Happy Valentine's Day

Well, the "Wheaton" of PapuaWheaton is heading south this morning!
Katherine's mom and dad are heading to a favorite place in Florida - Sanibel Island!
So Happy Valentine's Day to all of you out there in blog world. Hope you have a great day celebrating a love in your life.

I'll be back to editing the blog for Katherine on February 23rd.

Having Fun on OE

Gettting ready for the flight...showing off those great socks...chillin' together

Pictures from O.E.

Everyone is back to school...but the memories of O.E. linger. The pictures are starting to get posted...here are some that capture the various activities of the weeks spent interior in the villages.

Not Too Pooped to Party

I'm kind of pooped right now. I'm super tired from OE, and the last couple days I got sick. I was really dehydrated, and I would get these weird stomach cramps. I had to hike out early, because they were so bad, that when I would get them I'd have to stop and sit down. I'm feeling better, sleep and water helped that, but I still get the cramps. I have to get a poop, pee, and blood sample (says our doctor). He thinks that I either have worms (which I’ve already taken medicine for), or malaria, or a kidney problem...he says that my tests will show results from one of those, but if it doesn’t' then I’ll have to do more testing.

We're getting ready for Valentines Banquet. The seniors host it, so we have to organize everything. I'm the "Head Hostess" J so all my skills will come in handy. Hannah, Caleb, and Kolbe are under me, I get to tell them what to do. I have to organize all the tickets and seats...all the parents were like, "this is a big job"... so yeah I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be fine!

A few pics from the pig roast!

Heading Home

Friday, 6th:

Report from Luke:
The cow hunt was a success! After the report from yesterday, we moved up the ridge from where we were, made a perimeter, trapped a cow inside that, and killed it. We killed it with many things – and Uncle Todd finished it off with a compound bow. We cut it into 4 pieces and each piece weighed about 50 kgs. Then we hiked back – carrying the meat – it took about 1.5 – 2 hours to get back in the dark. This morning, we butchered it and it is now cooking in the pit, in preparation for the feast!

After the feast this afternoon, we will do carnival type games with the people. This morning we made 3 piñatas and filled them with candies and goodies. We hope the games will be a hit with the people.

A plane came in this morning and it brought the fish (100 live baby fish) for the fish pond we made. So we had a ceremony to put the fish in the pond.

The plane also brought the letters from the students (as mentioned above) and it brought a package for each of us from the Youth Group at Nathan Karcesky's church. It was filled with some American candy and notes from people in the church. It was very special to receive that.

Everyone is excited and the spirits are high. We are looking forward to hanging out with the people this afternoon.

Tomorrow – the group will leave the village at 6:30AM to start the hike back to the road where they hope to meet the bus and be brought to Wamena. No one knows yet when the Trigana flights will leave from Wamena– could be between 10AM – 2PM.

(photo: view returning to the Sentani airport)

Cow Hunt

Wednesday (Feb 4) Activities:

- One group is painting the clinic.
- One group is painting an outbuilding behind the Adams' house.
- One group is doing medical clinic with Ben Bogle.
- One group is repairing benches and desks in the school.
- A group of boys are cow hunting for the cow feast they will have tomorrow.
- One group is collecting stones, etc. needed for the cow feast.
- One group is breaking ground for a garden for the school teacher.
- Two groups are helping Rose with lunch and supper. They are doing the supper preparations early because they have a special meeting planned this afternoon.

Everyone had continued to enjoy the teachings of Virgil Adams on the "alphabet":
E = Endurance
F = Friendship
G = Gratitude
H = Honesty
I = Integrity

Cow Hunt Report:

Darren called at 3pm to give a report on the cow hunt. It is the Senior Boys and him on the mission. They have seen cows but not killed one yet! The plan is to have a cow feast with all the pastors and their wives… hopefully with fresh meat! They were about a 2 hour hike away from Ibele.

He reported that today they are finishing up all the projects and tomorrow will be a day of celebration with the Ibele people. They will play games and eat together.

Village Report

All groups arrived safely back in Ibele yesterday (Monday). Everyone claims their time was "fantastic" and "the best". It was very encouraging to hear everyone share together about their experiences. Here is a report from one of the groups that was in one of the villages over the weekend:

The Kid's Club went really well. The drama was of the Good Samaritan. The pastor translated the story from Indonesian into Dani. It was very effective. They loved the singing, the memorizing of the Bible verse and the colouring of the picture to go with the story. The games were a hit and everyone got involved.

The showing of the Jesus Film went very well. The kids did a great job setting up the equipment. Two other surrounding villages joined this village - they came hiking in to see the Film. After the showing was over, it started pouring rain. The group felt really sorry for the people of the 2 villages who then had to hike back in the rain and the dark. But the people said it didn't matter as they really wanted to see the Film and they got what they came for. Thanks to everyone for praying – God heard your/our prayers.

The girls slept in the women's hut and the boys slept in the men's hut. It was comfortable and a very good experience. Some did get flea bites… The girls also had a "freak" experience – when a mouse ran over and around them and got them all riled up! It took them a while to calm down and go back to sleep!

The girls worked with the women in the gardens. Sometime during the weekend (I did not catch when), the villagers held a pig feast for the group. They were all so humbled that the villagers wanted to do this because they do not have many pigs. They all felt loved and were blessed to be able to return their love to them.

The other groups also had very good experiences. Due to communication issues – we will most likely have to wait to hear about them when they come back. But know that it was great and they were blessed.