The Michael Family

Lets Catch Up

2012-01-20T15:53:00.001-08:00

Since there is not enough hours in the day (even here in PNG) for us to keep up the blog with all the happenings in our family, we are going to give a summary of highlights from the last few months. We are about to go unplugged for 6 weeks at POC (Pacific Orientation Course) until March 7th, so we thought we should get this out there before that.

Babysitting

Meliah was asked in November to help put together a “nursery” type thing for the video service that happens each Sunday before the main church service (like a Sunday school). So she has been recruiting other teenagers to help her each week and made a schedule. The ages of kids has been 1 ½ to 3yrs. She has done a great job! And the best part is that mom hasn’t had to be a part of it! As of the last week or so she has gotten a babysitting job, 3x a week for a toddler and an infant while the mom coaches soccer. The kids love Miss Meliah!

CTS Bung (Party)

Every year each department here in Ukarumpa has some sort of Christmas Bung (a pidgin word pronounced boong and means party). Well since Chad is the manager of the CTS department (Communications and Technical Services) , this was his responsibility to plan and organize it. He has made quite a few friends within his department, he is manager over 11 nationals, and 9 expatriates. So the nationals wanted to do a mumu (pronounced moo moo). A mumu is like a big bbq with pig and or chicken cooked in the ground with lots of vegetables and cooked bananas. They all were happy to do the mumu at our house! So the planning started and Ruth wasn’t so sure about all these men planning something this big. Well long story short, Chad went and got a live pig from a farm about 3 hrs away. And he was very excited about all the happenings of this. The pig was whacked in the head with the back of an axe and then cut up and put in the ground to cook and then later some chicken was killed and then cooked in another mumu pit next to the pig. Chad was enjoying each step of this whole process which was about 36 hrs long! Lots of pictures were taken. It was an honor that the nationals wanted and did the mumu for the whole department. It was a great opportunity for all the folks in the department to bond, and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ together.

POC

Before Christmas we were approached about going to POC (Pacific Orientation Course) for 6 weeks starting in January. After much prayer and talking and throwing temper tantrums (on Ruth’s part) we decided we needed to take the course. We feel God is leading us to be here until Meliah graduates in June of 2014 (not sure about after that, we will see where He wants us). The POC course is very valuable and beneficial to both of us and for the people we interact with. So Chad informed his work that he needed to take a 6 week leave of absence from his managerial role. Which the department he works with is already very short staffed due to furloughs by several and a lack of people to do computer and technical work. Anyway, he got someone to cover the manager role. And so we leave on Monday Jan. 23rd.

ECP Hostel

About the same time the POC talk started we were approached at renting an old children’s hostel since it was closing down and not expected to re-open. This is mainly due to a lack of need. This place has shrunk to half what it once was. There is still tons of work to do, but people just aren’t here. Over the years they have gone from 5 hostels full of kids who’s parents are translators and often in the village, to just 2 hostels.

So, since we can’t seem to do anything one at a time, we prayed and prayed for about a month and eventually felt at peace about it. We moved in right after Christmas, before New Years. We love our new home and the space it offers. When we return from POC we look forward to hosting more things and being more open to let this be a “teen hang out”.

Christmas in PNG

Christmas here was so different but so nice at the same time. The weather and the lack of media hype made it harder to get into the Christmas spirit. But it was so nice not to be exhausted from all the things that HAD to get done by Christmas. Anna played her trumpet in the beginning band concert and did a duet with a friend. Anna and Kiery both sang at church with their Sunday school classes on December 10th. Meliah had her first “finals” here at Ukarumpa during the first part of December. I think we were all relived when those were over. She did well, especially for a much tougher school academically and the adjustment factor. The girls were done with school for the term on Dec.13th. We were able to enjoy Christmas Eve with some friends and go to the Christmas Eve service. Then Christmas day we enjoyed a nice family day. Playing in the sun and having a water gun/balloon fight… weird.

Birthday Girls

With Kiery’s birthday Dec. 20th and Anna’s Jan. 6th we have always struggled at where to fit in their birthdays and yet make them feel special. This year was no different. But we decided to do a combination birthday party, on a weekend of December, of water slide fun!!! Yes, a water slide in December… remember where we live. All had a blast including dad and big sister Meliah. We even had a neighbor (actually the hostel dad where Meliah will be for 6 weeks while we are at POC) come over with some of the teen boys. He has a huge water balloon catapult type thing and launched water balloons from 200 ft away at the girls and Chad. It was awesome! Rest assured, the girls got their revenge!

Cairns Australia

On Jan. 6th we flew to Cairns Australia for a week “holiday” (what they call vacation here). It was a great family time and wonderful to be in a 1st world/western culture again. But we were so ready to come back after the week (the checking account said it before we left). It was wonderful to see how the girls were shocked at the clothing attire (or should we say lack of attire) and how they are really embracing the modesty issues. It’s great to be able to have open dialogue of “worldly” issues, etc. We took shopping till you drop to another new level. We hit 2 different malls both very good sized, and lots of other stores. We had a list and we CONQURED it!!! We did do 1 tourist thing which was a day on the Kuranda Trail, which started as a train ride up which was very beautiful, and then we went to a butterfly sanctuary, and saw many different types of butterflies (Kiery enjoyed reading all the plaques to us and trying to answer the questions). And then we went to a bird exhibit. The birds were just flying around in this area and as we walked in a bird found Chad’s shoulder and enjoyed gnawing on his sunglasses that was around his neck. It took the girls bribing the bird with food to get the bird off his shoulder and then the bird grabbed the snack and got right back on his shoulder. Then another bird came upon his shoulder and the first bird wasn’t happy about that. Before we walked out of there the birds finally decided to leave. Then we were off to the “Cuddle a Koala” area. All 3 girls were very excited about this stop. Anna and Meliah got to hold a Koala and Kiery enjoyed petting him. Then we went over and fed kangaroos that were so well fed they let the food hit them in the nose and didn’t respond at all. One did finally get up and hop around some. We also saw some wallabies. Then we made our way back to the terminal and took a sky rail down the mountain. If you know Ruth at all, you know she doesn’t do heights!!! So this was a challenge for her, Kiery wasn’t all that excited either. But we made it down (Ruth’s eyes were closed ¾ of the way down). The sky rail is like a Gondola (in Spokane or at Silver Mountain). It was a very enjoyable day by everyone! The girls will never forget mom holding onto dad’s shirt and closing her eyes so tightly.

While in Cairns we stayed at a place that housed missionaries for Wycliffe, Mission Avaition Fellowship and other mission associations. Missionaries are able to use this facility at a cheaper cost for holiday, for medical reasons (this is where people get med-evac’d for medical emergencies) and to have a baby (you are not allowed to give birth while in PNG- due to lack of appropriate health facilities). So we were able to visit with a couple different families from Ukarumpa (2 have had babies and 1 on a medical reason) They were all able to give us advice and directions to get around town.

Village Lotu (pronounced like low-too, means church)

We got back to Ukarumpa on a Friday and went to a village church service on that Sunday. WOW!!! What an experience….there was another “white skin” family with us and they honored us with songs, dance, a parade, a bilum (pronounced beelum) for each of us (like a bag/purse hand made with stitches) and a mumu. We will probably not see many of these people again until heaven. To sing with them and worship with them while here on earth and then in heaven being able to clearly understand what they are saying what an awesome experience to know we are all in God’s family.

Upcoming Adventures

Now as we are preparing to go to POC we are wondering how God will stretch us even further out of our comfort zones. Ruth feels like Elastic Girl from Incredibles with being so stretched. Meliah will be staying in Ukarumpa while we are down in Madang @ POC. With Meliah being in high school she needs to stay here to get her credits. So she will be in a Children’s home/boarding/hostel while we are gone. She is looking forward to being away from this crazy family and making her own memories. She is also nervous which is to be expected. We are leaving her in great hands and we know they will love her like we do. This is their calling to do this work with teenagers and be there hostel parents while mom and dad are away (in a village, at POC, or anywhere else). Anna and Kiery will be going to POC with us and have their own schooling while Chad and I are in classes. They are excited to do field trips, hikes and learn the language. Anna will be the oldest child there so that means she gets to help the teacher with the younger kids. Yes, she can’t wait!!! Kiery wants to “help” with the babies and toddlers too.

Lukim Yu Bihain (pronounced loo-keem you bee-hine)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we are on this amazing God adventure!!! Consider in your own heart what God has asked you to do in His word, and also seek His direction in your individual life. As radical as it might seem at first, you will never regret obeying Him. This world is not all there is. 1 Cor. 13:14 says that we only see a poor reflection of God’s creation (paraphrase). In this life, He calls us to important work with eternal consequences. But we need to keep that eternal perspective and know that the most important thing we can do with the gift of life we’ve been given, is to bring pleasure to our Father in Heaven (1 Thes 4:1 for example) and live for His glory.

We shocked a lot of people, including ourselves, when we responded to what we believed God was calling us to do. But now that we are living in obedience to His will, we can hardly believe the blessings he pours out, not in the material world where moth and rust destroy, but in the increase in our eternal relationship our brothers and sisters in Christ, and with the one true God.

We will be back online after March 7th. We will post pictures of our new home and of our adventures in POC then.

A Bible Dedication - Part 4

2012-01-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

This would be the last day of our time with the Tuam people of New Britain PNG. I woke to the sound of gonging bells which was the announcement to the local area that there would be lotu (church) this morning. They must have a series of gongs that tell people how long before church startes, but I didn't catch enough of the pattern to know how it worked really.

Actually what they use for the bell gong sound, and you see this all over PNG villages, are old oxygen/acetalene tanks or other gas tanks (which they call bottles here). They hang them from a tree and use a peice of iron or something metal to whack them. They are suprisingly loud and make a really nice gong sound.

So I took the bells as my wake-up alarm for the day and headed over to the the Bugenhagen's house to see if they were awake and knew the agenda for the morning. In the original plan, we were just going to hang out and wait for the plane to be ready and then leave for home.

But this little Tuam village, which was small in comparison to the island villages, had something special planned.

As the other SIL guests trickled into the Bugenhagen's home. They served us a wonderful breakfast of coffee, pineapple, banana, toast, jam and coffee! They storied with us over our meal about different amazing things the Lord had done during the many years of translation work there. I heard the story of Stephen and James who were my two little buddies throughout the last several days. You can see my comment to the previous blog post for a bit of their tragic and yet triumphant story.

Before it was time for church to start, we all went over and visited in front of the covering where the service would be held. I had a great time meeting new people and hearing them tell me about their lives and about their village.

Church started with the sweet sound of young children signing. The village church experience in this culture is definately different that our western church and I'll have more to say about that in later blogs, but these children were all dressed in white and well rehearsed in their motions and singning. It was beautiful!

I have a video of the children signing but am having trouble converting it at the moment. So I'll try to get that posted later on. I definately want to share some of the sights and sounds of what that morning was like.

The service was their first using a Tok Ples Bible! I didn't understand the language that was being spoken, but I was worshiping my Father in Heaven the whole time as I joined with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I kept thinking of the day when every nation and tribe and tongue will be worshiping our Lord together in Heaven. It was a spiritually significant experience for me.

After church, we saw a big thunder storm approaching and had to grab our things and make a quick departure. As we walked the 20 minutes to the plane through the village and jungle, people would come and shake our hands and offer us gifts to remember them by. By the time I got to the plane, I had an armload of things to figure out how to pack so they could be stowed quickly and we could beat the storm! I was so honored.

The whole village attended our departure standing at the end of the make-shift runway and waving. I knew I would see many of them again someday. Probably not in this life but in heaven.

Flying home was bitter sweet. But I am so glad God had this experience in His plan for my life. It has definately shaped me and brought be closer to Christ. I hope my sharing of the experience with you will inspire and challenge you as well.

My God grant you grace and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Bible Dediction - Part 3

2011-12-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

The ride in the small boat to Aromat was in the full sun! The day before on the same boat was gray and cloudy outside, even spitting rain now and then. But this time it was full exposure to the blistering heat of the tropical sun. I had lost my sunglasses, ended up not having my hat or water bottle, cause it was burried under the pile of cargo at the bottom of the boat and didn't even have a towel to drap over myself. For the first half hour, I was fine, but the last half hour or so, I was starting to feel it. I pretty much just stayed huddled up with my shirt colar turned up to try and protect the back of my neck from sunburn. If I had been in that kind of exposure lost at sea or something, it's hard to imagine how you could make it through a whole day!

Anyway, as we approached Aromat island, we could hear men signing and drums pounding. We jumped off the boat just off shore and walked through the shallows to the beach. They treated us like honored guests, immediately lined us up behind a procession of dancing warriors (apparently they had been waiting for us for some time and were ready to start as soon as we got there).

