How Remote?

You might be wondering just how remote we are. Well, there's a reason that these are some of the last peoples that are being reached with the gospel (and everything else) ... because they are REMOTE! They are not easy to get to. Let me take you on a little journey of how one would get from Indiana, USA to Pei tribe, PNG (where Ben currently is and where Sophie and I will be next week).

First, you must hop on a domestic flight that will take you to the west coast.

Next, you must board a big plane on the west coast that will take you, somehow or some way, to Australia.

Once in Australia, you must board a smaller plane that will take you to Port Moresby, PNG. ALL flights into PNG must go through Port Moresby. From Port Moresby, you sit in a large room and must listen closely to the terrible loudspeaker (and hope your flight isn't cancelled or overbooked which is known to happen) and then hop on a plane (outside... with stairs) that will take you to Wewak (with a stop in Madang on the way).

The Wewak airport is very small- more like a barn than an airport. Baggage claim is outside. From this airport, you will hop on a small Cessna NTM plane that can only hold 900 lbs (people and cargo). This plane will take you to Hauna (if you've heard of Marilyn Lazlo, this is where she served), where there is an airstrip. It's about an hour flight.

There is no airstrip in Pei, so the last stretch of the trip to the Pei people group must be done by boat. This boat ride is about 2 hours. Below is a picture of the boat that is used.

And after those 2 hours, you've finally arrived to the Pefiyahe tribe where the Pei people live! So to all my friends and family back in Indiana (and Vermont)... you can no longer complain about living in the middle of nowhere!

Workin' Hard (PNG)

Here's a glimpse into what has been keeping Ben and I busy here in Papua New Guinea the last week and a half:

Ben has:

-Done several runs to town to pick up last-minute things

-Helped pack up things

-Helped to carry and move things

-Took a 4 day trip into the Pei tribe (1 hour plane ride, 2 hour boat ride) to begin clearing trees and settings post for 3 houses

To give you an idea of what this process looks like... imagine moving your entire life to a new location, but the only way you can get things in is by a boat, a small plane, and a small boat. Nothing can be bought on location at the new home, so everything must be sent in. First, the cost is incredible to move things this way. Second, it takes a LOT of thought as to how you will get everything you need into the location. This is no small task! 

THEN once you get there... you have to clear trees out, build high enough so water won't get into the house when there is a lot of rain, learn how to build with a new type of wood, build a home that is culturally not too far out from the tribal people but comfortable enough to be able to live life in still (that's a tricky task!), and build fast because it's too costly to continuously be flying/boating in and out (which means, you'll be living in a half-built home for a while). We totally respect these missionary friends of ours and are thankful for the realistic view we are getting.

(packing up the truck with things for the boat trip)

(clearing out trees to make room for 3 houses)

 (the 4 guys who went on the first work trip)

And because I know some of you wonder what I (Alisha) am up to (and because I need to prove to our good friend Aaron that I'm actually doing more than just blogging ;)), here is what I have been up to:

-Took a trip to town for fruits and veggies (cultural experience! Can't just go to walmart)
-Have taken several trips to the base store for food
-Have taken several trips (by foot) to a lady's house to try to get a meri blouse (the tops the ladies wear here) made for me.... but she's never home. Getting some exercise, I guess :)
-Making food! Besides cooking for our regular meals, we've been making food for the next few weeks for when the work teams are in building (we've made bread, ham and cheese rolls, granola, a bisquick master mix, and cooked and shredded 2 chickens)
-Laundry (takes a little longer than at home... first, there's more laundry because of it being so hot here. Then, you must hang EVERYTHING up to dry. Also, you have to turn everything inside out to hang it up since the sun is so hot and you don't want everything to fade).
-Taking care of little Soph Soph :) ... who is adjusting really well, by the way

And just to toot my own horn a little more (because let's be honest, we all know Ben is really doing more work than I am), I'm doing all of this at 6.5 months pregnant!

