July 2. A warmer night. Completely overcast this morning, but again no fog for the third morning in a row. The sun eventually shone upon us and warmed things up pretty quickly both inside the house and out. By noon, however, the skies were turning cloudy again; and we have had some light rains off and on since then. A quieter morning too. Only a couple people came with phones. I was able to enjoy my quiet time in one stretch, get the washing machine filled up for washing clothes tomorrow, and also spend time doing a short Bible study in Exodus before mid-morning. Sunny came along this morning and did some weeding. Came back again this afternoon and did a little more. In the morning, I had time to work on Bible lessons for the school. Also took the adhesive paper off the side of the tall cupboard, sanded and washed down that side, and found some ideas for painting a picture there. This afternoon, I started sketching in what I want to paint, worked a bit more on Bible lessons, washed the dishes, made popo crisp and also popo syrup as the other two popo needed to be used up. After supper, I finished up the section of Bible lessons I was working on. A group of people from Lufa had already arrived here for the meetings by mid-afternoon, having come with Jonas. Another group may already be here as they had called saying they were in the bush and could see Waisara. Don’t know who was showing them the way. Perhaps Nehemiah? Mata said it was the group from Rampo where Nehemiah went to school. So thankful for an hour to spend with Daddy by phone, after which I had a snack and then a bath. July 3. The Lord gave us another cold night — 53º again this morning. The sky was full of clouds when I went to bed; but when I got up at 5:30, the sky was bright with stars. When I got up to start the day, I saw a clear blue sky and, once again, no fog. The morning was busy with people retrieving and bringing phones. I decided to busy myself this morning with organizing the nails in the storage/tool closet. Enjoyed a break from my work when Graham and Jonas came to the door with sister Felly. I invited her in, and Jonas stayed with her. She is the wife of Pastor Joel B of Lagaiyu Baptist Church in the Lufa area where Jonas goes to school and Graham went to school before. The young people who have gone to school there are taken care of by this couple and go to their church; and, she affirmed, they have been a great blessing. They had told her about us, and she wanted so badly to meet us. Her husband is not here, but is on an evangelistic trek with an evangelist named Philip. She is hoping they will arrive here before the meetings are done. Nuanda had bought her a space on the plane, but she refused it, saying that she wanted to bear the pain of walking along with the others who walked here. She had praise for the work the Lord has done here through us and for the believers of Owena. She said the Owena ladies are always faithful to attend all the ladies’ meetings, and they are much more godly than the people of the town churches. And how she loves to hear the young people sing choir songs! Their people don’t know how to sing, she said. Most of the town churches are the same — very few members, lack of knowledge of good music, and illiterate.* Before she left, I took a picture of her with Jonas and had Jonas take a picture of her with me. (It was Jonas who led the group here, not Nehemiah.) [*How great the needs are in Papua New Guinea, even in the towns. And how great the needs are everywhere around us. Pray for the Lord to send more laborers.] After they left, I went back to organizing the nails. Am thankful for grace to finish that job. Ended with dusting and washing down the shelf that previously held most of the nails (in a jumbled disorder) and also holds our bottled and jarred food supplies. By then it was 11:00. Warmed up a muffin for snack and went outside for a while to warm up my body. Afterward, I did a short study in Exodus and wrote a bit in my journal. After nap, I washed my hair and then painted until almost supper time, except for times of answering the door. Besides people coming for phones, about half dozen “mamas” came to say “hello”. One was the pastor’s wife from Agi Baptist where Dan P family and then Gary K family used to work. Asenat is doing her studies by phone in Goroka now and stays with this pastor and his wife. This evening, I started another Revelation study and spent an hour by phone with my best earthly friend. “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” (Isaiah 32:17) Praise God for these promises! July 4. A warmer night last night. Pretty pink and blue sky this morning. No fog again. A very stressful day. So many people coming with phones to charge and others wanting other things. I was grateful for the relaxing moments with Bible study and with painting. Very tired this evening. Daddy and I didn’t talk quite as long. I didn't really have anything much to say. He told me about his 4th of July visit and meal with the Owens. I think I’ll go to bed early again tonight. The ladies meeting in Owena was a special event and well attended. Here is a small gallery of pictures from this special time. The men helped in preparation of the food.