As we lined up behind the male warrior dancers approaching the main courtyard.

The dancers moved slowly towards the courtyard and often would turn and march back towards us. I actually felt like I should run out of the way as they were pretty intimidating with the pig tusks and spears. But I held my ground and didn't move. Eventually they would turn back and make more progress towards the main courtyard where the entire villiage was waiting.

We were seated behind a podium, front and center on display as the honored guests from SIL (the Summer Institute of Linguistics which is the entity name that Wycliffe Bible Translators is under in PNG).

After more dancing and singing (what they call throughout PNG a sing sing), I noticed another group of men being led by a woman. The men were carrying a make-shift airplane with some cargo inside. Here is a video I took as I watched them approach us. It's 5 minutes long, but I figured I would just upload the whole thing.

The cargo ended up being boxes of Bibles and songbooks translated into their heart language. After they delivered the bibles to the podium. The dancing warriors all knelt in the courtyard, and the pastor of the island church began to speak in their tok place. Obviously, I didn't understand any of it, but the response of the people was enough for me to know that they had anticipated this moment for years, and were overjoyed for this day to have finally arrived.

The ceremony was wonderful, and about half way through, each of us who had come to visit, were given a gift. I was given a beautifully carved bowl with a bird’s body around the outside and a cross standing up in the middle. There are many people in Aromat are master carvers.

After the ceremony, I was allowed to enter into their church, which bore more beautiful carvings. They were very proud of their work and wanted to show me the baptismal. Here is a picture of it.

Later, we had about an hour to visit with the people and tour the island. One person was telling me in Tok Pisin that back in the late 1800’s, a huge earthquake and tsunami struck the region, and the island of Aromat sank into the ocean just a few feet from the surface. So, over the last century, they have slowly piled up coral and stone to re-make the island! It’s now a man-made island. And they are still doing it. They took me to a spot where they are slowly building up a new section of the island. They increase the size of their island by about a meter a year.

I headed over to tour some more of the island, and stepped in a huge pile of pig dung (in my bare feet). Then I noticed the pig. It was huge!

I met up with the pilot who flew us to this region and had been able to join us for the dedication ceremonies. We stumbled across the plane that the people in Aromat had built for the bible procession. So we got a picture of our pilot trying to fly it and got everybody laughing. One “character” from the village kept telling us that his airplane was better than ours because it had pontoons and could float on water. After we joked around for a while, we told him that if he could fly his plane to our airport in Ukarumpa, that we would give him a job there. Everybody got the joke and laughed. It was a fun time for everyone.

Finally, it was time to head back to the main island of New Britain for our last night. We made it back just before dark and found our way to an old house that must have been converted into a mechanics workshop, because there were motor parts from lawn mowers and motorcycles all around. We set up our mosquito nets and fell asleep on the hardwood floor.

Part 4 will be the final installment in this series "A Bible Dedication". Stay tuned!

Proud owners of the bible and songbook in their heat language of Taum.

A Bible Dedication - Part 2

2011-12-02T02:53:00.000-08:00

We had spent the previous day in travel to this remote tropical island in the Pacific called Tuam. I had slept at least a few hours that night on the hardwood floor with a wadded up t-shirt for a pillow. But as soon as the moon came out, a rooster started crowing outside my window every 15 seconds! I'm guessing it started around 2am and lasted well past daylight. It was a little more than mildly annoying :)

I finally lifted my stiff self off of the floor and stretched out all the kinks. Then went outside to take a look around. Something interesting about this village is that they have built huge walls out of bamboo posts and palm & banana leaves, many were about 20 feet high. I had seen a couple of these walls yesterday, but looking around in the daylight, I saw that they were all over the place, and all facing the same direction. My first thoughts went back to the movie King Kong! I was thinking what kind of animal are they trying to keep out of here? I was able to use enough Tok Pisin to ask someone what they were for and they told me it was an attempt to block the wind from the ocean. I thought that was a little strange, cause I hadn't really felt any wind since I'd been there.

So they pointed me toward the ocean and I headed that way. I reached the biggest wall yet but noticed a small openning big enough to crouch through. As soon as I stood in front of the openning I felt a blast of steady cool ocean breeze hit me. Forcing my way through, I found myself standing on a beatufil ocean shore with waves pounding the beach! Definately the kind of scene you would expect from a tropical pacific island.

After taking in some of the scenery, I headed back for the house. I didn't want to be late for breakfast and for any of the dedication ceremonies.

We had a breakfast of biscuts and bananas. And headed for the courtyard like area in the center of the villiage. Here are some pictures of the people as we approached.

We were welcomed to stand alongside the procession as dancers and singers performed. I'm going to fork over a little money now to upload a video of some of the dancing. It's totally worth it though for you to see a little of what I was taking in that day. I've got some more video of the men dancers that I'll show in the next part to this series.

After the dedication ceremonies that day at Tuam, we had a couple hours before we hopped into the boat again to travel to Aromat island for another dedication ceremony. I decided to head out to my earlier discovered beach and take a swim! When I got there, I found a small group of kids playing in the water. As I swam out to them, one of the littlelest saw me and screamed! He was terrified of the big whiteskin approaching him :). I found out later, that in a similar way we will tell our kids about the "boggie man", the villagers will tell stories of how the white skins are ghosts and that the eat black skin children.

Fortunately, they found I wasn't all that bad so we played together in the ocean. They had a game of counting how long you can stay underwater. So when one would yell out "Mi!" (pronounced like Me) he would dive down and we would all count. I think the record was about 30. So I went in and waited until about 27 so that we could celebrate the current record holder and he could have something to brag about to his friends!

After we made it back to shore, I grabbed the camera and snapped some pictures.

I said "Lokim yu!" (goodbye,n but more litterally translated as "see you later") and headed for the boat for our next adventure! Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving from PNG

2011-12-02T00:19:00.000-08:00

As we reflect on thanksgiving week (even though it doesn’t feel like fall here in PNG) we have been asking the kids what they are thankful for and we included ourselves too.

· The prayer/support of all of our family and friends back in our home country.

· That God gave us all an important job to do, even if it seems insignificant at the time.

· God gave us our own free will

· Jesus came to earth as a baby and gave up his son for us.

· 2 great school campus that we have in PNG

· Comfortable home to live in

· Being here in this beautiful country learning more about God each and every day

· Being able to ride horses

· Having a store that we can walk to. If you can get all the items on your shopping list, that is an added bonus (doesn’t happen all the time.)

· Rain to fill our tanks, and a way to have RAM( river water) and Tank(rain captured in our gutters and goes to holding tank) water be different so we have clean water to drink. Sun to heat the water heater and to dry the clothes.

· Yummy produce to buy at the “market” or get out of our own yard (pineapple and bananas)

· Hearts of the nationals that what to know more about Jesus and His word.

· Haus Merrie and Yard Man and yard Merries that come and help us with our household jobs a couple times a week.

· Lots of kids around for the girls to play/hang out with.

· Great Godly influences on our girls lives

· Community group and a youth group that is reinforcing what we are teaching at home

· A job that gives Chad the opportunity to be in the lives of 11 nationals and build relationships with them.

· Friends close and far away that are praying and willing to “listen” when the boiling point as been reached.

· For having music played in our home by our children.

· Friends sending us care packages and notes.

Thank you everyone for the prayers and support you have given us during this last year. WOW what a year of change it has been…..

God bless,

Chad, Ruth, Meliah, Annakah, Kiernan Michael

A Bible Dedication - Part 1

2011-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

As promised, I wanted to share my experience at the Bible dedication I attended a couple weeks ago. The translators were Bob and Salme Bugenhagen, and they were dedicating the Tuam and Oov dialects of the Saveeng language on the Siassi Islands just southeast of New Britain.

Our journey started off with bad weather and our flight out of Aiyura airport (near Ukarumpa) being delayed for a few hours. As it turned out, the aviation department was having some computer problems and so I was able to help out while we waited for the weather to clear.

The planes they fly here are small enough that they have to make sure they load them properly to keep the center of gravity within a certain range. So what that meant for me was that I was seated in the co-pilot's chair! That was pretty fun being right up in front with the instruments and flight controls and chatting with the pilot over the headset.

As we left Aiyura Airport

Just leaving Nadzap airport and reaching the coast of PNG

We stopped in the Lae airport called Nadzab to pick up Nimo, a Papua New Guinean journalist. Apparently, it's not a normal thing for a journalist to witness a Bible dedication.

From Nadzab, we headed for Laplap, which is a grass airstrip on the coast of New Britain. There was a large group waiting to greet us including Bob Bugenhagen. He stands at about 6' 7" and was towering over the Papua New Guineans to where at a distance, it looked like he was surrounded by a bunch of kids. But as it turned out, the men and women from the local villiage had come to help us carry our bags and other cargo we had brought with us.

From Laplap, we took about a 10 minute hike through the coastal jungle to the shore, where there was a small boat waiting to take us to our destiation for the evening, Tuam island. One thing that is "different" than my western culture, is that the women and children do most of the work. Also, they regard whiteskins as feeble and weak, and I was told it's considered a bit rude to not allow someone to carry my bags. I didn't anticipate how humbling it is when a nine-ish year old girl is carrying your 10kg backpack for you!

There were 10 year old twin boys named James (pronounced Jems) and Stephen. They met us at the airport and stayed with us the rest of the day. While waiting for the plane to get unloaded, I tought Jems how to play thumb wars. After that, he became my little shadow. Later I heard their story which I'll have to share as it's both tragic and inspirational.

Jems in the Red, and Stephen in the Blue

We loaded up the boat and after an hour on the ocean we came to shore, where we were greeted by the people there.

The boat. Carved out of a single tree.

An active volcano I watched from the boat as it was erupting out the side

The shore of Tuam

Greeted with fragrant flower Leis

Their villiage was beatiful and they had planned to keep us in their newest house that had just been dedicated a few days before by a pastor. They had built the house, but wouldn't stay overnight in it until it was blessed. So it had sat there for a few weeks at least while they saved up money and paid for a pastor to come and bless it for them. So we had the honor of being the first people to stay overnight in this new house!

When you are a whiteskin walking around with a camera, everybody wants their picture taken!

We were provided a feast of a dinner. Taro, cooked bananas, rice with coconut milk, and ham! I was kind of hoping and expecting fish since we were on an island in the pacific ocean.

As we walked towards the house we were staying at for the night, I saw this on the way and thought it might be dinner.

Near the house, there was this turtle thing with strings as a tail that was in a wooden bowl. This was guess number two at dinner!

But as guests, I think they wanted to give us their best, so we had pig that night. Another cultural difference is that they consider the fat to be the best part of the animal. My habit has to always cut the fat off and throw it away. But, I was served up a plate with a huge portion of pig fat with a sliver of meat attached. So, in an effort not to insult or offend, I slowly munched away at my plate of pig fat until I got it all down. Definately harder than I thought it would be!

That night over dinner, I chatted for an hour or so with the proud house owner while playing thumb wars with Jems, Stephen and a small crown of children that had gathered around. It had been a great day and I was starting to anticipate what was coming tomorrow.

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Life is Full

2011-11-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

We feel awful that we haven't been blogging as much lately but we're hoping to make this part of our routine again.

A lot has happened since the October. Here is a quick summary to get you caught up in the life and times of the Michael family:

Chad's Manager Position
The original plan was that Chad would become the acting CTS (Communications and Technical Services) department manager in December. Well, things were accelerated and he has been managing since the 1st of November! There are about 20 people in that department all together. Eleven PNG national staff and nine expatriates. There is a lot of email to "shuffle", forms to authorize, supervision of staff and all kinds of other managing duties to keep Chad super busy during the work day. But he still takes an hour lunch and hasn't worked any weekends so far! Please pray that he would continue to balance life between God, home and work well.

Ruth's Teaching Position
Ruth has been helping in the first grade class at the international school here in Ukarumpa. She has really enjoyed being in the classroom and has mastered the copy machine just like back home at CHS. Currently, the class is team taught by two teachers with Ruth as a helper. But next year, one of the teachers will be gone on furlough during the first term, so they have asked if Ruth would be willing to team teach during that time. She is very excited about it and we are beginning to plan for that. That may mean we stay a little longer than our original 1 year plan, so we are grappling with all of that.

