Chad Wells Family Blog

Derrick was my helper today – I let him out of school. We worked together and built the trusses for the front veranda and also did the concrete pier pads for two posts in the print shop. Here he’s just finishing cleaning up the wheelbarrow. Two more men from Palipini showed up last night, so we had 7 men working today! We worked on ceiling joists and got the front veranda ready for sheet metal roofing. I received a letter (via a school worker) from the Southern Highlands education department asking if I would oversee the administration of the 10th and 12th grade final examinations next month. The 9th and 11th don’t have exams, they are automatically moved on to the next grade. But, to move to 11th you must pass the 10th grade and to graduate you must pass the 12th grade. There has been widespread cheating and the “wantok” system (if the student is a friend or relative of the teacher he/she will automatically pass). I will help as I have time to do so. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

Five men from Palipini came to help for today and tomorrow. So, we were able to work on the building today. These guys are excited about having a complete Pidgin Bible. We built the upstairs walls, dividing the classroom and library. We also worked on plywood nailers and blocking. We really want to work on the stucco, on the outside, but the rains have been coming early and hard. So we decided to do some work on the inside. Because plywood is so expensive, and hard to transport back to Pangia, we use 1×4′s for the flooring. This creates a little bit of a problem because you don’t want to put the flooring down, and have it ruined. So all of the framing for the 2nd floor is done just walking on the floor joists. This was especially bad today because one of the young men from Palipini mis-stepped and fell through to the first floor! Praise God – he didn’t hurt himself at all! He was a little sore but no worse for wear. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

Two more men died (from Mele) last night (one of the nearby villages). They were in two different areas but both died at 11:00pm. So, now all the men who weren’t in haus krai from the 2 previous deaths are in haus krai now. All church members have been affected by at least one of them. So there weren’t many people at church this morning. And, no one from our area will be available to help with the building. I worked on the copy machine more today. I’m working on getting a laptop all connected to it so that when the print shop is ready this will be ready, too. Steven and I worked together to plant the orange trees. We have to put chicken manure and ashes into each hole. Eventually, with everything we are planting, we won’t have to buy any fruits or vegetables! That’s the plan, anyways. We are hoping that in a few years these trees will produce more oranges than we could all possibly eat! This will also help sustain the students in the Bible School. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

Mom and dad, Wes, and family all left for Hagen today. They had some stuff that needed to be done and decided they should head in early. The power came back on (then off, then on, then off, then on…….) so we are good to go. We got 5 tomato plants from mom (she started a bunch from seeds and they all grew nicely!) We planted them behind the house. The boys all worked together and made tomato trellises for each one. They did a good job! They are starting to get more confident in the shop. I spent most of the day continuing with the work for youth camp. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

The power went off today and never came back on. We later learned that they were replacing a pole in Tindua (about 45 minutes away). They said maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or sometime this week! Before it went off I was working on the copy machine. It’s had a problem with circuitry somewhere and I’m trying to get it figured out. It seems I am getting closer to a solution. I also worked on stuff for youth camp today. Wes is going to draw a logo for me. I will need to print the t-shirts and get the booklets ready ahead of time. So I now have the theme and the main points for each day. We all sat around after dinner trying to think of different games and activities that go with each day’s emphasis. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

Pastor Sam is sick today so I preached all 3 services. We just combined classes for Sunday School. Our youth class mixed with the adults. We started our competition for camp. We made a chart and will keep track of their memory verses and attendance. James’ (the deacon at our church) nephew (2 year old boy) died yesterday. The outhouses here are just holes dug in the ground with a board on either side of the hole (to stand on). Apparently the boy slipped into the hole. His sister, who was a couple years older, tried to help him. She held onto his hand for as long as she could but he slipped away. She ran for help but by the time help arrived he had drowned. He was buried today but the haus krai will last awhile (several weeks). It’s very sad! Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

The guys helped for 1/2 a day today. I am happy seeing the people getting involved! The other end wall is now ready for stucco. Joseph’s dad died (in Laiawane) so he’s gone back for the haus krai. This is Joseph’s biological father. As a baby he was given to Wipa, the man who raised him. He was given as a peace child (anyone who has read the book Peace Child will know exactly what I am talking about). If a child is given to someone in another village (and visa versa) those villages know that there will be no attack from the other village as long as that peace child lives. In Joseph’s case it wasn’t necessarily about the 2 villages, it was about 2 different clans that have a long history of fighting.

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We finished putting the stucco on the end wall today! It’s working well and I’m very happy with the results! We are still learning how to be efficient but we are starting to get the hang of it! Cash and Oxy (from Palipini) came to help with the building. They said they will try to come a couple days each week till the building is finished. Since they don’t have any money to give they will give of their time. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

Joey and I went to Hagen today. We left at 5:30 this morning. He caught his plane back home and I picked up 22 bags of cement for the building. I was able to get home at 7:30pm. Joey was a huge help and we are thankful he came back with us! Connor loves helping Steven mow the lawn. It’s still a little big for him but he doesn’t care! Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific

We got wire on the end wall and did more blocking inside. This evening we were to have a youth activity at 5:30pm. We were wondering what would happen since the school is closed. We ended up just having the station kids (around 32 youth) and they arrived 2 hours late! Ahhhh, PNG time. There was a big rainstorm so the station kids all waited till it cleared up. The kids from Maiya, Pondi, and Kauwo all turned back. I asked Wes to give a small introduction for the video. Then, we watched a video called The Cosmos (we picked it up at the Creation Museum in Kentucky). Joey preached on how big God is. Even though we didn’t have many kids it was still a good evening! Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Digicel Pacific