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June 30. A very chilly, cloudy morning. The sun shone for a little while, and I was happy to get out in the warm air and hang out clothes. The house was very cold — 57º when I got up; 53º outside. It was already down to 57º outside before I went to bed so I had put plenty of covers on to keep warm for the night. Tonka came early this morning with a couple popo. I was happy to be able to share a Bible verse with him that I had just read — Hebrews 2:9, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Using that verse, I was able to share the Gospel with him, showing that we can only look to Jesus to save us from our sins, because it was He who died for everybody. He asked if he could have the papers I had with the Scriptures I was reading. How I would have loved to have given them to him! I promised I would print that verse out for him, and he said he would come back later today to get it. Oh, how we need to get the New Testament ready for printing as soon as possible! After washing and hanging out clothes, I washed and sliced up some kaukau (sweet potato) and potatoes to try to bake some chips. Laid the pieces in a buttered pan and smothered them with some salt and spices. They didn’t get too crispy like chips, but the kaukau tasted quite good. The potatoes had a bitter taste. Again today, there were many phones to be charged. Computer time was used again to organize the music sheets. Before dinner, I went out and brought the clothes in. Had a sound sleep again at nap time. It was hard to get up. This afternoon, I swept the floors, did the dishes, made some soft flat bread, washed the floor area in front of the sink and cupboards. I was happy for a good chat time with Daddy this evening. There was a chance he could have come home tomorrow, but it was too hard for him to finish getting everything done today. Perhaps Monday he will be able to come instead of waiting until Wednesday. July 1. Half this year already past. Hard to believe. It was another very cold night. It was already down to 57º before I went to bed last night so I figured we were in for another cold morning. 52º again and 56º in the house. (55º in the spare room). The temperature didn't even start going up outside until about 8:00. Thankful for the blue sky and sunshine that came along. Sunny came this morning and did a little yard work. The plane came after all and brought Aiqdo’s husband and some building materials which they said are for building another coffee house. They don’t want the governor’s coffee mixed with the other coffee. Javin said they did not buy more than two bags of coffee from any individual. For dinner, I cut up and cooked half of a very large pumpkin. Also made a medley of ground beef, two large onions, and the potatoes I cooked yesterday which were too bitter to eat alone. They were well-disguised in the medley and its seasonings. This afternoon, I worked on Bible lessons for the Christian school. Also cleaned the windows in the office, a job I’ve been meaning to do for a while so was thankful to finally get that done. I saw half a dozen little children walking by as I started washing windows. One of them was carrying a shovel. I asked them where they were going. They said, “We came to watch you wash the windows.” So I had a little audience while a worked, including a very small child who chattered away, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. Tomas came while I was eating supper and wanted some help finding Bible verses. Had a little bit more time to work on Bible lessons this evening. A special part of the evening was time spent with Daddy on the phone. Afterward I had a snack and washed up and then put more time into Bible lessons before bed. June 28. The Lord continues to give us cold mornings, but blue skies and sunshine. As I was warming up with my morning drinks, I wondered what I was going to use for syrup on my pancakes this morning. I had used up the rest of my popo (papaya) syrup yesterday. (Someone had brought a popo on Saturday, but it was very green so I did not buy it.) Then there was a knock on the door, one of many, and a young lady was there with a large popo, just the right ripeness for cutting and eating. It was worth the small bottle of oil which she asked for in exchange. I thanked her, and I thanked the Lord. Now I could make popo syrup for my pancakes. My breakfast was enjoyed as well as my quiet time. The other knocks on the door were people bringing phones to charge, except for Wan who came to work on the garbage hole. He had covered it with old bamboo before, and the bamboo has rotted, leaving lots of little holes on top of the garbage hole. Saturday, Wan went and got new bamboo, and today he redid the top of the garbage hole. [*There is no garbage pickup service in Owena. 😊 Any garbage that cannot be burned is buried in a deep hole in the yard.] While Wan was out there working on the garbage hole, I took time to do a little Bible study in Exodus and write a bit in my journal. The rest of the morning was spent going through all my old files, trying to find music for the songs the four former students want to practice for making a CD. It was well after noon before I finished and had my dinner, and some time after 1:00 when I lay down for nap. I must have been tired out because I never heard a sound until I woke up at 3:00. Got up and got ready to wash my hair. Answered the door a few times. Finally got my hair washed and enjoyed a bowl of popo and banana. Washed dishes before supper so I would have time for bath afterward. People kept coming to get phones too before Daddy called. There was no trouble filling up an hour’s time this evening. Daddy had lots of news, and the unhappy news being that MAF won’t have a return flight for him before next Wednesday. Before bed, I spent some time organizing the music sheets. Still have more to go. June 29. Around 4:30 a.m., I heard rain which perhaps continued until daylight. When I arose from sleep, I saw that the world looked very dreary — rain-like clouds above and fog beneath. Even though the weather was warmer, I did start a fire in the wood stove as the air felt very damp. From the time I got up, I saw villagers, one right after the other, carrying coffee up to the airstrip. I figured there must be something going on today. Not long after I had eaten breakfast, I heard the roar of a plane engine. SIL perhaps? I thought, “It’s too bad they didn’t get a weather report first. Or did somebody give a bad report?” The fog was moving pretty quickly, but the plane circled six times before it was able to land. In the meantime, Daddy called and said that MAF would be coming in today and could I get my passport out. He needs to send the passports to our sponsor to have our visas renewed. I told them there was a plane circling, but he said he didn’t think MAF had left yet. Maybe it was SIL. A little bit later, he called back and said that it was MAF. In between times, I had gone and gotten my suitcase down and gotten my passport out to send up to the airstrip; but there was nobody around. Everybody was already up there waiting for the plane to land. And I wouldn’t entrust just anybody with the passport anyway. After the plane was on the ground a little while, I called Daddy to see if he could get in touch with the pilot or have MAF get in touch with her and see if Amos could be sent down to get the passport. But she did not have her phone on. They got the plane all loaded up, but then it started raining again. Next thing I knew, Nuanda and Glenys were at the door. I invited them to come inside. Glenys said she had been given a bad weather report. She circled for twenty minutes and was ready to go back to Goroka, when that layer of fog cleared away. Glenys thought she might spend about ten minutes with me until the rain stopped, but it ended up being about forty-five minutes or an hour. After the rain stopped, there was rain and fog again in Goroka. After that, there was fog again here. It finally cleared away, and she was able to leave here a little before 11:00. It was an answer to prayer as far as getting my passport out. I put it straight into Glenys’s hand and she said she would put it straight into Daddy’s had. I enjoyed the visit together with Glenys. She and Nuanda had a cup of coffee, and I a cup of reishi/ginger tea. She asked about Daddy’s return flight, and I told her what Famiri had told Daddy. She said she would check on that when she gets back, but she said it is hard to cover all the flights because of one pilot being sick and Brad having to be in the office all this week. Therefore, she is pretty much on her own. She said that three pilots should be sufficient for Goroka; but, of course, you don’t plan on one being sick. After she left, I got the bed made, enjoyed a little study in Exodus, and wrote some in my journal. Then it was time for dinner. The afternoon and evening computer time was spent organizing the music sheets. Also got plenty of exercise going back and forth to the door to return phones and to take some. Returned the last of the phones between 6:30 and 7:00. Daddy and I also had a long chat time together. There was a lot to talk about. June 4. Praise the Lord for sunshine this morning for drying the clothes. So thankful for Sunny’s help with the laundry; putting up with waiting on water to refill all the buckets (water that comes sometimes not at all — just air, sometimes at a snail’s pace, occasionally with a nice flow, and other times at the speed of a rushing river); preparing a potful of pumpkin greens and spring onions to cook; and sweeping all the floors. After that she had coffee and bananas and then stayed and practiced keyboard. After my breakfast and quiet time, making the bed, and doing a couple other odd jobs, I wrote a short e-mail and did some Bible study in Exodus. Then it was off to the kitchen to prepare some things for dinner — kaukau, taters, onions, and chicken. All went into a baking pan and was put into the oven to bake for dinner. While dinner was baking, I worked on Luke. Praise the Lord for helping me to complete the setup of Luke in the print file. Also got ready to start setting up John next time I work on the print file. A little after 11:30, we heard a plane circling, and Daddy took off for the airstrip. MAF was unable to get into a couple places south of here because of cloud cover and rain so they came here and picked up a small load of coffee. Just before Daddy returned, I checked the stuff that was baking in the oven. Kaukau and taters were done, but not Charity (the chicken given to them by Dallas). I thought she would be tender and cook nicely because she seemed soft and flaky when I cleaned her up and put her away. She had cooked for an hour, but it was impossible to chew her. So, we had greens, potatoes, and kaukau for dinner; and I stuck Charity back in the oven for another half hour. She still didn’t get done so I put her away in the fridge for today. She has one more chance — I’ll cook her for a half hour in the pressure cooker tomorrow. If she’s still tough after that, there’s no hope left for her. Poor Charity! 😊 This afternoon, I washed my hair, got some journal notes ready to send to our daughters, cut Daddy’s hair, and started an e-mail to C&C. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) June 5. Heard heavy rain falling during the night, and there was lots of fog this morning. But above the fog, there was blue sky, and the sun peeked through here and there until the fog was gone. Then the sun peeked in and out of the cloud patches. By afternoon, the thick fog had returned and brought more rain with it. After breakfast and quiet time, I made the bed and folded yesterday’s laundry. Then I finished the e-mail that I had started yesterday to C&C. Also attached the journal notes to a separate e-mail, and put both those e-mails in the sent box. While I was still in the ACER, I went ahead and fixed the recent pictures that I took. After that, I had a snack and then took the trash out to be burned. The air felt much fresher and more refreshing than it did yesterday. Even though the sun was shining yesterday, I could feel the humidity in the air. After I came back in, I worked on a Bible study in Exodus. In the meantime, Wan had come; and I was summoned now and then to answer questions and give advice. He took down the wall between the storage room and old spare bathroom and put that wall in the door space between the spare room (which will be the schoolroom) and the old bathroom. The old bathroom will make extra storage space. Was thankful to get the May progress report done this afternoon and evening. June 6. After yesterday evening’s rain, and some rain during the first part of the night as well, we woke up to see thick fog in the valley. But there was some blue sky above, sunshine too, and a couple layers of fog rose and disappeared quickly. Therefore, our conclusion was that the fog would soon be gone and the day would be warm. But the last layer of fog just hung around and hung around and didn’t look like it was going to move for a while. The house was getting quite chilly and damp so Daddy started a fire in the wood stove after all. He had no sooner started the fire when the fog started to thin out, patches of mountainsides began to show through, brightened by sunlight from above. Ah, well. The fire did take the dampness and chill out of the house, and we soon let it out so the sunshine could finish warming us up. This morning, I wrote a couple e-mails and then enjoyed doing a Bible study in Exodus. After that, I happened to think that there weren't enough potatoes left for dinner so decided I’d better peel a few more small potatoes and cook them to add to our dinner. I was thankful for the Lord’s wisdom this afternoon in helping to get the monthly update written. June 2. A rainy, rainy day. Very cool too. Never even got up to 70 outside. Thank the Lord for the warmth of the wood stove. Also enjoyed the warmth of the oven in the gas stove this morning — after breakfast, quiet time, and making the bed, I made lemon-banana muffins. Also put some eggs on the wood stove to boil for egg salad for our supper sandwiches, cut up and peeled two pumpkins and cooked that on the wood stove for our dinner. When all that was done, I had a late morning snack — two yummy muffins. Also did a study in Exodus and wrote a bit in my journal before dinner. Praise the Lord for His strength for this morning’s work. In the afternoon and evening, I worked more on Luke and now have 2/3 of the chapters set up in the print file. So thankful for the Lord’s help. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” (Exodus 24:12) The LORD gave Moses the written word so that Moses might teach others. He didn’t give Moses the word so that he could put it away somewhere to keep it “safe.” The LORD has given us His written word that we might teach others also. June 3. A very chilly morning; but praise the Lord, the sun was shining, and there was blue sky and white puffy clouds. After breakfast and quiet time, I crocheted a small black patch for my warm black socks which had gotten a big hole in the toe. The job had been waiting a while to get done. I don’t really like doing a small job like that with black as it is hard on the eyes, but am thankful to have it done. (Mom has had trouble with her circulation and with feeling cold a lot, so it is important she have warm clothing for her feet and legs. Please pray she can find all that she needs for that. Thanks!) Got the bed made, did some Bible study in Exodus, went outside for a stretch in the sunshine, made a pizza using the leftover spaghetti sauce. Just before dinner, SIL came and Daddy went up to the airstrip to see if there was any more news regarding the container from JAARS. Yes, they had learned that there was trouble of some kind (?) with the clearing agent, and there is now a new clearing agent. (Mom and Dad are still waiting for this shipment to arrive in the village. Thank you for praying about this.) The pizza got done a little bit before Daddy got back and was keeping warm in the oven. As soon as he came in, I went to get the leftover pumpkin out of the fridge so we could warm some up for our dinner, and it wasn’t there. Oh, no, I had never taken it out of the freezer yesterday. So we had only pizza for dinner. I was so thankful that the Lord sent us more bananas and some pumpkin greens today. I will have Sunny prepare the greens in the morning after she does the laundry. This afternoon and evening, I worked on Luke again and now have just the last chapter left to set up in the print file. Praise the Lord for His help with the project. May 31. Monday, the last day of May. Monday is not usually wash day; but after finding on Saturday all that mess that the rat made in the bedroom, I knew there would be too much wash if I waited until tomorrow. I did not bother to start wash right away as the weather did not look too favorable for hanging things outside. Went ahead and had my breakfast and Bible reading time first. Even though I did laundry a day early, there was still more than two loads — about three x 3/4 loads. So it took extra time to get everything washed. That allowed me to make the bed and have prayer time while I was waiting. I added bleach to the wash water because everything in the