Friday in the Village

There is so much I could share about our trip into the village of Silimo, but I will try to whittle it down to what impacted me the most, and what I think you would enjoy hearing about.  Friday morning we hiked down to the local school.  That means hiking through tall, muddy grass, climbing down the mountain, over boulders, across a bamboo bridge suspended over the roaring river and then up the other mountain.  It was quite an adventure.  On the way home, one of the Indonesian men grabbed Cale, hoisted him up on a shoulder and ran this whole course with him barefoot.  They are so surefooted!  We had a chance to spend time with the kids.  Sophie brought all of her silly bands and passed them out to each girl and Cale gave each boy a red rubber band.  The kids were so excited!  I was asked to go up front and talk to the kids so I mentioned how blessed they are to have a school and that they should keep going, obey their teacher, learn about God and obey God.  It was very simple.  Buzz zet up an awesome Slip-N-Slide for the village kids and for our kids.  That was fabulous muddy craziness.  Rain or shine-hot or cold they were all out there slipping and sliding.  Then they would warm up by the fire.  Can you pick out Cale’s bright blond head?

The kids were one of the highlights for me.  I love their faces and their big, bold eyes!  They were so cute!!  Even though they had nothing they had such great temperaments.  Our whole family had a great time getting to know them.  More on that later.

Love you all-

Rachel

Silimo

We are back safe and sound from our wonderful trip to the interior village of Silimo.  It was an amazing time and I am so very thankful that we were able to go.  For the most part everything was fabulous.  Wyatt and Cale had some sort of stomach bug that affected them Sunday night through Tuesday, Garth got it Monday, and Emma has some sort of respiratory infection.  I am happy to report that I did not get sick at all.  That may be the first time in a very, very long time that I haven’t gotten what the kids had.  And Garth has a stomach of steel, so I am very surprised that he was sick.  We took so many spectacular pictures.  I will try hard to sift through and not overload you.  Here are a few from the flight out and part of our first two days.  (We flew out on one of the MAF planes.  It took almost two hours.)  We stayed with Buzz and Myrna Maxey.  We have their two boys in our Hostel.  Buzz’s Dad started working in this village when Buzz was only 7 or 8 years old.

Going to Silimo

Our family has the amazing opportunity to go to a village over Easter break.  One of the parents of two of our dorm boys invited us to spend the time in their village called Silimo.  We will fly out on an MAF airplane early Thursday morning and be there until Tuesday.  Between the two of us we are trying to pre-make all of our meals since the only cooking option there is on a wood stove.  The weather will be quite hot during the day but then cold at night because of the high altitude.  My mind has been non-stop trying to think of all I need to pack for a family of six.  We do have a weight limit of 10 kilos each (except for Cale-he only gets 5).  So I am trying hard to pack light but still have all that we need.  Food is heavy-so I am not sure how I will manage to not be overweight.

It will be a wonderful way for us to wrap up our time here.  I am excited for the whole experience.  Pray that we will all stay healthy-one of the boys going with us found out today that he has strep throat.  Pray that we will be able to sleep well at night, and pray that I don’t forget anything important.

Thanks.  We will not have internet.  I will write tomorrow before we leave and then not again until Tuesday.

I am expecting GREAT things from God!!  He always delivers!!!

Love you Rachel

Birthdays and Beaches

This was a weekend that I need another weekend to recover from the weekend.  Do you know what I mean?  Friday morning was my ladies basketball and then after school we had 7 extra 10 year olds over for Emma’s Birthday party with silly games, pizza at the mall, homemade ice cream sundaes, watched the movie Tangled, manicures and pedicures, a little bit of sleep, big breakfast and then it was over.  The girls left at 8 a.m. and then we left as a Hostel for the beach.  It was a beach we don’t usually go to called Base G.  It was a beautiful day – the waves were enormous and we all had such a wonderful time.  I told our kids that it would be the last time we go to this beach so they enjoyed it even more.

New Life

Things are so alive now!!!!!  Just a month or so ago we were praying for rain and the trees and grass were so brown-everything was so dry…and now, we have had lots and lots of rain and what we thought was dead has come to life!

It looks so beautiful again.  The way it was meant to be. 

The Bible says that when we become a child of God we are changed into a new creation, the old has gone away and all things are new.  What was before spiritually dead is now made alive in Christ.  I have had a stupendous visual of that whole process by looking out my window every day.  When it was brown and dry, it was depressing.  But now when I look out and see life in all things green I am refreshed and encouraged. 

My life in Christ should be like that.  I am connected to the Living water, the Light of the world, and the Source of all living things-I should be green and growing uplifting those around me that may be going through a drought. 

Two pictures of our brown spell.  And then pictures of the green life growing all around me here in Papua.  Isn’t it lovely?