We were hoping to feel up to going to Brad’s church today but that just didn’t happen. We had brought the computer with us, in order to update the pictures on our web site (we haven’t had the Internet availability to do that since we arrived back in PNG in 2010) and we have some preaching videos on there. We stayed in the flat and watched a preaching conference in the States. It was good!

I’m very glad we decided to stay. It seems everyone is not feeling the best. I think a day of rest is really what we needed. A light flu seems to have hit. Even though we arrived here over 5 years ago the “bugs” still wreak havoc. When we get one thing it is amazing how quickly we start picking up more sicknesses. We’ve found it best to work to get rid of it at the beginning rather than ignore it. Hopefully, someday, we’ll be able to adjust and all these little sicknesses won’t affect us so much.

We had planned to go back to Pangia today but I decided I needed to have us stay for a few more days. I have to remove the gauze from the hole where Kirsten’s boil was (it’s about 1 1/2″ deep) and replace it with fresh gauze each day, after pouring iodine into the hole. I would rather be closer to Kudjip in case of a problem. She’s on strong antibiotics, but is pretty worn out. Amber’s still not feeling well – her stomach has been hurting her almost every day. So we decided that rather than go back and be immediately back to full time motion we would stay a couple of extra days in Hagen. I think it will be good for us and will help everyone get well faster. We had the Gades over for dinner tonight – they are staying in the other flat. We enjoyed the fellowship!

Kirsten thought she was doing well enough this morning to go to the grocery store to get some food for while we are in Hagen. Part way through she realized she was wrong and said she needed to leave. We went straight to the checkout line and tried to hurry. Before we were finished she grabbed at me as she was starting to faint. She just stayed on the floor until she could get up. Then I walked her to the car while Trevor finished up. She was very embarrassed! We drove to Brad’s to get the kids, but she didn’t get out of the car. We did get to see Megan Johnson, though. It’s the first time we’ve seen her since she arrived in PNG. It was great to see her! Kirsten stayed at the mission home for the rest of the day, in bed. We had our board meeting tonight. It’s the first one we have had in a very long time so it was a very long meeting! We had a lot to discuss. Trevor’s eye seems to be doing well. It appears to be healing.

We left early this morning for Hagen. I had some issues with my brakes on the way in so I left Kirsten and the kids at the mission home so I could get them fixed. I wasn’t comfortable driving out to Kudjip and back knowing they were having issues. It ended up being that a vacuum line was open. That made it so the brakes weren’t getting the pressure needed to work properly. It ended up being afternoon before we got to Kudjip. Thankfully, though, they were still open when we arrived. We waited awhile and were finally able to see a doctor. This doctor is a national woman who speaks perfect English (but with an Australian accent). She decided the boil was ready to take care of and got to work. She put Kirsten to sleep and then cut it open and excised it. It was pretty deep! Kirsten started to wake up towards the end, but, thankfully, not enough to feel what was happening. She took awhile to wake up enough to be able to leave, but we finally got back to the mission home after church was already over. Brad and Deborah had taken the kids to stay at their house for the night, so that was a blessing. Only Trevor was with us. This picture shows the emergency room, which is where Kirsten was treated.