Some Time in Cairns

For some of you, it's been a while since you've heard from us. We feel we have a pretty good excuse, though. We were busy having a much needed holiday in Cairns, Australia! Cairns is not far from PNG--only a 1.5 hour flight from Port Moresby--and it is a beautiful place to visit! For us, it was made even more beautiful by the church group there. Ian was privileged to preach a couple of times and we all enjoyed the love and hospitality shown us by the members. The congregation never fails to show us much love and hospitality--making us feel welcome, having us over for dinner, babysitting our children, showing us some spectacular sights, and so on!

Here we are, taking in some of the beauty of the Tablelands of Cairns.

The tree behind us is surrounded by a vine that looks like a curtain,

aptly called the curtain fig.

This fine gentleman, and even finer fisherman,

took Ian and Jonathan out on the reef for a day.

They enjoyed pulling in lots of reef fish, but all too small to keep.

No fish for dinner, that night!

Jono's Catch of the Day

Good friends Aliesha and Karlyn...

we stayed in the flat at Matt and Claire Byl's place

and our children just loved playing with Aliesha and Shakira!

The weather was very nice, so we swam heaps!

We also visited the zoo.

The Roos were very unnaturally friendly!

True to his name, this guy wasn't shy about strutting his stuff!

And this guy, my dear husband, celebrated his 38th birthday while there!

It was a great holiday, refreshing and relaxing...but now we're glad to be home again into the swing of things here!

A Very Blessed Christmas to You

Wishing you much joy as you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,

our Saviour,

our Prince of Peace,

our Mighty God,

and the Only One Who brings hope and healing and true love into our lives!

Couldn't quite get it together for a family shot this year,

but here is one of the kids at least.

We really want to say thank you as well, for all the support and prayers, comments and cards this past year. It all means a lot to us and it's very encouraging that you would take the time to think of us and keep up with our Days in Lae.

Thank you and may God continue to bless and keep you, also in the new year.

Welcome to the Family

Last Sunday was a joyous day as we welcomed some sisters into our church family. Grace Binabe and Jennifer Samson professed their faith in Christ and then also became members of our church, and two little girls were baptized as well. It is always a joy to witness this and we pray that these women and girls will faithfully serve the Lord for the rest of their lives! The only sad part of the day was that the husbands, although they were there, did not make the same commitment. We pray for the Spirit to move them and that they will also publicly confess Christ as Lord and Saviour and commit to being faithful members of our church.

This is Ian baptizing Martha as her mother and aunt stand behind her.

Here's Grace and Jenny with the pidgin Bibles they received from the church,

and also Martha with her baptism certificate.

Her sister, Angela, was also baptized

but I wasn't able to pin her down to join the photo.

That same Sunday, we also officially welcomed Pastor Tim and Francine (and Avigail) into our church family. Here they are, with front row seats, enjoying the various performances put on to welcome them (mostly songs). It is already a blessing to have them with us.

Some of the youth singing their welcome song.

And of course there was food...

and time to 'story' together...

and here's Karlyn, relaxing and enjoying PNG kaikai!

What a beautiful day it was!

Meet Little Agnes

We praise and thank God that the little baby who fell from the hospital bed at birth seems to be doing well. She came home from the hospital two days ago, and does not seem to have any lasting effects from the fall.

Here she is with her mom, Annie and big sister, Christina.

Baby Agnes

On the political scene, it looks like they've decided who our Prime Minister is, which is probably a good thing. The Governor-General changed his mind and decided to reinstate the 'popular illegitimate one', who I guess is now legit. Hopefully this is the end of the tug-of-war.

Prayers Needed for a Little One

A couple from our church was blessed with a baby girl yesterday, however, when the mother was giving birth at the public hospital, there were no nurses present with her (and they do not allow the husbands in) and when the baby came out, she slipped off the bed and fell into a bucket that was on the floor. Unbelievable, isn't it? And yet somehow it does not surprise us.

We do not know the extent of the injuries to the little one, although she is crying a lot as if in pain and had quite a high temperature today. We ask you to please pray that there will be no serious, permanent injuries from this fall.

Please also pray for the parents, Jerry and Annie. About 2.5 years ago, they already lost their second child who was stillborn at birth.

We cling to the promises of our Good Shepherd:

"He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11