First 10 days in PNG

Hello all,

It has been a blessing to finally make it to PNG.  My five flights were long and boring, but fortunately uneventful.  I had some problems with my ticket being printed out in Port Moresby, but Reinhold, a missionary liaison helped me through and onto the next flight.

My first few days were a blur of jet lag and doing paperwork.  Rod Norby and Nancy Anderson, the other ELCA missionaries had me at their house and lead me around.  Then we drove up to Madang for the annual family retreat for Lutheran missionaries.  It was a lovely time, though I am still confused as to who some of the people were.  The majority of missionaries speak German, but they were kind enough to use English as the default language.  The children's worship was in Tok Pisin, the pidgin language frequently used here in PNG (often referred to as Pigin)..  I am starting to work on Tok Pisin as that is the language I will be teaching in.  I flew to Finchhafen with other missionaries.  My first landing on a grass air strip were eventful, thankfully.

I have been here at Senior Flierl Seminary for 3 days now. The welcome was wonderful, with a "singsing" that included a song of welcome and a flower decorated house.  The locals have been very gracious and try to help me learn Pigin.  I have been attending chapel and teacher meetings.  This morning I also attended an introductory bible class for the wives.  I am starting to understand some of the conversation, but can't say much yet.  Tonight I will be attending a special worship service.  I am not sure what it's focus will be, but I am sure it will be filled with spirit filled singing.  The women all sit on the right hand side of the church, while the men sit on the left.

I have some wonderful pictures, but do not have a good enough internet connection to upload them yet.

"Thanks for all your prayers.

Yes, I am going soon

I have finally received a departure date - Sunday September 30.  My work visa is supposed to be avaiable by September 26 so it looks like a go.  Thanks to the International Date Line I will arrive in the city of Lae on October 2.  Then on the 5th I will go to the annual missionary gathering.  I am not sure how clear-headed I will be, but it will be a great chance to meet people.

I am so relieved that I have a date now.  I was starting to feel like I was stuck in a time-loop like in the movie Groundhog Day.  It seemed that I was always going to be leaving soon, but never really leave.

I did have one bright spot earlier this month.  I went out to Washington State to visit my family.  I stayed with Bob (my brother) and Byrna (my sister-in-law).  They were great hosts, taking me out on a nature hike and to the Western Washington Fair.  They also helped me finish my shopping.  I now have a nice camera, a Gore-Tex rain jacket and a wide brimmed sun hat.  Bob, who has taught photography also helped me get oriented to my camera.  I also spent time visiting with my nieces and nephews that live in the area.  A highlight was meeting Erin Ruth, my 6 week old great-niece.

Another important part of my trip was visiting my elderly father in Pullman WA.  I was able to spend a few days with him, even taking him to fitting on his new hearing aids.It was a difficult good-bye, knowing that he might not be alive in two years when I come back to visit.  Thankfully, we both believe that we will be together in eternal life after we leave this life.  I am also glad that my brother Bob and sister Beth will continue to watch over him.  Dad and I were talking about how different it was my mother went to China as a missionary's child in 1920.  It took months for the family to travel there, and months for letters to get back and forth. I am so glad that I will have a telephone and email to keep in touch with everyone.

So, time to get going on the last steps of being ready.  There has been quite a few things that needed to be done close to leaving, I guess that time is now.

Sorting, sorting, sorting

I have not gotten a departure date yet.  The closest estimate I have gotten is the end of August.  It is nice to have some time, but I am the type of person who does better with deadlines, so I am having trouble with staying on track some days.  I am still working to sort, sort, sort.  I realize that there are boxes that I have been moving without sorting for the last 4 moves.  I don't want to put the same boxes in storage here in Jim's house for two more years.  So far I have sorted my kitchen, books, and most of my clothes.  The number of unsorted boxes and drawers has gone down dramatically.  However, I still have the dreaded "miscellaneous" boxes left to work on. 

