PNG, the land of the unexpected.

We had every intention of getting up early this morning, saying goodbye, and rushing to the dock to catch the boat back to Lae.  However, when we called to check on the status of the boat, we found out that it was broken.  Then we prepared ourselves to stay another day.  Then we found out that the boat was fixed, and would come later, so we arrived back in Lae very late.  It’s good to be back where electricity actually works, where water doesn't need filtering, and where food is a little more surprising.  Not that I minded having three coconuts, two pineapples, and fifteen bananas every day, for a snack.

Tuesday was a very busy day for us.  We had three programs, and Josh finally came with us after a lot of much-needed rest from his malaria, which seems to be getting much better.  We had to get up early so we could catch our ride fromSattleberg back to Heldsbach to freshen up and pick up Josh.  The first place we went was Simbang.  It is the site where the first German missionaries came ashore in the late 1800’s.  We did a program in the memorial “hall” that was decked out in names and dates and very colorful paint.  After the program, we had a “light” refreshment (we’re beginning to realize that when they say “light” they mean we each get a coconut, a pineapple, a bunch of bananas, and usually some rice or sweet potatoes too).  After we stuffed ourselves, we packed up our gear into some tiny canoes and paddled across the bay to Butaweng, where Braun Hospital is (Josh’s favorite place).  When we arrived, we had another “light” refreshment, this time of juice and cookies, lots of juice and cookies.  That was amazing.  The we did our program, and had a full-blown meal or chicken and rice and juice and kaukau.  After that program, we went swimming in the waterfall near the hospital; it has become our favorite place to refresh ourselves.  After heading back to the mission station at Heldsbach, we ate dinner and prepared for our last program of the day.  The station wanted us to do a special program for them, so we sang some kids songs, and did a skit, and had a great time with the people.  Afterwards, we lined up and the kids presented us with gifts (a common PNG practice).  I got some necklaces and some basket things. It was really cool, but kinda sad knowing this was our last night with the kids.

This morning, before we left for real, we made one last trek down the mountain to a primary school.  The students did a little singsing for us, and then we did a miniature program for them.  We sang a few songs, did our skit, and then shook their hands.  After that, we had another ‘light” refreshment of one whole watermelon, and two coconuts.  Then we went back to Heldsbach, loaded up, and knocked off for Buki, where the boat was waiting for us.  The boat ride was about three hours long, but it was fun to see the flying fish again, and ride along the PNG shoreline once again.  I talked to a guy named Simon from Mt. Hagen for about and hour or so about America and PNG.  Then he gave me a Bilum bag and asked for my address because he wanted to send me a Bilum with my name on it along with a handmade PNG cap. Pretty cool stuff, all because I talked with him for a while.

PNG continues to bring unexpected things.  We’re slowly learning more and more how things work.  This week was especially good in helping us learn Pidgin, because everyone wanted to teach us.  Turns out, I was told I was talking in my sleep Monday night, in fluent Pidgin!  Either I’m making good progress in being bilingual, or the anti-malaria medication is really stepping it up a notch.

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle

Today started a little earlier than I wanted it to.

For the entire time we've been in Finschhafen, we’ve relied on a local PMV (taxi-like vehicle) to transport us around to different villages.  This particular day, we went to Sattleberg, a village high up into the mountains away from the places most people generally go on any given day.  That means that the PMV driver wants to take us to our destination early so that he can start his regular service at the normal time.  It’s about an hour-long drive up to Sattleberg, so that mean the driver wants to leave two hours before his normal rounds start.  Generally he’s been starting around eight, so, for good measure, he wants to leave with us around 5 a.m. so he can have enough time to get back.  Luckily, we postponed Sunday night’s program from Tuesday night, otherwise we’d be pretty tired.  Not that we weren't anyway, but remember, PNG time isn’t American time.  So 5 a.m. really means sometime between the sunrise at breakfast.  I awoke at 5:30, because I slept through my alarm, and had plenty of time to get pack my stuff and get on the truck.  The truck didn't actually show up until six, so I was fine.  We left shortly after six, and began the long, and still very early, drive up to the village on the mountain.  We were making excellent time until we were about halfway there when the truck got a flat tire.  So we had a short break from the tossed salad-like ride to the top. 