Meliah's Network of Friends
Many of the seasoned veterans here in Ukarumpa have said that the worst year to enter your child into school here is 10th grade (Meliah's grade). The academic expectations are really high, and the way their class scheduling is setup makes the class load very demanding. Also, they have a big emphasis on what they call senior banquet, and the fund raising for that event starts in 10th grade. So there is always a bake sale, or a fund raiser of some kind going on with the 10th grade.
But Meliah has fully adjusted and adapted to all of these things and is surprisingly loving it here! She has made a ton of good friends and seems to be doing very well socially. Her grades are very reasonable as well.
While I'm amazed at how many activities seem to be going on at any given moment, sometimes we'll just get a knock on the door and it will be a group of 10th grade girls going for a walk and wanting Meliah to join them. Sometimes they go on prayer walks where they will pray for the school, for the individual families around center. The 10th grade even has a group they call "Beer and Cigars" modeled after C.S. Lewis and Tolkien where they talk about challenging theological issues.
These are good kids and good influences. Ruth and I have really seen a change in Meliah's character for the better as she spends time with her new network of friends.

Annakah's Loving Spirit
The 6th grade teacher is Mr. Raube (pronounce Rob) and the entire class loves him! Annakah just had a movie night at Mr. Raube's house with the rest of the 6th grade class and had a great time. Mr. Raube is a definite blessing to Annakah and the rest of the students in the class. Annakah loves school and is doing just fine in her academics. Thank you Mr. Raube for what you do!
She has had a little harder time with friends, as there has been some girl drama happening. But she has such a loving and sensitive spirit. Several of her strongest friends now are girls who she had spats with but they have since made up. They even organized and performed all on their own, an American Girl play. It was a parent invitation only performance, but wow! They spent the better part of two months working on the set, costumes and rehearsing. They all did great!
Overall, Ruth and I think Annakah has adjusted very well to living here in PNG. Both her and Kiery are tithing from their allowance in little jars they decorated, and they also have an offering jar that they want to give at the end of the year to a Papua New Guinean family to help them pay for their school fees.
Annakah is also quite the entrepreneur! She came up with a business idea to sell cold lunches at the school in the mornings when students line up at the front gate. There is no hot lunch here, so every school morning, everybody makes a cold lunch for their kids. Annakah thought she could setup a stand in front of the school gate and sell cold lunches! She even typed up a menu on the computer and has thought about pricing and a lot of other details. Mom and Dad aren't all that excited about having to setup a cold lunch assembly line each morning, so we are gently breaking that news to Annakah. She is one good thinker!

Kiernan's Love of Life
Kiery is a blessing to our entire family with her constant smiles and silliness! She has an infectious laugh and giggle that you just can't help but be happy when you hear it. She had a great sleep over at her friend Leslie's house the other night. They had a blast! Every week Kiery and her friend Tsion alternate between our house and her house and have a play date after school. There are also several first graders that live really close to our house here on center and they come over often to see if Kiery can come and play. It's sush a good feeling as a parent when your kids have good friends.
One thing that has really blossomed since we've been here in PNG is Kiery's reading! She has skipped several of the reading levels in first grade this year and is now doing what I think they call independent reading assignments. With all the girls, Ruth and I have read to them just about every night until they were reading on their own. I was shocked when Kiery wanted to read the Berenstien Bears book to me instead of having me read it to her. And she did it! Hardly even paused for harder words and even had tone and inflection. I was beaming with pride!

Well, that should catch you a little bit on our family happenings. We have a lot more to blog about and will soon. We didn't mention that:

Chad preached a Sunday morning sermon at church on Ephesians 2 (and facilitated communion)
Ruth and Chad went together on another successful Lae in a Day trip.
Ruth will be giving her testimony at Sunday evening church in about two weeks.
Chad went to Melbourne Australia for a technology conference and saw kangaroos and hiked through the Grampians.
Annakah has a duet on her Trumpet at the Christmas concert.
Meliah is one of the star players on her basketball team.
Chad went to New Britain to attend a Bible dedication ceremony (lots of pictures and video to share from that)
Chad went as a Cabin Sponsor to the High School Encounter Retreat (lots of embarrassing pictures from that)
Kiery was the Star of the Week last week in her class.
etc. etc. etc.

Planted cabbage in Mama Ruth’s garden

2011-10-26T15:02:00.002-07:00

What a neat experience Chad and Kiery had! They went to our house merri’s place and helped plant cabbage in her garden! Her garden is huge!!! You are literally hiking through the acres of jungle to get from plot to plot. And she said next time I’ll need to plan a whole day to go with her to her cow cow gardens up on the mountain. From there you can see all the way to Yonki dam (which is pretty far away J) The people here are so generous and love to show you their gardens and tell you about things. Of course, in-spite of my protest, we weren’t allowed to leave without armloads of lettuce, carrots, green onions, cucumbers and sugar cane. The sugar cane is a neat snack and they got a kick out of watching us try to bite through the tough husk!

A panorama of the Kasam. The mountain that we climb when getting into the highlands.

Chad accepted CTS Manager position for December through July-ish

2011-10-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we haven’t been here for long, but there is a severe shortage of computer guys here at the SIL (that’s Summer Institute of Linguistics which is the parent organization the Wycliffe operates with). The current manager of the CTS (Computer and Telecom Services) department is leaving on Furlough in November and that leaves a big gap. So they approached Chad about taking on that role until the full time manager returns in the July timeframe. After a weekend and prayer and consideration, we agreed to it and look forward to seeing what God will do with that.

Trip to Madang

2011-09-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

With Term 1 completed, the kids had a couple weeks break. We decided to be tourists for a while and went down to Madang which is on the Northern coastline of the Island of PNG. The drive takes about 5 hours and about 1 hour of it is through the Finistair mountains. It might be appropriate to just call it the Forest Stairs as the pass is just one steep hill after another on dirt roads that lead you through the jungle. Of course, the road hadn't been graded for a long time and it had rained a lot just before we left, so you are basically 4 wheeling it through a jungle dirt road for what seems like forever. Fortunately, even with all the shaking and jarring, Ruth's neck was only a little sore! There was even one river to forge right at the end! Here is a picture our friends took of us as we forded the river.

Chad had a lot of fun driving the family through all of that. And once we got to Madang, we all decided it was totally worth it! It's a beatufil setting on the pacific coast. We all had a great time snorkelling and taking in the amazing junglescape view.

We hired some guy with a boat (Johnie) to take us out to a deserted island called Pig Island. When we asked some of the people, they said they wouldn't go there because they were afraid of that place.

This is us on the boat as we headed out to Pig Island.

A picture of the island as we approached

There were some jellyfish out there in the lagoon. Unfortunately, Kiery got stung in the arm. We didn't have a lot with us as far as medicine, but we used some "Jungle Medicine" which made her arm feel a lot better.

Chad got a good sting on the neck.

Here is Meliah snorkeling

Clown Fish/Nemo!

We all had a great time on this much needed vacation. We took a lot of pictures and look forward to sharing more of them with you sometime.

Chad’s Awesome Day

2011-09-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

Everybody now and then needs a break. The lives of missionaries are no exception. Chad has been escaping Sunday afternoons to ride bicycle on trails throughout the countryside. This country is amazingly beautiful. The rides have all been great. Even though sometimes we follow a road that eventually gets swallowed by the jungle (as you can see in some of the pictures), it all makes for great stories we can tell later on.

This Saturday, we started off the day at the horse paddocks taking the 6^th of 8 horse management courses. Anyone who wants to become a member of the pony club must complete the entire course. Then you can have access to the paddocks and are allowed to “care” for someone’s horse when they are away on furlough or in the village.

After riding and horse care lessons, the girls all came back to the house to relax and play with friends. Chad decided to go on a bike ride and had a great ride up to what’s called the west ridge.

He ended up meeting the paragliders up there and caught a ride down the mountain on a tandem ride.

They had thrown Chad's bike in the vehicle that picks up the paragliders at the LZ (landing zone), so Chad took off from there to try and find his way back to Ukarumpa. He ended up riding through several small villages and having to tell people he was lost and ask for directions. He eventually made it back in time for his 4:00pm appointment with the guys at the sauna.

It was a Finland sauna, one where 4 guys get in their birthday suits, sit for 15 minutes in a room over 80 degrees C (176 Fahrenheit) with heat blasts every couple minutes when they throw water on the furnace stones. Then they run outside and freeze themselves in the river water. They do this in three times and the last dose of water on the stones is about a liter of water, the heat blast that results practically melts your skin! Chad loved it!

[Sorry, in the interest of keeping this blog kid friendly, no pictures of this adventure]

When he finally got home, we got in our dress up clothes and went to a 11^th grade fundraiser which was an Italian dinner at the Teen Centre (notice the common wealth spelling).

The food was great and the conversation was even better. Everyone had a wonderful time. The teens had made it feel so much like an italian restaraunt, I almost forgot I was in PNG!

Over-all Chad had an AWESOME day! And the rest of us enjoyed the rest J.

Ruth went to Lae in a Day (twice)

2011-09-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

Jail break!!! Sirens! Lights! Radio Chatter!

But seriously, Ruth has finally got off center and is on an infamous “Lae in a Day” journey with a couple of other families from Ukarumpa. Actually she went with the Lae in a Day group but she stayed overnight with a friend at the SIL Guest house in Lae. These two moms were long overdue for a break. Besides getting a lot of much needed shopping done, they were able to relax and enjoy the nice accomodations and… get ready for this one… EAT OUT!!!

That's a big deal in this country.

To demonstrate how urgently Ruth needed to get out of Ukarumpa, here is a picture of Ruth "before"...

And after a couple day break from the family...

Boy, I sure hope Ruth doesn't read this blog post... but just in case,

I love you sweetheart!

Church in the Villiage

2011-09-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Annakah, Kiery and Chad went to a viliage church this Sunday. It was about a 50 minute walk through the jungle with one river to forge. But it was really cool! The only down side is that they only spoke Tok Pisin at this church and they spoke really, really fast. So Chad could barely understand maybe 30% of the sermon and the kids didn’t get any of it. But, it was totally worth the hike.

As a bonus, on the way back, we went to the pastor’s brother’s house and he and his wife were getting their kids in traditional tok place costume because some kind of government representative was coming to visit. I was able to snap some pictures as we sat and visited. Very friendly people.

Annakah got Bucked off Jazzie

2011-09-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Annakah had been caring for a horse on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons since her owner was taking Rugby at the high school those evenings. Annakah was brushing, cleaning hooves, feeding, saddling and riding Jazzie and hadn’t had any trouble for a few weeks.

But this evening, something spooked Jazzie and she must have bucked and Annakah landed hard on the ground.

She ended up surviving it ok, her wrist got sprained and she had a fat lip and sore neck for a couple days. But the clinic checked her over and gave her a wrist splint for a week or so and a cervical collar for a couple days. Nothing broken thank goodness. For all of you who know Annakah, you can guess that she isn’t one bit deterred and can’t wait to get back on horses. Mom and Dad have set some tighter limits though and she’ll only be riding on Saturday’s as part of the horse management classes until we complete the course.

Meliah played softball in Goroka (sun cookim face)

2011-09-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

Meliah went with a small caravan (police escorted which made mom and dad feel better) to Goroka for the first of two softball tournaments of their season. They won! Well, they only had two other teams to play against.

The more important thing is that they had a lot of fun and built memories and relationships. Meliah didn’t put any sunscreen on (even though mom sent her with our best stuff) and her face got a pretty bad sunburn. In Tok Pisin you would say “sun cookim face”! So she had a week of horror as she had to go to school with the various stages of peeling and cracked skin. But she is over it for the most part now and all is well once again in teenager land ;).

Sports Day, or as I affectionately called it, Mud Day!

2011-08-27T03:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week, prior to Sports Day, the weather was very much raining and just messy. About 2 days before the event, the weather turned nice and we were all (mostly us parents) hoping the grass and field would dry out before the Friday event. It was nice all day Thursday even through the evening hours. Then as I was tucking in the girls that night, Kiery was in a goofy mood and she prayed for rain for the Sports Day. She must have a more direct line to God then I do at times. We woke Friday morning to pouring down rain. Kiery thought she was so funny….. As we went out the door, we grabbed umbrellas, jackets and prepared ourselves for the mud!!!!

The Sports Day is a lot like Track and Field Day @ Christian Heritage School. They have relay races, obstacle courses, sack races, long jump etc., so a fun day of OUTSIDE play. The rain was a warm rain and more drizzly as the morning wore on. Ruth had signed up to help guide the girls in Kiery’s class around thinking (1^st mistake) that they wouldn’t have a BRAND new person all by herself guiding 6 yr. olds on fields that she didn’t know the name of let alone how the whole day was going to work. Well yes they put me by myself, after I dealt with the shock of that I looked at the map and Chad came over to at least get us to the first event. All was well.

