Tomorrow marks the beginning of our fifth week of in Brisbane, waiting for our visas. No one can turn time in Brisbane into a hardship. It’s a lovely city and we brought work with us so we stayed busy thus far. We do, however, want to get back to PNG and begin preparing for Christmas and the people who will come to us at that time.
Waiting is an interesting activity. It almost always seems to be a “waste of time” and if I pretended we were not a tad frustrated it wouldn’t be honest. I have, however, prayed about what God has for us in this waiting period. Glimpses appear here and there: a meeting with a long time friend from PNG who is struggling to sense God’s presence; the hairdresser whose husband said he would come to Australia for his family but has decided to stay in their country of origin. All over there are people, God’s image bearers, who need someone to come alongside and say, “He is there. He is listening. Wait and see what He will do”.
Waiting for something as mundane as a visa, reminds me how much our waiting for temporal things Is not like waiting for Christ. Biblical hope is not a wish that something might happen that, should I not cross my fingers hard enough or say the right words, could fall through the cracks. Biblical hope is the expectation of that which is assured. Our hope cannot fail because of the One who made the promise.
So we wait in Brisbane and enter the Advent season, a time of waiting for a promise assured by the Maker of the Universe. These weeks between Thanksgiving and Advent can remind us of a time when all the world stood waiting for the child whose coming made a new star appear, wise men traverse the globe, shepherds rejoice, kings quake, angels sing and senior citizens proclaim salvation to all those in Jerusalem who were waiting for the Messiah.
Celebrating as we wait,
The Vanaria Family
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Brisbane
Brisbane
On Wednesday October 28th we flew to Port Morseby to bring our residential visa application to Pastor Felix. On Friday the visa was lodged in the capital and we flew to Brisbane where we make a second application for our visa in PNG. The entire process should take less than three weeks and then we will head back to our home, celebrate Thanksgiving, and start Advent with our first group of Mesem friends by our side checking the completed translation work.
Brisbane is a great city to spend time in while we are waiting. The Internet works, so the long download of email takes a matter of seconds. We can add messages to the blog and update friends of the work from here. We’re adding some video taken in PNG. We’re in a handy DHL spot so we can get our new credit cards and debit cards to replace what we lost in the most recent “wallet walkabout” that happened at the market. The thief got a lot of cash (Neil had just withdraw money to pay the men) but thankfully the credit cards were not a problem.
Of course the Internet is not our only past time here. Tomorrow Neil goes back to the embassy and we’ll go along as in all these years I have never been in the PNG embassy. Brisbane has a lovely river winding through and a wonderful outdoor mall area where a book lover can sip cappuccino and pass some time. I’ve got the New Testament with me of course, and have finished Acts and should be done with 1 Corinthians this week.
Tony is happy and has found a gym near where we are staying that has a $3 fee for shooting hoops or playing a pick-up game. He will be 17 in December and though we’ve heard the teen years are supposed to be bumpy we’ve not had many bumps and we appreciate the good humour and versatility he has demonstrated in all our travels.
I will update you again as soon as we have more news.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Fresh Pork and the House Blessing
House Blessing
Greetings again from Papua New Guinea where we are setting up once again to resume our work with the Mesem. We've moved from Ukarumpa to Bobiufa among the Bena Bena people where there is a gated area of 11 houses. A dear friend, Oprah Peter found the house for us and we were shocked at the size of the place which soon came in quite handy as we had 24 friends come for the "house blessing". In Papua New Guinea when you take up residence in a new house it must be "blessed" with prayer and food shared with friends and family. Twenty-four of our PNG friends from Ukarumpa came and prepared a mumu which was then served to an additional 33 Bena Bena men and women who live nearby.
At the conclusion of the meal it is normal for there to be speeches expressing appreciation and recognizing new friendships. One of the Bena Bena men got up and said, "When you came this week we thought you were just new white family. Now we see you have a very large family and we promise you that we will take very good care of them (us)". That sounded like good news.
Even as we set up we have some paperwork issues to still be sorted out. Neil's diploma was sent via DHL to PNG yesterday (Thank you Marybrigid) and we understand that is the last remaining paper to be needed. Neil is in the bush visiting with the Mesem and our nephews, Tony and Dan, who have been saving for the last couple of years to visit this beautiful country. They are both quick to adapt and people speak the trade language to them when they see them because they look like they've lived here all their lives.
Tony is at a retreat and will take a PMV back to Bobiufa on Wednesday. We plan to depart PNG on October 30th for Brisbane as we must be outside the country when the actual permit is issued. (Just as we were outside the country when the application was lodged). We have all our paperwork in order for the visas and this should be a simple transfer of permits as Neil has held a work permit for many years here.
