getting introduced to PNG town life...

Soon after we arrived in Papua New Guinea, we made our first trip into town!  So many different experiences than small town Indiana ;) 

Kelley (one our orientation leaders here) taught us some useful practical expressions to use for our first trip into town.  They included:

• Yu stap orait? (How are you doing?)
• Em wanem? (What is that?)
• Em i hamas? (How much is it?)
• Sori, mi no laik baim. (I don't want to buy it)

Our kids also loved trying them out! 

The first stop was the vegetable market.  Our kids were so brave and willing to try out their new Tok Pisin phrases!  The people at the market LOVED hearing them buy food :)

(side note:  PNG life is having an impact on our kiddos!  Now, when they play legos, they are playing "market"...and making vegetable markets.  So cute!!)

One of the stores has little carts for little girls--we weren't expecting that!

We went to another market, where Kaine bought a cooked whole fish, and ate it all off the bones!  What a great kid!

He also used his own money to buy a bilam (the kind of bag that people make here in PNG--pretty much everyone has one!)

A couple of days after our first town visit, all the guys in our group went to get their PNG driver's licenses!  Nathan was a bit nervous about driving...a stick shift on TERRIBLE roads filled with potholes, plus the steering wheel is on the right side and driving on the left side of the road...that's why he was nervous!  But he has done so great!  I was confident he would be a natural, and I was right ;) 

Okay, so...a sad (and then happy!) story...the very NEXT DAY after we arrived here in PNG (a third world country with very limited health care)--I was flossing my teeth and one of my fillings fell out!  I was so frustrated, asking the Lord--why now?  Why would this happen now, when there are no options for dental care?(or so I thought)   Of course, my mind was kind of racing with anxious thoughts, and worst case scenario was that our whole family of six would have to fly to Australia for my cavity to be refilled!  Haha, I am learning to rest in the Lord, and to trust His goodness and sovereignty!  So I told my fearless leader, Kelley, and she just happened to know that YWAM (Youth With A Mission) had a ship docked at PNG for a couple of weeks, and they were there to do health care! And...dental!  There was a dentist on board, and they were so happy to treat me.  And God taught me such an important lesson that day--the He knows what He is doing, and that He loves me.  Thank you, Jesus!

    

Pretty much the coolest dentist office EVER!

 This woman was my dentist--just an amazing woman of God who is volunteering her time on this YWAM ship.  She did my cavity filling for free, and she also noticed a crack in another one of my teeth and she fixed that one, too!  The guy is a YWAM volunteer, and there were lots of other volunteers who are spending a few months on this ship.  So awesome!  God gets all the glory for this one!

We are continuing to adjust!  This week we will dive into full on language and culture learning--we will need your prayers!