It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Yes it is. The holiday season is upon us again and you can definitely feel the Christmas spirit here on campus. There is an excitement in the air. True that is partially because there is only 2 weeks left in the semester, but also we're excited about Christmas. I think this excitement gives us an extra energy boost to get through papers and final exams. It's a crazy stressful time, but the end is near. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen, and it turns out it's a Christmas tree. Yes the halls are decked out with lights, doors wrapped in colorful paper, and there's even a tree in the prayer closet. When we need inspiration to continue with that ten page paper, all we have to do is look out our door and know Christmas is almost here.

Student development is doing their part to keep this excitement alive and well. This weekend we have all sorts of activities planned including a cookie bake and a door decorating contest. Last week I took a break from my homework (a.k.a. I procrastinated), and I decorated my door. Inspired by my Hebrew homework, I took the names from Isaiah 9:6 and put them on snowflakes in both Hebrew and English. I got really pretty snowflake wrapping paper for the background. The door turned out really nice. I'm excited about it.

Well, I'm awake much later than I should be. I have class in only 7 hours. Maybe I'll be able to post pictures later this week.

Working Woman

This past week God provided me with a job. A few weeks ago I applied for a job at Wendy's. I hadn't heard from the in over a week and a half, so I thought I wouldn't get the job. On Monday I got a call from them, Tuesday I had my interview and Thursday I started my orientation. I give all glory to God for allowing the process to go so fast. I really needed this job because I owe the school quite a bit of money. Once again God has proved that He will take care of me and provide for all my needs.

It's been way too long

So my sister reminded me a couple of weeks ago that I haven't posted anything in quite a while. I didn't realize how long it's actually been until I tried to find my blog and had to look it up on Facebook because I forgot the address. Oh well. I have never been good at keeping journals anyways.

So not too much has happened in the last month and a half. Pretty much I've been going to classes, procrastinating, and eventually doing homework. A few weeks ago we had a Dorm Wars photo scavenger hunt. That was a lot of fun. I kissed a frog, actually the frog kissed me. I was going to pretend to kiss the frog, but when the flash went off the frog jumped into my lips. It was a crazy night

Last week we had our International Festival (a fancy name for a missions conference) here at school. It was a good week. We had a lot of sessions to chose from.

The week started off on Monday with the international student chapel. Sheila Eldred interviewed the international students about their cultures and how they viewed certain issues like public displays of affection (pda). It was interesting to hear different cultures take on this. I learned that in most of the eastern countries PDA is not accepted, not even at the wedding. It was good to learn more about our fellow students.

Tuesday I attended the Friends of Israel session. Bruce Scott was informative, but at the same time not boring. We got to sing a Messianic Jewish song, that was a lot of fun. Most of the things we went over in the session I already knew from previous exposure to Friends of Israel, but I still enjoyed it very much.

Wednesday we got a double dose of missions, first in Global Mandate and then in chapel. In Global Mandate, Ryan Corbett introduced us to the field of Central Asia and the great need there. For chapel I attended the session "Getting along with the nationals" taught by Paul Jenks of AMG. This too was an excellent session about how missionaries can work with the nationals to reach a country for Jesus. We learned the importance of putting aside our ethnocentrism and treating our national partners with respect.

Thursday we had to attend three sessions and a special chapel. The first session I went to was entitled "Handling Culture Shock and more." Ken Zuk spoke briefly on culture shock, but the majority of the session was on the hard parts of missions. I think its good that we as students here the truth about the missions field; it's not always going to be easy. He went over how he felt when he first arrived and the difficulties that he faced in Russia. I could empathizes with him because I had some similar disappointments on my short term trip to Papua New Guinea. I think all missions students, and even non-mission students should attend more sessions like these.

The second session I attended was "While Ishmael Mocks." This was a information packed session on Israel and why the world hates her. We very quickly went over the history of the land from Jesus time until present. I think this was a good session, but it probably should have been broken up into two parts. The third session was "what's happening with Hollywood." That too was a good session on Apologetics, Scientology and Khabala.

In Chapel a father -daughter team from Russia lead worship and showed some videos. It was a pretty powerful chapel.

I've got to get back to homework. I'll post again sometime.

Good Weekend

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I haven't really been up to much but school. This weekend Corey and I went home for my uncle's wedding. On the way home we stopped and hiked Watkins Glenn. That was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery. God really put on a show for us with the sun rays in the Glenn. It was really nice. While we were in the town of Watkins Glen we stopped at the farmers market where my grandparents were working. It was nice to see them. After hiking we were back on the road, getting to my house by 7:30 friday night.

