O.E.

Hello! I am so excited to update you on the things to come here in Papua. We have a great 2 weeks coming up. Outdoor Education!!!!!  It is going to be awesome! I know I wrote about it in the last email but I wanted to give you more info now that it is closer. On Monday, 84 of us, High schoolers and adults will fly to Wamena (45 minute flight),which is one of the largest landlocked cities. There are no roads or waterways to it. All goods must be flown in. From there we will drive 2 hours to the Danama region to the village of Ileguwa where we will serve until March 4th.

We will spend time in that main village and also hike into surrounding villages. My favorite part of these trips is playing with the kids. They look so different but are so much the same as my kids were. They love to play and after they warm up to you they will not leave your side. I love sitting around the cooking fire talking to the ladies, watching them cut veggies and making dinner.

We will be helping every village get clean water, talking to them about how important it is to wash hands, and the ways that HIV/AIDS is spread. We will be showing them the Jesus film, having kids clubs to teach them about God's love and forgiveness, and setting up medical clinics. The 8 groups will split up and will be in each small village for three nights. Pray for this time. It is so important. We will be sleeping in a traditional honai (hut) since many of these villages do not have a church. We will also be helping them with their crops. Their main source of food is ubi (sweet potatoes). Ubi need warmth to grow well and this area can get quite cold. So we are bringing in black tarp to cover the roots of the ubi to help them grow quicker. We will also show them how to dig a root cellar to help preserve the food so it lasts longer.

We will be taking surveys of the area to help doctors and pilots know where the greatest needs are. We are trying to talk to each family in each village and find out if they are healthy, looking for signs of malnutrition, talking to them about the importance of boiling water so they don't get worms and parasites.

This is always an amazing time of stretching. You rarely have two minutes to yourself the whole 2 weeks. You are tired, sore, sometimes hungry and for some kids, especially the introverts, it is a real struggle. Pray for strength and patience. Also for good health. There is one leader per group of 10 and everybody needs to stay healthy.

Here are some pictures from last year to help you get a picture in your head of what it is like: