We definitely do not view this church planting thing as something that "Nathan and I" are going to go and do. Rather, we view our family as a SIX person team (not including all of our wonderful team members who are supporting us back home, of course! aka--all of you who are reading this!)
We hope and pray that our kids will always feel a part of our ministry. Because they truly are! They are vital to the life of our ministry, they open so many doors to relationships, and they help our family out in countless ways. We thank God for being so gracious to our family in this area!
Since coming to PNG, we have had a busy season of life. But our kids have only made things easier. They have been such blessings to our family in this season. Not only have they adjusted easily to life in a new country (we know this is largely because of SO MANY PRAYERS on their behalf!), they are doing things that make our lives and our language/culture learning much easier!
Some Reasons Our Kids are Blessings
(ALL because of God's grace)
1. The first things is: they get along so well. They can play for hours together! (We are thankful that we brought our legos with us!) This helps me (Rachel) immensely as it is not easy to learn a new language while taking care of kids. As a mom, I will never be able to put in as much time as Nathan does, but let me tell you that these four kids have sure made it easier for me!
2. They are a HUGE help to us. Not only do they help us by playing well together (see #1)--but they do things around the house to free me up to do things that they can't do (such as: plan for language sessions, transcribe Tok Pisin texts, practice language...etc). So they help me with things like dishes, laundry...some cooking, etc. We are in a good routine where they pretty much always do all the dishes, and they always fold/put away laundry. I haven't give them the "hanging up laundry on the line" responsibility yet--I actually LOVE doing that. I think it's relaxing and rewarding. Strange, I know :) We taught Kaine to make pancakes (he makes them every Saturday morning without any help!) I also taught Halle to make baked oatmeal--she makes it 3 evenings per week! So the next morning we just have to put it in the oven. Soooo helpful. She can do this without any help now, too!
Daisy loves watching Kaine make pancakes :)
Halle: a baked oatmeal expert now :)
3. They are learning the language alongside us! Sometimes I will spy on them when they are playing Legos...last week, one of the lego girls was a "PNG girl", and Halle was having her speak Tok Pisin to the other lego people. Oh my, it was so adorable!
My friend Amelia comes over a couple of times per week, to help them with learning Tok Pisin. It is so much fun, and our kids love it. An added bonus is that little Russel comes along with her :)
This was in the earlier days...when they were learning nouns (like names of food, animals, etc)
Sometimes I will have the kids make a Lego house, with some little people and animals, maybe a tree, etc. With this they can practice sentences like "the girl is in the house" or "the cat is sitting on top of the tree" or "the cat is walking in between the house and the tree"...etc. It's pretty fun!
Also, when we go to the village, our kids learn from the kids there. Especially Halle. She loves bringing a notebook and asking the kids how to say things, and writing them down. Also, this past week, as I was talking to my language helper at her house, Halle was at the house next door, sitting on the porch with the woman who lives there, and telling the woman stories in Tok Pisin! I asked Halle if she could PLEASE tell me the story, too--but she was embarrassed. I was so stinkin proud of her though, for having the guts to talk to a grown lady and tell her a whole story in Tok Pisin! I'm sure she messed some of the language up, but with an attitude like that? She'll learn it in no time!
4. They have jumped right in to PNG culture like CHAMPS!
I love this picture of Layla drinking a kulau as big as her head :)
Kaine was brave enough to try chewing buai (or betel nut--it's this thing that tons of people in PNG chew--and it's nasty! Or so I've been told...I'm not as brave as Kaine, so I didn't try it!) Oh, and by the way, Kaine HATED it and spit it all out :)
We try to encourage our kids in these areas often--but yet, we don't want them to start thinking they are anything special apart from Christ. We want to instill in them a desire to serve HIM, and a deep knowledge of their own sinful hearts and their need to depend on Christ in all areas of life here in PNG! Again, the reasons that our kids have been so helpful have ONLY been by God's grace alone. So we thank HIM!
Thank you all so very much for all of the prayers you offer on behalf of our kids. We really cannot thank you enough!
