A Question for Fellow Bakers

I recently acquired a bread machine. A friend had two and decided to give one to me! A lovely, generous gift. It's been fun experimenting with different recipes for bread, rolls, cheese twists, and pizza dough, even some with spelt flour for Ian and me (since we are both wheat-intolerant). Our kids still enjoy their sandwiches at lunch, so for them I've been searching for a true wholemeal (or wholewheat, for the Canadians:)) bread recipe. Most of the recipes out there, even the one that came with the machine, call for half white flour. That's not wholemeal, is it??

So I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who has found a good recipe that is 100% wholewheat, or at least as close as we can get?

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Thank you again to those who sent me recipes and tips. Through you all, I discovered that it is possible to have a moist, light loaf of bread that is 100% whole wheat!

And even more important, the kids like it!

(Apologies for the terrible picture quality

and my son's table manners, but you get the idea!!)

That Time of Year Again

This past week, an exciting thing happened just across the Owen Stanley mountain range that separates Lae from Port Moresby. Another academic year began at the Reformed Churches Bible College!

God made it possible for us to send two new students from Lae--Keith and Adam. Here they are on the morning of their departure, nervous and excited about leaving Lae to begin their studies at the RCBC!

Ian spoke to them the other night on the phone and they were brimming over with thankfulness and joy at being at the College. And we understand why--as a young man living in the settlements of Lae, it's not easy to stand up for your faith. As is the case worldwide, there's pressure to fit in, to join the partying, to live for yourself instead of living for the Lord. But at the College, they are away from these pressures and have the opportunity to delve into the Word everyday with other young Christians. Of course, college life has its challenges too, but we thank God that these young men have the opportunity to be there to strengthen and increase their faith and knowledge of Christ and His Word. Please pray for them, and also the other young men, their friends and brothers, that stayed behind in the settlements.

This is Annie and Jerry, with their daughters, Christina and baby Agnes. (Some of you may remember that baby Agnes had a rough start to life when she had a bad fall at birth, but thankfully she seems to be ok. ) This will be their fourth year at the college as Jerry continues his studies in the Pastoral Program.

Another family also returned for their fourth year--Joel and Gami, along with their children Vanessa and Robert. Joel is also in the Pastoral Program. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of them since they left a couple weeks earlier than these other students. They are also very thankful that they could go back and continue their studies.

This is another family that also lives at the RCBC---Nawae and Daiva, Ralema and Andrias. Nawae and Daiva have been at the College since it opened its doors in 2007! As part of Nawae's Pastoral Program, they came to Lae for a 4-week internship. They were a blessing to our church community as he preached, and together they lead a Marriage Course, Youth Bible Studies, and supported the church members. I think many hope that they will be back one day on a more permanent basis... but we will have to wait and see what the Lord has planned!

Your prayers for all the students and staff at the Bible College are always needed!

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 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. They made us feel welcome, had us over for dinner, babysat our children, showed 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!