Once we arrived, or at least the truck went as far as it could go, we walk for another mile or so to the very top of the mountain.  We were greeted by a group of high-school aged girls and their teachers from the secondary school inSattleberg.  They did a little singsing-like dance for us and took us to the guest house where we would all be staying. The guest house had three rooms; a conference/dining area, a bathroom, and the bedroom.  They put all of us in one huge room with about twenty beds.  It was kinda weird, but what isn’t?  Then they gave us a ton of fresh bananas, pineapple, and cucumber.  They also gave us some coconut, but, as usual, they don’t give us anything to cut them open with, so it’s kinda pointless.  After a big feast of fresh fruit (I ate a whole pineapple!), I took a nap.  I was still very tired from the long weekend, as well as the lack of sleep and long ride.  After at least an hour-long nap, they called us into the chapel to do our program.  As usual, our program was more like an extension of their worship service, which is fine, but it just makes us anxious sometimes I think.  Sattleberg has an English-speaking education system, so it made parts of our program go over fairly well I think, but it’s always difficult to tell because Melanesian culture is so much different in terms of how people respond.  For example, avoiding eye contact when greeting someone is a form of respect, where as in most western cultures like the United States, we look directly into the other person’s eyes to show sincerity.  So many times when we do a program, the people don’t look at us all the time.  It makes judging a crowd very difficult sometimes.

After our program, we played volleyball with the girls.  For some reason, I always have this strange misconception that I’m good at sports, but I definitely learned more times than not that I am not a volleyball person.  After about three games, I was done, so I took another nap.  I think I’m finally feeling the effects of being very busy all the time.  Today I had no energy at all.  So I went to bed and woke up just in time for dinner, which was rice and some strange mix of veggies for topping, along with more fresh fruit.  Actually, all these women kept bringing us cucumbers all day and we ended up leaving with five bags full of fruit and vegetables.  After dinner, a bunch of students brought in their dirty shirts for us to sign, and then we sat around and sang some songs and learned some songs with the girls.  It was fun. Now, it’s bedtime for us…

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle

Oh the busyness of PNG!

Actually, I find it funny that in PNG, time isn't money, because we still seem to be up to our ears in stuff to do!  On Thursday, we went to Suqan, where the people there did a singsing with us and we got to take part in it.  A traditional PNG singsing involves lots of singing, dancing, and eating.  Before it started, they took Josh and me and dressed us up like native PNG men.  Then they initiated us (“circumcised” was the word they used, but I prefer not to use that term here) as leaders in the community.  It was kinda confusing when they were explaining the rituals of the whole ordeal, but it was really fun.  Then we paraded up to the church, and Josh and I got to play some kundu drums (a PNGexclusive, and I bought two later).  After they welcomed us, we did our program, and then ate some food, again.  It seemed to go really well.  I received a bilum and a really cool necklace, along with my kudu drums.

Friday wasn’t nearly as busy, but it was just as hot.  We went to Logawen Seminary early in the morning.  The campus of the seminary is at the top of a mountain in Finschhafen.  We got there in the morning, but we didn’t have a program until later that night.  So we sat around a little bit in the air conditioning (actually is was just an oscillating fan, but is felt good), and ate food, as usual.  Shortly after lunch, we went swimming in Butaweng, where there is a very cool waterfall and a large pool at the base of the falls to swim in.  It was very refreshing.  After going back to the seminary and eating dinner, we did our program, which seemed to go over very well.  Then we spent the night at the seminary in the dorms.  That was interesting, but very neat.  In the morning, they gave us two loaves of bread and peanut butter and strawberry jam to make PB & J’s.   It was great, I think I ate about four sandwiches!

Shortly after breakfast, we hopped into a truck and went back down the mountain to Dregerhafen Secondary School. When we got there, we hung around and ate some food, and then we went swimming in the solwara (Pidgin for salt water).  We caught a blue starfish, a sea cucumber, and a sea snake (which was really gross).  Then we collected some cool shells.  After a quick dip, we rinsed in the showers, and took our bags to the lodge where we would be sleeping.  It was a really nice place with a real air conditioner and a really nice lounging place right on the beach.  We saw about five dolphins swimming past the lodge, and caught a few crabs and tiny, gross-looking starfish.  We did a night program again for the students, and then they lined up and walked by us to greet us and shake our hands.  I got a bunch of bilums(the girls got none).  Then they all asked us for our address, and autographs, so we spent the next hour frantically writing.  We decided that Youth Encounter needs a shorter mailing address.  Then we chatted with a few students and went to bed in a nice, cool room.

