The Problem with Paradise

Hey folks!

Well, it’s been a crazy busy week of planning menus, making shopping lists, running around town, packing, etc. We hop on planes soon to go to the village/bush and will be there for a couple weeks. So, we had to prepare everything we would need to survive in the jungle. A teammate and I were assigned to the shopping–my head exploded every time I looked at our lists. Assigning people to buy supplies for 16 different people in 5 groups with 4 money pools at 6+ stores and 1 open-air market (I lost track) in mostly 12 hours when you need at least 1 national/staff member/one of 2 men with you at all times = a logistical nightmare. You can do the math. Add the fact that PNG stores rarely have the same supplies a few days in a row (translated: when you need it) and stir well. But, God is good and it all worked out.

I went to the market for the first time Friday with a little national who works at the PBT office who is about 4 feet tall. She’s the nicest, most godly little woman you’ll ever meet. She took my hand and walked me around town and I had a blast talking Tok Pisin with her. I got a beautiful handmade bag (nicepela bilum) and learned a very valuable phrase: “Lukluk, tasol.” It means “I’m just looking” and is quite helpful with overzealous vendors.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my integration and language learning, I feel I’ve been making much better progress than expected. Besides the normal everyday phrases I’ve also learned a couple phrases that would be helpful in case of incident (the ever-present hecklers, etc): “Pusim mus bilong yo.” (shut your mouth) “Mi no meri bilong yu” (I’m not your wife/woman) and “Yu tenk mi no savve tok bilong yu/Tok Pisin” (You think I don’t know what you’re saying/Tok Pisin). Good times.

We did get to take a break and go to one of the resorts here (which is at the end of a long road of potholes, sketchy houses and mini-lakes, lol) one afternoon. We got to swim in the pretty blue water and 7 out of the 9 interns managed to sustain some type of tropical injury, ranging from sea urchin punctures to jellyfish stings and coral scrapes. Apparently this is unprecedented. I was a victim of the sea urchin and the coral (which then tries to grow inside of you. Also good times). It was a beautiful time anyway, though.

I’m looking forward to going to the village and getting to interact more with the people and do language learning. It is actually much safer for us in the village because the people in the village are very warm and welcoming and watch their “white skins” like hawks to make sure they stay out of trouble (aka don’t do anything stupid). 🙂 Hopefully I will be much farther advanced in my Tok Pisin skills by the time I return. Word on the street says I might get to take a trip in a motor-powered 15ft dugout canoe, which would be awesome.

Praises:

* We somehow managed to (hopefully) get everything we need for the bush bought and packed in time for the plane     * Our teams have been working well together to get things ready                                                                                                              * Awesome interaction and language learning

Pray: 

* Health (that none of the injuries will get infected; also, I’ve been fighting a cough since I got here)                                       * Safety flying and while in the bush                                                                                                                                                                        * Physical strength (life in the bush is very physically demanding and unless it rains, we will be hauling all our water for bathing, cooking, etc. about a mile and a half)                                                                                                                                             * Rain                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    * Awesome relationships with team and nationals, great culture and language learning

Thank you so much for all your prayers, it makes SUCH a difference! And if I happened to come back to an inbox flooded with encouraging notes and comments, I wouldn’t mind that at all. 😉

Lukim yu!

Katie

“For I have learned to be content in all circumstances. I know what it is to have plenty, and I know what it is to be in want. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want–I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:11-13

NOTE: For some reason this website is messing up the formatting for my beautiful bullet points. It looks fine when I write it, but posts funky. My apologies!

Arrival

Well, I’ve already eaten a strange food and I’ve only been here around 12 hours. Passionfruit tastes kinda sweet, but has the most disgusting texture ever. My encouraging team leader helped by comparing it to monkey brains or eyeballs in jelly while I was downing it (love you, Lindy). My teammate ate one of the edible ants off the tree outside our house this morning, but I didn’t feel quite that brave yet. I did enjoy the fresh pineapple, though.

