Christmas 2012 Recap

I suppose before the New Year hits that I better do a recap of Christmas 2012. 

Christmas came and went fast since we got back from PNG just one week earlier. Ben and I spent the saturday before finishing up shopping. Christmas Eve we spent at Ben's grandpa's house with his extended family.

Christmas morning we spent with Ben's family, and then we spent that night with my family. It was a fun day. Sophie was thoroughly spoiled, and Ben and I received a lot of fun gifts as well!

She got a shopping cart (amongst many other gifts) from Grandpa and Grandma Miller...

She read books with Aunt Katie...

She played with her new baby doll from Grandma Walton...

And we all played a fun game that Nate and Kelly introduced to us at the Walton Christmas where we had to try to unwrap a very securely taped while wearing a pair of gloves and a santa hat. Whoever got the gift opened got to keep it. Nate won and got to keep the Reeses :)

I have a sweet husband who knows the way to my heart :) We have discussed for several months about getting me a nice camera since we just had a cheaper digital camera. The other camera (which took it's last photo below) worked well enough, but now that we have kids, I'd like to be able to take nicer pictures of them. He chose the model and color of camera after talking to several people, and I love it! He also got me lots of other fun goodies, like dark chocolate, beef jerky, and socks. And to top it, he bought me an egg slicer as a joke (he said he walked into a store and wanted to buy the dumbest kitchen gadget he could find- he did well!) and mace (which isn't a joke... he fully expects me to carry it in my purse and use it if necessary).

We are so thankful for wonderful families to celebrate Christmas with. We are also thankful that Christmas is a time where we can reflect on the birth of our Lord and Savior who has blessed us abundantly.

PNG Recap Video

Chris Jones helped us put together a recap video of our time in PNG as well as some information about our future plans. Here it is!

A Wife's and Mother's Role [PNG]

As a wife and mother, I've often wondered what my role will look like in tribal missions. During our time at Bible school, we had many speakers come through, and we often heard over and over the husbands say, "If my wife didn't stay home and keep up the house and home-school the kids, I would never be able to do what I'm doing" ("do what I'm doing" = learning an unwritten language, turning it into a written language, teaching the people to read and write, teaching the people the Bible, and translating the Bible). A part of me was always frustrated when I heard this. I love being a wife and mother... I enjoy cooking and keeping my house clean, I love spending time with Sophie, and I'm guessing that some day I'll really enjoy teaching my kids since I liked school myself. But still... I'm good at other things. I'm good at language and at English-type things... I think I'll do well at language learning, linguistics, and translation. And those are HUGE parts of what New Tribes Missions does. So I didn't know how to reconcile in my heart that God had given me a love for and a giftings in these areas, yet I might never use them.

Going to Papua New Guinea for a month allowed Ben and I to get a very realistic view of what tribal missions is like and entails. Not only were we able to talk to a number of veteran missionaries, but we were also able to experience so much. 

I was thankful for our trip because I was able to make peace in my heart with what my role will look like. I still don't know exactly what it will look like. But I did conclude that I am a wife and mother, first, and I am okay with that, and really... I'm more than happy to be that. Being a wife and mother overseas, especially in a third world country, is more work than it is in the states. Cooking from scratch,  trying to make sure no one gets dehydrated, going to town/market (Walmart is wonderful, incase you've ever wondered), laundry, homeschooling is a must rather than an option... and I was able to see that. Even more importantly, I was able to see how important it is for my husband that I be a wife and mother first. In most (probably all) of the countries NTM works in, men hold the dominant role, so it is crucial that the tribal men are the ones who hear and acknowledge the Word of God if anyone else in the tribe is going to. And if they are going to hear it, then it is going to be most effective from a male missionary. In order for my husband to take this position, he must spend A LOT of time with the men in the tribe. He must be willing to go on hunting trips with them, cut down trees with them, visit neighboring tribes with them (which can mean overnight trips), etc. Through these types of experiences, Ben will not only learn the language well, but he will also gain respect and friendship with the men of the tribe which will have a key role when it comes time to share the gospel.

