Macy turned 1!

Macy turned 1 on July 6^th! We cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. She is still a petite little girl so we still call her our little baby! She is cruising around furniture and once in a while will stand on her own. She is not too daring so we do not think she will walk for a while yet. She is a real mommy’s girl and does not like to be far away from mom. She does however love to be with our Haus Meri who we call Mama. Mama treats Macy and Clara like her grandchildren! 

Surprise Mail

We go to the mail almost every day. Sometimes Jon and I both go on the same day. Most days we open the mail box only to find a housing bill or an empty box. But this week we were surprised with 2 packages! Jon came home with a birthday package from my parents – DROPIES! I am not allowed to eat them without his permission though. The second packages was a really big package from our home church. It had lots of nice cards, pictures, letters and some gifts for us and the girls. Thank you so much to all who sent us the package! And we are still waiting for a birthday package from Jon’s parents. Jon’s birthday is on August 14^th which is the day we start POC.

Birds of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has over 850 officially recognized languages.  Practically speaking, there are 100's more when you consider dialects and other features of language that make a language unique.

To find a similar count in another realm of research you could look at bird species in Papua New Guinea.  According to Wikipedia, there are 781 species of birds in PNG.  If you look at other sources, the numbers go above 800.  I have been able to find about 25 at this point living in and around Ukarumpa.  Here are some pictures (sorry, no Bird of Paradise pictures yet).

Sacred Kingfisher

Pacific Swallow

Long-Tailed Shrike

Grey Shrikethrush

Ornate Honeyeater

Ornate Honeyeater

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Luke 12:6-7

Dental Hygiene in Papua New Guinea!

I have recently started working one half day per week at the dental clinic here in Ukarumpa. Jon stays home with Macy and is able to get some work done from our home computer while she naps. Clara visits the daycare and is loving making lots of new friends.

There are two Dentists from South Korea that work in the clinic as well. We see clients from Wycliffe but also from other organizations. I work Friday mornings but when the girls get older I hope to work more often. I would love to work on Tuesdays. Tuesdays are called Valley Days because Papua New Guineans come from the valley nearby to get dental work done.

Obviously I am cleaning teeth, but I am also training a Papua New Guinean lady to learn how to be a dental assistant. We have made a deal. I will teach her how to be an assistant and she will help me with my Tok Pisin. We also have another assistant/ lab technician who has been working in the clinic for many years. He also did not go to school to receive any professional training but was trained at our clinic. He and one of the dentists just made a full set of dentures for a Papua New Guinean. That was the first time we have done that in our clinic. The only way it was done before was to get it made in the States which would cost a lot of money and so most Papua New Guineans and ex-pats could not afford them.

Our dental receptionist is also a Papua New Guinean women. I asked her the other day how long it takes her to get to work. She walks for 45 min to an hour to get to Ukarumpa! Then at the end of the day another hour to get home. By the time she gets home it is almost dark.

There are many differences working in a PNG dental clinic. The best difference is that all of my clients are Christ followers and I get to hear their stories of how they came to serve in PNG!

 (Cheesy picture of me in the clinic! Oh and I am the only one in the dental/medical clinic that wears scrubs. Most people laugh at me but I don't want what's in people's mouths to go on my other clothes! )

(Front entrance into the clinic)

"Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, 

in the company of the upright, in the congregation." 

Psalm 111:1

POC and TTC

We have heard that we will be attending the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) starting in August. Praise God! We are looking forward to this chance to grow in our knowledge of PNG's unique culture as well as language. Over the next couple months we will be working toward going to this course. There is a lot of equipment that we need to get together since this course includes a 5 week stay in a remote village. :)

Jon is continuing to work in the software development department here in Ukarumpa and is helping to release a new system that will run inventory and point of sale for many of the departments here. It will be great to see this out because it represents a leap forward in technology, useability and reliability.

A couple of days ago, we said farewell to Nafian and Roman and the team of Bible translators from the Madi language group. This is part of the group that we have become involved with in a facilitator type role. They were all involved in the Translators Training Course (TTC) held over the past 6 weeks here in Ukarumpa. Nafian and Roman were involved in teaching and mentoring and the Madi team was attending as students TTC2 (the second course in the TTC curriculum). It was sad to see them go but we know their work and families await them in their home villages and they were all eager to see them again and get back to the task God has called them to in Bible translation. It was truly an honor to have them over for dinner several times, help with computer problems and other supply needs and be able to help them in various ways over the past 6 weeks.

The Madi team receiving their certificate's for completing TTC2 (Translator's Training Course)

Roman helping Clara with a puzzle

Roman and the Madi Bible translation team

 

Praying for Bible Translation in PNG

If you would like to be involved in praying for Bible translation in Papua New Guinea, now is your opportunity.  We will be sharing specific prayer requests with prayer teams for specific projects that we have been involved in.  If this peaks your interest, please email us to sign up!

See contact page on this blog for email address.

Papua New Guinea

I was going to explain the origin of the name of the country we now live in, Papua New Guinea.  Then I found that someone else (much more of a gifted writer and researcher) has done an excellent job of giving the history behind this sometimes confusing name.

Tim and Francine Sikkema are working with the Reformed Ministries mission in Lae.  Tim has written a blog on this often misunderstood name.

If you want to understand the history of the name Papua New Guinea, check out the blog here

"To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away."

Matthew 25:15