(Sophie and Evie with the unfinished ham and cheese rolls) 

(Sophie cheesin' it by the oatmeal bread)

We've also really enjoyed meeting the other people here on the Wewak base. Several of these missionaries have already lived in tribal locations... some are currently working on translating the Bible right now! We're so thankful to be able to meet these people- just normal people doing some very COOL things!

Arrival Stressors [PNG]

Ben and I feel so blessed and thankful that we have this opportunity to come to PNG before moving overseas long-term. One of the many blessings is that we are able to experience or get a glimpse of what will be stressful before being here for good. I know it's good for me to have time to process these things now, and to allow God to work on my heart in these areas.

1.     The Plane Ride: Being in a plane just isn’t fun. Add to that the fact that you’re leaving loved ones and your beloved country for a while (obviously, our trip this time isn’t that long… the next time will be much harder), children, pregnancy, security, customs, language barriers, or whatever else is uncomfortable… and the plane ride itself is a stressor.

2.     Jet Lag: When you fly across the world, you’re going to experience jet lag. Can’t escape it. I think we got lucky and didn’t have it too awful, but we still did to a degree. I was SO tired when we arrived… headache, could barely keep my eyes open, etc. Sophie was very tired and grouchy. Our schedule wasn’t too far off, but Sophie was going to bed a little earlier than normal and waking up earlier for these first few days, which affects my sleep too of course. We’re almost back on schedule though- yay! Another thing though is that Sophie has had weird freak-out moments while here… where she gets really scared over things she doesn’t at home. I think it’s because of a mixture of jet lag and being in a strange world.

3.     The Heat: It’s hot here. I like hot weather better than cold weather, so this isn’t the biggest stressor for me, but it’s still no fun. The difference between here and Indiana in the summer is that we don’t have AC to escape to. We do have fans, which are AWESOME, though! Sophie has a rash (little red dots) on her neck and under her neck and a little on her face, as a result of the heat- doesn’t seem to bug her, but she never got that in Indiana summer heat. You also just stink more. I wear clothes more than once at home before washing, but never here. They get stinky! I also don’t bathe Sophie at home every day, but here she needs it! The heat is the worst when the power goes out (which happens often enough, but thankfully, usually not for long periods of time) because then you don’t have fans… and if you’re sleeping, then it really gets sticky.

4.     Language/Culture: This will always be a stressor no matter what part of the mission process you’re in. It’s frustrating to not be able to communicate with these people. Not only does it make life more difficult, but it also makes you feel stupid. But on top of not being able to communicate with the people verbally, there are also SO many cultural differences that are stressful. For a woman, it’s frustrating here in PNG because you cannot just go to town by yourself or smile at a man. There are so many “norms” in America that you have to re-think that will make your head go crazy. This will definitely be one of the top stressors for me when we move overseas long-term.

5.     Bugs/Dirt: Bugs actually aren’t as bad here as I thought they might be, but they’re still more prevalent than in most American homes. They’re just a nuisance, and you have to bag up all your food super well because of them (had to throw away fig newtons I brought for Sophie because I didn’t bag them well enough and bugs were ALL over). And then, there’s the worst bug of them all which is mosquitos, and while they don’t tend to bite me often, there’s that whole malaria thing in the back of your head that’s giving you a good scare. And then dirt… well, I know this will be worse in the tribe, but it’s just hard for things to stay clean as easily when you’re here.

6.     Food: It takes up more time in your day. Every aspect of it. You can’t just run to the store and grab everything you need. So you especially can’t just have all the processed food you want. You have to think ahead about meals, which I’m really lazy about doing. I cook a lot right now, so dinner isn’t much more work than normal, but I’m lazy with breakfast and lunch often (frozen waffles, hot dogs, mac n cheese), and I can’t be quite as lazy here. The trick is to make sure you have leftovers though! No dishwasher, so dishes take a while.  And while I’m talking about how food takes longer, laundry takes a while too! You can’t re-wear clothes (because they stink), so you have more laundry. You don’t have paper towels or napkins- so you go through more cloth towels… which means more laundry. You change your sheets more often… which means more laundry.  And then you hang everything to dry… which means more time. And then you pray it doesn’t rain while your laundry’s hanging to dry… because you don’t want them to mold. And then because you wash your clothes so often, and because the sun is so hot, you can’t expect for your clothes to last as long. Which makes me sad.

7.     Your Kids: This will be one of the biggest stressors for me when we move overseas long-term because I hate when things are out of my control… and the way your kids handle moving overseas is really out of your control. I’ll be sad my kids have to leave behind loved ones, I’ll be sad my kids can’t have all the comforts of America… and then on top of that, they’ll be grouchy from a new environment and traveling and sweaty diapers (Sophie keeps getting grouchy about the sposie diaper she’s wearing, and I think it’s because she doesn’t like the sweaty plastic on her skin). I am thankful that when we move long-term that Sophie will be older and more of a help at that time J

8.     Your Marriage: I am pretty chill with taking care of household responsibilities without Ben… and about him being gone. We’ve been apart from each other before. But it’s still different overseas. It’s sad to say good-bye for a few days or weeks. He’s adjusting to all of his responsibilities overseas, and he’s not going to be able to help you in ways he has before if he’s going to get the work done here that needs done. You’ll need more communication than ever, yet might be too tired to even have any. This is certainly one of the most important “stressor” areas to not let get out of control!

9.     Communication Back Home: When you’re here, you miss people. I’m sure it’s far worse when you’re coming for years rather than weeks. Even more, you know everyone misses you and your kids. My problem is that I’m a people pleaser. I want to make sure no one feels like I’ve forgotten them. But truth be told, the internet isn’t always as good here. The time difference is a pain. You have tons of responsibilities here. You can’t just pick up a phone and text. And then you feel bad because you know people back home want to hear from you… but you also know this is where you life is now. I’m sure this will be one of the biggest stressors for me.

Schedule for Our Time in PNG

For those wondering what our time here will look like more specifically, here is our tentative schedule. As we're on PNG/"island" time now, things are always up for changing, but here's the PLAN.

We arrived thursday night safe and sound, and have been hanging out since. Ben and the guys have been doing lots of thinking/planning/putting things together for their trip. It's a lot of work to make sure you have everything, and even then, it's difficult because you have to rely on other people for some things, and those are other people may or may not come through for you. They are as ready as they can ever be though, so here is what the rest of our schedule should look like :)

Monday, November 12 (today- we're 15 hours ahead of EST time): Ben, Chris, Justin, and Brooks go into the Pei tribe (Chris and Justin will be working with the Pei tribe, and Brooks is the orientation director here - he is also finishing up translation with the tribe he worked with, the YembiYembi). During this time, the guys will take in some supplies, set up the footers and poles or whatever else is involved in the beginning process of house building (these are the times where it would be better if Ben wrote the blog post because I don't know what I'm talking about :)). They will have limited food and uncomfortable sleeping/living situations, so pray for them during this time!
Thursday, November 15: The guys should come back to spend the weekend back in Wewak. They will regroup here, finish the majority of the packing, and prepare for the big trip.
Monday, November 19: Ben, Chris, Evie, Candace, Justin, and a bunch of other male workers go into the Pei tribe (Evie and Candace are going to work among the Pei and will go in to cook for the guys and wash for them- pray for them as this will be a lot of work as they cook over an open fire! They are trying to prepare a lot of the food ahead of time).
Wednesday, November 28: Alisha and Sophie go into the Pei tribe!!!!
Tuesday, December 4: Ben, Alisha, Sophie, Chris, and Evie come back to Wewak
Monday, December 10: Ben, Alisha, and Sophie head to Goroka
Tuesday, December 11:  Ben, Alisha, and Sophie head to Port Moresby to Cairns, Australia.

If you're wondering what Sophie and I will do in Wewak while Ben is in the tribe... we'll hang out, visit town, visit the rest of the Wewak base, make food for the guys (this week), sweat, take showers, do laundry, etc.

One prayer request I have right now- there is a boat taking stuff to the Pei tribe, and it was supposed to arrive tuesday while the guys were there. Now it may not arrive until thursday, and the guys are supposed to leave that day. Pray that it would arrive by wednesday so that no guys has to stay behind to collect the items.

