Brisbane

Brisbane

On Wednesday October 28^th 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.

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!

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!

Bobiufa

Bobiufa

Life has many twists and turns but the road to Bobiufa is bouncy and dusty on dry days and a muddy, slippery track this morning. We’ve settled in small housing cluster called Bobiufa among the Bena-Bena people. It’s a large house with beautiful landscaping and quite secluded.

We had many friends welcome us back and much help settling into our new place. Susie Leo spent hours yesterday removing the cockroach eggs from the house, a blessing for which I cannot describe my thankfulness. We got a washing machine installed, and though we have so much more to move to get the office up and running we are trying to move quickly so that we will soon “be back in business”.

Tony and Danny, my brother Bob’s sons, arrive tomorrow. A pig kill and mumu has been arranged by PNG friends who also have provided for a ride to the coast for them for the final week that they are in country. I plan to keep the camera rolling while they are here and capture as much of their adventure as possible. I try to look at life through their eyes, as though I were new here and I do realize how many things will be a surprise to them. We plan to use their muscles to move a few more things and then take them for a Mesem “nature walk” as we visit friends down in Morobe.

Right now I am using a “hot spot” in town where I can buy a card and get 30 MB of data for K20. Our Internet trips will be fewer and fewer now that we are farther from town until we can get a landline. I like the quiet aspect of the place and yet I confess I am a bit afraid of the lonliness that can set in when one is confined to a small area behind a fence and can’t communicate much. Unlike the village where we have people with us 24/7, Bobiufa is great for Tony to study and an excellent place to read books and do gobs of work, but not such an easy place to get to know the neighbors. The house is by necessity quite secure, being behind a gate, which is behind another gate, and has a steel bedroom door.

There’s a lovely coffee garden behind the house. In many ways it is the perfect retreat center. Feel free to drop in. I will have a coffee pot waiting for you and perhaps, extrovert that I am, happy for the company as well.