This morning we packed up our stuff again and rode the PMV into Gagidu, the main town in Finschhafen.  In Gagidu, we went to church at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  Since Josh has been sick, he hadn’t come with us to anything since the singsing on Thursday, so when he showed up at the church this morning with the youth pastor, we were a little surprised.  He seems to be getting better.  We had the Sunday service with the congregation, and then we did our spiel after the service.  After our program, we had a huge feast at the pastor’s house.  We had tons of chicken, rice, juice, papaw, pineapple, and just about every other PNG staple food.  Potlucks are a universal thing for Lutherans I think.

After we finally got back to Heldsbach after being gone for a few days, I realized that Josh and I locked our keys in the room we’ve been staying in.  So we had to become PNG raskols (pidgin word meaning juvenile delinquents) and take out a window to get inside.  Spare keys are not common in PNG apparently…

We’re still eating very well, and sleeping somewhat comfortably.  The heat can be a bit much sometimes, especially when you can’t stop sweating for more than a few minutes.  Oh well, soon we’ll be back in Lae at the guest house where the electricity actually works (Heldsbach has the infrastructure, but the power station is bagarap), and where we can shower and feel somewhat clean, and then fall asleep under a nice ceiling fan…

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle 

Happy birthday Josh!

In America, it’s Josh’s birthday.

We woke up this morning, ate breakfast, and started packing.  At eight o’clock our contact, Faen, was coming to pick us up and take us to the docks to get on the ferry, to take the three-hour long boat trip to Finschhafen (sp?), a coastal region north of Lae.  However, shortly after breakfast, one of the men who helps us get around town and stuff dropped in to inform us that the boat we are supposed to take went bagarap (literally meaning buggered-up in Pidgin).  He said they only would need a day to fix it, so we would just go tomorrow instead.  So now, we must think of something to do today.  We’ll probably go into town for lunch at some “sight-seeing” and maybe we’ll find an internet café, who knows…

Laip stap gut, Papa God stap gut tumas!

-Kyle

Somehow we manage to be busier than ever…

A common description of PNG is “laid-back” and while we have definitely come to understand why, we still find ourselves to be very busy, very sweaty, and still very content.  This weekend was no exception.  We had a wonderful experience living the life of a typical PNG native in the village.  We spent the night out at Wagan Village in Lae, which is a very­ coastal village.  Twenty steps from them door of my host home found me standing in the Solomon Sea.  We arrived there Saturday night, did a short program, and then went for a waswas (wash, or in our case, swim) in the stream leading into the sea.  The water was crystal clear, and cold.  However, considering the high heat, humidity, and many activities we did with the kids, it felt great.  After supper, some guys built a campfire on the beach and we sang some songs and hung out until about one in the morning.  After a slightly warm nights rest, accompanied by the gentle sound of rolling waves on the shore, we awoke and had a typical Sunday breakfast.  Fried dough and tea, yum!  It actually isn’t too bad, slightly sweet, but definitely filling.  After breakfast, almost everyone met in the center of the village for a nice, slightly wet, lotu (worship) service.  We did a few songs here and there during the service, and afterwards I played some music and learned some songs from a few guys from the youth band they had.  We played for a couple of hours before we ate lunch, finally.  We had lots of fresh fruit, chicken, fish, rice, and some cooked veggies.  I ate a sweet potato and a cooked banana; they could have tasted better, and worse, no gagging, but not really a delicacy.  We also had some fresh coconut milk, which I think I might genuinely like.  After lunch, I went for a little swim in the sea with my host brother, Babol, and then we went for a rinse/swim in the stream again.  We swam until about the time we had to the village and come back to the guest house at the ELC-PNG headquarters.  Just before we left, a few men from the village made some short speeches, thanking us for coming and spending time with them.  Then they asked each of us to give a shortpela toktok (small speech) about whatever we wanted to say.  They we very welcoming and generous with their time, and their land, we thanked them as well for the great time we had with them.  Then they got in a huge line and we walked down the line and shook their hands before piling in the truck and leaving.

