where He tells me to go. I see so many ways the Lord could use me down here (mission base teaching and dorm parenting are really catching my eye), but I don't want to set my heart on anything that the Lord doesn't have in store for me. Sorry this was more of a request than a true update, but I know all of you who read this will keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I finish my time down in PNG.

Well time for a nap before my next class (I'm so glad we aren't so busy that I can't take my naps), so this is all for now. Thanks for the never ending support everybody!

Lyd

Fit Meri (strong lady)

Here Little Fishy

Today was another awesome day in the good ole jungle of PNG. There is an amazing coral reef beach about 45 minutes from the mission base, so the staff decided to take a half day to relax and spend the morning and afternoon at this beach. I had never been snorkeling before, but everybody brought goggles, breathing tube thingys, and boogey boards so we could snorkel. Matthias (one of the team members from Germany) brought this spear gun that he made and went spear fishing! He caught a decent sized fish, brought it ashore, and cooked and ate it! It was so funny to watch him build a fire in the wet ground.

Despite Matthias and his awesome fish skills, the best part of my day was when I was out snorkeling and I spotted a blue star fish. My friend Amanda (who had been a life guard for 6 years, and is practically a fish in the water) swam down by the coral and got it for me. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen, and I brought it back to the base with me too :) Even though we were at a phenomenal beach the roads we had to take to get there never let me forget that I am living in a foreign country. Once we got off the main road and took the turn to go to the beach, the part gravel part concrete roads were filled with potholes that were filled with water. About 16 of us were in the back of a small dump truck type thing (it had lower sides so it felt like a regular truck, but the bed could be lifted and raised) and we were constantly being jostled around while Travis (the driver) was trying to find the smoothest route possible. I tell ya, you really get to know your neighbors when you are practically falling into their lap.

Well we have another language class in about an hour, and I got a couple of things to do before then, so I better get going!

Thanks everybody for the prayers and support.

Lyd

P.S. God has already shown me so much in just this past week, please pray that I will be able to follow what he says with a willing heart. I have already seen many things I want to fix in my life when I get home, please pray that God will change my heart, and prepare me to follow through with those decisions (don't worry, it's nothing drastic:)). Ok, now I'm really going to go...bye!

Pun Down (pronounced poon down)

Hello everybody!

I know it has only been a few days since I have been away, but so much has happened already! Yesterday (June 20th) we made our first visit to the village to start learning Pidgin and about the culture. My language helper was Rose, and she was HILARIOUS! I was with my friend Jesse and we followed Rose around the village writing down the names of new Pidgin words while trying to navigate the slippery, muddy jungle with no shoes (Rose said we need tough feet, and since it rained just before we arrived we needed to leave the shoes in the van so we could grip the tree vines and rocks while walking). I was so proud of myself that I wasn't slipping too bad, and I was hearing and understanding everything Rose was saying until we started to walk down were the Sak Sak tree was (I'll explain the significance of that in another blog). It was a very steep area that was practically all mud. Instead of paying attention to where Rose was putting her feet I started to venture out on my own, and boom, the next thing I know, my bum was in a pile of mud! I did a little yelp (I wasn't hurt, just caught off guard) and Rose turned around and busted out laughing. Jesse, Rose, and I just stood there and laughed for about 2 minutes before we could finally walk again. That was when Rose decided it was important I learn the words for fall down...Pun Down. I know I will never forget that Pidgin phrase as long as I live :)

Village life was completely different, but I really did have an amazing time. I can't wait until I can go back and learn many other things. God has already shown me so much already, and I haven't even been here a whole week! I'm so excited to see what God has in store for my future because I really am starting to develop a heart for these phenomenal Nationals (PNG citizens prefer nationals to natives because natives is very offensive, just a PNG fun fact for ya). Anyways these silly people want me to play some volleyball with them (boy are they mistaken about my abilities), so this is all for now!

Thanks for the prayers folks!
Lyd

Home Sweet Home

Well I have finally arrived in the beautiful country of PNG. It was all surreal at first, but it is now starting to set in little by little. When we first arrived on the mission base I was a walking zombie, I was soooooo tired I barely made it through dinner. As soon as we arrived in PNG I could immediately tell the differences in culture. It was humid, strange sounds everywhere, and the smell was completely different than the air-conditioned first world I came from. 

Despite all these differences, I completely love it here. It is absolutely gorgeous! The mission base is on a hill, and when I look out on the front lawn we have a beautiful view of the ocean and the airstrip. The staff here are so friendly and made me feel right at home, I couldn't ask for better people to be with me on this experience. 

This year Interface is held on a support mission base, so we will get to see firsthand the inner workings of the tribal missions. They said that as pilot flew in or different opportunities arose, they would try to take a few of us at a time to see first hand how the support team operates in PNG. Today the opportunity arose to go help a lady that was coming in by a small boat to go to the House Sick (Pigin for Hospital). She had been having severe stomach pain for 5 months now, and she finally decided to come get it checked out. We met her at the boat dock and drove her as far as we could to a valley where she had another 20 min. walk to actually get to the House Sick. It is crazy to think that this lady lived with this pain for 5 months, took a 6 hour boat ride (on a small boat that you would maybe take to the lake), and a 20 min. walk just to get to people that might be able to help her. God has taught me so much already, and it is crazy to see how different life is here. I'm so excited to see what else God has in store for me. 

Well I better quit hogging the computer now, so I'll talk to you guys later! Thanks for the prayers!!