Saturday was my uncle's wedding. It was outdoors in a county park. It was a nice ceremony. Today we went to my home church. Then after lunch we headed back to school. On the way back we stopped at Corey's house for a little bit. It was nice to visit with his parents. Then it was time to hit the road again. The timing worked out that we were going to pass our church just after the evening service started, so we stopped a went to church tonight. That was really good. We finally arrived back at school after a short stop at Wendy's for dinner. Overall the weekend was really good. It was a nice break. Now it's time to get back to reality

Scipio Baptist and other news

On Sunday I presented my trip at Scipio Baptist. It went well even though I forgot to use the props that I brought along. I finally got a powerpoint put together and didn't crash on me. I had a good time sharing what God did this summer. I hope to share with the other churches that supported me soon. It's kinda difficult during the school year though.

In other news God is teaching me to trust Him in all areas of my life. I thought I learned how to trust this summer, but everytime something new comes up I start freaking out. I've been really stressed this week and its only the second week of school. I'm still looking for a job, and all the jobs on campus are full. I have a school bill due next friday and I don't know how I'm going to pay it. I know that God can provide the money, and He will in His time. I'm probably going to go get a job at Taco Bell or the Giant (a supermarket). I would prefer something different, but maybe this is how God's going to teach me humility. Well that's enough rambling for now. I'll try to post again in a few days.

Fireworks

So I was kinda bummed about missing all of my usual fireworks displays this year. Now don't take me wrong, PNG was definitely worth it, but I did miss the fireworks. I was telling my grandparents this just this afternoon. So tonight I was sitting in my room, when I heard the fireworks start. I ran outside and found a good spot to watch. My first thought was wow God is so cool. He knew I was missing them, so He allowed me to watch this spectacular show. The show was amazing. They were sending them up 5, 6 at a time.

Overall it's been a beautiful day, inspite of the fact that I had class on a holiday. My grandparents came down and took me out to lunch. Afterwards we went to the park. Well I gotta go. I've got 10:05 Live! (dorm devos).

Getting Settled

I am here at Davis and a new school year is about to begin. Things are really different this year. A lot of my friends graduated in May, so I'm missing them. We got a new R.D. this Summer. Her name is Cresanna Karhl. She seems pretty cool. I'm in a new room with no roommate. I have really never had my own room before (except for a few months at my mom's house). I'm enjoying the space and freedom that a single room brings, yet at the same time it can get lonely. I've met most of the freshman girls. They all seem nice. I think that it is going to be a good year in the dorms.

I'm working on putting a presentation together so I can share my trip with the churches that supported me. I've already completed two presentations but they either won't open or won't work right. Hopefully this one will be okay. I think my pictures are too big because I keep getting a notice saying "virtual memory is too low." I don't know. Someday I'll figure out this computer.

I'm slowly adjusting back to western culture and life. The transition is not as bad as I thought it would be. Little things still throw me off. For example the sugar in PNG is kinda a yellowish color and has bigger grains. So when I look at the sugar here in the states, it looks funny to me, almost like powder sugar. It's kinda weird being back. It's like I never left, as if PNG was all a dream. Of course every school year the summer feels like a dream. I can't believe that just 2 1/2 weeks ago I was on the other side of the world. Well I should get going. I have registration today. Fun, not really. The business office line is usually hours long. Oh well, I only have one more registration after this. Yeah!!!

Back to school

I head back to Davis tomorrow. I'm finally a senior. Yeah!!! I'm heading back a few days early so I can go to VBS at my church, and so I can get a head start on finding a job. I really need a job this semester, please pray that I find one.

Mumu Pics

A few weeks ago I wrote about the mumu I attended. I attempted to describe with words, but I find that pics do a better job. So here are a few pictures of the process.

The Meri Blouse

Meri blouse - a type of shirt worn by the women of Papua New Guinea.

Meri blouses were a popular item for Interface students to buy on the trip. In Goroka there were a wide variety to choose from. We bought them for friends and for ourselves. Some of us wondered if we would ever wear them back home. I wanted to be unique, so I decided I would wear mine at home. So when I went to the mall this morning I was surprised to find a style very similar to this. I saw meri blouse like tunics at JC Penney's, Target and H+M. So much for being unique. Oh well, at least mine's an original made in PNG.

Baby Doll Tunic for sale at Target.com --->

Ple Meri on

I played this game with the kids when I went to the villages. Here my Nelly and Rebecca are playing with some of the kids from Yamo Yallo. As you can see, everyone is having fun.

Pics from PNG

here are a few of my pictures. The first is my cabin, home sweet home for five weeks. The second is a view from the classroom window. The third is a group playing a game in the village. The last is of Yagasso, one of the older ladies in Yamo Yalo.

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Reflections

I finally got home yesterday after 3 long days of travel. It's good to be back. My flights went well, only a couple were bumpy. It took 6 flights to get home.

Friday was a really long day, I saw two sunsets. While thinking about the day, I got a better view of God's timelessness. It's mind boggling to think that God lives outside of time because He created time. It's neat how God used jetleg to teach me about Himself. Thinking about this lead me to make a list of God's attributes that I saw on my trip. Here's the list:

1. His Providence - God provided all the money and other details for my trip

2. His Sovereignty - God made sure the weather was clear for side trips. Also He took care of all the little details, such as flight arrangements. His sovereignty was seen in many different ways.

3. His Patience - He allowed His patience to shine through me when my flight to JFK got cancelled. The patience I had with the airline was definitely not mine, because I would have normally been really mad. It was kinda cool to see this.

4. His Holiness - I realized this attribute while working on my destiny of the heathen paper. I know that God is holy, but I guess I got a bit deeper knowledge.

5. His Love - God showed his love through the little things on the trip. Things such as the butterflies on the hike, the rainbow tuesday morning, and clearing the skies so I could see the stars. God is truly good to His children.

6. His Majesty and Beauty - These were made manifest by His glorious creation. He painted some pretty awesome sunsets that reminded me of Psalm 19:1. "The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmaments show His handiwork."

7. His Vastness - Standing and looking at all the stars reminded me how big God is. He created every single one of the stars and knows their names.

8. His Omniscience - It struck me while we were at Bible study in Andacombi that God truly does know all the languages. I knew this before the trip, but I guess it's more than just head knowledge now. He understood everything that was said. It's crazy.

9. His Omnipresence - It was comforting to realize in the first few days that God was with me in PNG and with my family back home.

10. His Eternality - As I mentioned, jetleg made me think how God has always been and always will be. He is outside of time. Ps 90:26ff says "... even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God."

I'm sure there are many more attributes that I saw but these are the ones that first came to my mind.

Greetings from Singapore

Hey Everyone,

Yesterday I said goodbye to PNG and hopped on a plane to Singapore. We arrived last night and stayed at the Transit Hotel in the airport terminal. It was really nice to get a hot shower with water pressure. In a few hours we take off for LA. We have one stop in Tokyo. It should be a good flight. Not sure what I'm going to do in LA for 8 hours, maybe go to my friend's house. I leave LA at 9:50 pm and arrive in Rochester at 11:14 am on Saturday. Only 39 hours left to travel. Yeah!!!

I'm so glad that God has allowed me this opportunity to see His world. I'll never forget this experience nor the people I got to share it with. Thank you all for your prayers. I hope to see some of you when I get home.

Side Trip

Yesterday I got back from my side trip. It was a lot of fun even though it was not quite what I expected. God opend the clouds for us to get into the
village, then He didn't open them again until it was time
to leave the village. I think the rain made the trip more
of an adventure.

Okay from the beginning. On Friday we flew into
the village. I was on the first flight in. It was really
cool, because I got to sit in the co-pilot seat. We took a
Sesna 206. For those who don't know that is a small
airplane. When I got out of the plane there were a bunch
of villagers just standing there staring at us. They
didn't say anything. It was kinda awkward. Robert and
Nicole Westervelt were also there to meet us. They are the
missionaries working in the tribe. We took our stuff to
the house which was conviently located right next to the
airstrip. After unpacking I went out to meet the next
flight. While I was waiting I saw a baby cassowary (emu
like bird) that someone was keeping as a pet. That was
really neat.

Friday evening we went to Bible Study with the believers.
It was neat even though I did not understand any of it.
After dinner we visited with Robert and Nicole.

