Bush Home Living Conditions [PNG]

Since homes are being constructed for our missionary friends, we had to live somewhere else. So, we stayed in a bush home. It was far, far from our luxurious American homes, but we appreciated it because it has walls and a roof and sat up high- so we didn't get wet from the thunderstorms at night, and we stayed away from bugs as much as possible. It was also big! And the most wonderful part was recognizing that several families gave up this place... their home that they spent an entire year building... so that we could live in it for several weeks. Generosity. If you could keep that in mind, you could get over the many things that were not so wonderful about it... the darkness, the holes in the floor,  the shakiness of the floors, the bugs that you did see, the stairs that were difficult to climb at 7 months pregnant (in order to get into the house), the lack of fans or AC, the lack of a bathroom, the lack of couches and beds....

So here is the house in all it's glory. It was actually fairly big!

Here I am working in our "kitchen." Thankfully we had a fridge (which looks more like a freezer) and a small camping stove. We were able to feed the men well so that they could work hard in the heat! Evie and I shared cooking responsibilities :) Many people (us and others at the base in Wewak) prepared things ahead of time that helped IMMENSELY.

Here is our "dining room." We all either sat on the floor or on little wooden bench-type things. There was one camping chair there for this pregnant lady to use, so that was nice :) In the back right corner of this picture, you can see a blue mosquito net hanging... that was where our bedroom was (Ben, Sophie, and I).

 Sophie enjoyed laying like this right at the door. The house sits up fairly high, so I had to keep a close eye on her. All the little kids always would come up and say, "You fall down, Sophie." They were worried for her :)

 Our bedroom... a pack n play, 2 air mattresses, and 3 mosquito nets :)

 My bathroom!! They actually built this just for me. The Pei people have a squatty potty, but Ben and the guys he was working with put together this little wooden and tarp bathroom for me since I'm the big pregnant lady. I tried to remember that every time I used it and had flies and mosquitos swarming around me with sweat dripping off of me... it helped me to be grateful. It wasn't very close to the house either.

Here's where you sit :)

And here was the shower! It was built just for me as well and looked just like the "bathroom" from the outside. We just filled up a bucket and dumped it over our heads. I thought it beat jumping in the river, though! At the end of a hot, sweaty day, it was relaxing to "take a shower" here... other than the mosquitos swarming around. Sophie thought this was her little house. She thought the bathroom was my little house. 

Thank you Lord for so many things that I take for granted in my American home.