Tomorrow we take a three-hour boat trip to a more remote coastal region.  It’s a German settlement, with funny German names for the villages.  We’ll spend a week there traveling to different villages and seeing lots of new people a places.  But by the time you read this, it will all be over.  More on that trip when it’s all said and done.

When we arrived back at the guest house this afternoon, our main contact, Faen, asked us if any of us were homesick yet.  Even though there are definitely things that we miss about America (Dr. Pepper for one), none of us are pining for the American way at the moment.  We all have our times of just really needing a familiar bed, familiar food, and familiar people, but we only have a little more than a month before we get to Hawaii, so we know we have to enjoy it while it’s different.  The time here seems to have flown by so fast.  We hope that we allow God to keep us on the path of gratefulness as much as possible.

Laip stap gut, Papa God stap gut tumas!

-Kyle

A new leg of our journey has begun!

We left HLIS this morning.  The kids at the school gathered all around to hug, shake hands, and say goodbye.  It was definitely hard to leave the school, but I am very excited to start a new phase of this journey.  It seems odd though, because we realized today that we only have about a month and a half left here in PNG before we return to the United States, via Hawaii.  We’re going to be very busy, so we know it will fly by.  However, we are excited for the work that we are doing here, and the work we will be doing in the weeks to come. 

We left the school and made the two hour drive to Mt. Hagen, to the airport there.  We arrived at the terminal, which is more of a little building, and checked in.  Then we walked outside to where our plane was waiting.  No x-rays, no metal detectors nothing.  However, they did have to weigh each one of our bags, and each of us!  It was kinda strange, but not when we walked outside and saw the plane we would be flying in.  If you know anything about airplanes, then you may have heard about the Cessna C404.  It’s a little twin-prop, 8-seater that flies more like a kite than anything.  I think it was the original model from the year they started making them too, because this thing was old.  So we get in the plane, buckle up, and then the pilot gets in, turns around and says something to the effect of “Hello, my name is John Smith, I’ll be your pilot (only pilot) for today.  Welcome aboard Airlink flight 1234 traveling to Goroka and then on to Lae. There are two exits on this plane.  Everyone have their seatbelts on?  Ok, that’s all.”  Then we started taxiing for takeoff.  Let’s just say that PNG aviation isn’t quite as uniform or strict as the United States.  We made it to Lae just fine, but it was a neat experience, to say the least.  Tara got a little nauseous from the flights, but nobody lost their breakfast, luckily.

When we arrived here in Lae, we were taken to the ELC-PNG headquarters, where the guest house is located.  It’s a really pretty little compound, very near the sea.  When we started walking toward the house with our bags, a group of ladies greeted us and adorned us with very smelly leis.  It smelled like Easter!  After we settled in to our rooms, we were taken to a fellowship gathering of some sort.  Basically an outside (as most things are here, and why not, it’s so nice) worship service with a youth band and lots of people.  Then we got up and sang a bunch of songs and said a few butchered words in Pidgin.  After we were through with our program, the youth band (which was extremely talented) sang a song that apparently is a closing/sending/grab-a-random-person-and-dance song.  So all of the sudden, a couple of Papua New Guineans came running to me and grabbed my hands and we jumped and danced around for the whole song.  Which seemed like it took ten minutes!  Afterwards, almost every person came and shook our hands and got pictures and stuff.  It was really cool.  Then we went to the pastor’s house and had an amazing dinner of watermelon, pineapple, bananas, ham sandwiches, and tang.

Now we go to sleep, because the fun doesn’t stop for New Dawn, no.  We’re going somewhere tomorrow morning with a pastor Kevin.  We don’t know where, we don’t really know for what, but we’re going!  Such is the life in PNG.  Time isn’t money, and everyone knows everyone.  We’re very well taken care of, and we don’t expect that to change anytime soon.  Today was no exception.  We feel very confident that there are some great new things in store for us.  I can’t wait to share those things with you all back home!