So seeing this, I've accepted that I am first and foremost a mother, and that truly, this role will be extremely important for me to accept in order for the gospel to get to our tribe as fast as it can.

But I was also encouraged that this is not all  I have to be. I was encouraged that my memory is better than I thought. I know I used to have a good memory... but since becoming a mother, I feel like half of my brain cells have died. However, while in Pei, I was encouraged that I was able to remember words that the Pei people taught me without having to write them down. I even still remember almost all of the words that they taught me, a couple of weeks later. That's encouraging.

I was also encouraged because I talked with several missionary wives who are in the process of phasing out of their tribes with their families (they have finished translating and are establishing national elders for their tribal churches), and while none of them said they were 100% fluent, a number of the ladies told me that they were fluent enough to be able to communicate well with the ladies and understand all that was said to them. This is cool and exciting. But ALSO, several of them talked about how they helped with the translation work. Double cool and exciting. And they did all of this while maintaining their homes and families.

I don't know exactly how God is going to use me when Ben and I move overseas. Maybe I'll get to do more than I hope, and maybe I'll only be able to do less. But I do know that I've found peace with the fact that God will guide us as a family and show us how much we can handle. And I know that he won't allow these gifts and passions to go unused, whether they are used in ways that I envision now or not.

Sophie helping Mama cook

Shredding up a chicken... but first, cleaning him up

Market time! Sophie didn't love being grabbed at in the heat

She loved making cinnamon rolls best... I wonder why

Arriving in Pei... these were not tears of joy

Eating some Sepik fruit with Pei people

Cooking pizza in Pei

On our way home from Pei- Sophie fell asleep between the boat and plane rides

Praise God from whom all Blessings Flow [PNG]

Ben and I can’t say that we particularly heard a call from God to go into missions in any audible or vision-type sense. Rather, we both went on short-term mission trips in 2006 that opened our eyes to missions and to the world, and we both returned thinking that God was going to use us in missions. The process since then has been that God has slowly, but in His perfect timing, revealed to us what that path would look like.

So while we didn’t receive any amazing calling to missions, we do know that God wants the whole world to hear the gospel, and that means that some people must go and some people must send. Through our time here, seeing the incredible cost it is to allocate into and work in a tribal location, we are so thankful for those who stay home and work hard to keep missionaries on the field. However, we feel confident that God is leading us to be those who go. He has blessed our family in abundant ways that will allow us to survive in difficult, bushy locations, and we want to praise him for these blessings.

1.     We are healthy. We don’t have any chronic illnesses, we don’t have any recurring serious sicknesses, we have good eyesight and hearing, we have all of our limbs and bones in contact. I (Alisha) even have extremely healthy and fairly easy pregnancies. We have so much to be thankful for in this category.

2.     We have high pain tolerances. We both can handle quite a bit of discomfort and pain before breaking.

3.     We are adaptable. All of us- Sophie included. So thankful for this. We are laid-back and can take new situations in stride.

4.     We have childhoods that have helped us to prepare. We both grew up on hobby farms and worked outside often to help with chores, animals, and gardens.

5.     We do not become easily attached to people or things. While we will miss our families, friends, and homes immensely when we move overseas for long-term, we are able to let go of things easier than others and are not home- bodies. While it is sometimes hard and sad to leave and sell things, we are thankful that God helps us to quickly move on and adjust.

6.     We are independent. Working in tribal missions means that you must be willing to spend time apart from your significant other. With meetings, survey trips (trips where you look into different tribal locations), building trips (to build your own home but also to help others build if you have skills), and the amount of time that you must spend language learning, you will be apart from your significant other a number of times. While we sure do miss each other when apart (absence makes the heart grow fonder), God has been good to give us independence that helps us endure well when apart.

