Karlyn and Caleb

"I love him so much", says Karlyn.

Finally caught that smile on camera! We are soon on our way again, this time heading to Port Moresby for a Board meeting of the Reformed Churches Bible College as well as the graduation. We are on the early flight to Moresby, meaning we will be picked up by the airport bus at 4:40am! Ouch! We're hoping it'll be a fair trade though--a few hours of sleep in exchange for actually getting on our flight on time. Almost every time we have flown Lae-Moresby flights, there has been some delay and we've waited at the airport for hours and hours. At some airports this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but at Lae Nadzab airport...well let's just say it's not the cleanest (ie. you don't really want to use the toilets); food choices are slim and there's not much of anything to amuse children for hours on end. The last few days we've heard all of the flights have been overbooked and there are people camping out at the airport waiting to get on a flight. More people than usual are heading to Moresby this week because the PNG Games start tomorrow. It is our prayer that things will go smoothly for us, and if we are delayed, that the Lord will give us all the patience we need to get through it.

Following our weekend in Moresby, I (Nadia) along with Karlyn and Caleb, will be flying on to Brisbane, Australia in order to obtain visas from the PNG Consulate for them. We'll be there for 4 nights and thankfully Cheronne VanderHeide and their baby Joseph will be joining us too, for the same reason. Ian and Jonathan will have some good father-son time together as they stay in Moresby a few extra days and then come back to Lae.

I’m reading a great book right now called The Most Important Place on Earth, What a Christian Home Looks Like and How to Build One, by Robert Wolgemuth. I appreciate the candid way that he writes; and the book is full of practical ideas on having a home and family life where God is praised. I just finished a chapter called, “Just for Laughs,” where he writes about the fact that when we become stressed by life’s demands, often the first thing we lose is our sense of humour. And this affects the whole family as everyone begins to feel the stress. Wolgemuth highlighted two things for us to remember: we need to be able to laugh at ourselves and to laugh with our kids. You know---be a little crazy sometimes!

Karlyn and Ashlyn have lots of laughs together.

"How can you expect me to be happy when you put me in this contraption??"


It seems a fitting reminder for us as we settle into PNG life again. If we don’t laugh, we could easily become frustrated. For example, when we drive on the roads, which we do everyday, of course, we need to laugh—out loud! We had hoped there would’ve been reason for a name change while we were gone, but alas Lae is still dubbed, “Pothole City”, and rightfully so. Many of the main roads are literally covered with deep potholes. As a result, at times we bounce around like that little ball inside a pin ball machine. The game continues as you play chicken with the cars in the other lane--they move over to avoid the craters on their side and you’re doing the same thing on your side! Honestly, you just have to laugh about it…but you have to show a little restraint while you’re driving.

Then there’s power black-outs and water shortages; difficult landlords; the heat; our sloooooow and inconsistent dial-up connection; and such things as perpetual promises for services “next week”, but next week never seems to come! Yes, many times we just have to shrug it off, find the humour in the situation, laugh and keep on going!

But there are other things here that are more difficult to laugh about, actually impossible. Like the story we heard from a member of our church of a woman being tortured and a man being stoned—both to death. It seemed their slavery to a cultural norm passed down from their foreparents wouldn’t let them. Then there is the abuse we know that is happening to women—wives, mothers and daughters—also in our church. Or, the sick people that become sicker on account of a poor and unreliable healthcare system. The list goes on. Things that make you cry more than laugh. These things remind us why we’re here and make us thankful that ultimately God is in control. We do continue to pray that He will change hearts and lives here and that peace and righteousness and hope will reign in ever increasing measure here in Lae and all throughout PNG.