We all had fun. Remember EVERYTHING is a hill in Ukarumpa, add that to soppy wet grass and then add to that about a 100 kids walking up and down the hills to get to the different events. Yes, lots of slipping and sliding was going on. And yes, as many of you know Ruth well, she did fall. But nothing was hurt, just more clothes that had to be scrubbed by hand. We all had fun!!! We got to know kids in each of the girl’s classes better and their parents. Anna and Kiery both had several ribbons each. But the most important was the fun they had and the memories that were made. After the day was over, you could hear all the showers going in the whole center to get all the mud cleaned off. Many of us, did the first layer of mud outside with the hose.

The Sports Day for the secondary campus is in the Spring so we shall see how muddy that event is…

Looking forward to more memories made and to be shared.

Bananas!!!

2011-08-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

We finally harvested our first bunch of bananas! We have about six banana trees in our garden and one bunch was ready to chop down. After we cut it off at the stem, we hung it from a rope on our porch to let them ripen. As part of chopping them down, we learned that if you get any of the juice from the stem on your clothes, it will permanantly stain them!

We are going to have to get creative to use so many bananas in a short amount of time. They will ripen really fast and all at once. Banana bread, banana cookies, banana slices in our pancakes and pudding will all be on the menu for a while.

Anyone have any other banana recipes you would be able to share?

Here is our bunch of bananas!

This is another bunch of bananas as they are developing. The tear-drop looking thing is a bright purplish color. Very beautiful.

Another bunch of bananas.

A fun mask that a guard friend of ours (Giama) made for the kids. It's a piece of the strong bamboo tree near our house.

Birthday

2011-08-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

Well, today is my birthday! I have to say that I never thought I would ever spend a birthday doing what I did today. First, I went to a village church in the Gadsup (pronounced God soup) people group. It was a great experience getting to worship our Lord with people from all over the world. I recorded some of the singing during the praise time if you’re interested.

Gadsup Worship

The message was given by one of the “youth” from a church group visiting from Goroka. An interesting thing about the youth in this country, is that they aren’t necessarily people who are younger. It seems that a youth is anyone who hasn’t married or hasn’t had kids, or sometimes, you can still have a youth who “is” married and “does” have kids, but they are still considered a youth. I haven’t quite figured out the rules on this one yet. But basically you’ll see people who are likely in the late 30’s or 40’s who are still part of the “youth group”.

Today, the focus at this church was out of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 on how God uses the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong. The speaker told the stories of Moses, Joseph and David. How God used them in powerful ways for His purposes in spite of their shortcomings. It was actually very inspirational.

The church we attended

The youth who delivered the message

Another interesting thing about how they tell stories here in PNG culture, is that they often will tell it at twice, back to back. So you hear it once, and then they tell it again, and you think to yourself, didn’t he just say that? And, in fact, he did just say it, but he’s telling it again. Sometimes the second time around, you get a few new pieces to the story that you weren’t told the first time. It’s all very interesting.

Once we got back to the center, we joined up with a few other folks and headed into Kainantu for lunch. There is a hotel with a restaurant there that is open on Sunday afternoons. We all enjoyed a wonderful meal and had a great time chatting and sharing our experiences here in PNG.

Towards the end of the meal, the rain started to come down. All the seating is outside at this place. At first, we thought maybe it wouldn’t be too bad and we kinda just ignored the drops. But soon it turned into a down-pour and we were forced to gather up our stuff and run under the covering where they prepare the food.

Huddled under the covering.

Moments after we got under the roof as the storm hit.

The storm was coming down in buckets, and sideways, so even under the shelter we were all getting soaked. We waited for it to lighten up a little and then made a run for the car. Any of us who had managed to stay somewhat dry before we headed for the car ended up getting completely soaked by the time we got inside.

Fortunately the trip back to Ukarumpa was uneventful. Meaning the bridge was still there, and the road hadn’t completely washed out. There is a patch of road where it’s just about 7 feet wide and a huge pit that washed out on one side and a steep bank on the other, so that’s a bit scary with big torrential rains and gushing streams pouring all around. But we made it home safe and sound (and wet).

But now, I have a nice cup of coffee, am in dry clothes and relaxing in my kitchen, watching the rain pour outside. Ahhhh.

What has God been up to lately?

2011-08-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ruth and Chad

Ruth and I have been haveing some really good conversations about plans for the future. We're both sold out for Jesus, we're both willing to serve Him no matter where He calls us. And, of course, we're married to eachother! This makes for a very exciting combination with a lot of potential.

One thing about Ukarumpa, is that you walk everywhere you go and it's always uphill. I had read that somewhere before coming and thought, yeah whatever. But actually you don't appreciate how everthing is uphill until you live here. I guess if you thought of a town of hills, and then everybody built on a hilltop, that kinda gives you a perpective of what it's like walking around town here in Ukarumpa.

But I digress,... the point I was getting at was that when Ruth and I are going to the store, or visiting a friend, getting the mail, renting a movie from the Russel's (missionaries here who have a big movie collection), we walk to where we need to be and it can sometimes take a half hour or more of just ... walking.

We've been looking forward to running errands because walking together becomes a bit like a date! We are hanging out and chatting along the way. And unlike date night's at home where we would go to a restaurant and pig out, these dates come with the added bonus of excercise! (Actually, I think Ruth and I are already healthier that when we came.)

What typically transpires is that we decompress with sharing of what's happenned to each of us that day, and then we still have some hills to climb, so we turn to relational and spiritual matters. We've been talking a lot about how well our girls are doing with friends and how challenging their schooling is (challenging is a good thing). We've been talking about my job, or about the different things Ruth has been involved in (yes, she is already volunteering for stuff and is becoming quite busy). Talking about all our new friends and neat connections we've made with people here. And usually we'll get around to the question of what should we do after this year is up.

The Honeymoon
I realized the other day that we've been here a little over 4 weeks, which is 1/12th of our time here (7.7%). Time is definately flying by and it feels like we are still just settling in with so many things to learn and discover yet.

I was chatting with a friend at work and was thinking about how we got here. I remember when Ruth and I felt we were being called to this that she and the kids were anxious about it. I'll admit that I was more excited than anxious most of the time. But even up to the last days, we were all a little scared about this whole thing of leaving our comfort zone and coming to a place where we knew no-one, didn't speak the language, and didn't have any good ideas of what to expect. Where we would live, what we would eat, what the people would be like, etc....

But getting back to chatting at work, I realized that my whole family is loving this place! Yeah, there is no TV, no radio, internet that barely works and is expensive to use, but those have all turned out to be not that important. My kids are working hard in school and not complaining that much about it! The each have great friends and hang out with them all the time. Our phone is practically ringning itself off the hook around here and hardly any of the calls are for Ruth and I! We are recognizing more and more that relationships are what matter. Relationships are the only "thing" that we take with us when our time here on this earth is over. Everthing else will be meaningless at that point.

In 11 months, I'm starting to wonder if we are going to have the opposite struggle when our time here is up and we move back to the US. The kids won't want to leave and Ruth and I may be struggling with that as well.

But my friend at work reminded me that we are still in the "honeymoon" phase. Life here can wear on you and we'll be sure to have some trials and storms in the coming months that will help us to get a better perspective of what living here long term is like. It's not all blue skies and sunshine.

Sunday at Church
I was asked, and honored, to lead a time of prayer during last Sunday morning's English services. Thinking about it later, I "should" have been nervous about doing such a thing. I mean, this room is filled with people who translate the Bible for pete's sake! How could I be worthy to lead a time of pray at church? But you know what, when I was in the presence of all my brothers and sisters in Christ, I didn't feel nervous. It wasn't about me anyway. We were there together to offer worship to our Lord. And it gives me joy to point back at the Father and give Him the glory for using me, a pitiful and weak vessel, as His servant yet again. The entire service that morning was blessed and the Lord was in it.

God's at Work (on something)
So what is God up to lately? Obviousely, I can't say I know for sure. I can't even really say I know what He is doing in the life of the Michael family. But I know He's up to something, and I trust Him with whatever it ends up being. Between my personal devotionals, men's breakfast and small group on Tuesday's, I've been learning how imporant trusting in God is. He is a perfect and just God and I can trust Him to do the right thing even when I don't see it, or understand it. He knows.

Prayer
We would appreciate your prayer support right now. Pray that we would learn what God has for us. Pray for our children's safety and praise Him for their friends and teachers here in Ukarumpa. Pray for Ruth and I to have discernment in decision making. Pray for me that I might lead this family with confidence on the path God has laid before us. And pray that God would reveal Himself and His will to our family so that we might not miss the divine opportunities He has planned ahead. And pray that in all these things, as we continue to mess up and blow it, that it would be turned back around and used to bring glory back to God. 1 Thes 4:1.

The Unfamiliar Becomes Familiar

2011-08-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

For the first several weeks we were here in PNG, life was just so “unfamiliar”, nothing was “normal” to us. In the last few days things are finally becoming “familiar” to us. We’re starting to get names and faces and families figured out! Most things have found a place in our new home. Knowing what the store has and doesn’t have is becoming more routine. Knowing where people live and places are and getting to know the short cuts in the community is helping a ton since you have to walk everywhere!!!
We have settled into a pretty good daily routine at least for now. All 3 girls enjoy school and their friends and activities.
Meliah is in softball and doing “Soul Purpose” which is a youth group and also a small group of girls that meet another night a week. It seems someone is always having a movie night on Friday nights so Meliah is a part of that also.

Annakah is playing trumpet, getting horse riding and horse care lessons at least 1x a week. Her friends are over here, or she is over there any chance she gets.
Kiernan is enjoying every minute of being 6 ½ yrs old and loves to annoy her sisters. She has been to 2 birthday parties already and lots of play dates. She loves to read to us and play school.
Chad is working as a programmer and trying to figure out where he fits in there. He does a Tuesday morning bible study with a group of guys. He’s anxious to get out and ride his newly acquired bicycle on some trails off center on Saturday. He is all signed up to climb the biggest mountain in PNG (Mt Wilhelm 15,000ft) in September.
We are both involved in a small group on Tuesday nights, so that is so nice to get some adult time in.
I’ve just started being a parent volunteer 1 morning a week in Kiernan’s class. And I was just asked to join a Wednesday morning ladies bible study which will start next week. And then on Wednesday afternoon I meet with a couple ladies from our small group just to be together.
In the last few days we have had to say our first goodbye since we’ve been here. Our fellowship family Loren & Kensey Ledebuhr went home to the states for a year-long furlough. Our families hit it off so fast and well that it was a hard goodbye. But with them leaving we acquired there dog to babysit. Her name is Inca and she is great with the kids but her bark keeps rascols away (rascols are bad guys). Also with Ledebuhrs being on furlough we have done a “car swap”. We will use their car here in PNG and they will use our van while traveling in the states. So God again knows what we need before we do!!! We have made some great connections with other families here in PNG. And are truly amazed at how our kids have adjusted. They act like this has been this way their whole life.
Thank you all for your continued prayer support! We love you and miss you all!

AAAARRRRGGHHHH... I'm a Pirate!

2011-08-08T03:56:00.000-07:00

We were at Meliah’s first softball game of the season and Annakah was hanging out with a group of her friends when suddenly she had a parrot on her shoulder!

The parrot’s name is Buddy and he says several things and even sounds like an alarm. Anyway, Ruth and I had to snap a couple pictures. Annakah has a way with animals of all kinds and Buddy really liked hanging out on her shoulder.

When you’re living in a third world country, you learn to love your dishwasher….

2011-08-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

I love it here, as I have said before, but there are some definite luxuries that I miss from back home. Such as the dishwasher. And my computer. Oh, the loveliness of my computer. Mhm, and our 42” television. We need to get the pictures up, but we have an insane dinosaur-like TV. Big box on the back, antenna poking out the front… yeah, put a dial for the volume on the screen and you got yourself a priceless antique.
Anyway, school’s going well. Considering. I had no idea how complicated those twisty code locks could be. I get it now. But the first few day?! Well, I didn’t use my locker. At all.
Well, this isn’t a big surprise to anyone, but Math defiantly isn’t my strong point. Geometry doesn’t like me, And you know something? I don’t like it either. But something that is probably a surprise to most of you, is that I had to drop Spanish 2. It turns out when you combine Spain Spanish and lack of my alphabet skills with me, and my wacky work ethic, it ain’t pretty. But the rest of my classes, including Yearbook, are going really well. I hope it keeps coming. I really like the school and the kids and the teachers. Everyone seems to want to be there. Really? If it wasn’t for the kids wanting to be apart of the mission field, there wouldn’t be a Ukarumpa. It’s kind of incredible, actually.
Okay, well I’m done jabbering at you now. Keep us in your prayers, Oh and be thinking of me on Thursday, I’ll be playing in my first softball game. Yeah. That’s how I roll.
Yours Truly,
Meliah Michael

Home Away from Home

2011-07-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

Today Ruth grabbed the camera and went around the home we're living in and snapped some pictures for the blog! So for anyone out there who is interested in what our house looks like, this post is for you!

