The Tide Is Turning

 

When I updated you last, we were pretty sure that financially it wasn't possible to make it back to PNG. We were discouraged and confused. This past week everything has changed. We have a renewed energy and excitement to get back to our work there. And most importantly we have seen a big increase in our support level! We now need $870 more per month to get back to PNG! Our next course is scheduled to start August 14. So, that means we need to be 100% funded by June in order to get our plane tickets, and get back in time to settle in a bit. If you have been considering becoming a monthly supporter, now is a perfect time to get on board! To sign up to give online, go to:: http://www.wycliffe.org/Partnership.aspx?mid=Z2OH1L

and just follow the prompts. As always all gifts made to our ministry are tax deductible.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to those of you who have been praying, giving and inviting us to speak! We'll keep you posted....

What's Goin' On

This might have to end up being several blog posts...

I have to apologize to our regulars for not keeping you up to date at all. I think I greatly underestimated the craziness of reverse culture shock, and didn't really realize how burnt out I'd become. So, we've been back in The States for nearly 8 months now. And truely we don't feel much less confused than when we first learned that my sweet mother in law was very close to death.

 

When we left the US in 2010 we "knew" we'd be gone at least 3 years and likely 4. We had only been in PNG for about 2 weeks when Matt's Mom called to tell him she had cancer. We didn't really know much more than that.

We were often out of contact and away from cell coverage and internet access during our first 4 months or so in country. We found out in January last year that Grandma was going to discontinue her cancer treatment. We weren't exactly sure what that meant but felt that it wasn't good. It wasn't until May that we knew she was going down hill quickly and we started to make plans to get back to be with her for her last weeks. I want to thank all of those who gave in order for us to get plane tickets on short notice.

 Unfortunately, as some of you know, we didn't get back in time to say goodbye in person and she passed away just four days before we made it back to S.C. We feel truly blessed that we did make it back to be with Grandpa for her funeral service. But we were also confused. Why did God allow it to happen this way? Why would we make such big strides in PNG, finally feeling culturally in tune and accepted only to have to come back a year prematurely? Why, now that we are here, are we financially unable to get back to our work there? What will happen to The Haus Karim Project ? We just don't know. We don't have much of a continency plan, but we do trust God. We have fasted, prayed, and sought council and the answer is always the same; "Watch. Wait. Trust." We are confident that God is in control and we trust Him completely. I ask that you will pray with us. Pray that if the Father wants us back in PNG for the next course of POC that He will provide the $1400 per month that we need to return. And pray if that is not His will, that He'll show us what to do next. Thank you friends for taking this wild ride with us. Either way the adventure is not over!

 I will try to be better at updating here. You can also follow along on Facebook, leave us a note and let us know what's new with you!

XO Tiffany

February Newsletter

Hensen

     first, let me say sorry for not posting in a while. It has been pretty busy around here. Now. on to Hensen.

     Hensen has an interesting story. I think he looks like Cramer on Seinfeld. He is the only national employee at POC who is not form the mountain. When Hensen was a small boy both his parents died. He left his home area (the Sepik) and ended up two provinces east. With no land and no family in the area he needed a job. It just so happened that he ended up near a place called Jungle Camp. Jungle Camp has since moved and become POC (the place where we work) but I am getting ahead of the story. He got a job at jungle camp taking care of missionary children. One of the families became very attached to him. When the course was over they wanted him to move up to Ukarumpa with them. Hensen had heard all kinds of horrible stories about the people who lived in the Highlands and was afraid to go. The family eventually left without him.

     However they could not forget about Hensen. At that time in PNG there was a national radio program that would make announcements over the air for its listeners. The family made an announcement that they were coming to the area where he was and they wanted him to meet them and return with them to Ukarumpa. Someone who knew Hensen heard the program and told him. Hensen decided to meet them and go to live in Ukarumpa.

     I should say that the offer was not totally without strings. In exchange for room and board with the family Hensen had to work for the family and help look after the children. Hensen lived with and worked for the family for several years. As the children grew bigger less was required of Hensen and the father of the family told Hensen if he would like to stay with them he would pay for Hensen to go to school in Ukarumpa. He gladly accepted and was thus educated.

     Upon finishing his education he began to work in different departments at Ukarumpa.  While all of this was happening Jungle camp had closed up and moved to it’s current location in Madang province, reopening as The Pacific Orientation Course. One of the directors at POC remembered Hensen from Ukarumpa and asked him to come and handle the office work at POC. Hensen was ready for a change and gladly accepted. While at POC he met his wife Ti’en (Dorcas). He eventually resigned and moved his family back to the Sepik where his family’s traditional land is.      

     They lived there for several years until another POC director came to the Sepik to find him and ask him to come back. He returned and has worked there ever since. He told me recently when he retires he will stay  until his children finish school then he will move back to the Sepik.

     Because Hensen has had so much education and work with expats so long his English is very good. That can be a good thing when working in the office. But his Tok Pisin is not very good. Maybe what I mean by good is '”pure”. He mixes LOTS of English words in where they should not be. This is a pretty common occurrence with Papua New Guineans who have a good bit of formal education. They even have a word for it, “pinglish.” This presents a little problem when he interacts with the students who are trying their new language out on our employees. So, we just tell the students at the beginning of the course that his Tok Pisin may not be the best to try to emulate. That being said, he has a very unique perspective about life and culture in PNG being a national and having lived with expats for many years. He is an amazing person and I love to sit and listen to him tell stories.

