Is It Over Already?

Goodness how time flies! I have been back in the states for 1 week and 2 days now, and it already feels like my life in PNG was a distant dream. Today I woke up and realized I needed to write one last blog about this trip to sum everything up for you amazing folks who have supported me all through this journey. So here we go!

As you all could tell from my previous short blog post, getting home was a bit of a challenge. Planes were delayed, things broke, and I missed my very dear friend’s wedding, but God of course had a plan. Throughout this whole trip the one thing I continued to learn and practice was complete dependence on God. The moment I started to step out on my own strength and desires, God would put me right back into my place. I realized closer to the end of the trip, that I am the least qualified person to live in the jungle and spread the good news of Christ, but that is exactly the mindset God wants me in. When I lose myself completely and solely depend on Him that is when God can use us to complete His desire for mankind. It was not an easy lesson to learn, and I’m definitely not done learning it, but it was amazing to see God’s love and faithfulness in the midst of me trying to do simple tasks (like hiking on a very muddy and steep trail, eating food I wasn’t comfortable with, being on the ocean for 7.5 hours in a storm, learning a new language, and many more). The hardest moment of dependence on God was with traveling home. I won’t go into all the nitty grittys about what happened with each flight, but I will say not until that plane was taking off did I believe I was one step closer to home. The moment I realized God was the only one who could bring us all home, my stress level decreased, my tears stopped, and I was finally able to enjoy the last few moments with my new found family.

God is so faithful. There really is no other way of saying it.

Now I know the burning question on all of your minds is, “What happens next jungle girl?” and let me tell you, as soon as God lets me know I will let you know J. All I know right now is I will definitely be returning someday. If back to PNG I do not know, all I know is there are people out there who don’t know about Christ and it’s our job to tell them. I’m just excited to see what God has planned for me. He showed me great things in PNG and I know his faithfulness and blessings will never cease.

Thank you again everybody, all of your prayers made a world of difference to me. I can’t thank you enough!

Em tasol (that is all)

Lydia

There is a reason for everything

Dear friends, 

I was supposed to make my great escape and leave PNG and make it home on Friday night, but do the lovely unexpected adventures of a 3rd world country didn't let us leave until or day later. I'm pretty bummed because this means I won't be able to partake in my very dear friend, Tami's wedding. Even though I'm sad I'm going to miss it, God definitely has a reason for this. Please pray that I can at least make flights home so I can arrive in Saturday night. 

Oh! I'm in Brisbane right now and that's kinda a fun thing. I'm feeling quite Australian right now ;). Well ta ta for now we need to leave for our gate. Bye all!

Lyd (weary traveler)

PNG the Land of the Unexpected

Greetings! Soooo much has happened since my last blog update that I'm honestly struggling with where to even begin. I'm pretty sure on the last update I told all of you that the team was going to Biem island for a side trip to see just how living in the bush looks and how a tribal church is planted. This my friends is where the fun begins.

On July 12th the Interface team was to wake up bright and early, load three boats (2 smaller ones full of food and boys, and one bigger one full of 10 girls), and head for Biem island. I was extremely excited for my first boat ride out on the ocean. I was sitting in the front of the boat riding against the crashing waves having the time of my life with 3 other girls. The weather started off great, and nobody was getting sea sick. We passed the boys' boat and were well on our way to Biem island (normally a 4 hour ride in the big boat). However PNG is the land of the unexpected and the weather turned sour and the waves got bigger and much more dangerous. The girls' boat got to the 3/4 mark, but had to turn around because the front of the boat was struggling to make it over the big waves. The two guys thought about trying to make it to a neighboring island, but because our boat was all girls, they decided for safety reasons to head completely back to Wewak. After a long 7.5 hours the girls' boat made it safely back to Wewak, and were greeted with hugs and hot cocoa. However this is where the plot thickens. Because the boys' boats were smaller they had much more trouble navigating the big waves. The Nationals that were driving their boats decided to head to neighboring islands and spend the night there waiting for the storm to pass. Somehow in the midst of the storm the two boats got separated and only one boat had a satellite phone and a a GPS tracker to let others know their location. Because of this everybody on the Wewak base was on their knees praying that the other boat made it to an island and that everybody was ok. Needless to say, God answers prayers and we received news that they were ok.