The internet is working way better tonight so I thought I better get these pictures uploaded while I can!

Our house from the front yard

One of our pineapple gardens

The house from the backyard. We're on the side of a steep hill. Not a lot of fun to mow!

Our two bee hives in the backyard. They seem pretty harmless so far.

The terraced garden out our back door.

The living room.

Kitchen and dinning room table.

We put Meliah under the stair well. The room is bigger than it looks in this picture.

The bathroom and shower. Chad hardly ever gets a turn!

The laundry room.

The living room from the other side showing the wood stove. Even though we are in the tropics, we are a mile high in elevation and it actuall has been really overcast and cool the whole time we've been here. So we've actually used the fireplace even though we are practically at the equator!

Annakah's room.

Kiernan's room.

Ruth and Chad's room. This is a double bed with just a 6 inch foam rubber mattress! An adjustment from our sleep by number king back home.

The other half of the master bedroom.

The view off our front porch.

So now you have a better idea of what it looks like where we live. It's actually one of the newest homes here in Ukarumpa built back in 2006 (I think). We feel so blessed to be in such a nice place and plan to host bible studies, youth groups, sleepovers, and other events on a regular basis since we have a lot of space.

So next time your in our neck of the woods, be sure to swing by and see the place for yourself! ;)

Garbage Talk

2011-07-28T03:45:00.000-07:00

One of the additional tasks of living in Ukarumpa is that you have to separate your garbage. You have burnable, wet garbage, and other. So this means you keep three different buckets in your house and are constantly making decisions of how to sort your garbage when you throw it away. Also, if your garbage is in the "other" category, like tin cans and stuff, you are asked to wash it clean. I think this is because while their storing it in the trucks and containers before it's taken to the dump, it attracts a number of dogs and rodents that like to rummage around it.

Anyway, you burn your burnables when you decide you have enough to burn. As for the wet garbage, that's anything that could be used as compost and every home has either a compost pit, or a compost pile. Some of the compost pits are hard to find and from the surface, all you see is a strand peice of concrete on the ground. Here is a picture of the one we had our first week at Ukarumpa while we stayed in the temprorary housing (Translator Lodge 8B).

The other slightly unfortunate problem with having a wet garbage, is that even though ours has a lid over the bucket, it can get rather stinky pretty quickly. The banana peels mixed with all the other random things from toast crust to carrot tops can make make for a slimmy mixture. It actually smells like dirty feet! While Meliah and I were doing dishes one night I think I inadvertently gave her a complex by telling her that her feet smelled really bad. But today I discovered it wasn't her feet, it was the wet garbage.

Yes.... I apologized to her :)

An Update from Ruthicus

2011-07-24T02:33:00.001-07:00

The girls started school on Wed July 20th and Chad had his first day of work in Friday the 22nd. The girls seem to love school. Meliah and Anna have had homework every night so far but they seem to enjoy the classes and friends. Kiery loves school and is making lots of friends and is reading lots of different things. Anna has decided to play the trumpet in the school beginning band, luck us....Actually I don't mind b/c of playing flute all those yrs and I figure its pay back time. :) She is also in choir and she went to ride horses today (Sat). Meliah commented that Anna is never home that is a switch We are very impressed with the schools thus far and everything about them. The weather we aren't impressed with though. We have had rain most days since being here (like the drizzle kind of rain contuinally in Seattle.)

On the few sunny days we have had, or at least not drizzling, you can tell everyone is doing laundry as fast as they can to hopefully get it dried before it rains. I think today alone, I did 5 loads. Luckily this house has a covered porch for the rainy days to maybe get the clothes dry eventually....Meliah is in the youth program here. She has already been with her small group and will have youth group on Wed and small group on Tues. She really likes the girls here. The other day Chad was gone and Meliah was somewhere else too and there was a knock at the door. I opened it and it was like 5 teenage boys looking for Meliah. They were all going to play frisbee golf and wanted to invite her. Anyway, I laughed when I closed the door, thinking Chad would have had the "shotgun" out w/ boys coming over. We all had a good laugh over that one. Chad seemed to like his first day of "work". He did enjoy helping our fellowship family with an unexpected home remodel project before he started his job. We really enjoy our fellowship family and they are our neighbors now that we have moved. But..... they are going on forlough in 2 weeks, so that will be a tough loss there.

We are getting settled into our new permanent home. The bags are unpacked and most things have found a place to be. We moved in Tues night to this home. We hope to get pictures on the blog soon.

To Be Stupid or Not Be Stupid. That is the question.

2011-07-24T01:45:00.001-07:00

Hum. I started 10th grade today. It was pretty intense. Word of advice: when traveling around the world, and you hope to get some schooling done while traveling, BRING SCHOOL SUPPLIES. Even if they say the teachers and/or store will provide them, you need to bring them with you. I don’t care if you have to pay the stupid overweight fees on the luggage. Make it number 4 on your priority list, next to clean underwear, toothbrush, and Sammy the Teddy Bear.

Anywho, I really do hate being the new kid. I mean, the kids are nice and everything, but just the fact that I know that I’m out of the loop on most conversations, is all but maddening. It’s weird being on the other side of the fence(aka ocean). Metaphorically. I’m usually the one on the inside of the jokes and pick up lines; in fact I think I may be the causes of most of those jokes and pick up lines. Yah, it’s weird being an outsider. I have a new respect for all you new kids around the world. I bid you my condolences.

Since its open campus for lunch, I went over to the Ledebuhrs (We’re their neighbors now! We finally moved out of that pathetic Translator Lodge (: ), and had a Papua New Guinean specialty: tuna, rice, and green beans. Hey, don’t make that face at the computer screen, it actually was quite yummy. Unfortunately, since we do go home for lunch, it feels like the day just got exdended. Times 2. And it probably doesn’t help that the school day goes from 8:20 to 3:45. Mhm. The world’s longest first day. Suck. Actually, it couldn’t have been quite the longest first day; come to think of it, the first day of junior high was pretty dang long.

Okay, so this is so totally off the subject, but I read my other blog post a few days ago. The last part (before the PS)? Wow. What was I smoking when I wrote that? Pardon my stupidness when I thought up that particular pick up line.

Tangent! Geez, I’m like turning into a Mrs.Seagle over here. “Just shows how much I love you. Mrs. Seagle” (says in mocking, sarcastic Meliah voice) Anyway, another day of school tomorrow. Ugh. But, at least I won’t have to go through that some-what retarded school assembly for new imbiciles who can’t seem to find their way to Spanish 2. Ehhem. I was like 15 minutes late because I couldn’t find the darned Spanish room. Yeah, so I pretty much made a glorious and utterly amazing entry that everyone wanted to see, in the middle of a foreign language class that you’re never gonna have to use anyway, because you’re first year was taught in the Mexican Spanish and now you’re learning Spanish 2 from those Spanards. And because you’re even farther away from Mexico (and Spain) a then you were in the States. Actually, I just slunk in and no one noticed me (hardly). Yep. That’s how I roll.

Well, Mom wants me to go to sleep. Even though, it’s like 3 in the morning, Wednesday, for you guys, I want to get to sleep sometime in the 12 hours before I have to go through the agony of another school day in July.

Night everyone. Hugs to all. And kisses for those who were previously preselected at this time. Hoho. And to all a good night. <3

-Meliah Michael

Annakah & Jazzie

2011-07-24T01:44:00.003-07:00

On Saturday’s members of the pony club come to the paddocks to ride and hold courses for new riders in horse management and care. Annakah has dreamed of riding horses for years and was overjoyed at the idea that Ukarumpa has horses!

We had met Savanah earlier in the week and she offered to give Annakah a lesson and ride this Saturday so Anna made sure we were there on time and ready to learn. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. We plan to continue with the lessons and take the horse management course. When we get home, I’ve seriously been considering getting a couple horses on the farm for the girls. So it’s great to learn good horse care.

We snapped a number of pictures and video, but have temporarily “misplaced” the camera. So I’ll try to think to update this post with pictures when we can.

Chimney Fire and Land Cruiser Fun!

2011-07-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Before you all panic, it wasn’t in our chimney, but our fellowship family’s. They live on the other side of Ukarumpa and in the early morning hours, their motion sensor, and then their fire alarm woke them up and their house was full of smoke.

On Monday, since we were waiting for our new house to become available, and I wasn’t working at my job yet, I walked over to see if I could help.

As it turned out, there was plenty of demolition happening and I was able to jump in and help. The next days were spent reframing the wall that had burned, and putting a window in where the fireplace & chimney had been.

Once we got the new window framed, they ordered glass from Lae and I volunteered to go down with Loren and his young son to pick it up. It’s a good idea to travel in groups and so he was glad to have me along. Also, now that Ruth and I had lived here for a little over a week, we had thought of a list of things we wanted to pick up from the “big city” that isn’t available here.

The best part of going to Lae with Loren was that he let me drive the land cruiser we had rented from the Ukarumpa autoshop! Driving in PNG and especially in Lae is a totally different experience. The roads are full of potholes and giant ruts. And the streets are packed with cars and pedestrians.

Again, I had high hopes of showing some video, but the internet barely works, but I did get a picture of the land cruiser.

A Trip to Kainantu

2011-07-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we attended the English service here at the Ukarumpa meeting house. We were very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed worshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ here in PNG.

We were invited to go to lunch after church with a couple who have served here a long time as children’s home parents, Geoff and Sue. They took us to a hotel in Kainantu that has an outdoor restaurant. We had rump steak, t-bone steak, chicken and all the sides. The meal was excellent and the conversation was encouraging and inspiring as well.

While we were waiting for our meal, Geoff took us over to the “mini” zoo at the hotel where there were tree kangaroos, a regular kangaroo, and a cockatoo. I took a video of the girls laughing at the maniacal cockatoo for you all to enjoy. Unfortunately, the internet is bad enough here that I can't get it to upload. So, here are a couple pictures instead.

Christmas Tree Spider

A Trip to Gatsup Village

2011-07-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Our family was invited to visit one of the nearby villages to help deliver some old doors and miscellaneous items to one of the homes there. The village is pronounced like God Soup. The person who greeted us and was receiving the items being donated, was named Mama Ruth! We really enjoyed getting to meet her and she showed us around her gardens and the various homes that are on her plot of land where several family member’s live.
She also has one of the few hotels in the area where people who are travelling through can stay for the night. One time, the police had a group of around 15 or so people who were stranded for some reason, and they brought them all to Mama Ruth’s hotel. She told us how she had to run out to her garden and get enough food to feed them all. It was really neat hearing her tell these stories in Tok Pisin while our friend translated for us.

I did say it was a hotel, but of course, not like you and I would picture. It’s one round house about 20 feet in diameter with a fire pit in the middle and a raised floor around most of the space which serves as one big bed for lots of people to pile up on.
I was able to snap a few pictures of some of the huts with my phone since I forgot the camera on this particular trip.

Mama Ruth 3rd from the left

One of the huts they live in

We’re actually considering hiring Mama Ruth as our house meri once we settle into a more permanent house. We’ll be sure to keep you all updated on that.

Things that are different about living and adjusting to life in PNG.

2011-07-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is a list of things I’ve put together for those who are curious about how life is different here in Ukarumpa PNG. Not wrong but different than what is “normal” for us.

Hot water depends on if Sun is out and how long sun has been out.
Electricty is VERY expensive here and you don’t leave lights on unless you are in the room.
Sun being out determines if clothes get dried in a timely matter.
It gets light @ 6:30am and gets dark @ 6:30 pm. No fluctuation.
People tend to be in their homes and in for the night by 8pm.
The eggs stay out on counter here you don’t refigerate them. If the egg looks funny after cracking it then throw it out.
Mattresses for beds are pieces of foam between 4-6in. thick.
Make sure all electronics are out of sight at all times. Or at least out of arm’s reach from the windows.
Ukarumpa is not in a circle or a square or a rectangle. Roads make no sense.
One appreciates our grandparents and the older generation more and more every day for what they had to do on a daily basis b/c of not having convenience things, such as dishwasher, microwave, washer that actually washes clothe (and not a scrub brush and a bar of soap to scrub the dirt out).
You reuse everything until it isn’t possible any longer. Ziploc bags get washed many many many times, plastic bottles same thing,
Bathtubs don’t seem to exist here.
When going to the bathroom you push a certain button if you go pee vs going poop.
You can’t just plug in to an outlet, you need an adaptor AND to make sure the device is ok on this power.
The store is only open from 9-4 Monday-Friday.
Everything costs $$$. Including email, use of the school playground, etc.
Make sure you disconnect internet on your computer if not using it. Or the bill adds up quickly.
Malaria medicine is like over the counter meds here, no prescription needed.
You have a list when going to the store but knowing that you probably won’t be able to get half of it cause they ran out.
Milk is in a strange carton or it is in powder form.
You figure out real quick that a kilogram equals approx. 2 lbs.
When calling someone else in Ukarumpa you only need to dial the last 4 numbers of their phone number.