hamper smelled like the rat mess. Now everything smells much better, praise the Lord. By the time the wash was done, most of the fog had cleared away, the sun peeked through the clouds now and then, and there were some blue patches of sky too. The Lord sent a light breeze along, too, to help dry the clothes. I was happy to get outside in the fresh morning air. While I was busy doing the laundry, Daddy kept busy answering the door. People came to bring or get phones. Kaipo came early with some nice bulb onions. One of Matthew’s daughters came with avocados. A young girl came with just one onion and wanted some lollipops. Kaipo came back again later with fresh lemons. Once laundry was done, I was able to sit down a while. Did a short Bible study in Exodus and wrote some in journal. Then worked on the Luke print file. Continued working on Luke this afternoon and evening. Also started stitching the lining into the bilum (string (crocheted) bag Mom was making for Dad to use in town.). June 1. I had had my breakfast drinks, read I Corinthians 14 in Pidgin, made the bed, folded and put away clothes, started prayer time, had just finished cooking some rice cereal, and was about ready to sit down and eat when Dallas, Elise, and Dalista came. It was good to see them. Hadn’t seen them since the school closing. We are thankful that Dallas is doing much better and walking without a stick for support. However, he can’t carry any heavy loads so the burden of the work still falls on Elise. She has been responsible for caring for their pig, picking their coffee, and caring for the chickens. Now all the chickens have been sold, and they are investing in coffee too so they can increase their income. Elise’s family told Dallas to wait until next year to pay the bride price so they are thankful for the extra time. Their story of Dalista’s helpfulness was very interesting. Here is a little three-year-old, going on four, I believe, not wanting to go out and play with her friends or cousins, but staying home to take care of her Daddy when he was sick and Elise was out working. She would bring him things he needed and help watch kaukau when it was cooking. If Dallas were tired and needed to sleep, he would tell Dalista to get her blanket and go take a nap, and that’s what she would do. Sometimes she would help Elise feed and water the chickens and pig or she would go with Elise and help pick and machine the coffee. If Elise has a pot of food on cooking, Dalista watches the pot. She is a quiet little girl (at least when she’s here), but apparently quite bright and beginning to understand some spiritual truths. Dallas said that sometimes he would feel really hungry so would just pray a short prayer before eating. Then Dalista would say, “Daddy, we can’t eat yet; you didn’t Amen good.” So Dallas would have to pray again before they could eat. Sometimes she goes to her grandparents (Elise’s parents) house when they are eating. They offer her kaukau, but she won’t eat it unless they pray. Even if they say that have already prayed, that won’t do for her so they graciously pray again so she will eat. One reason Dallas and family came was to ask for some scraps of plywood to make a small coffin for Seron’s baby girl. Seron is an adopted sister to Dallas and Mike and the other siblings in Mark’s family. We gave Dallas some scraps of plywood and a few small nails so he can make a little coffin. Seron’s husband is married to another woman in another village and does not take care of Seron and her children. It was about 9:30 when they left. I put my rice cereal in a bowl and warmed it up in the microwave. Spent more time praying while I was eating and also while I finished sewing the lining into the bilum. Afterward I did a short study in Exodus. Then Daddy and I went out for a short walk; but even though it was late morning, the air was very cool, and a cool wind came up. So we didn’t stay out long. My ear was already hurting and my throat was a bit sore. When we came back, I wrote in my journal. Then we had dinner. This afternoon and evening, I worked more on putting Luke in the print file and finished through chapter 12. Am thankful to be half done. Most of Luke’s chapters are quite long. “20) Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21) Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21) Thank you to those who prayed for the special prayer requests the other day. God answered these prayers in amazing ways. 1. God provided a flight for Dad to go back into the village, and he was able to go back on Monday. He did not have to wait until Friday. 2. God provided a way for Mom's passport to get out of the village, into Dad's hands, and sent off to Port Moresby. Because of bad weather in the area, a pilot had to land in Owena. The pilot went down to talk to my mom, and she was able to give her the passport and other necessary papers, which the pilot took with her to Goroka and saw that they were delivered to my dad. The passports were picked up by their sponsor in Port Moresby yesterday. 3. God provided a new modem for Mom and Dad. This is a modem that works with Windows 10. Previously, they were only able to get modems that worked with either Windows 7 or 8, so it was a blessing that they could get an updated modem. We received a test email from them today, so it looks like the new modem is working. Now we should be able to exchange emails. Thank you so much for your prayers! You are interceding and God is hearing and answering. God bless each one who is laboring with our parents by taking their needs and praises to the throne of grace. |
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