As soon as I can edit the film footage we will post the way one gets "fresh pork" here. Those with a week stomach...beware!
Greetings again from Papua New Guinea where we are setting up once again to resume our work with the Mesem. We've moved from Ukarumpa to Bobiufa among the Bena Bena people where there is a gated area of 11 houses. A dear friend, Oprah Peter found the house for us and we were shocked at the size of the place which soon came in quite handy as we had 24 friends come for the "house blessing". In Papua New Guinea when you take up residence in a new house it must be "blessed" with prayer and food shared with friends and family. Twenty-four of our PNG friends from Ukarumpa came and prepared a mumu which was then served to an additional 33 Bena Bena men and women who live nearby.
At the conclusion of the meal it is normal for there to be speeches expressing appreciation and recognizing new friendships. One of the Bena Bena men got up and said, "When you came this week we thought you were just new white family. Now we see you have a very large family and we promise you that we will take very good care of them (us)". That sounded like good news.
Even as we set up we have some paperwork issues to still be sorted out. Neil's diploma was sent via DHL to PNG yesterday (Thank you Marybrigid) and we understand that is the last remaining paper to be needed. Neil is in the bush visiting with the Mesem and our nephews, Tony and Dan, who have been saving for the last couple of years to visit this beautiful country. They are both quick to adapt and people speak the trade language to them when they see them because they look like they've lived here all their lives.
Tony is at a retreat and will take a PMV back to Bobiufa on Wednesday. We plan to depart PNG on October 30th for Brisbane as we must be outside the country when the actual permit is issued. (Just as we were outside the country when the application was lodged). We have all our paperwork in order for the visas and this should be a simple transfer of permits as Neil has held a work permit for many years here.
As soon as I can edit the film footage we will post the way one gets "fresh pork" here. Those with a week stomach...beware!
House Blessing
House BlessingGreetings again from Papua New Guinea where we are setting up once again to resume our work with the Mesem. We've moved from Ukarumpa to Bobiufa among the Bena Bena people where there is a gated area of 11 houses. A dear friend, Oprah Peter found the house for us and we were shocked at the size of the place which soon came in quite handy as we had 24 friends come for the "house blessing". In Papua New Guinea when you take up residence in a new house it must be "blessed" with prayer and food shared with friends and family. Twenty-four of our PNG friends from Ukarumpa came and prepared a mumu which was then served to an additional 33 Bena Bena men and women who live nearby.
At the conclusion of the meal it is normal for there to be speeches expressing appreciation and recognizing new friendships. One of the Bena Bena men got up and said, "When you came this week we thought you were just new white family. Now we see you have a very large family and we promise you that we will take very good care of them (us)". That sounded like good news.
Even as we set up we have some paperwork issues to still be sorted out. Neil's diploma was sent via DHL to PNG yesterday (Thank you Marybrigid) and we understand that is the last remaining paper to be needed. Neil is in the bush visiting with the Mesem and our nephews, Tony and Dan, who have been saving for the last couple of years to visit this beautiful country. They are both quick to adapt and people speak the trade language to them when they see them because they look like they've lived here all their lives.
Tony is at a retreat and will take a PMV back to Bobiufa on Wednesday. We plan to depart PNG on October 30th for Brisbane as we must be outside the country when the actual permit is issued. (Just as we were outside the country when the application was lodged). We have all our paperwork in order for the visas and this should be a simple transfer of permits as Neil has held a work permit for many years here.
As soon as I can edit the film footage we will post the way one gets "fresh pork" here. Those with a week stomach...beware!
At the conclusion of the meal it is normal for there to be speeches expressing appreciation and recognizing new friendships. One of the Bena Bena men got up and said, "When you came this week we thought you were just new white family. Now we see you have a very large family and we promise you that we will take very good care of them (us)". That sounded like good news.
Even as we set up we have some paperwork issues to still be sorted out. Neil's diploma was sent via DHL to PNG yesterday (Thank you Marybrigid) and we understand that is the last remaining paper to be needed. Neil is in the bush visiting with the Mesem and our nephews, Tony and Dan, who have been saving for the last couple of years to visit this beautiful country. They are both quick to adapt and people speak the trade language to them when they see them because they look like they've lived here all their lives.
Tony is at a retreat and will take a PMV back to Bobiufa on Wednesday. We plan to depart PNG on October 30th for Brisbane as we must be outside the country when the actual permit is issued. (Just as we were outside the country when the application was lodged). We have all our paperwork in order for the visas and this should be a simple transfer of permits as Neil has held a work permit for many years here.
As soon as I can edit the film footage we will post the way one gets "fresh pork" here. Those with a week stomach...beware!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
.jpg)
