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!