Ramblings on Arrival in PNG

We have made it to Papua New Guinea, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to blog right away, but I had several requests, and I do want to write things down when they’re fresh, so here goes. Warning: It really is going to ramblings.

*Traveling from the USA to PNG is not fun, especially when kids are included (yes, the 1 year old AND the one in the belly made it much less easy). Sophie did really great, but she had to be on one of our laps most of the time, and she needs to be tended to. We had to bring lots of toys and snacks… literally, most of our carry-on was for her. Also, because you can’t go through security with water, we had to constantly find more water as soon as we went through security. In our Shanghai layover it was interesting because the only water that was available was HOT water… I could barely hold the cup when I poured it in (and then immediately dumped it out when I realized it wash hot), but the Chinese people would take a sip of it right away! The baby in the belly caused puking on one of the flights (well, the Chinese food probably didn’t help either), swollen ankles (I tried to walk as much as I could, but with the sick feeling in the stomach, it wasn’t always something I wanted to do), and uncomfortable kicking and movement. We were SO glad when we finally arrived.

* We flew from Chicago to Los Angeles to Shanghai (China) to Cairns (Australia) to Port Moresby (PNG) to Madang to Wewak. A LOT of flying. Next time we’re booking a flight right to Australia. Total air time: 31 hours. This doesn’t include layover time, check-in time, etc. Did I mention that I don’t like flying?

·      *When we landed in Wewak, we were welcomed by obnoxious crying/wailing/moaning. Since we’ve seen NTM videos, we knew this was known as the “death wail.” As Evie puts it, it’s very important to PNG people to show their emotion so that people know they care, and so the death wail is very loud and over-done. We were confused why we were greeted by this until a casket was brought out from our plane! Oh yeah, and did I mention that this last airport was pretty much a barn? You collect your bags outside. Yupp, we’re in the middle of nowhere.

·      *While it would be easier to come this far without kids (all things are easier in life without kids, right?), it’s such a joy to watch Sophie experiencing things. She loves the big guard dogs here and enjoyed cooling off in the little tubs of water that are on the hang-out porch. She noticed that the screen doors to all of the apartments open easily, so she’s tried to let herself into the apartments with other little kids. She saw the one little boy carrying a woven bag around, so when he dropped it, while at the NTM base store, she picked it up and began picking up her own items to put in the bag. Of course, we’ve also had a number of breakdowns as she still recovers from jet lag, new surroundings, and the heat.

·      *Everything is so expensive here! We knew that, but now we have a better understanding why. Pretty much everything has to be imported. Which, after taking all the planes ourselves to get here, we understand what a process that is. It’s also expensive to drive, so you don’t want to drive to town unless you know what you want/need, and the guys are trying to put together their last minute needs list for going into the tribe on Monday, so pray that they’ll remember everything! 

·     *While flying on our last flight to Wewak, I was looking out the window at the beautiful, mountainous, PNG landscape, and God put the song, “Bless the Lord, O’ My Soul (worship his holy name)” in my head, and I realized that we certainly do not choose to come to this land because we love the people or we love the land or we love adventure. We come because we love the Lord and he loves these people. After being so tired and sick from flying and being reminded of how far away we were from those we love so much, it was good to remember that there are so many people left that have NEVER had the opportunity to hear the gospel in their heart language, and God loves them and sent his son to die for them. And that is a reason worthy enough of giving up comfort and living near loved ones. And it’s the only reason.

Enough ramblings for now… just a couple of other things. Ben heads into the tribe on Monday (your Sunday night) with a group of guys to begin building homes for the missionaries moving into the Pei tribe (Chris and Evie Jones, Justin and Lauren Rees, and Candace Swift). It’ll be a great opportunity for him to see what that is like as well as to help. It includes taking a Cessna plane (“puddle hopper” with 7 seats that can hold up to 800 lbs of cargo … including people) and then a 2 hour boat ride. Sophie and I will stay in Wewak and will hopefully go in at the end of the month

(photos taken by Evelyn Jones)