Two phrases

Today someone who doesn't know I've been overseas for 7 years asked me what I wanted to do for lunch, and I said 'Laik bilong yu'
Which means "whatever you would like"

I didn't even realize I wasn't speaking English until he stared at me blankly. Before he could ask "what did you just say?", I looked at him and said "Maski".

(which means 'forget I mentioned it' among other things).

Then I stopped myself and said 'sorry, whatever you would like for lunch is fine with me.'

To which he replied "I don't know, this Mosskey stuff sounds pretty good, what's in it !?"

I chuckled to myself because I've integrated these PNG tok pisin words into my daily use so much, that I have to remember my audience when using them. To me they are a part of daily use and I forget what I'm doing.

Yay Fun!

We did it! We set a new record.  In 4 days we had 9 speaking engagements.  Chances to interact with friends from down in Southern California.  (Big thanks to our Bethany friends and family for all their hospitality).

Before we left my daughter (unbeknownst to us) asked her youth group to pray for her because she was certain this trip was going to be 'boring'.  (popular word for her).  However, tonight she told me this story:

(my paraphrase:)

"Dad, you know a lot of the times when you and mom talk to people and stuff, we aren't there, but tonight when you spoke at the youth group, and you told that story of how God showed you how important it was for you to go to PNG, it was the first time I had ever heard that story.  Dad, that was a REALLY COOL STORY!  It was like one of the most funnest parts of the weekend for me."

I was excited and surprised that my daughter hadn't heard that part of our story before.  She of course has heard many of our stories, but that particular one, excited her, and was new.

We asked if we were too uncool for the youth group and she replied "it's hard to be uncool when you have really cool stories."

This weekend was great, not overly tiring, we spoke to Awana, youth, prayer teams, entire congregations, small groups and more.  We saw several friends we hadn't seen in a long time, and got to visit with a lot of dear friends.  All in all, I say it was a pretty pretty pretty… good weekend.

Need New Truck

Featured in this video is our old family car. The corolla named Betty.  We owned her while waiting for our Isuzu 'Suzie' to be repaired, and then sold Betty to another family who loves her.

Why do we name our cars?  When a car gets you out of enough scrapes, and you've poured enough blood, sweat and tears into it, you tend to get emotionally attached.


Our beloved Suzie the Isuzu is dying!!!
Having left it behind in PNG in the care of some friends, they report to us it is puffing out loads of blue smoke. I'm told it needs thousands of dollars of repair for different failures. Despite the fact that we've been maintaining it and putting nearly $1000 into it each year, it is starting to die.   There comes a tipping point in every car's life when it simply isn't worth the money you're putting into it. 

So, we are faced with choices:

• 1 - continue to keep this 1991 vehicle up and running, and while waiting for repair parts to ship, buy temporary vehicles if available. Pricetag $5000, and wasted time/money.
• 2 - purchase another used vehicle in country, the problem is that many of the older trucks are just as worn out as ours. Pricetag $9000 (if we can find a decent one)
• 3 - purchase a used truck in the U.S. and ship it over (Fords have the most parts available) Pricetag $20,000 ( $7000+shipping ($13,000)
• 4 - purchase a used vehicle from Japan and ship to the U.S. Pricetag = $12,000

The catch is, we have no money to do any of this.
So, without purchasing a vehicle, we'll be unable to get off of center easily, unable to give rides to people in the rain, my wife will be confined to the house after 6pm, unless I accompany her in walking to places.

Having a trustworthy vehicle, a rugged vehicle, one that can handle the tough PNG roads, and get you out of trouble quickly, avoid getting stuck and give you a secure place to be, is very important to life in PNG for us. 

So we're putting this out there as a big prayer request. This is something we need. If we were to raise enough money, I would by far prefer to purchase a truck from the U.S. and ship it over, as it will ensure I can get parts for it much more affordably in the future, plus it will be something I can see and touch before shipping over.

 Please join us in prayer.

The idea of returning to PNG without a working vehicle has my wife and I distressed. 

We are hoping that God provides as He always has.

Photo Memories

Me in Kokopo 1 year ago.  I was recording the Luke Video with these two friends, on my right is the man who played the voice of Jesus, on my left is the man who was the Narrator.