Saturday we went on a hike to a ridge which was about 45
minutes away. It was definitely an adventure. The mud made
it difficult to go up and down the hills. I only fell
twice. Also there were several spots were single logs were
used as bridges. One was going down hill so I just slid
down on my bottom. Needless to say my skirt was a little
muddy when I got back. By the time I got to the ridge I
was exhausted, but glad I made it. Everybody but Doug (my
teamleader), myself, and Jorome the missionaries 3yr old
son, continued on another 1 1/2 to the river. The three of
us headed back to the house. The hike back was a lot of
fun. Jorome kept hiding in the grass trying to scare us.
One time he actually did. I also got to see many different
types of butterflies. I think that was God's way of
rewarding me for my perserverance. It was cool.

Sunday we went to church with the believers. We sang songs
in Tok Pisin and the Tok Ples (local language). That was
really cool. Then one guy read the passage and taught on
it. Once again I had little idea of what he was saying
because he taught in Tok Ples. He did welcome us in Pidgin
though. After the preaching we sang more songs and had
communion. That was neat. I'll post pictures and a video
of the church service when I get home.

After church on Sunday it was raining pretty hard, so we
looked around the house for something to do. The
missionaries who use to live in the house were from
Belgium so most of the books were in Flemmish. We found a
Monopoly game in one of the drawers. We got it out to play
and found it was in Flemmish too! Simon, a german, decided
he could decipher the cards, so we played. There we were
in PNG playing a Flemmish Monopoly game with Americans and
a German. Only on the mission field would such a combo go
unnoticed. Our game ended when we were invited to play
soccer in the rain. We think Simon was winning. I didn't
play soccer but I watched a little bit. It looked like
everyone was having fun.

Monday we went on a small hike to visit some believers who
lived about halfway up the mountain. That was a lot of
fun. Of course it rained part of the time, but by now it
didn't bother me. The scenery there is really beautiful.
These people are lucky to live in such a gorgeous place.
Of course their lives are really hard, because it takes a
lot of work to live there.

After dinner every night we would visit with Robert and
Nicole and their three kids. They are the most amazing
missionary couple I have met. They've been through alot in
the last 10 years they've been in the tribe. Nicole says
that it's been worth it all, because she knows that they
are in God's will. Also now they are seeing the fruit as
their village is reaching out to the surrounding villages,
spreading the gospel. By the way Robert and Nicole are
from the Netherlands. It was really neat to get to know
them. I learned a lot sitting in those evening meetings.
Well I should go finish packing. We leave the Interface
campus at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I'm really sad to leave
this place, and all my new friends that I've made. At the
same time I'm really excited to see all my friends and
family, and to share about my trip with my supporting
churches. This is my last post from PNG. I may post again
in Singapore, if not I'll post when I get back to the
States.

So mi tok long yupela "lukim yupela behain" long PNG.

Today I got to experience the joy of packing 4 days worth
of clothing, bedding, mosquito net and other necesseties
in under 10 kg (22lbs). As of right now I'm still one
pound over. Unfortunately my bedding weighs 7lbs. I guess
I'm going to take out some shirts and wash my clothes in
the river. This is really a missionary experience.
Tomorrow I'm flying out to a village somewhere in PNG.

I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the village.
We will have no electricity where I'm staying, but us
girls do have shower (probably bucket, but that's no big
deal now). The boys have to bath in the river, so we've been told.

I'm excited about meeting the national believers and going
to church with them on Sunday.

Pray that the weather holds out for us to get in and out.
We're taking a small plane into and out of the village.
It's rainy season in the village, so it's been difficult to
get to. One of the missionaries hiked (16hrs) into the
village yesterday so we could have a weather report. I
guess the planes were flying in today.

If the weather allows us to return to campus, I'll post
about my trip on Wednesday. If not I guess you'll have to
wait until I get home to America.

mumu

Mumu

Today we went to New Camp ( a village about 1/2 hour walk
from here) for a mumu (feast). It was a lot of fun and a
good cultural experience.

When we got there us girls had to peel the potatoes. I'm
glad my peeler was sharp. It made the job easy. After we
finished some men from the village started building the
mumu. First they had to heat the rocks. This was done
before we got there. Then the arrange banana logs around
the rocks in a circle. They put sticks in the logs to form
a frame. After that they started putting banana leaves on
top of the rocks. They continued to form a wall of banana
leaves inside the frame. It was neat to see.

After they did this they put some unpeeled kaukau (sweet
potato) in the mumu(also the oven.) Then they covered them
with leaves. From this point on they layered kaukau,
banana leaves, greens, and eventually the lamb flanks.
Afterward they put a pipe down the middle and covered the
mumu with more banana leaves and eventually dirt. After it
was finished being built they poured water down the pipe
and filled the mumu. Now all we had to do was wait for the
food to cook.

