Fun with Family

It's been a while since we blogged. Life is busy when family is over! But it's a very good kind of busy. What a great blessing it's been for us to have Tim and Elissa and their boys here. The only ones who have had a harder time are the kids...as they've learned to share everything and be around each other all the time. We've had to break up a few fights already! But as you can see, they still love each other very much!

And also as you can see, Karlyn is Lucas' little mama. She's always looking out for him as he's crawling around the floor. If he grabs anything that he's not supposed to, she is right there. And if he needs a toy or his soother, she's there with it before any of the rest of us even notice he needs it!

Yes, and here's our crazy son in the bucket...I mean, bath!


Tomorrow we are taking our two families on a 10-day holiday to Madang which is a town up the coast. So we have a 5-hour drive ahead of us. And it's not like there's Timmy's or McDonald's to stop at on the way either! Andrew and Natalie just came back from there and said the road is a little rough at spots, especially driving through the mountains (which is about two hours of the trip). We are bracing ourselves and praying that the kids will see it as an adventure! After 3 days in Madang, we'll drive to Ukarumpa, the SIL/Wycliffe Bible Translators base for PNG and spend the weekend there. We are really looking forward to getting away from Lae and our work here for a bit. There's been a lot going on lately.

Please join us in praying for safe travels. Something we never take for granted here.

May the Lord bless and keep you all, and fill you with His strength each day.

Soccer Camp with "Mr. Tim"!

There’s a stadium with a nice, green soccer field just down the road from our house and that’s where Tim held the soccer camp from Tuesday to Friday of this past week.

Here's Karlyn, ready to play!

We were not sure what to expect in terms of how many kids would come and whether we would get rained out! (Since we are in the midst of our wet season now…) Well, it turned out we didn’t need to worry. The Lord provided in every way. The kids just kept coming and coming—some even missed school to do so, not that we encouraged that or anything. (In typical PNG style, we were told by several schools that this week was indeed a week of holidays for the kids, it turned out that it actually wasn’t). However, many of the kids don’t usually go to school at all, (because their parents can’t afford it), and so the soccer camp was a great way for them to come out and have some fun and keep busy this week. And as for the rain, the first day it held off until we were done, the second day it poured rain almost the whole time, but even that didn’t stop the kids (and coach) from getting out there and slipping and sliding on the wet field! And then the last 2 days were dry again—praise God!

Penalty shots, in the rain!

When soccer got a little boring...


The juggling competition...to win a "PNG-Canada Soccer Bible Camp" t-shirt!


Josiah--the best juggler!! (60 times!)



Everyday Tim lead the children through a series of drills for about the first hour, then we would have a break and Ian and Tim would lead them in a devotion time, and then there was time to play some games. I think it’s safe to say that all of the children (aged about 6-20 years old!) had an amazing time. I think they are all hoping that he would run another camp next week and the next…And they’re already talking about what he can do the next time they come to PNG!! Hey, we’re all for that!!

Family in PNG

Tim and Elissa and boys have arrived! (Some of you may be wondering, who are they? So to fill you in, Tim is Ian's brother, married to Elissa and their two boys are Noah and Lucas). They'll be with us here in Lae for 6 weeks!

Here they are, after many hours in the sky, a few days in Australia to sleep off the time change, a few hours layover with our colleagues in Port Moresby, and then finally arriving here in Lae! They were a little tired (especially Noah!). It was such an incredible feeling to meet them at the airport. We're still pinching ourselves that they're actually here!!


Dinnertime at the picnic table! It's amazing how much fun the kids are having together already! Nothing compares to having cousins around to play with. We're so thankful to have family here with us in PNG.

Allow us to introduce you to some people from our "church family" too. This family professed their faith in the Lord Jesus in church today and therefore became official members too! They are Joel and Gami with Venessa and Robert. They seem to be a great couple, who are deeply committed to the Lord and already have a solid knowledge of Scripture (not often the case here). We are excited and hopeful about how the Lord will use them in our church community! They had written a short song based on the text from Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord", and sang it for everyone following the service. It was a beautiful testimony of their desire to be completed committed to the Lord as a family. We praise God for that.


Here is another sister in the Lord, Viviana with her children, Elijah, Claudia, Jonlyn and Gitonia. Viviana too professed her commitment to the Lord today. She is married to a man named Elias and we hope and pray that he will one day make the same commitment. (Up til now his work as a truck driver has kept him on the road very often and unable to attend church.)

We praise God for all of our family here in Lae, PNG!

Rascals at Work

When we talk about ‘rascals’ here in PNG, the meaning is very different than back in Canada, where they are nothing more than mischievous little kids. Here the rascals are the criminals and sadly sometimes they are just little kids, but they’ve chosen a life of serious crime.