Asde yu bin baim wanem kain kaikai long maket?

2011-07-16T01:17:00.001-07:00

Roughly translated, "What kind of food did you buy at the market yesterday?"

I've collected a handful of books and we're trying to learn Tok Pigin which is the local trade language in Papua New Guinea. We elected to skip the Pacific Orientation Course which is where missionaries typically go for 6-12 weeks before coming to Ukarumpa. Since we were only committing to 1 year, it's considered optional and we decided to come directly here and begin serving straight away.

However, the disadvantage of doing that is not getting a handle on the local language. So, it's up to us to learn as much as we can on our own.

But getting back to the market… besides feeling completely out of place and like everybody was looking at us, we found some really great food and other items there. We got; potatoes, bananas, lettuce, strawberries, a bilum (a shoulder bag), and some necklaces for the girls to send home to friends.

Our first view of the Market

It felt kind of silly using the little tok pisin we know to ask what something was called, only to have them tell us the English word :). So now I'm not sure if they use the same word, or if they just were telling us what we would call it!

The artifacts section

There are also several cultural things you need to be aware of. For example, you should never step "over" someone's food, especially if you're a woman. They consider the food contaminated if that happens. Also, they stack all their food so that the nicest is on top and the rotten stuff is underneath and hidden. So it's considered rude to touch it and move it around to see what they've tried to hide. And if you don't have exact change, you shouldn't just let them keep the change, because then you've made them indebted to you, and you don't want to do that unless you have a relationship with them.

There is a professional security force called "Guard Dog" and you'll see the guards on patrol all around Ukarumpa

Anyway, we managed to survive, but it was admittedly a bit uncomfortable. I look forward to when we can visit the market and we don't think anything more of it than going to the grocery store back home.

Revenge of the Malaria Prophylaxis!

2011-07-16T01:15:00.001-07:00

Our first day in Ukarumpa we visited the clinic! That's not a good sign J.

A part of living here in Ukarumpa PNG, is that we need to protect ourselves against malaria which is a major problem here. There are several different malaria pills that you can try, the cheapest is Doxycycline. This is a fairly large pill that must be swallowed so we decided that all of our family except Kiery could probably manage it fine. However, you need to start taking it a few days before travelling and when Ruth tried hers while we were still in the States, she got violently ill and ended up losing the medication. So, we called the doctor and decided to split Kiery's Mefloquin with Ruth which is working fine.

However, a little tip about Doxycycline is that you shouldn't lay down for at least an hour after you take one. Otherwise, it could stay in your esophagus and dissolve causing an ulcer. Well, we know that now, but we didn't know that until after Meliah took her pill and laid down for a nap!

She started complaining of a lot of pain in her upper chest, so we took her to the doctor at the local clinic and he explained what had happened.

The good news is that he started her on some meds that help soothe the ulcer and begin a slow healing process for her. She's feeling much better but it still irritates her after a meal. It hasn't slowed her down much and she's met several girls from her class already and has walked all over the town with them swinging from tree ropes over puddles and having a great time.

But keep her in your prayers that her ulcer would heal quickly and there wouldn't be any down-stream effects.

Planes, Tuk Tuks, and Automobiles

2011-07-13T22:44:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it to Ukarumpa! Who Hooh! The last few days have been full of activity. Loren and Kensey dropped us off at Chad and Kendle’s for a home cooked meal. They have two children around our younger girl’s ages. It was really nice to meet these folks and they had a wonderful dinner prepared for us.

We spent a good time in fellowship and prayer with them and then it was time to head to our new home away from home. Translator Lodge 8B.

Their vehicle wasn’t running so Chad offered to take us home in his wife’s car. I noticed it coming into their home, a little Tuk Tuk!

Chad is probably about 6’10” or so and so he crammed into the front, and we all loaded into the back. It was probably the funnest part of the day to ride in the Tuk Tuk!

Use the term “Road” lightly

2011-07-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

We landed in Lae- last plane ride!!!!!! Our fellowship family (the family assigned to show us the ropes of Ukarumpa living etc.) met us at the airport and drove us to a SIL guest house were stayed the night. The girls were very excited to see a pool there. The fellowship family has a girl that is a month older than Kiery and a son that is almost 10. So the kids paired up. Kiery was so excited to have someone to play with and they became friends immediately. Again the Lord knew what we needed just at that point.

The husband, Loren, will be Chad’s supervisior in the CTS department so the men started into the computer jargon and getting to know each other. The roads in Lae make the pot holes in Spokane look like nothing. The road is totally washed out or earthquakes have created big gaps in spots. And remember that we are on the different side of the street as well, so driving through town was an adventure.

We met Loren’s wife, Kindsey, and their daughter Briston. Before going to dinner (Chinese food) the kids played in the pool, including Chad.

Loren offered to rub Ruth’s neck and shoulder. He had learned some massage so he knew what he was doing. Thankfully, he was able to provide more relief for Ruth’s very sore and inflamed muscles. Each of us started to fade as our bodies were trying to get used to the time change. But we continued to enjoy the fellowship and getting to know this family, and them us.

Bed was wonderful again. As we woke the next morning (think it was Sunday), we enjoyed hearing the new sounds of all the animals and trying to identify what they were. We enjoyed having a real cup of coffee thanks to Loren and Kindsey.

Then we went “shopping” and went around Lae on the wonderful roads!!!! The information that was being told to us was starting to fry the circuitry of our already overloaded brain. Trying to figure out metric system and the different money etc etc… The tears came upon Ruth in the middle of a grocery store. Kindsey was an angel and gave Ruth a hug and made some decisions for her. Loren and Kindsey did all the communicating with the Nationals in Talk Pigeon. With Chad following some of the conversation and Ruth picking up a word here or there.

They showed us around the town of Lae but not sure what we will remember or not for our next trek in there. Ruth has no desire to do this anytime soon, especially without someone who knows the language really well and the money and metric system.

Our kids enjoyed the company of Briston and Layton and they were very fun to be around. Loren rubbed and massaged Ruth’s neck and shoulders some more and Kindsey was able to give me some “Aleve” type meds. Ruth was slowly starting to feel almost human again. After a full morning and a little of the afternoon in Lae we made the trek up to Ukarumpa. Ruth was very nervous about that drive. The road wasn’t nearly as bad as they were in Lae. Only a few heart pumping situations happened on the way up but Loren was a very good driver.

All Part of the Body of Christ

2011-07-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

Waking up at the Mapang house we leisurely went about getting ready for the day by repacking and sorting through bags, AGAIN!!! Ruth was still in a lot of pain and not being able to move side to side well and knowing that yet another plane ride was looming ahead. God knew what we needed when we needed it. He sent a couple that was starting their trek state side after being missionaries for many years with a different organization. The lady’s name was Penny. Penny and Ruth talked about life and stuff and got to know each other over breakfast. Penny noticed Ruth was rubbing her neck and asked if she could rub it for her. Ruth quickly said yes! She was able to get one of the many knots out of the neck/shoulder area as they talked about scripture etc. and being a missionary. We saw Penny as an angel sent by God.

With the pain down to an almost manageable level we finished going through bags and waited for the driver to come take us to the airport. Driving on the other side of the road is an experience in and of itself. When arriving at the Port Moresby airport we were escorted by security to and through the airport. That isn’t a bad thing, it makes one feel safer and they spoke enough broken English to help guide us through where we needed to go. Sitting and waiting for our flight we tried to relax and get use to the smells and sights around us and not melt from the humidity and the air conditioning that barely sputtered out of the machine.

Our flight was delayed! But again, God’s fingerprints were all over that situation. We were sitting there just talking amongst ourselves and another “white skin” approached us. He was wearing a Wycliffe Associations shirt. He asked what we were doing in PNG. It turned out that he was the new Program Manager for Wycliffe Associates in Ukarumpa! He was traveling to Madang for a few weeks to do some instruction at POC but he will be back in Ukarumpa in the middle of August. He was able to give us some pointers and some information and answer some questions. It was a really neat connection time and we wouldn’t have met him if we hadn’t had our flight delayed. He boarded his plane, and then soon after, we boarded ours.

Ruth took some more ibuprofen to get through the flight (she was popping them like candy). The flight was much like a Spokane to Seattle flight, short and sweet. And short enough that the neck pain didn’t get excruciating. On every flight the girls have been such troopers! On take-off and landing it became a game to put arms up like you were riding on a roller coaster, especially for Anna and Kiery.

The girls taking a few minutes to enjoy the playground at the Mapang house in Port Moresby

Waiting for our vehicle to take us to the Port Moresby Domestic Airport. Luggage in the background.

Waiting in the Port Moresby Airport for our last flight in this Journey

The girls, and especially Meliah, have been great about looking out for each other and stepping up and helping as needed. As parents we are very proud of our daughters and how at times, they inspire us to hang in there and keep moving forward.

Brisbane to Port Moresby

2011-07-12T16:42:00.003-07:00

Something really unfortunate that happened was during the flight from Brisbane to Port Moresby, Ruth's neck ache got really bad. We were in a smaller plane and you could definitely tell that the cabin wasn't pressurized as well as the bigger planes. Somehow, this caused Ruth's neck pain to elevate, and it felt as though she was having pinched nerves that were causing involuntary twitches in her legs. It was a pretty miserable flight, especially for her, but I continue to be inspired by her strength and ability to endure incredible hardships. And throughout all of these challenges she remains an authentic daughter of God, expressing her emotional highs and lows. I am so thankful that God established the institution of marriage so that together we can represent more of God's character from both the male and female perspective than we can alone.

We arrived late in the evening in Port Moresby around 9pm and had the daunting task of going through immigrations and customs in our already exhausted and miserable state. Before we got off the plane we just prayed together that God would give us the energy and strength to get through this because at that point, we were close to collapsing on the floor (literally). We managed to get off the plane with all our carry-ons and march across the tarmac to the lines forming for immigrations.

Amazingly, the guy at the desk hardly looked at us and just proceeded to stamp our passports and send us through. We moved to baggage claim and I was actually shocked that all 11 of our bags were there and undamaged after flying to the other side of the world! A worker had already lined up all our bags for us and had brought over a couple of carts! That was great because all we had to do was stack it on the carts and wheel them over to customs. I approached the guard at the entrance to customs, and handed her all our paperwork. She asked what we were going to be doing in PNG and I said we were with SIL/Wycliffe, and she handed my paperwork back and said, "Move on through."!

Our driver was there waiting outside the airport with an SIL sign, we loaded up the van and he took us to Mapang house for our overnight stay. We all slept great on real beds for the first time in about 40 hours of travel (even though it was so hot and sticky from the heat). Meliah made the comment that we have arrived in a third world country as the reality of it all started to sink in for each one of us. J

Even though we were all at our limits by the time our heads hit the pillows that night, we see how God was at work at every step of our journey. God is good, AMEN!

Pictures from Our Journey

2011-07-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Some Pictures of our Journey from Spokane to Brisbane!

Ready to leave Spokane

In LAX awaiting our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. It was pretty crowded at the gate.

In Auckland Airport. Burger King for Breakfast!

Brisbane Australia

Waiting at the gate for our Air Niugini flight.

Too Much Stuff

2011-07-12T16:07:00.001-07:00

After we arrived in Brisbane, we had about a 6 hour layover. The first thing I wanted to do was to make sure that Air Niugini was going to accept our excess baggage fee receipt from Air New Zealand. The main concern was that they were going to want to try and charge us again using their fee rates which would be thousands of dollars for the amount of luggage we were bringing.

I had spent almost 3 hours with between two ticket agents in Spokane and LAX trying to figure out how the luggage would work. The week before we left I called all three airlines multiple times and each time I talked to a different person and would get a completely different story of how I should check my luggage. It gave me a very uneasy feeling that I couldn't really know what they were going to charge until I arrived at the ticket counter!

Anyway, when it was all said and done, we made it through paying $1300 for around 650 pounds of luggage. While that's a lot of money, I am actually pretty pleased with the end result considering the other possibilities that were floating around.

10,000 Kilometers in a Plane can sure give you a Crick in the Neck!

2011-07-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

According to the inflight display screen, we travelled 10,677 kilometers in just under 13 hours from Los Angeles to Auckland New Zealand! We left LAX at 10:15pm and so the entire flight was during the night. We were chasing the sun past the horizon so it was pitch black outside the whole flight.