Laip stap gutpela, Papa God stap gut tumas!

-Kyle (or Ciyarl, long story)

Happy Valentines Day, and Happy Birthday Amber!

Well, today is the last full day in Enga for New Dawn.  It was a really fun day.  It started with a chapel service, which was a lot of fun and ended with a campfire, also fun.  I played some soccer with the guys too, but I only realized how bad I am at the game.  I also realized that it isn't easy to run continuously when you’re at about 2500 meters above sea level.  So I was pretty worn out by dinner.  It was really nice though today, we had hamburgers for lunch.  I haven’t had a hamburger in a while and they were great.  I had three!  The food here is usually quite good, but sometimes the cooks have some odd ideas for food combinations.  The other day we had donuts and hot dogs for lunch…

On Tuesday we ended up not going anywhere outside the school.  We stayed and taught our classes (I “subbed” for Emily so she could help with the home economics class), hung out with the kids, and went to see a mumu after it was done cooking (we heard the pig being given its final plea when we awoke).  The meat smelled really good, but we were given a cooked banana to try, and it was dry, bland, and sweet potato-ish.  I only could choke down half of it.  Hopefully the future doesn’t hold too many food-moments like that one.  I also received my first piece of “fan” mail from a Papua New Guinean.  However, this wasn’t the typical “I like your music, you play good guitar” type of letter, this one contained elements of desire and passion.  It was really funny actually.  We played near her village, and I may have said hello to her, but I got a humorous letter and a picture.  Great for a memory book…

Thursday morning we drive away from this wonderful place, on to other places and experiences.  We’ll catch a ride toMt. Hagen, and hop a plane to Lae, by way of a short layover in Goroka.  We’re excited to see new places, but leaving will definitely be hard.  We received a bunch of handmade cards from the elementary kids today as well.  They were so cute and funny, definitely a great experience.  We’re hoping to have somewhat of a semi-regular access to internet so that emails can be sent and updates can be made.  Time will tell, and I know that God will bless our ministry no matter how much I’m able to tell about it!

Laip stap gutpela, Papa God stap gut tumas!

-Kyle

So much to do, so much to tell!

So much has happened it seems since my last update, where to begin is quite the pickle!  So we’ll start with Saturday…

It started very nicely, me sleeping, then me eating breakfast.  Quite a wonderful time.  Then the girls went into Wabag to hang out and shop, Josh and I stayed behind and helped the school with some technical issues they were having.  Josh is currently working on updating the website for the school, and I was working on making a couple of their computers run better and not be virus-prone.  When the girls came back, Liz, Emily and I went to Mambis to visit the Lutz family one more time.  It was a fun time with them, because we went on our first bushwalk (hike) through some gardens, through some deep ditch like pathways, and up and down some really steep, slippery slopes.  We climbed up to the top of this one hill/mountain, and there was a radio tower up there, so a few of us climbed up that too.  It was really cold and windy up there, and Dr. Steve said that they sometimes fly kites from on top of the tower.  I’d think they’d get blown off the top.  The entire walk took a couple hours I think, and we got to see some cool stuff, Emily got her whole foot stuck in a mud hole, it was funny.  Then we had dinner with them and came back here to HLIS.  You can see the pictures and a quick video from the walk on the video page.

On Sunday we had a morning service here at the school.  We did all the music for it and Emily gave a brief message. Then we went to Sirunki, but we didn’t have a ride back, so we had to do a brief program of only a few songs and catch a ride back with the guy we came with.  But before we left we had to go to another church in Sirunki, because we were told they had some gifts for us of veggies.  So we went there, and we found out they wanted us to stay and sing songs, but we didn’t have time, so we sang one song, and they sang for us.  Then they gave us a huge bag of veggies, and they gave us a nice new bilum (string bag) with the PNG flag woven into it, and a PNG colored cap, like the one I have. They also gave each one of us some fresh leis made from real flowers.  The girls got red ones and Josh and I got orange ones.  They were really cool, but mine was looking pretty sad this morning.  The downside of real flowers I suppose.  It was a really nice time.  Then we took the long, bumpy road back to HLIS for the day.

