Archive for the '2010' Category
We tested out the new concrete cooking stands in the cookhouse today. We had a New Years Eve celebration with the church members in Pangia. We killed some chickens and barbecued them (the heads, feet, and other non-desirables were cooked separately since they know we don’t care for them). There was also kaukau (sweet potatoes), greens, and rice. Kirsten made some coconut rice for everyone, too, and put a cut-up pineapple into it. The people absolutely loved it and we were amazed at how much they were able to eat of it! Everyone had a great time and we all cheered the new year in! We look forward to seeing what God has planned for the next year and are excited to see the souls who will come to Christ in 2011!
We continued working on the outhouses and the cookhouse today, in preparation for the youth camp. I made a form to pour concrete into. It will be a stand that will house 6 gas elements. We will be able to put 6 large pots over them and use them for cooking. A man brought us a kopel today. A kopel is a possum like animal. This one is rather large and reminds us of a small bear. Therefore, we named him Little Bear! He likes to hug us and tries to hug us whenever we walk past him. We would like hugging him more if his claws weren’t so big.
Today I had a several hour meeting with Thomas Anda, the man who I met with at yesterday’s mumu. Thomas is the public official who is in charge of the health department for the Southern Highlands Province. We discussed Bro. Richard Kay coming and working in the haus sik here, in Pangia, as a volunteer. With Bro. Kay’s medical background and experience he will be a great help, medically, to the people of the Wiru tribe. Thomas is very excited to have someone in Pangia who can be of assistance in administration as well. Because of Thomas’ position he only makes it to Pangia once a year. His office is in the provincial headquarters in Mendi. We discussed many details but the overall result of the meeting is that the door is still wide open for us to work in the haus sik, both medically and spiritually. We are excited for Bro. Kay’s arrival later this year.
Brad and the family went back to Mt. Hagen this morning. It sure was good to have them here!
We worked more on leveling the ground behind the house. This is a project that will take a while!
I went to a mumu today. It was a pretty big one! They killed 38 pigs and 2 steers. It was for a government official who was celebrating his son’s birthday. In translation, he was gaining political strength through the people’s stomachs! They invited me to come down. I wouldn’t have gone except there was another prominent government official by the name of Thomas Anda who is visiting for Christmas and is from this same village. I was able to set an appointment for tomorrow with Thomas Anda as well as bring back 10 pounds of pork tenderloin. It will all have to be recooked since it was really just warmed up before. We had a little bit of it for dinner and it was delicious!
We had a great time with Brad, Deborah, and the kids today! What a good time of fellowship and enjoyment with family. Dad had to go this morning to Keremini in order to take some lumber over to the church so that men could continue some of the finishing touches. On the way back the truck got stuck in the mud. So I went with a couple of the boys and got him pulled out. While we were doing our devotions this morning, Pupu, one of the church members who I’ve been having do some work here, came to the door. He wanted to let me know that he wouldn’t be able to work today. His son had brought his newborn baby daughter back to Pangia last night in order to bury her. She had died at only a few days old. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence.