While we were waiting, my language helper Bunais, took us
to her house down the road. It was really cool to see her
place. We sat around inside and talked for a while. We got
to meet her 3 year old son, Boni. We returned to the
village and the mumu was just about ready. Finally the
food was done and it was time to eat.

The men laid out the banana leaves and piled the food on
top. We had all sorts of good food; orange kaukau, white
kaukau, greens, cabbage and best of all lamb. All of the
ITF(interface) girls ate around one pile of food. We had
to reach in and grab our food. Of course we ate with our
fingers. It was a lot of fun. This is an experience I will
never forget.

Then to top the afternoon off we ended up having a water
fight in the back of the truck on the way home. That was
fun until I got wet. Oh well.

This will probably be my last post for the week. On Friday
we are leaving to go on our side trips. Not sure where I'm
going yet (when I find out i'll post it if I get a
chance). There is no email in the villages we're heading
out to, so
I'll write about it when I get back on Tuesday.

This week has gone really fast. I have a feeling that as
the trip comes to a close the time is only going to go
faster. In two weeks I'll be home, but I think part of me
will be left here in PNG. I'm starting to fall in love
with this country and I'm sure I'm going to miss it.

Yesterday we toured the NTM headquarters in Lapilo. We
learned about the importance of support roles in missions.
Especially the role of Dorm Parent. This year New Tribes
had to pull a couple out of a tribe to become dorm
parents. Support roles are often understaffed. This
hinders the work being done out in the tribes.

After a tour of the offices and school we were let loose
to play sports or just hang out at the Kunai Kafe. The
kafe is run by a few of the MK's there. I had a lot of fun
playing carpet ball. (Carpet ball is played on a long
table with a lower box on each end. Each player lines up
their billard balls. The object is to roll a ball down the
table and knock the other player's ball into the box.) I
got pretty good at this game at WOL. So I was really
excited to play some of the MK's. It was a lot of fun.

Overall yesterday was a pretty good day.

Earlier this week I went to the village. Some of the kids
there wanted to show us the new house their dad was
building. It was neat to see that half finished house.
Then we took a lot of pictures with the kids. We also
played a game called "play meri on." It's a fun hand game.

Thursday at the village we sat and talked to some of the
women in Kitigi Fagu (next village up the road). It was
interesting as they told us how marriages work here. They
told us how it use to be and how it is now. We just sat
and talked as they worked on their bilums (bags). It is
times like these that I think I'm going to remember most
about this trip.

Well I should go. People are waiting to use email. Thank
you all for your prayers. I'll post again later.

Yesterday (tuesday) was Goroka day. The staff took us to
explore the city of Goroka. We started off the day at the
veggie market where there were rows of sweet potatoe,
greens, bananas and sugarfruit. There was also a
meriblouse store. A meri blouse is a the type of shirt
women wear here. It's kinda like a short dress with puffy
sleves. When I get home I'll post a picture of one. There
were all sorts of colors and patterns.

After the veggie market we went to a muesem. There they
had many pictures of how they use to dress. They also had
WWII artifacts as well as ancient artifacts. It was cool
to see. In the back they had a WWII plane.
After the muesem we went to a coffee factory. Coffee is
one of the main cash crops in this part of the country.
Our tour guide showed us the machines used to husk, roast
and package the coffee. It was a small factory, maybe 10
workers total. It was really neat to see.

Our adventure continued with a tour of New Tribes
Aviation's hanger at the airport. There we had our bagged
lunches.

After lunch we headed to the middle of the city, and
parked at the Bird of Paradise hotel. We split into groups
and hit the streets for some shopping. We went to the
artifact market which was on the sidewalk along the hotel.
There I saw what the staff calls the "great wall of
bilums." Bilums are knitted bags that everyone carries
here.
After the artifact market we went shopping at the stores.
Emmerson, our fearless leader, headed the mission to find
that perfect PNG baseball cap for Chuck to buy. We looked
in every store, big and small. We went to one store called
SVS.It's kinda like the super Walmart of PNG. Half of it
was a department store and half a supermarket. It wasn't
very big and there were a lot of people there.
As we continued our search, I picked up stuff for my
family. We also stopped in the christian bookstore

Hi to everyone,

I had a good weekend. Saturday night was game night. We
rotated between Pictionary, Jenga, Cranium, and
Catchphrase. To top it all off we had icecream sundays. It
was a lot of fun.