Today we were going to go to a couple of schools to do some programs-one at a university and the other at a seminary-however, we couldn’t arrange a vehicle, and we were rather unsuccessful in catching a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle), so we were left without a ride to our destinations.  Luckily things in PNG are very flexible (“no worries” as most would say) and they don’t seem upset if things don’t quite work out.  We ended up just hanging out at the school and playing with the kids here.  So even though we didn’t have any programs, we still got to sing some songs and have some fun. We also experienced a small earthquake, which was really cool for me because I’ve never felt one before.  It didn’t knock anything off the walls or anything, and it wasn’t even jerky really, just a gentle sway.  So yeah, that was really neat!  Tomorrow we may or may not go to a couple of schools for some programs, depending on the vehicle situation. Everything is somewhat up-in-the-air at all times here, so we may have another day here with the students, which is really enjoyable, so we don’t mind.  It also gives us another chance to hang out with the kids before we leave early Thursday morning.

PNG is a learning environment, that’s for certain.  We’re definitely learning patience, and also to trust that however things work out, that it’s God’s plan and that we’ll be very well taken care of.  It will be hard to leave this place on Thursday, especially knowing that having internet access to keep updates coming and going won’t be likely.  I’ll do my best to find access and keep everyone at home well informed.  By the way, the motto of PNG is “The land of the unexpected.”  We know exactly why.

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle 

One week of school down!

Yes it’s true, we made it.  New Dawn’s first week as international teachers is complete.  We managed to not do too much damage to our student’s minds, and we all still enjoy being “teachers.”  My class was kind of simple for me anyway, since the class met only twice this week, and the first day was really a bunch of “first-day-nothingness.”  It was fun to be a true part of the educational vision of this school.  Not to mention the other things we've been doing around here.  Every day from 2-3, we get to hang out with the elementary school kids.  The teachers just hand them over and we get to sing songs and play games with them for the remainder of the day.  It’s a lot of fun.  We usually do music for about 45 minutes, and then soccer or tag for 15 minutes.  They really like to sing, especially silly songs.  They also love to sing songs over and over, so we don’t have to teach them new songs every day!  This is good, because we just about ran out on the first day.

We only have one more week left here at the school.  Next Thursday we’ll fly to Lae, a coastal city (2^nd largest in PNG) and major port.  Lae is known for its history in aviation.  It was a major part of WWII and was the last place Amelia Earhart was seen before she took off from there to take her final flight.  It is also called “Pothole City” because of the poor road condition.  So we don’t have much time left here in Enga Province before the next leg of this crazy journey. We’ve all had a wonderful time and it will be tough to leave, but it will also be very exciting to see a new corner ofPNG.  Apparently we will be really busy in Lae as well, traveling to many villages and also going to Madang for a little more than a week, which includes a stay at the infamous Karkar Island!

Many changes and challenges await us, and I am sorry to say that, unfortunately for all you loyal readers, internet access probably won’t be a common occurrence after this next week is up.  If we’re lucky we’ll have some sort of access once every week, but I have doubts on that one.  However, it will only be for about 1½ months, and then we go to Hawaii. So you won’t be in the dark too much.  This blog will probably become a little dormant, and I will be extremely surprised if I can upload any of the pictures or videos during that time, but I will hopefully get a chance to use email to keep in touch here and there.

The next few days have some promises to be quite busy, so there will be at least two more decent blog posts here before we leave for Lae.  Enjoy the pictures, the stories, and the cold!  Haha!

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle

Back to School!

This weekend has been a busy one here at HLIS.  Students started arriving for the new school year, and projects are happening all over campus.  We have been a part of the business in some ways.  We have been getting the dorms ready for the non-commuting students, and welcoming the students as they have been bused in.  Tuesday is the first day of classes, so everyone here is a bit frantic and nervous and also very excited.

Each of us New Dawners are going to have a small “teaching” job for the first week of school too.  Since the school doesn’t have an English teacher hired as of yet, we get to be overseers of the classes for the remainder of the time we’re here.  We won’t be doing any real teaching; it will be more of a sub-like thing, but still very neat.  I get to be in charge of the ninth grade class, which has about 14 students.  Now I’ll be able to say that I’ve had some overseas teaching experience.  We’re all pretty excited to play a major role in the work of HLIS, and no doubt we will never forget our time spent here.