Now, let's make a long story short ( I have about 8 days of details here). Because of engine complications that arose when the girls landed back in Wewak we were unable to travel again to Biem and join the boys for the side trip. Us girls were stuck on the base for 4 days recovering from sore muscles and slowly becoming bored out of our minds. Needless to say, through many tears and prayers, us girls were finally coming to terms that we wouldn't be able to go to Maluamanda on the 17-19 and see a tribal church plant in action. I was beyond happy that God answered our prayers and sent us to Maluamanda. Not only did he send us there, but he even let me accomplish an item on my bucket list. The airplane pilot was very nice and let me ride as copilot for the flight out. Not only did I get to wear the awesome earphones and microphone, but he let me fly the plane for the majority of the flight (about 30 minutes). No worries Mommy, I will still go to school to become a teacher, flying is second in comparison :). When I got off that plane in Maluamanda, I felt like a million bucks. God was so good to us girls and we were so excited to meet the extraordinary missionary families that were serving in the beautiful mountain village of Maluamanda.

After our two days there, us girls loaded the plane and said tearful goodbyes to the amazing people of Maluamanda. As soon as we landed in Wewak one of the staff members told us that Matthias (an Interface student from Germany) was very sick with some sort of pneumonia. They took him to the haus sik (hospital) and got a chest x-ray and saw that 1/3 of his lungs were filled with fluid. My stomach dropped when I heard this news because that meant he would have to fly to Goroka to NTM headquarters to get proper care. When we got back to the base, we tearfully said goodbye to him. Please keep Matthias in your prayers. I cannot imagine what is going through his mind right now, but we all know God has his hand in this, it's just no fun to see a dear friend in so much pain.

Well that pretty much sums up everything on my end. During these next few days we are just having classes to help us prepare for life back in our home countries. I thought it would be a cake walk to come back home, but they are preparing us for reverse culture shock. Because of this please keep me in your prayers as this trip winds down. Please pray that I take note of the advice they give, and that I can take advantage of every last moment before coming home. Once home, I pray that I will adjust back smoothly with minimal problems.

Thank you again for all your support, when I have down days her I remind myself that I have a whole team back home supporting me and that makes all the difference.

With many thanks
Lyd

Did you say Bat Stew?

Today's news consists of food, food, and more food. Or as we call it here, Kaikai. It has been awhile since I have done a blog update, so let me get through the boring stuff, and then I'll cover the kaikai part of this. Basically we wake up, have classes, get convicted from what is being preached, go to the village and learn Pidgin, cool off at the beach, and eat more food. Yes I know that is very vague, but honestly so much happens in one day I struggle to remember what I did last night.

Ok, now for the fun stuff. Our dear staff at this fine establishment thought it would be a grand idea to make us students cook over an open fire for four meals straight. At first I didn't think it was that big of a deal until they told us we had to buy only market food (fresh fruits and veggies, smoked fish, and sweet potatoes) because my initial plan was to buy makings for PB&J and just live off of that. Well, that idea was quickly shot down.

I was kinda nervous, but my team had a good meal plan in place and we were ready to tackle the market, well at least we thought we were ready to tackle the market. Saturday morning the market was swarming with people (I later learned that Friday is payday...I think the staff planned it this way) and we all were completely overwhelmed. Also, all the food we planned to have was already sold because we got there a little later in the morning. Needless to say it was a time that I had to trust the Lord to get through it all. When we got back from the market (2 hours later) we saw that the other team of girls bought a bat, and was going to cook that for dinner. Boy oh boy did everybody on the mission base come to watch that ordeal go down. It was hilarious to watch the girls ask the Nationals how to cook the bat. First they had to burn all the hair off of him, and then cut him up, and soak the meat pieces in vinegar. They then made a sketchy looking stew out of sweet potatoes and anything else they could find to put in it to hide the taste of the bat.

My team took a simpler road and bought a crab. We cooked that yummy fellow in boiling water and had sweet potato,greens, onions, garlic, eggplant, and chicken bouillon to help fill us up. Anyways, I won't bore you with the details of our meals, but we all survived and got to celebrate our success by having a big potluck Sunday evening (the boys were finally able to eat something more than a roasted sweet potato).

Now fore even more food adventures. Today at the village we had a Sepik style feast which they call a Mumu (pronounce Moo Moo). Right when we got there we had to kill 4 chickens (and yes, I did help kill the chickens, I even have pictures to prove it :)). After we killed them we had to pluck the feathers which is rausim grass bilong kakaruk (remove the hair of the chicken), and cut the chickens into smaller pieces. I also got to help cut down lip belong banana (leaves from a banana tree) so we could use those as cooking mats. While all this was going on, another team was peeling kaukau, tarro, kumu, and banana (sweet potatoes, tarro, greens, and plantains) and putting those on to boil. My team was lighting a fire and heating stones in the fire to use for cooking. Oh! the boys are all scraping the inside of coconuts to make coconut creme from that.

