6 Months and Counting...

Wow, what a ride this has been! We have now been in Papua New Guinea a week shy of 6 months. We must've really been ready for this, because we have had no culture shock, and we can't say that we are greatly missing anything from the U.S. Well, maybe chocolate and nuts... We can buy them, but they are very, very expensive. But we can definitely live without them. The benefits to our souls are so much more valuable to me than satisfying my chocolate fix. Of course, we miss the family, but they are all grown and going on with their busy lives, and THANK GOD for Facebook! What a lifeline it is, to be able to see everyone's face and see what they're up to and what's on their minds. I don't know how the old fashioned missionaries did it with snail mail. If God had called me back in those days, I hope that I would have said "yes" anyway, but this is really so much nicer.

I run a Process Group at the women's shelter, with definite Christian content. Those women are amazing. They have been through so much (beatings, humiliation, desertion, kidnapping, children taken away, belittling), and still they come out with sweet spirits and hope for change. I love them dearly. Tomorrow, I will be starting a literacy class for the very low level (English) boys. I have no idea what to expect or even if they will understand anything I say. I will be using McGuffey's Reader, since its free online, and I can print off a few pages at a time. These boys range from 16 to 25 or so (some don't even know how old they are or their birth dates), and we may be their last chance. I also have boys who want to learn how to play the keyboard and how to chord, but I haven't got to that yet.

On the home front, we live at the farm 18 miles outside of Port Moresby where the boys live and are taught vocational and literacy skills. It's beautiful here, and we keep an eye on everything from our second story balcony. I bake bread fairly often, and experiment with cooking with the local foods. I do all the normal stuff- laundry, cooking, housework etc. I also am helping to write and edit a book about miracles for a friend who has witnessed a boat load of them. Very inspiring. I think I may go on to write my own book when I'm through with his. Sometimes in the evening, especially when we're hot and sweaty from the humidity, we go swimming in the ocean, about a 5 minute drive from the farm. It is our oasis, cools us, calms us, and gives us energy to get on with it the next day. Not to mention my new muscles!

Snorkeling is AWESOME! Gorgeous, beautiful, awe-inspiring... if you've never done it before, put it on your bucket list. The burnt back was worth it. Steve has never seen my back with a tan, and we've been married almost 19 years now. I had a little peeling, but the rest turned a nice toasty brown.

New year, new challenges. It looks like we may get a children's crisis center going this year, so keep it in your prayers, please. Onwards and upwards, further up and further in!!!!