At any rate, I’m glad to make it here after being in five different airports and either in an airport or on a plane for the past about 28 hours. We only lost one bag out of like 22 plus carry-ons and no interns, thankfully. (Although we did lose Tuesday, thanks to crossing the international date line). We even had a stray goat by the runway to welcome us to Madang. I feel a little bit like I’m in one of those adventure movies like Sahara.

I did get to drive by a beautiful ocean and palm tree view this morning on our way to the PBT office…and then hopped and skipped across a mud-puddled street on our way to buy converters from the corner market. This afternoon we’re going to the market with my team leader, so I’ll probably have lots of fodder for my next update.

Until then, please pray for:

* Health (been having lots of headaches and the moist heat is unbelievable).

* Quick integration/language learning

Praise:

* Good conversations with team

* Safe arrival and no missed flights despite lots of delays and issues going through security

* Good sleep last night–not suffering the effects of jet lag too much yet

Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouraging notes! They make such a huge difference.

Blessings,

Katie

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders.” Duet. 33:12

PMI

Hello,

Well, soon I hop on a plane bound  for Papua New Guinea. Exciting times, but also stressful and bittersweet as we try to pack everything and say goodbye to the other PBT teams. We recently sent the West Africa teams on their way.

We also just finished up a week of Pioneer Missions Institute, which is Pioneer Bible Translators’ annual conference. I had classes during the day on everything from personality types and team dynamics to tech information on what kind of computers will survive in 100+ heat and jungle moisture (apparently the IT department has serviced computers growing green stuff. A whole new kind of culture shock). Some other topics covered included dealing with poverty, transitions, and incarnational living among the lost. One of the extremely special aspects of this time was getting to rub shoulders with seasoned missionaries and hear the branch reports on areas PBT is working.

Wednesday night we had “storytime” of sorts as a panel of the PBT president and three other seasoned missionaries spent the evening simply telling both funny and touching stories of life on the field.

Thank you so much for your prayers. It has been a hard two weeks and it’s just going to get tougher, so they are very much needed, felt, and appreciated.

Praises:

*  Times of laughter with missionaries and interns
*  Discovering there is a huge need for someone with journalistic skills in the PBT ministries, both in Dallas and the overseas                                                                                                                                                                                                                              *  For how God is working in incredible ways around the world

Pray:

* A clear path through customs and safe travel
* Resolution of any interpersonal issues within my team before we go to the field                                                                            * That we would be a huge blessing to a PBT branch that is the oldest, yet currently struggling

Thank you again, you mean so much to me! Let us see what the Lord will do and praise Him for it.

Blessings,

Katie

“Because of the Lord’s great love for us we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail; they are new every morning, great is His faithfulness!” Lam. 3:22-23

Pre-field Orientation

Hey folks, just finished pre-field orientation! (cue cheers and clapping)

We’ve been having training all week in PNG culture, safety overseas, medical procedures overseas, language learning–you name it, we’ve probably learned about it. We’ve also gotten to work on learning the language (Tok Pisin) a little bit. They taught us a song that goes something like this:

Pusi i sleepim diwai,

Han diwai brukim na kilim pusi dai,

Frogi i lukim na kisim foto,

???? paitim paitim tel

Roughly translated, that means: the cat sleeps under the tree, the tree branch falls and kills the cat, the frog comes and takes a picture, and the lizard comes by and wags its tail. Yeah, kinda morbid.

The other one is kind of like it:

Mi lukim, lukim snek…ranawe, kisim stik na kilim snek dai…mi amimas. (Basically, you see a snake, runaway and get a stick, kill the snake, and then you’re really happy about it). Kind of morbid too.

But despite the morbid songs, language learning was really fun and not too hard since Tok Pisin shares many sounds/words with Australian English.

Next week Pioneer Missions Institute (actually the PBT conference-type event) begins and goes all week. So, lots more learning about linguistics and field situations and such. My vocabulary is increasing.

Please pray for:

* Unity and bonding of team

* Protection from spiritual oppression

* Health for all (several people have been sick and I got a bite on my toe that swelled up and turned red)

* Rest of support needed to come in

Praise God for:

* Unity and bonding with team

* Lots of knowledge gained

* Obvious answers to prayer

Thanks so much for your prayers! Blessings!