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.