Over the past few days, our church community experienced just how dangerous the rascals can be. Our church property is on the edge of a settlement called Kamkumung, an area that is notorious for its ‘rascal activity’. We’ve been there for about 4 years now and have had only a couple instances with some guys trying to jump over the fence, or throwing rocks at the house. But last week Friday, in the wee hours of the morning, a group of rascals decided to cut a hole in the fence in one of the back corners and try to get into the pastor’s house. There is no pastor living there at present, as our former pastor is helping out a church in Port Moresby right now. However, his daughters, one of whom is married with a newborn little one, and the other 2 who are in high school, do still live in the house along with an older man from our church. The rascals didn’t get into the house because the iron door leading onto the porch stopped them. And then some neighbours eventually ran them off the property. The police had been called, but didn’t bother to answer the telephone. They also called us on our cell phone, but it was downstairs and we did not hear it ringing. We’re not sure what we could’ve done anyway. It was an extremely traumatic experience for the girls and as a result, the husband of the oldest daughter came home early from his place of work (normally he’s gone for 6 weeks at a time) to be with them.

Everyone thought that it would be a while before the rascals came again. But that certainly was not the case. Last night they struck again, but this time they came with a larger group and were armed with guns. They were able to get into the house and stole everything of value. We are so thankful that they did not harm the girls, but again it was terrorizing for them. The older man living in the house tried to defend them and ended up being cut on his head and arms. Ian took him to the hospital this morning and it seems he will be alright, although he was shaken up from what happened. He is a frail, old man and yet he was selfless enough to try to protect the girls.

The house at Kamkumung:


When something like this happens, you experience such a range of emotions—thankfulness that thing weren’t any worse, but also anger and frustration that rascals can get away with this. You especially feel for the national brothers and sisters who are most often the victims. And yet you also feel vulnerable yourself. When the police don't respond, you understand why people take the law into their own hands. You feel discouraged, afraid, and uncertain about what to do next. You know that Satan will try to use this situation to destroy and discourage. But you also know that the Lord will use it to make you more reliant on Him. He is more powerful than any band of rascals, no matter how many guns and knives they hold! We go forward in His strength and power.

Please pray for brother Rumanasen that his injuries will heal quickly. He’s staying with another family from the church until he’s better.

Please pray for the Bouway girls, who are staying at their mother’s village for a couple weeks. They are away from their parents, and experienced much trauma, and it is uncertain where they will live when they come back to Lae.

Please pray for the rascals—that the Lord will convict their hearts to confess and repent and turn from their lives of sin.

Meet Yamo

....with Karlyn on her 1st birthday (almost a year ago!)

This woman spends a lot of time with our family, so we thought we’d introduce her to you all. Her name is Yamo, or "Auntie" as Karlyn calls her. She is about 45 years old, and has one grown son and 3 grandchildren. Three days a week, she works in our house as our “hausmeri” (literally: housewoman). And she is one of the hardest workers we’ve ever met! We really appreciate her work around the house. With her help I’m freed up to do other things—like spend more time with the kids and do my small part in the ministry work!

...busy preparing food.

I can still remember clearly the first time I met Yamo. It was 2 ½ years ago when she came to our home and offered to work for us. Up until that day, I had stubbornly refused to employ a houseworker, (even though we had offers almost daily from women who wanted a job). It took me a while to get used to the idea of someone else coming in and doing my housework for/with me. (I know, all you overworked moms are probably sitting there asking, WHY?!) Anyway, it just so happened that at the time that Yamo came to us, I was pregnant with Karlyn and not getting much else done besides lying on the couch anyway! So my stubborn resolve crumbled and I agreed for her to start work the following week. Looking back, I see the Lord’s hand in sending Yamo to us that day, and she has been a blessing to us ever since. We hope that we are helping her too, by providing her with a steady income to live on which she also uses to help extended family members.

...with Karlyn as she was learning to walk (many months ago).


Yamo has been attending our church for about a year now and also goes to the literacy course that our coworker, Natalie VanderHeide, is teaching. I don’t think Yamo has had much schooling at all, if any, as is the case with many of the women. She has shown incredible determination in trying to learn to read and write. It’s been a real struggle for her, and she’s had a very difficult time remembering what sound each letter makes. I’ve been trying to give her some extra help with this, but it seems one time she will know the sounds and the next time she’s forgotten them all. I can see that she’s embarrassed and discouraged that she can’t remember. We do hope and pray that one day things will click. She really wants to be able to read the Bible on her own. Please join us in praying for Yamo!