On Friday I went to the village and played some games with
the kids. We played a few hand clapping games. They were
just like the ones I played when I was little but they had
Tok Pisin words.

We are going to spend all of tomorrow in Goroka,
shopping and visiting a muesem. It should be fun. Well I'm
off to the village again.

Greetings to all from PNG.

I've tried to post earlier but I was sending the emails to
the wrong address. Oops

So far my time here has been good. Last week we started
working with our language helpers. My helpers name is
Bunais. She is really nice. I'm learning a lot from her.

I had a good weekend. On saturday we went on a hike to a
ridge in the plains. It's hard to describe. It took about
an hour to get there. I took the car back because I was
too tired. My asthma was bothering me a little bit too. We
stop at a village called New Camp along the way. There we
picked up a few kids. They just followed us on the hike.
It was fun.

Sunday I went to the village and visited with some of
the ladies. Our directors wife and 2 year old daughter,
Emma, came too. I met a lapun meri (old lady). They say
she's the oldest in the village. Emma calls her grandma in
pidgin. Emma blew bubbles with her. It was really neat to
see how they interacted.

Yesterday (monday) we went to the village with our
language helpers. They made a fire and showed us how to
cook kaukau (sweet potatoe) and strongpela bananas
(cooking bananas). Then we got to eat them. The kaukau was
good but the banana really did not have any taste. I
learned quite a bit more Tok Pisin though. It's funny, I
can understand a lot more Tok Pisin than I can speak. I
know some phrases but I forget them when I want to talk to
the ladies. Please pray that I can learn quickly.

This morning we once again watch them make kaukau, because
the camera crew wanted to film it. We've had this crew
following us, they're making a new interface promo video.

Today was market day in the closest village. I bought a
bilum (knitted bag), along with some items for my family.
There was a wide variety of things to buy. It was really
cool.

Hello everyone. I can't believe I've already been in Png
for four days. So far it has been great. I have already
met a few of the bena people who come down from the
village. I can't wait to get into language class so that I
can talk with them better. Classes are going good. Well I
gotta go. I'll try to post latter this week.

Singapore

I made it to singapore in one piece. I only have a few minutes. I'm going on a tour in a little bit. The flight over was really nice, not too much turbulance. I'll write again when I get to PNG.

5 1/2 hours

In 5 1/2 hours I will be walking out my front door, starting my journey to Papua New Guinea. I leave the airport in Rochester at 7:00 am and after a short layover in Cleveland I will arrive at LAX at 10:35 (pacific time). I will be leaving the country at 1am on the 4th. Our first stop is Tai Pei and then a long layover in Singapore. I will get to Singapore at 11:35 am on the 5th. That is a 19:30 hour flight. I leave for PNG at 8:55pm that day and arrive in Port Moresby at 5:25 am. My journey finally ends when I leave Port Moresby at 9:15 am and arrive in Goroka at 10:35 am (8:35pm EST Thursday). That's a lot of flying.

If you want to contact me while I'm there I have e-mail. The address is itf_kimberly_phillips@ntm.org.pg . I only have e-mail access a few times a week, but it's better than nothing.

Thank you to all who have supported me and continue to support me with prayer.

33 Hours

33 hours from now I will be flying out of the Rochester airport and on my way to LA. Thus starts my journey to the other end of the world.

There seems to be so much to do between now and then, packing mostly. The reality just hit me and now I am totally stressed out. I just want to scream and I can't figure out why. I think my family will be glad to get me out by Monday. I just need to take deep breaths, pray, and stop stressing. I can't believe I'm actually going. It's crazy how time flies.

Please remember me in your prayers. I don't know when I'll post again, possibly not until some time after Friday when I get to PNG.

Only a few more days !!!

Monday I'll be flying off to LA, then to Singapore and finally to Papua New Guinea. I'm starting to get really excited. Everything is falling into place. I even got my malaria pills. I'll try to post before I leave, if not I'll post when I get a chance in PNG.

My Latest Prayer Letter

Greeting to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you all for your prayers. It has been a while since I have updated most of you and I apologize for my lack of communication. This past two months has been a trial of my patience, but God is good and saw me through it.

In the month of May, God brought all but $400 of my support in. During this month He also taught me how to wait and trust in Him. For a few weeks preparation for my trip seemed to be at a stand still. No funds were coming in and my passport was not even close to being on its way. My tickets to LA were bought in April, but no other progress seemed to be made. I finished up the semester and headed home, where I continued to wait.