It was really touch for us to sleep at all, and Ruth ended up with a painfully sore neck. We've pumped her full of ibuprofen and will put some icy hot patches (or PNG equivelant) when we can if it's still causing her problems.

As I write this we are on the plane waiting to leave the gate at Auckland Internation for our flight to Brisbane. I'm a little nervouse about switching airlines in Brisbane because Air Niugini may not readily accept my baggage receipts from Air New Zealand. Later, I'll have to put together a post about trying to get baggage through three different airlines on the same booking and how amazingly complicated and mysterious it is. Thanks to Jeff Mahowald who met us at the Spokane airport and stayed for the 1 1/2 hours while we tried to get it figured out with the ticket agent. His help lugging the bags around was much needed and he led a time of prayer for our family just before we headed through security. We love you Jeff and family!

Anyway, all electronic devices must now be turned off! Pray for us and for Ruth's neck. This day just keeps going on and on. Can't wait to actually sleep in a real bed and not in an airplane chair (not at all comfortable to sit in let alone try to sleep in).

God Bless!

Opening a New Chapter Today!

2011-07-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today we end the preparation phase and begin the journey to Papua New Guinea to serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 1 year!

It's been amazing what God has already done in the lives of our family and those in our circle of influence. Even if we go and nothing else were to happen, we have already bonded like never before. We appreciate all your prayers, help and other support over these last several months and especially the last couple of weeks.

Our ride just showed up to take us to the airport, so I guess that's it for now. We'll post to the blog with pictures from our trip as soon as possible.

Thanks and God Bless!
-The Michael Family

Michael Family Send Off Party

2011-07-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great evening with Chad's family last night. Mom, Dad, Jason, Evan and Sara and her family Michael, Brandy and Cameron all came and we had a BBQ in the back yard of Mom and Dad's farm where several generations of Michael's have been raised. It's a beautiful setting with a little campfire and picnic tables. It was great to enjoy some delicious home cooked treats and spend time with loved ones.

We took a ton of pictures, here are a few to share.

At the time of this writing, it is the day before we leave to spend a year or so working for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea. This is going to be a significant part of our family's life story that we hope to use for God's glory. Please remember us in prayer as we come into the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new.

An Angel Among Us

2011-07-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after church, we came home to huge piles of "stuff" and half packed bags. We needed to go back through everything and try to figure out how we were going to get all of it to fit into our luggage and still be within the weight limits for the airlines.

As much as Ruth and I work at this and pray for patience with each other during the process, it's difficult for us to work together when packing. It's a delicate balance of allowing one of us to be in control without the other one irritating the other.

But God answered our prayer yesterday in the form of one of our dear friends, Denise! She's a wonderful friend of ours who has always gone above and beyond to help us out. She came over and started working with Ruth on organizing, sorting and packing. They worked well into the late evening and by the time they were done for the night, they had been laughing so hard their side's were aching! It was a lot of fun watching the two of them rolling on the floor.

Anyway, we feel really good about our packing, and even though we are still in the midst of it, it's all starting to come together and fall into place.

Thanks Denise! You were a blessing and an answer to prayer. Thanks for being there for us and we will miss you while we are away, but of course, we'll keep in touch.

Home Church Send Off

2011-07-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Our home church, New Horizons, held a potluck send-off for our family last Sunday after service. We feel honored and blessed to have had such an expression of love from such dear friends.
Our pastor, Randy used our family in part of an illustration and we got a kick out of his drawing of our family.

Notice the two tall people separated by a shorter person? The order of the stick people from right to left are Chad, Ruth (shorter :), Meliah (still not taller than dad in real life), Annakah and Kiernan.

Me chatting with Vern with Kiery on my back. Meliah picking something out of her teeth and Jakie with her broken arm. (Poor Jackie :)

Ruth motioning to the right (her left). Sabrina in the red shorts.

This picture actually has our whole family in it. Kiery is standing behind Ruth. I'm chatting with Pat. Annakah to Chad's left and Meliah to the left of Pat.

Something we feel is a very important part of our journey to volunteer as support workers with Wycliffe in PNG is that we are share our experience with people in our circle of influence back at home. It's NOT about keeping it a private experience for the Michael family. We are committed to staying connected with all our friends and family in our church, school and community back home. So keep checking our blog for updates on our story.

Thanks again everyone from New Horizons! We love you all!

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.! (1 Cor. 1:3)

Panic Mode!!!

2011-06-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we have one week before we leave for Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea! We've had a number of unexpected "things" come up that have kept us from making the progress we would have "liked" to have made up to this point.

Saying goodbye has been tough and has taken an emotional toll. We know that the plan as it sits right now is to be gone only a year, but it's still heart wrenching. It's been important for us to take extra time to connect with certain people and those times have been very precious to us.

After a checkup and cleaning at the dentist, we were given the news that one of our kids couldn't wait until we got back to have some teeth extracted. So that took out another day for Ruth (and lightened our wallet a bit and making this a little tighter).

We want to give the kids ample opportunity to see some of their friends before we leave, but chauffeuring them around has taken up considerable time.

So... we are in crunch mode now and we've GOT TO FOCUS! lol.

On a positive note, I've really enjoyed getting a number of projects around the farm completed. We've lived here for 11 years now, and there have been a bunch of things that are either half broke, or just plain unfinished that we've just kinda dealt with for years. But now that we'll have house sitters living here, I figured I better make a prioritized list of the things I would want to fix and finish so the place would be in tip top shape for them when they get here. That work has progressed well, and all I have left is a little cleanup here and there.

In other news, we have successfully packed 3 bags and have a growing pile of more stuff we hope to sort through and pack today.

We've been keeping a meticulous list of everything and it's helping to be organized. It's a good thing that at least one of us doesn't hate excel with a passion :) I'll let you guess who that would be.

Planning for a year living in a country where we can't go to the local supermarket or clothing store for anything we might need is very challenging. Perhaps I'll share our packing list on the blog at some point which will give you the perspective of what it's like. We just hope we're not over or under doing it. We've never been to where we are going so we don't really know what will be available and what won't. So we're just making our best guesses. If we find out that we really needed something but we didn't pack it and we can't get it there, then I guess we didn't really need it. Food, water, clothes and shelter are really the only true essentials anyway. I'm sure we'll survive one way or the other :)

VBS Week at Edwall

2011-06-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

This last week we were honored to play a small part in the Vacation Bible School at our home town of Edwall.

The VBS mission fund for this year was to the Education Gift Fund for the O'umpa school in PNG! This fund is used to help pay for the PNG national children to attend school, which isn't free.

Each day of the week, our family presented to the kids a little something about; Papua New Guinea, the importance of people learning about Jesus and having God's Word in their heart language, and what our role will be while we live in Ukarumpa working with SIL and Wycliffe.

At the end of the week, the VBS kids (and parents) raised $676.56! What an incredible blessing this will be to the children of the O'umpa school or whichever school benefits from the fund this goes to.

Special thanks go to Mrs. Stromberger, Mrs. Moos and all the other incredible volunteers who make VBS such a special week. It really does make a difference in the kid's lives!

Our little Kiery, 6yrs old, came home from the second day of VBS and said, "Daddy, I don't remember when I asked Jesus into my heart." I said, "Would you like to ask Him into your heart again right now?" She said yes, but she wanted to find a special place to do it. So we walked around the house but couldn't find a place special enough, so we just ended up doing it in the dining room. We wrote in her Bible the date that she rededicated her life to Jesus. Thank you all so much for bringing the gospel to these children! May the Lord bless you with Grace and Peace (1 Cor. 1:3)

We have our Itinerary!

2011-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

The flights are all booked and stop-over arrangements have been made! We are leaving on July 7th and will arrive in Ukarumpa on the 11th. Check out this short movie that I did in Google Earth that shows our flights and waypoints during the journey. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can load this kmz file to watch the animation in high def. Otherwise, here is a low quality version:

If your interested in how I got the lines to draw, you can download the kml file here.

We got our Visas!

2011-06-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. We got our Visa's on Tuesday, last day of school on Friday, Ruth and my anniversary on Saturday, and in the midst of all that, we've kicked into high gear booking our tickets for PNG, getting international medical and emergency evacuation insurance, and working towards getting all our other affairs in order before our trip.

Now that we officially have our visas, we have essentially completed the last major step of the process and there really isn't much left that would prevent us from being able to serve in PNG with Wycliffe. Consequently, we hadn't purchased plane tickets, switched medical insurance, purchased malaria and typhoid pills, and a handful of other necessary costly tasks until we knew we were fully authorized to leave. So that's made the last week a flurry of decision making!

Our official departure date is July 7th! We have just these next few weeks to get everything ready. We'll have some house sitters staying in our home so we have a lot of straightening up and cleaning to do. And I have some projects around the house that I've been "meaning" to get to for years that I don't want to leave for the house sitters to deal with so that's keeping us all busy.

Now that school it out, we're starting daily family meetings which will include a devotional and prayer, some Tok Pisin lessons, latest information and Q&A time, and a plan for the day with tasks for each family member. Please pray that these times are powerful for our family and that it brings us together in unity of purpose for what we believe God is calling us to.

A send off party from our friends at CHS

2011-06-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this evening at a potluck send-off hosted by our dear friends at Christian Heritage School! There was great food and all my favorite desserts. We had great connections with lots of friends that Ruth and I have made over the years here.

Plus, there was also a special one-time performance of a special song by the teachers of the school! We've posted it on our blog for your entertainment. What a blessing to have such encouraging friends!

Ruth's List of FAQ's

2011-06-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Ruth has been collecting a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that I thought would make a nice blog post. These questions touch on some of the challenges we’ve faced in the process of preparing for our time in PNG with Wycliffe, and also just answer general questions that have come up along the way. So for posterity and for the curios:

Ruth’s Frequently Asked Questions

about Papua New Guinea

(note: answers reflect what we “think” we know and may turn out to be wrong J)

Q: Will you be able to drive?
A: Yes, we think so. I’ve heard that you can rent a van or vehicle of some sort. You can drive to Kainantu which is on the order of a half hour away and has some shops and I even heard a rumor there is a cafe or something there that you can go to for Sunday lunch. The coastal cities of Lae and Madang are like 3 and 5 hours away respectively.

Q: What kind of training or preparation will you get before you are stationed at your job?
A: There is a training course called POC (Pacific Orientation Course, formerly called Jungle Camp)
that sounds like an awesome experience. However, since my family and I have only committed to 12 months in Ukarumpa with Wycliffe, POC, which is between a 6 and 12 week course, was optional for us. After much prayer and consideration, not all of our family was at peace with POC and we decided to we would jump right into serving at Ukarumpa. Perhaps if the Lord calls us to stay longer, we may have the opportunity to take POC in the future.

Q: What happens when you go outside the compound?
A: The town of Ukarumpa has a fence around its perimeter and is patrolled by professional security guards and so is relatively safe. When traveling outside of Ukarumpa, we’ve been told that it’s a good
idea to have an escort from one of the nationals, or to at least only travel during the day and in groups. I’m sure we’ll learn more about that once we get there.

Q: How big is the compound you will be living in?
A: The town of Ukarumpa is something like 1 mile in diameter. You pretty much just walk everywhere and I guess there are a couple hills. So we expect that we’ll be getting some good exercise going to and fro.

Q: What are some of the activities the girls will be able to be involved in?
A: Well, we’ve heard there is a drama theater with a big show once a year. From what we’ve been able to tell, there are probably opportunities for volleyball, basketball, soccer, and maybe even a small league with competitions among neighboring towns. There are paddocks with a huge riding area for riding horses (Annakah’s really excited about that). A motocross track of sorts. A river that runs along one side of town where you can swim or float down on a tube.
The school sounds fairly rigorous as well and we’ve heard that the kids are kept busy with lots of school activities and academics. We don’t really know all that will be made available, but we are excited to find out.

Q: When are you planning on going?
A: They have year round school at Ukarumpa International School. And their school year starts July 20^th 2011. We felt that it would be important for our girls to start with the school year so we plan to leave the first or second week of July. This will give us plenty of time for travel, perhaps a few days in either New Zealand or Australia to take in some sights and perhaps pick up a few items for our new home. Also, we can settle into our home and acclimate to the new climate and time zone well before the kids start school.

Q: What kind of paperwork have you had to do?
A: Tons! There seem to be three main stages of paperwork. The first is for Wycliffe. Once we were approved through them, we received a letter of invitation. Then we submitted an application for a work permit to the labor department within PNG. That took a little over 1 month before we received the approval. Then you have to wait for the immigration department to approve something, but once we got the work permit, we were able to complete our Visa application and submit that to the PNG Embassy in Washington D.C. Then there is some final paperwork and things to do in finishing up the whole process.