7.     We have skills that can be used well. Ben has great construction and hard-working skills, I have a  fairly good memory that should help with language learning… we are thankful for these skills.

8.     We both grew up in the church and have had good Bible training. While there is still much we could learn, God has equipped us well with knowing the Bible.

9.     We have extremely supportive people in our lives… family, friends, Christ’s Covenant Church, Merriam Christian Chapel

10. Other small blessings that certainly aren’t necessary but that we appreciate so much… neither of us  appear to get rashes easy, neither of us gets bit by mosquitos easy (I – Alisha – think I only got one mosquito bite the whole time), neither of us gets burnt easy… Sophie’s skin doesn’t seem to fare quite as well, but thankfully she does not get super upset by bug bites and rashes.

     We are so, so thankful to God for all of these blessings and hope that we will never lose sight of the fact that these are blessings that should be used for his glory. We are not special people or more important because we plan to head into missions. We simply have been blessed in specific ways that allow us to be those who go. And we recognize similarly that God has blessed others in different ways to be used in different positions to get the gospel to the nations.

     Romans 12:3-5
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Love/Hate Relationship [PNG]

I wrote this post right after we got back from the Pei tribe so that I wouldn't forget the little things. Wanted to post pictures first, though, so am just now posting this :) Just wanted to share some things that I grew to have a love/hate relationship with while in PNG, and particularly in Pei.

-Rain: I know some people always love rain. I don’t mind rain (or thunderstorms) particularly when I’m inside… but when I know we’re going to be outside a lot, I don’t love rain. I don’t love the mud that it creates, I don’t love that you’re just a wet mess then. But I also love rain. When it’s SO STINKIN’ hot, rain cools it down incredibly. In the tribe, rain was also necessary in order to have clean drinking water. You use the water that comes from rain to get clean drinking water (and clean shower water and washing water). You also need rain when in the Pei tribe because you get there by boat, so the water has to be high enough in the river to keep the boat moving. So it’s a big deal.

-Sun: I’m a summer girl. I really love the summer. I would be completely happy to live in Florida my entire life. But when you live in a place with no AC (and in the tribe, no fans), the sun is FRYING. In the tribe, it was pretty hot inside (thankfully I deal well with heat even when pregnant, but it was still hot, especially when cooking). I felt most bad for the guys who were building homes and working right in the sun for 8+ hours a day. I would walk outside for 10 minutes and be ready to go back in or find shade. But I also loved the sun because it meant no mud, less mosquitos, dry clothes,  and clear flying weather.

-Clothes: For the most part, I really love clothes. I’m so thankful I have the luxury of owning many clothes and I enjoy new clothes. But when it’s hot out and the dress code expects more clothing than you would prefer to be wearing, clothing is just a hot, sweaty mess. Plus, it gets dirty. And stays dirty. Plus, it gets ruined easily when it is continually being dried in the hot sun.

-Planes: I really don’t love to travel long distances in cars or in planes. But I particularly don’t love to travel when I’m pregnant, and traveling in a hot plane while pregnant and holding your toddler on your lap is unpleasant. I have puked on two flights so far during our trip. As much as I do not enjoy being in the plane, I am SO thankful for how much quicker travel is because of planes. I can’t imagine the months that it took for missionaries to get to far off lands in years past when boat was the only way to travel.

-Being a Mother: I feel like I shouldn’t even put this as a category because I don’t ever hate being a mother even though there are parts of parenting I particularly dislike (disciplining, the early sleepless nights). Moving to another country  - or visiting another country- that is very different from your home country is particularly stressful as a mother since not only do you have to adjust, but also you have to help your children adjust. You feel bad that they have to sleep in uncomfortable situations and be stared at and grabbed at. And it’s just harder to get things done in awkward living situations (a bush home that has shaky floors and holes and no lights) when you have to keep an eye on a toddler. However, being a mother is such a blessing here as it naturally draws attention to you. Everyone loves the white baby. It’s an easy “in” to getting to know the people. I can go out and sit with the ladies and learn some language without particularly feeling like I need to say or do much. It happens naturally when a child is involved. The Pei tribal ladies (and children) ADORED Sophie.