Then May turned into June and I still had no passport. I was however able to speak at a two churches, Harvest Field Baptist in Fayette, NY and Grace Baptist in Marion, NY. Thank you to both churches for having me.

Many of you have been praying for my passport to come. I am happy to report that it is finally here. God is in control and He works in His time, not ours. I still lack $300 for my trip, but I am confident that God will supply. After all He has brought in $4100 so far. I am starting to get excited for my trip now that everything is falling into place.

Please continue to pray for me as I continue to get ready for my trip. I leave for L.A. on July 2nd and for PNG July 4th. I am a little nervous about flying for so long, but I know God will keep me safe.

A few prayer requests are
1. That I will continue to trust God
2. That the rest of my funds come in soon
3. For my teammates as they continue to prepare for their trips.

Once again thank you for all your prayers and support.

In Christ,
Kimberly Phillips

God is amazing

Praise the LORD! My passport is now in my hands! It came in the mail this afternoon. I also learned a little bit more about my trip. We are going through Singapore and get to take a tour. There are about 30 other people going on the trip with me. I am excited to meet them and make new friends.

Now I just need another $300 and a bunch of stuff and I'm all ready to go. There's much to do in the next thirteen days, so keep me in your prayers.

Praise the LORD

God is in control. He really is. Sometimes we say this but we don't actually believe it. He has power over all the governments on the face of the earth. This is good to remember when waiting for the government to do something.

My passport is finally on it's way to me. It's in the mail and should be here by Wednesday or even sooner. I guess they finished processing it sometime this afternoon. God is good. Now I have to be patient waiting for the mail. Please pray for me as I get ready for this upcoming trip.

disclaimer

In all fairness to my sister pictured below I would probably have ended up in the same situation. Superglue is not my friend.

Super glue fun

This is why some people should not attempt to fix things with superglue.

Q. What do you do with a broken patio?

A. Break it up with a sledgehammer and build a wall.

On Saturday my brother Mike and Matt decided to break up the patio which has been broken for over 14 years. We've been talking about building a wall for many years now but the bricks are too expensive. So we had this pile of broken concrete sitting by the road. I got the idea of building a wall with it. I started and soon everyone in my house was helping. A few hours latter we finished. I think it turned out really good.

Fun weekend

I just had a great two days with my grandparents and my sister Keren. We spent the night at my grandparents camper Thursday evening. On Friday we went down to Watkins Glen to work my great aunt's bake goods booth at a farmers market. It was relaxing. Today we helped with the booth at the Interlaken Old Homes Day festival. That was a lot of fun too. They had a nice parade. It was the perfect summer day.

Grace Baptist

Tonight I presented my trip to Grace Baptist Church in Marion NY. It went pretty well even though I'm still sick. Dad missed the turn and we showed up 10 minutes late, but everything worked out fine. God is in control. Sometimes I need to be reminded of that over and over again.

oh where oh where could my passport be?
on somebody's desk maybe?
is it in the mail
which moves like a snail?
oh where oh where could it be?

God really does like to make me wait to the last minute. I'm trying to be patient, but I really do need my passport. Please pray that it gets here soon.

baby bunny

This is the baby bunny that lives in our yard. I think it's really cute

God's good

Today I woke up with a terrible sinus attack, then I remembered I have to speak at my grandparents church. Oh great I thought. God please let me feel better. He answered my prayer for about five minutes, the five minutes I was upfront presenting my trip. Despite my cold the presentation went really well. Thank you God.

Other than this rotten cold, the day has been good. Hopefully I feel better on Wednesday, when I'm speaking at Grace Baptist Church in Marion, NY. Hope things are going well with you.

Hello Everybody

I've never blogged before in my life. This is all new to me. I decided to create this blog so that my friends and family can stay in contact with me. One month from today I am heading to Papua New Guinea for a missions trip with New Tribe Mission. I'm really excited though I'm still waiting for my passport and the last $430 to come in. I know that God will provide somehow.

This week I'm busy preparing for my trip. Tomorrow I'm presenting my trip to my grandparents church. Wednesday I'm presenting to one of our sister churches, and next Sunday I'm heading to Greenwood DE to present at a church down there. I'm not a big fan of public speaking by God helps me get through it everytime. I should get use to it I'll be doing it for the rest of my life.