I did make the visit to the travel clinic and got 3 different shots.  Consequently my shoulder was sore for several days. We also decided on what malaria preventative medication I should try.  Malaria is a growing problem in Papua New Guinea (PNG). I have also been to several dental appointments, including a root canal.  What a relief to finally have dental insurance again!  I am definitely hoping to avoid dental emergencies while in PNG. I also have a new pair of glasses on order.  My current glasses will become my backup glasses, and my backup glasses will become my backups to  my backups (for those that don't know me I am quite nearsighted).

I have also been doing some shopping.  I have been wearing pants and tops for the last 9 years.  However, in PNG I am expected to wear either dresses or skirts that go halfway down my calf.  Since I own quite a few tops I am trying to find cotton skirts. My sister Beth went shopping with me last weekend.  We went to a large Lane Bryant store but all the skirts were up around my knees.  I did have success with one skirt at Wall-Mart.  At text study on Tuesday I learned that the big outlet mall in  Kenosha WI has several stores that might be helpful.  On Saturday Jim and I plan to make a trip down to do shopping.  There is a Black & Decker outlet that he can check out.  Who knows what we will come back with!

Summer Missionary Conference

I am half way through the summer missionary conference in Kenosha WI.  It is the annual gathering of missionaries of the ELCA that are about to go out, home on leave, or returning back from service.  We had a meeting of all of us serving or going to serve in the Asia/Pacific region.  Most of the others are serving in prosperous, urban, non-Christian settings such as Japan or Singapore.  That is quite a contrast to my rural, Christian setting in PNG.  I am still burned out from cities since living in the NYC area , so I am happy with my assignment.

I had lunch with Kevin, a missionary that used to serve in PNG.  He mentioned how one needs to get into a slower rhythm of life.  He would spend time everyday sitting on his porch savoring his view over the Pacific Ocean.  He also reiterated what a beautiful area I am gong to.

Friday I will be back in Milwaukee and working on all the details of getting ready.  A top priority needs to be visiting a travel clinic for my shots.

one orientation down, two to go

Today I am finishing up my last day of orientation in Toronto.  The actual sessions have been a mix of useful and boring, but generally helpful.  It has also been wonderful to get to know these other folks.  I expect many of us will continue to stay in touch and support each other as we go into new positions and new locations.

The most interesting event was a visit to an Ethiopian Orthodox Church.  I have little experience with an Orthodox  Church, much less one that believes it has the original Ark of the Covenant.  It was good to see such a different expression of Christianity, including different sights, smells, and sounds than one would see in a Catholic or Protestant church.  The synagogue we visited seemed more "normal" to me.  Of course I have  been to several synagogues before.  The trip was a good reminder that we each have preconception of what church "should" be, and how important to be open to what it is.

Tomorrow I fly down to Chicago.  I have the rest of the weekend off.  After that it will be a day of training at church headquarters (insurances etc), and then on to the Missionary Conference.

Training in Toronto

I have just finished my first day of training in Toronto.  It is officially the "Canadian Churches' Forum for Global Ministries Mission Orientation Conference".  While it is in Canada, only one Canadian is attending. There are also 35 of us Americans.  We are rounded out by one German and one South African.  Today was somewhat boring as they talked about Intercultural skills in a more theoretical way.  However, the schedule shows some interesting days ahead.  For example, on Sunday I will be attending a Chinese language church. Then on Monday I get to visit an Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

The creature comforts are nice.  We are staying in housing at St. Micheal's college at the University of Toronto.  The rooms have A/C and nice beds.  Many of the buildings are Gothic style with lovely architectural detail.  The dining room we eat at for Breakfast and Lunch make us think of Hogwarts.  However, we are missing the floating candles :-)Well, to bed.

ordination pictures - June 23, 2012 - Pullman WA

            Laying on of hands with Bishop Last (center), Western Iowa Synod  Other pastors L-R Rev. Wesley Howell, Trinity Lutheran, Pullman; Rev. Roger Petenger, retired campus minister, Rev. Dean Stewart, Moscow ID, Rev. Franklin Ishida, Gobal Mission.

    Receiving stole form niece Sarah Lieu, assisted by grandnephews Brandon Lieu and Adam Lieu. Bishop Last in center