A Life Well Lived

      As many of you know we came home early because my mom passed away in June. Unfortunately, we didn’t get here in time to say goodbye but we did make the funeral services. It was a whirlwind but we made it and I felt like I was dealing with it pretty well. Things have settled down now, we have been here five and a half months. The last few weeks have been a lot more difficult. I think in some ways it is just starting to hit home and maybe I’m just starting to deal with it.

      What has made it easier for me is hearing what she meant to so many other people. It seems like she touched people in every  phase of her life. She worked at the Department of Social Services. I’ve had people come up to me and say that they worked with her in the late 60’s and had great stories to tell about her. My dad got a call after she passed away from a man who she had taken into protective custody as a child who was heartbroken over her passing.

      After she retired she really got  involved at her church. Not long ago we got a very nice note from the ladies group at her church. They voted to rename the group after her. They said she had revived the group and it was a reminder to them to continue to serve the church and the community.

     In addition to her work and her church my mom also had an impact on the community. She volunteered at several different organizations that helped underprivileged people in our community. I have had two different people come up to me in the last two weeks who served with her and tell me what an inspiration she was to them.

     We’ve only lived the in Spartanburg area for a short time over the past 11 years. I feel like we missed out on so many memories of her. But what we do have and what we gain every time someone shares a story with us are insights into a life well lived. We also have the encouragement that what we do truly does make a difference.

      I want to say thank you to each of you who have shared a story with me. I also want to thank you for your prayers. But most of all I want to thank my mom for not taking the easy road, for taking the path less traveled, and reaching out to her fellow man along the way. Thanks for being the encouragement and the example for me to finish well.

Matt

Papa Ganig

        Papa Ganig has worked at POC as long as it has existed at its current location (since 1977). He actually worked at the Lutheran girls school before POC was there. He is an incredible guy. He is the hardest working employee we have. On a good day he can still outwork 2 or 3 of our other employees put together. He takes care of all the grounds work (cuts the grass and bushes). He also chops all the fire wood used at POC; that’s a stack 10 feet wide 14 feet deep and 12 feet high every 4 months. The guy is a machine.

      One of the other things that our employees do is take the students on various hikes in the jungle (pictured above). It is generally my responsibility to assign employees to hiking groups. I can only assign Papa to the most advanced groups of hikers. He will leave all the rest of them in the dust. When we were students at POC Papa led my group on our 3 day hike. We had a very fit group and it was still tough to keep up with him. I love hiking with him but every time we take a group of students together we end up getting in trouble with the director because one of them says we were trying to kill them

      Papa is also the adopted father of my best friend Miani (see previous post). So he sees us as his children. He address us as his children and our kids as his grandchildren. We intern call him  Papa, and our children call him “grandfather” (in the local language).

  

(Papa’s youngest son 2nd from the left) 

       Papa’s youngest son went through a “haus man” ceremony a year or so back. The picture above is from the celebration at the end. During these celebrations shelters are built at different houses in the village for the families of the boys involved. Papa insisted that we sit with his family and eat with them when the feast was served. What an honor it is to be so deeply loved by so many. these pictures make me long to be back there now.

      Up next Hensen.

Filus

 

     There is so much to say about Filus I’m not sure where to begin. We all know that it is wrong to have favorites among your children but is it wrong for your children to have favorites among your friends? I’m not sure if it is or not but my 3 and 5 year old definitely have a favorite and it is Filus. he might be the most patient and caring person in the world. Silas will stop him in the middle of work and ask Papa Filus to help him catch a frog. Filus never says no. He will sneak around a building to avoid them before he will tell them no. Little Evie thinks she is a workman too. She goes right into the workshop and sits right down in the grease and sawdust and falls right into what we are doing. Filus goes right along with her and involves her in what ever he is fixing. This is probably my fault. I have always encouraged all of my children to be involved in the work I am doing. I think it is incredibly important for children to see adults working and to know that they can do work too. I firmly believe that it will make them more productive later in life. I also think that it will help them to discover what they enjoy and where they are gifted. Filus is a lot like me in this regard. His kids will come up to POC and hang out and help when they have free time.

     In addition to being great with kids Filus is unbelievably gifted at fixing stuff. He can fix just about anything. He is our mechanic, electrician, and welder at POC but he is in no way limited to this. it seems like he has got his hands in just about everything.

      Filus lives just down the hill form POC and it is not uncommon for him to hear me working on something at night and come back up to help me. 

     Filus’ mom and dad died when he was young and he was adopted by Amat (Talad’s dad). He and Talad and his brother grew up together. Filus even took Amat’s name. He is Filus Amat.

     I spend a lot of time with Filus. He and I usually take care of all the more complicated problems at POC. I also just like hanging out with him.  He and I go to town together regularly as well. Being in town with Filus is a little bit like being in a parade. Everyone knows him and it seems like he has helped just about everyone, so you are always waving and shaking hands.

     Maybe my favorite part about Filus is that he is always teaching. If we are in the jungle he is teaching me some new tidbit about a plant we just went by. If we are in town he has just shown me some little hole in the wall where we might be able to get just the part we need. And if we are on the mountain he has just shown me something about Papua New Guinean culture that I totally missed.

     Next up Papa Ganig.