-Bush Houses: I feel like I also shouldn’t put this as a category, but for the opposite reason as the one above… it’s hard to say that I actually LOVED the bush home we stayed in. It was dark, the floor is shaky, there are holes in random spots, it’s hot, you can hear everything really loud outside (including in the middle of the night), and there are bugs abundant. Oh, and there’s no toilet or shower, let alone any other luxuries (I did get to sleep on a blow-up air mattress and sit on a camping chair- both were blessings at 7 months pregnant). However, there were a few things nice about a bush home. First, it didn’t matter if you poured water all over the floor. It would dry. So Sophie played with water on the floor a lot. Also, you could drop food right down the holes in the floor and the dogs would come get it (so if you have a messy child or have uneaten leftovers, you have an easy solution). Also, because it’s so dark, you don’t notice the bugs (ants, mosquitos, cockroaches… and also rats) as much as you would if there were lights… which is a blessing to me. I’d prefer not to know how many are crawling around. And it was always important to keep in mind that there were people who spent a lot of time (a year, we found out) building this home that had walls and a roof over our head who were giving it up so we had a place to stay while building more permanent homes for our friends.

-Mosquito Nets: Pretty simple. Mosquito nets are hot and kind of a pain to have to crawl into all the time. But you gotta love the fact that they keep you from getting bit alive by mosquitos all night long.

-Hair: I love my hair. I love Sophie’s hair. But I completely understand why the people in the tribe have no hair. It’s hot, it’s dirty, and it’s sweaty, and when you think about how easily lice spreads within these tribes… it makes you want to check your head often.

-Tools: This one is for Ben. Tools, particularly ones that run off of batteries or gas, are an amazing invention that makes building (or fixing) a much faster process. The problem is when they don’t work, though. Or when they stop working and you’re in the middle of nowhere and can’t easily get one. The guys had a lot of problems getting the sawmill to work, which is what cut the trees into lumber for the house. Therefore, it was very important. Praise the Lord that the morning we left Pei, a new sawmill came in that was working consistently (please continue to pray that it consistently works until all the lumber is cut)!

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.

Building a Jungle Home [PNG]

The internet has been slow (and at times not working at all) since coming back from the tribe. Was finally able to get blogger to cooperate, so here's the first of a number of posts about our times in the Pei tribe. 

Our main reason for coming to PNG for this month was to help our friends, Chris and Evie Jones, build their home. They will be moving into the Pei tribe to work as missionaries... they will learn their language, teach the people to read and write their language, teach the Bible, translate the Bible, and leave the tribe in 10-20 years with, Lord-willing, a functioning church that is a PEI church and not an AMERICAN church. 

Building a home in the jungle is a little different than building a home in the states. While Ben has a lot of building experience, he learned and experienced many new things. He much prefers building in the states :)

First, you must clear the ground of the many, many trees.

Then you have to go hunting for your lumber and wood (unless you want to spend an outrageous amount to have it all flown and boated in... and believe me, it's an OUTRAGEOUS amount to do it that way). This was Ben's least favorite part. First, you must cut down GIGANTIC trees. Then you must carry them through the swampy jungle where it's sweaty and the swamp comes up to your waist. Ben says the tribal people are efficient at this but that he and the other white workers struggled to carry the heavy trees, let alone to do so without falling into the swamp water 100 times.

 Once the trees are back and cut, then posts are set, bearers are set, and floor joists are set.

Then the floor boards can be set!

 And once the saw mill is working properly, trees can be cut into lumber that is used to build walls. And then walls can go up!

 While we were in Pei, we were able to get to the walls. Another work team is in right now, so the roof should hopefully be going up today!

And here's my handsome husband working hard in the blistering heat!