Introducing RCMP Officer, Jonathan Wildeboer

Look out, rascals! Officer Jonathan's on the beat!

Well, actually this was his costume for Book Character Day. All items except for a few gold buttons were found right here in Lae at second-hand stores! Special thanks to a good friend who helped put it together by sewing the details on the shirt and pants. And thanks to the Huizingas for sending over those buttons from Cairns!

Beautiful Madang

Our family recently took a trip to a town 5 hours up the coast called Madang. That is where our new co-workers are doing their cultural training and so we as a family went to bring them there and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy a couple days in Beautiful Madang.

Searching for sea creatures and sea shells!

Enjoying the beautiful grounds at Madang Resort.

The pool was great fun too.

And here's Francine, Tim and Avigail, when we dropped them off at their Pacific Orientation Course. They look pretty happy to be there, don't they? We look forward to hearing more about their adventures when they return to Lae in November. May our Lord keep them safe and healthy as they go through their training including 5 weeks of village living.

Piglet and Speedy Join the Family

It seems it was inevitable that when living in Papua New GUINEA, we would eventually acquire some GUINEA pigs for pets. So, here's Ian on his day 'off' getting their little home ready.

Thankfully he had help from our friend, Raymond.

And from Jono, of course!

Jono's guinea pig was originally named Blackie but soon after arriving earned herself the name "Speedy". We were just thankful we were able to catch her again. Jono had learned the hard way not to let her run loose outside!!!

And here is Karlyn with Piglet, who is much more docile than her sister Speedy and content to hang out in Karlyn's arms. They are a good match.

I never thought I would say this about rodents, but they are really cute and are great pets for kids. Definitely recommended!

Our Little Man Turns 2!

On Monday, August 8th, we celebrated Caleb! He is 2 years old already! He wasn't too sure about the birthday cake though...took one look at it and said, "yuck" and then was afraid of the candles and kept saying, "ow, ow"!

But one taste and he decided it was edible!

We also celebrated with his 2 friends, Jakin and Tiana who also turned 2 (on the 6th and the 9th). It was pretty special to celebrate with the 3 of them together.

We praise and thank God for our little man Caleb and pray that he will grow up to know and love His Saviour Jesus Christ.

Blessings from Canada

It all began with getting the house ready. Since dust piles up fast here there was plenty to do before its new occupants---Tim and Francine and Avigail---arrived. They would be living in Andrew and Natalie's old unit in the same compound as us. Thankfully, I didn't have to do it all on my own. A group of women from church came to help out and after a morning of hard work, the place was ready to welcome them.

Here's Mary...dancing with the broom.

And Viviana...with the mop!

It was a tiring morning...and what better place for a nap than a tire swing!?

Here are Francine, Avigail and Tim---finally back in Lae, after many, many months of preparation and planning and anticipation. This is at a bbq at a friend's house last weekend.

And this little sweetheart has worked her way into all of our hearts already.

We were also blessed with a visit from some other Canadians last weekend--Arjan and Inge DeVisser. They made the trip over here after spending time in Western Australia.

We had a lot of fun with them, and also appreciated their input, wise counsel, encouragement and enthusiasm for what the Lord is doing here in the work we're involved with.

They were only here a short time, but we kept them busy. Arjan spoke at the youth group meeting and after church about the power and affect that sorcery has on many Christians in South Africa and shared stories from their time there. Many people here could relate to what he was sharing and we pray that it will help any of them who need to break the stronghold that witchcraft and sorcery still has on their lives. Inge also spoke at our teacher training class and inspired the teachers in many different areas of Christian education.

Oh, and we also kept her busy reading stories to Caleb...

It was a wonderful weekend together. Short, but sweet, as they say. And now they are already back in Canada. It seems hard to believe that they were even here in some ways, but we have the photos and fond memories to prove it!

And Tim and Francine and Avigail are also leaving us again soon. Tomorrow we will drive with them to a town called Madang, which is a 5 hour drive away (assuming the road is ok and we're praying it will be). They will stay there for the next 3 months and attend a cultural and language training course run by SIL/Wycliffe Bible Translators. We attended the same course when we arrived in 2005 and it is very challenging but also invaluable in terms of learning to live and work in PNG. Please pray for them as they go!