After all these ingredients were ready we poured the coconut creme into a big bowl and started to put the hot stones in it. The hot stones would make the liquid boil, then we were able to put the chicken and greens in there and let it cook. All the preparation work (about 3 hours) and the food took about 30 minutes to cook. After the food was cooked we got our plates and dug out what we wanted from the pot and ate our kaikai. Let me tell you, after working 3 long hours for food, that was some of the best food I have ever tasted. Today gave me a good appreciation of the accessibility of everything back home. I will think twice before complaining how long something has to heat up in the microwave.

Anyways, I know that was a lot of details, but I can't really give vague descriptions of anything or otherwise nobody would have any idea of what I was talking about.

Before I leave, some quick prayer requests:
Our team leaves Friday for Biem island. Every Interface team takes a side trip and lives in a tribal location with the bush missionaries. We have a 6 hour boat ride ahead of us, and  5 days of living in a strange place. Please pray for safety traveling out there, and that no one would get sick while we are at Biem. I know some in our team are nervous about it all, so just pray that God will calm all of our fears, and that we will hand any concerns over to him.

Praise that my Pidgin language acquisition is coming along nicely. I am far from fluent, but I feel much more confident communicating with the Nationals. This will become extremely handy when we are in Biem because nobody knows English there, unlike in Wewak.

Thank you for all the prayers and support, I know God has everything under control, but it is comforting to know that I have an army of pray warriors at home lifting me up before God.

Happy super late 4th of July, and have an awesome rest of the week. I hope to write another update before i leave for Biem, but no guarantees.

Em tasol (That is all),
Lydia
Mifit bus pla meri (I am a strong bush woman...a very nice lady in the village told me that today when she saw me working on everything)

Mi Buspla Meri

Now I know the burning question on your mind is how to say the title of my blog, but that must wait...I need to build some suspense! Mwahahaha! Aaaaaanyways, life here is just chugging along just fine, and time is flying. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at a beautiful waterfall. I was extremely excited to go and I asked the staff ladies if the hike down was very long. Of course their reply was, "No! It's not bad at all, if you have shoes that can get wet I would wear them, but other than that it's not problem at all." So of course I trust them completely and go it extremely excited to see this water fall thinking I will walk down a hill (Kansas-size hill, which we all know is virtually no change in elevation) and land on this beautiful oasis, and sit the afternoon away in the sun. Boy I could not have been more wrong!! We drove over a horribly bumpy and flooded roads, and parked the vans in front of a small village house and started walking towards the bush behind the house. I get to the start of the jungle and look at what we are walking down. My eyes got really big when I saw a VERY steep hill with a slippery, muddy path to get down to the stream below. I took a deep breath and said, "OK Jesus, don't let me fall too hard." I made it down the hill (for lack of better terminology) without falling (that was a miracle) and started walking in the stream. I though the water fall would be right there, but I was once again sadly mistaken.

Long story short, after climbing over numerous tree trunks, rocks, and avoiding big spiders. We finally made it to the water fall! It was absolutely beautiful! I had so much fun because there was a part we could climb up and jump about (20 feet) into a pool of fresh, cold water below. Some nationals were there and were absolutely laughing about how hysterical some of us girls were about jumping off of this cliff. After we were there for a bit, we climbed up the water fall, and took another route to get back to the vans (I only had 5 prayers during that trip haha). I was worn out, but it was completely worth all the bumps, scrapes, and sore muscles. The staff told us we are going to an even better waterfall on Tuesday (with more nationals so we can practice our Tok Pisin) so I will definitely have to write about that.

Today (which right now is Sunday afternoon for me) we had an awesome church sermon. Greg (one of the staff missionaries here) gave an amazing talk about how Paul was a Champion Loser for Christ. He quickly walked through the life of Christ and explained all the trials and persecution Paul endured to spread the Gospel. I was so convicted. The main point of the sermon was that we as Christians need to die to our old life, so Christ can live within and work through us. After being here for a couple of weeks I forget how comfortable my life is in the States. I have everything at my finger tips, and I have never once endured anything like the Apostle Paul endured. I challenged myself for when I come back to the States to set my life up so that Christ is my first priority. I need to die to my life and live solely for Christ. Granted that is MUCH easier said than done, but that is why I'm writing this. Please pray for me that i will have the courage to follow through with the things God has laid on my heart, and that I would be willing to face any challenges he sets before me. Well I better go because we are celebrating one of the MK's birthdays in a few minutes. Thanks for the continued support everybody!

Wilderness Woman
Lydia

P.S. Oh! I almost forgot, after all the adventurous hiking we did to get to the waterfall my language helper now says I can call myself a Buspla Meri (pronounced Boospla Merry) and it means a Bush Woman. I was ecstatic to hear her say that because I am trying so hard to fit in with the culture and face every challenge set before me. Well now I really do need to go! Bye!

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!