Q: What kind of shots and blood work was required?
A: We needed a lot of immunizations. Besides the normal like Tetanus and MMR, we were require to get Hep A, Hep B and Typhoid immunizations (shots for the little ones and oral for those of us who could swallow pills). We also needed to get G6PD screens which checks to make sure we can take malaria medicine. Oh and we all needed to be tested for AIDS. Ruth and I needed chest X-Rays and a radiologists report. Presumably to make sure we weren't suffering from TB. Anyway, there were a lot of shots and tests to be done, but we made it through without too much pain or inconvenience.

Q: What is the time difference between Pacific Northwest time and there?
A: Papua New Guinea is in the PGT Time Zone and is 18 hours ahead of the PST Time Zone.

Q: Is there a school for your kids?
A: Yes! It's called Ukarumpa International School. The majority of students are SIL dependents (70%), with 16% national employee children, 7% from missions in the country and 7% commercial students whose parents work at government/commercial offices located nearby. There are about 150 students in K-6 and 130 in grades 7-12.

Q: What will you be doing there?
A: Chad will be working for Computer Technical Services (CTS). We're not exactly sure what he'll be doing, but it will be something between fixing broken computers, and writing software (probably both and all that is in between). Ruth will take some time to settle in and then will prayerfully consider where the Lord is guiding her to serve.

Q: How close are the nearest towns? How will you get there?
A: Kainantu: 15 minutes/ 60-80 km/h. Madang: 5 hours Lae: 3.5 hours/80-100 km/h. Goroka: 1.5 hours/60-80 km/h. We can rent a vehicle from the auto-shop at Ukarumpa and drive to these places. But we have to follow the guidlines of when we can go and may need escorts depending on the rascal activity in the area.

Q: What is the climate like?
A: Ukarumpa is somewhere around 5000 feet elevation located in the Eastern Highlands Province. It's supposedly cooler in temperature than the lowlands near the coast. People who have lived there say that it's like eternal spring-time.

Q: Do you get any vacation time?
A: Yes. I don't know the specifics of the vacation allowances, but we hope to take some time during the Christmas school break to go to Cairns Australia. Also we've heard that people will take a weekend to go to Lae or Mount Hagan, or even Madang. Sounds like there are lots of places to visit and experience.

Q: What are the housing options?

A: The houses look fairly normal really. The power is 240V 50Hz, they collect rain off the rooftops for drinking water, and bring river water in for washing. . Clothes are dried in the close line. We've heard that the water is heated by black pipe on the roof. Some of the homes have fireplaces for the occasional cold night. There are 1,2,3 & 4 bedroom homes although the 4 bedroom house is fairly uncommon. As it sits right now, we are on the list for a 3 bedroom home. Perhaps in a future blog post, once we get to Ukarumpa, we'll describe our home more and what living in a Ukarumpian house is like.

Q: How many people live in Ukarumpa?

A: At one time 1000 people lived the compound. Today, the latest estimate seems to be a population of about 500. Soon to be 505 :)!

Q: How long is the flight from here to there?

A: This just in! We booked our flights and here is our itinerary for our flight from Spokane, Washington to Ukarumpa:

Spokane, WA	Seattle, WA	1hr 4 mins
Seattle, WA	Los Angeles, CA	2hr 40 mins
Los Angeles, CA	Auckland, New Zealand	13hr
Auckland, New Zealand	Brisbane, Australia	3hr 40 mins
Brisbane, Australia	Port Moresby, PNG	3hr 10 mins stay overnight
Port Moresby, PNG	Lae, PNG	0hr 45mins stay overnight
Lae, PNG	Ukarumpa, PNG	3hr drive by 5 passenger van

So we have a total travel time in the air of 24hr 19mins. We leave on July 7th and arrive on July 10th (and we skip ahead 18hrs in time change).

More questions to be answered in the near future.

Q: What kind of country is Papua New Guinea?
Q: What languages are spoken in the compound?
Q: Is it safe there?
Q: How close will you be to the beaches?
Q: Is there a post office there? How long does it take to get mail/packages?
Q: Is there a store to buy food and stuff?
Q: What organization are you going with?
Q: How big is the school?

Q: Are there any medical services?

Q: Will you have electricity, running water, and internet?

Immigration Department Approval

2011-05-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Just heard that the immigration department in PNG gave their approval. So now we can finally send in all the paperwork we've been collecting for our Visa application! It turned out to be a bit of work to get all the vaccinations, blood work, and doctor approvals. Just doing a final check to make sure it’s all in order and then we’ll send it off to the PNG Embassy in Washington DC.

Work Permit Is In!

2011-05-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

Awesome news! We received word that our work permit was approved by the labor department in Papua New Guinea. Now we just need to wait for the immigration department to give their approval, and we can send in our PNG Visa application to their embassy in Washington DC.

Ruth has been putting together a list of Frequently Asked Questions that I think would be fun for us to make into a blog entry. So be on the lookout for that coming soon!

New Blade Meets Nerves and Tendons... Blade Wins!

2011-04-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, one little mistake is all it takes sometimes. I was finishing up some work on a remodeling project. As the counter tops were coming together, There was a little piece of trim that needed to be cut back an inch. Out comes the utility knife and I stark cutting it back. I was just about through and gave it one last hard slice. At that same moment my left hand moved into just the right position so that when the piece came loose, my left pinky finger caught the blade on the down swing!

Oops! I've found that when I hurt myself badly, I usually have about 60 seconds before I start to feel a little queasy. So I folded my finger back onto my hand and walked swiftly to the kitchen and ran it under some water. After looking at it, I decided that I should go to the ER to get it stitched up. Ruth was in Seattle at a Children's Ministry Conference so I called for Meliah to round up the kids in the van so we could all go in together.

Meliah was great! when she saw what I had done, she got me band-aid and wash cloths to wrap up my hand, then she got the kids in the van. She even volunteered to drive! I considered it for a minute, but she's only 14 and no learner's permit. We live about 20 minutes from the nearest emergency room, and I was feeling good enough to make the drive in.

About 10 minutes into the trip, I started feeling a lot better and the queasiness left. By the time I got to the ER entrance, my once-white wash cloths were the beautiful color of bright red!

The ER got me processed and let me know I had severed the nerves, some of the tendons, and cut a little into the joint capsule. They stitched the wound up but said I would need to talk to a specialist to see about fixing all the inside parts.

Saw the specialist yesterday and they said it would be a difficult fix but they were confident that they could do it. The recovery sounds like a major pain though! I tried to talk the doc into just removing the pinky instead of paying for an expensive surgery and dealing with the long recovery. But he refused! I'm sure there is a back alley doc that I could get to do it. Of course, I have another new blade for the knife... :)

Actually, the thing that convinced me to keep my finger was when the doc explained that you actually get a lot of your gripping strength from the pinky being there. So, I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow and will just have to deal with 6-8 weeks of therapy to get my mobility back.

Good thing I did this with enough time to get surgery and heal up good before we move to Ukarumpa! I'm sure the clinic down there is great, but this may have been a little more than they could handle.

The moral of the story? Always cut AWAY from the rest of your body! And it only takes a split second mistake with a sharp knife to create weeks or months of consequences.

But, I know we only get these bodies for a while. It will all turn to dust eventually. Romans 6:13 tells us that God has given us a body to be used as an "instrument" or "tool" for His glory while we live here in this fallen world for a short time. The Bible instructs us to care for our bodies as gifts from God. So we need to take good care of them and not intentionally damage them. But if damage does happen, I recognize that it's not really my body to begin with, it's God's, and that helps me to be less concerned about the physical. God wants for us to keep our bodies working "enough" so that we can continue to be used to fulfill His purposes, and I think I can keep trying to do that just fine with a missing or messed up finger. People have sure done the Lord's work with a lot worse.

All that to say, it's just a finger and in the big scheme of things, it's really not that important.

Update From the Day of Surgery

Seriously??!!!

Surgery was a "success" and they were able to repair the nerve and tendons. But...

They didn't tell me that I was going to come home with a giant club on my arm! Now I can't use any of my fingers on my left hand, and I have to wear this until after Easter weekend!!! Plus, I have to somehow keep it elevated for 3 days. This is going to be really tough for me to keep clean and dry. This does not make me happy. Well, I guess I can only blame myself.

The only thing that makes it bearable is my beautiful and caring wife and family. They are taking great care of me.

Well, enough complaining and whining, I'm going to bed and sleep it off :(

Total It Up Program

2011-04-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

The better part of last week I spent with several Bible translators and Wycliffe representatives at a 5-day course titled Total It Up (TIU). The purpose of this program is to give aspiring translators a taste of what's involved in Bible translation.

The Bible translated into a person's hear language is essential for personal spiritual growth and is the foundation of the church. Without the Bible, we have no basis for worshiping the God of creation and learning about God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We heard from experts in their field in Phonetics, Phonology, Grammar, Translation, Language Learning and much more! It was surprisingly fascinating and I could actually see myself pursuing it further someday. At the very least, it really helped me to understand the kind of work we'll be supporting while we serve with Wycliffe down in Ukarumpa, PNG.

Thanks to all the instructors and the other students at TIU! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and won't forget it!

Responding to the Call

2011-03-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

New Horizons Community Church has been our church home for about the last 12 years. About 4 years ago, I recommitted my life to the Lord, and this time I was really serious. I finally understood at a heart level the design for family that God planned for us. While I'll never be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, my life is slowly changing, step-by-step, to better reflect God's glory as I live in obedience to Him. And a big part of living in obedience for us, has been prayerfully listening to God's direction for our lives individually.

The news! We believe God has asked us to commit to moving to Papua New Guinea for 12 months to serve there as missionary supporters in the town of Ukarumpa. I was given an opportunity to share about the process we've been going through on a Sunday morning at church. Here is the link to listen to the story.

Responding to the Call - NHCC Message From February 20th 2011

To tell the story, I start from the beginning of our marriage. I refer to a number of photographs and a couple of video clips which I'll include here.

Here are the photos I used of Ruth and I (if you listen to the message it will make sense why I showed these)

Above are a series of pictures of Ruth when she was in her late teens on a Royal Servants missions trip through Europe. Our journey with Wycliffe has rekindled a passion for missions in her heart.

These are pictures of our first home, riding the farm horse together, and Ruth tilling the garden.

The Globe showing the island of New Guinea with Papua New Guinea highlighted in green.

A google map showing the area where Ukarumpa is (middle blank circle)

This is slideshow of Ukarumpa that I mention towards the end of the message.

This is video by Niel Anderson I refer to right at the end.

Blessings,

-Chad

The Beginning of a New Life Chapter for the Michaels

2011-02-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago I heard a few spots on the radio about Wycliffe Bible Translators. As part of the program, they kept pleading for volunteers to help with their goal of seeing a translation effort in every language that needs it by 2025.

Today about 340 million people do not have the Bible in their own language. Wycliffe’s vision is to see the Bible accessible to all people in the language they understand best. To make this vision a reality, Wycliffe also focuses on community development, literacy development and church partnerships.
At the time, I had found myself with a little time on the side and thought I might be able to help with some work from home. Given that software development sometimes lends itself to telecommuting, I figured I’d give ’em a call.

After going through the application process and being approved as a Wycliffe volunteer, the first opportunity they sent my way was a 1 year commitment in Papua New Guinea! I’ll admit to being somewhat enticed by the idea. But it wasn’t practical! I have a wife, three kids, I’m very involved at their school and at the church. Too many commitments, too many relationships. So, I passed.
Over the course of the next couple years, an occasional email would come through asking for software developers or IT help in different parts of the world. I kept looking for something that I could do from home, and even responded a few times mentioning that I would be a great fit, except that I wasn’t in a position to move my family.

In the last month or so, the Lord has been working on us. At church we’ve wrapped up a series on I Corinthians 13, the love chapter. One of the underlying themes throughout the series this time around has been on having a “biblical perspective”. Remembering our God given purposes, and using what He has given us towards what He has called us to.

The Monday after a message that was heavy on missions, guess what popped into my inbox… Papua New Guinea. I prayed it over some and moved on. But this time, it stuck in my mind. I mentioned it to a couple of close friends and we took it to prayer. It was starting to “bug” me so I decided to mention it to my wife so she could knock some sense in to me. When I mentioned it to her, I just about fell out of my chair, when she said we should pray about it!

Well, a lot of prayer and rumination later, we decided God was telling us to take the next step! I responded and am now looking over a bunch of information about Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Ukarumpa. Not sure where this will end up, but I imagine it would be blog worthy so I’ll plan to make updates here on occasion and more information pours in.

God Bless!
-Chad