Lyddo

Hurry Up and Wait

Hello folks!!

I have learned two lessons today

1. Hurry up and wait. That is the name of the game when it comes to travel. After I get off one flight I hurry to find my next gate and then wait, some more, and then wait a little bit longer. After I landed in LA the waiting become much more manageable because I was finally hooked up with my team and we started talking and getting to know each other before we tackle the beastly 14 hour flight. It still hasn't hit me that I am leaving the country, but I know it defiantly will when I land in PNG and I see the immediate culture difference. 

2. Walk whenever possible was the 2nd lesson i learned. And I mean seriously whenever possible, the 14 hour flight is going to be rough so it is important that I keep moving. Just when I start to get tired of walking I tell myself to stand and walk some more. I have made 3 trips from terminal one to terminal 4 (to go pick up incoming team members) which has totaled about 2.5 miles of walking.  And boy am I tired! BUT, I will sleep like a precious little baby on my international flight :D. 

I know I say this over and over again, but please continue praying for me. Everything is smooth sailing in the states, but once we get into PNG that is when the real pressure begins. I am so thankful to have such an amazing support group that keeps praying for me during this long trip. You guys are awesome!!

Oh! One more thing before I give my poor thumbs a break (I'm doing this on my iPod). Lets just say I had the BEST people watching experience in the Las Vegas airport. To put it simply when I walked off my plane I swore they dropped me off in a Casino...I have 2 full journal pages of people descriptions :) probably not the nicest thing to do, but it helped kill the time!

Well I need to rest my thumbs and bond more with my AWESOME team, so this will be it for a while folks!! Keep on keeping on!

Lyd aka Traveler Extraordinaire! :)    

Holy Moly! I'm leaving tomorrow!

I first wanted to start this blog off by giving a shout out to my amazing family. Not only is today my mother’s birthday (happy birthday Mommy! I love you!!!), but this weekend is also Father’s day. What makes them so amazing?  Well they are spending those holiday moments helping me pack, running last minute errands, and reviewing countless check lists with me. These people deserve some serious medals! It is really starting to set in that I’m leaving, and seeing my family in action like this forces me to take a serious look at just how blessed I really am; God is so good to me, and has shown that undeniably to me every day this past week.

I have gotten a lot of questions about how I will be flying, so here’s my flight itinerary for my long journey to the jungle. Tomorrow morning I leave at 6:15am to arrive in Wichita for my first flight that departs at 9:45am (less than 24 hours away!). I have one plane change in Las Vegas then I land in LA at 1:30pm (there time). When I get off of the plane in LA one of my awesome team members will be there to help me get my checked bag and head to the terminal my international flight will leave out of. I will wait with them as more team members arrive, and then we will all have dinner and a short orientation before we start the customs and security business all over again. My International flight leaves LA at 11pm (1 am here), and I have 14 lovely hours to kill until I land in Brisbane, Australia (I’m actually very excited for the long plane ride, I loooooove flying so this will be an awesome experience). From Brisbane, my team will take another flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (the capital of PNG), and after that we have one short flight from Port Moresby to Wewak (I’m pretty sure it’s only 45 min. or so). Once in Wewak people from the mission base will be there to greet us and load everything on to vans to take us to the mission base where we will be staying! After almost 32 hours of straight travel we will have arrived!

It is still surreal to me that in a little over 2 days I will be on the other side of the world living in a completely different climate, society, and landscape. I’m not nervous yet, but I know if the “out of my comfort zone gitters” make an appearance, God will grant me the peace to get through everything and I will be just fine!

I just want to thank everybody for all their prayer support; knowing I have countless amounts of people back in the States praying for me makes everything about this trip more calming. Please continue to pray for me, but especially that I get everything packed ok, and that my team has no trouble getting through all the airports safely and efficiently. Even with all these prayer requests I need to remember to praise God for getting me to this point that I could afford this trip and am able to go! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!

That’s it for now (I need to finish packing!). If any of you lovely folks would like to email me while I’m being a jungle woman my email address is lydia_newquist@ntm.org.pg . Now keep in mind it is the jungle and I am 15 hours ahead of you guys, so if I don’t answer the next day it’s probably the internet acting up.

Thanks again, and keep those prayers coming!

Lydia J

It's the 5 Day Count Down! (Please sing the tune Final Countdown with that...thanks)

I have officially come to my last week in the States before I finally head off to Wewak, Papua New Guinea. People are starting to ask my if I'm getting antsy, nervous, or even homesick and my response to them is absolutely not! I could not be any more excited for this trip! I have a lot to accomplish before I head off on my 6 week extravaganza, but I could not be any more excited for Saturday to finally arrive :D. The reason I decided to set up this blog is pretty simple; I'll be out of the country for 6 weeks, and I know a lot is going to happen in those 6 weeks, so instead of trying to remember everything that happens and tell all those stories when I get back, I will email my sister updates so my awesome blog readers will be a little better "in the know" than the average Joe (hehe that rhymed).

This is my first introductory post so I can kinda see how this here blogging thing works and get all the loose ends figured out. I hope to post later in the week post again to give you guys more details on my flight plans and how long I will actually be traveling!

I just want to give a quick thank you for everyone who has supported me on this trip. This is a major event in my life, and I am blown away everyday when I think about how gracious people were to help me out with finances and other tasks that came about in these last 6 months. Please keep me in your prayers that God would prepare my heart and mind for the amazing journey I am about to embark on!

Over and out for now folks,
Lydia