Speaking of unforgettable experiences, we had one today.  This morning we went to a church about 20 minutes away inYaramanda.  Resurrection Lutheran Church in Yaramanda was the original LCMS mission congregation.  We did a few songs during the service, and then we did a program after the service.  It was really cool after our program because we got to hang out and play around with the kids.  Josh started chasing them around the yard, and then they started chasing him, and then me!  After a bit or horsing around, we ate a huge meal.  It was our first PNG potluck, and it was pretty good.  We had huge pieces of fresh chicken, and some super-long green beans.  Coke is very popular here, so we had that too, which is nice, but I miss Dr. Pepper.  We also had some very fresh pineapple, which was very juicy and scrumptious.  They had some cooked bananas available too, but the nice thing about a potluck is that you serve yourself, so I didn’t partake.  I don’t really like bananas, although I have eaten two in the last couple weeks, to be polite.  Liz said they were really dry anyway, so I’m sure I didn’t miss anything.  Then, on the way back to HLIS for the day, it started to rain.  This is a usual occurrence here in the Highlands of PNG, and by usually, I mean it rains every single day.  So this didn’t surprise us.  However, it was rather inconvenient because we were riding back to the school in the back of an open pickup.  Needless to say, we got a little wet.  Our guide said he was praying for the rain to come so we could have a memorable ride in the back of the truck, one we’d never forget.  He’s probably right.

On Friday, Liz and I went to Wabag, the closest larger town near the school.  We went to a market, which is quite an experience in itself.  Picture a supermarket, without a roof, and every aisle is really just a muddy walkway past a bunch of tarps covered with all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and various household items.  Liz got some oranges and some various veggies, while I cleaned one lady clear out of hot peppers.  I found the experience much more entertaining and enjoyable than what we have back home, but maybe because I’m a guy.

There was kind of a neat thing yesterday too.  The principal of HLIS, Dr. Brent Kilback, gave a little speech at lunch about the year ahead of the students.  He said it’s a “new beginning” a time to start fresh and new.  Then I thought, “Hey, our team name is New Dawn, which means a new beginning, a fresh start!”  We must be in the right place…

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle

Time for an update!

Actually, I realized as I am starting this that I forgot to include a little story in the last post, since this particular event happened on Saturday evening.  We were invited to spend the evening in Mambis with the Lutz family and Liz, the American missionary working with HIV awareness.  So we grabbed a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle, the PNG taxi equivalent) and rode to Mambis.  After eating a nice stir-fry dinner, we went with the non-New Dawn Liz to a worship/meeting of a group of young adults that help raise HIV awareness in the local communities in Enga Province. So we’re at this meeting, and since we’re kind of, you know, strangers, we get introduced.  Actually, we get pointed at and asked to introduce ourselves.  This isn't new to New Dawn, since we are frequently asked to introduce ourselves and what we do.  In fact, we’re trained in how to introduce ourselves as part of our ministry.  So we zip through our introductions no problem.  The group spoke English, so it was a piece of cake.  Then they asked us to sing for them, in English.  Awesome!  No problems there.  We’re on a roll!  So we get done with the songs, sit down, and proceed with the meeting.  Or so we thought, or I thought anyway.  When we sat down, the guy kinda leading the group asked the rest of the people there if they had any questions for us.  At this point we aren't really thinking this is a big deal.  Then somebody asked me to explain Democracy and what I think of it.  Also, they asked me about the AIDS situation in the United States and how it compares to PNG.  I can’t really remember what I said to either of those questions, but I’m sure it was superb.  I definitely was not prepared for that moment.  Non-New Dawn Liz apparently has a recording of what I said, I may have to have a laugh later…

On another note, we seem to be getting healthy again.  I ate three full meals today with little trouble, and Josh ate a couple and I don’t think he has lost any of them yet.  It’s just in time too, because students start arriving at the school this weekend, and classes start next week.  We’re really excited for the ministry we get to do here, and for the students we get to meet and hang out with for the next week or so.  This is sure to be a unique experience!

Life is good, God is great!

-Kyle