Island Life! (Part 3)

Part Three:  The People of Biem...

There is so much more I want to say about our month on Biem Island.  So. Much.  So I will try to do it all in this one post--which you all know means there will be a TON of pictures!  Sorry in advance!

The Biem people were just amazing.  First of all, the believers.  Wow, just wow.  They loved us, and they were passionate about wanting to help us to finish up our Tok Pisin study, because they were so excited about the work that God has for us!  They helped us a ton--and they loved telling us their testimonies, and it was such a good chance for us to try telling our testimonies in another language.

ALL of the Biem people were so great.  We felt so welcomed, liked, and respected...and we felt the same toward all of them.

This is Tong.  She is the woman who I ended up spending most of my time with.  She is a super sweet mama of three kiddos, and I am so thankful I can call her my sister in Christ! 

This picture was taken the day Tong took me to her garden...her garden was up on the side of the mountain.  Not easy to get to!

Here Nathan and I are with Tong and her hubby, Isaac.  They are a fun couple to talk with and hang out with...Isaac took Nathan out night diving a couple of times, which was an interesting experience!  

Side story:  Nathan didn't realize it ahead of time, but when these guys go night diving, they are basically swimming in the ocean for HOURS.  Like, 3-4 hours straight!  Plus, it's in the middle of the night!  So when he went the first time, he was getting tired at one point, so he went up to sit in the canoe.  But then, with it just sitting there, bobbing up and down, he got seasick!  Lol...so he jumped back into the ocean and just started puking--hoping it wouldn't attract sharks.  Ha!  What an experience!  

We cooked and ate food with multiple groups of people...one of my fave things to do!  Peeling and cutting food gives us something to do with our hands as we talk, and then it's just always fun to eat no matter where you are :)

These ladies taught me how to make rice baskets made out of coconut leaves.  They make these baskets, and then put rice inside of the baskets and boil the whole thing in water--then when it's cooked, the rice keeps the shape of a ball and you just eat it with your hands!  So good!

Another interesting experience--actually, it was probably a once in a lifetime thing for me!  Hiking to the top of the volcano.  Wow.  First of all, WHAT A HIKE!  Ha!  It was so tiring.  But second of all, what a cool experience!  The hike was worth it for sure.  And I did it with Emily which just makes everything better :)

This was so funny...it caught me and Emily off guard!  We had only been hiking for like 5 minutes, when Esther went off the path, got a plant, and started breaking it up and rubbing it all over our faces and necks!  Which doesn't feel the greatest when you're all sweaty :)  But it's this plant that is supposed to make you smell good...natural perfume :)

Taking a little rest...whew!  Emily told me that day that she's never seen me sweat that much :)  

Kaine and his friend Brady (the Buser's son) went along with us!  They did great.  And this whole pack of kids came with us, too :) 

My friend Benu was worried about Kaine...she didn't want him falling in the volcano :) 

Kaine and Brady.  What a huge blessing that the Busers have a son who is Kaine's age!  These two had so much fun together while we lived on the island!

Nathan learned how to make the roof of our Biem friend's house...

Nathan also got the opportunity to go deep sea fishing with some Biem guys!  He has been wanting to do this for years--ever since we first saw an update video from the missionaries on Biem.  They had a blast...and Nathan said he caught the biggest fish he's ever caught!  A rainbow runner.

Our kids had a BLAST.  They absolutely loved living on Biem!  They didn't notice the extra dirt, or bugs, or rats, or the lack of electricity...they just loved living there!  We were so thankful for their attitudes, and for all the Biem kids who befriended them!

Rooster Patrol...don't mess with these kids!

The kids had fun with this octopus one day :)  Yuck! 

One day, a Biem lady brought us a sugar glider that her son had found.  They wanted to know if we wanted to keep it as a pet.  Our kids wanted it SO BAD!  (Google it--they're pretty cute little things!)  This one was a newborn, so here Brandon was teaching Halle how she was to hold it and feed it...

Our kids were super excited to have a pet!  I wasn't quite so sure about it, but it was cute to see how much they loved it!  They named it Solo... 

Sadly, Solo died about two hours after we got him.  Haha!  Thankfully our kids really didn't even care :)  But they did bury it and I just love this gravestone Halle made for it!

We also loved hanging out at the Buser's house.  What good memories.  The Buser family is just amazing--they have so much wisdom and experience with tribal missions, and plus they are just so much fun.  We loved being with them!  Halle was super good friends with their daughter, Gracie...we got to be there for her birthday! 

Me, Emily and Rachel Buser...I love these ladies so much!  Brandon and Rachel, thank you guys for being so awesome.  We love your family!

 

 What a month.  We learned so much--about missions, about ourselves, about God...it was just amazing!  Thank you for sticking with me through all these Biem pictures!

Island Life! (Part 2)

Part Two:  A Whole New Way of Living...

We were so thankful to have this small glimpse into what life is like in the bush.  

Things like: 

• No electricity (solar panels, though)--which meant not as many fans.  Biem is a very hot place so that was an adjustment!  It meant less lights at night--just another thing we adjusted to.  This whole solar electric system thing was probably the biggest adjustment!
• No buying supplies
• Our kids being FILTHY every. single. day. (shower time was glorious!)
• Nowhere to go!  Literally.  We were pretty much stuck on that island!  Not that it was horrible, just different :) 
• more bugs.  and rodents...
• learning to live life in the bush with the Rimestads!  This was a huge plus.  So great for team dynamics, to experience this with them!

Here are some pictures to show you what everyday life was like...

Here are a couple pictures of the missionary house we stayed in (thank you, Depners!  We have so many good memories from living in your house!) 

the house had a play area up in the loft--definitely a hit with our kids!

we had a water bed :)  Not going to lie, it wasn't my favorite bed I've ever slept in!  Lol.

One thing that was really EASY to adjust to was seeing this view every morning from my kitchen window!  This picture doesn't do it justice, but that's the ocean right out there--every single night we could hear the ocean waves, right outside our house.  It was so glorious.

We had pretty much an endless supply of fruit!  We brought some things in with us to trade with the people--it was great.  They would bring us bananas, oranges (those green things are oranges), pineapples, sweet potatoes, papaya...etc, and we would trade them for it.  Pretty sweet deal! 

This was a regular occurrence.  Some days there was a constant stream of people at our house--just wanting to talk to us, or trade with us, etc.  It was great for language learning!

Infected bug bites became an everyday occurrence too...We were constantly cleaning sores, putting peroxide on them, covering them with bandaids...

Speaking of bugs...look at these bad boys!  I wish I could post the video on here, these ants carried this dead lizard across our bedroom one night!  Sick.

Oh, yep, also we had rats...I could hear them running around the loft at night!  (shudder).  Rats are a fear of mine, so I'm kind of glad we had them because now I can say I've experienced it!  I know rats will be a part of my future :(

 This rat was caught in a trap in the pantry...and when we got home that day, it had hobbled back and it was underneath Daisy's bed.  Nathan took it outside and a Biem guy helped him kill it with a screwdriver and then they fed it to a cat :) 

Okay, so doing bush orientation with David and Emily's family was so incredible.  We learned a ton about each other!  And it was just so amazing to have them right there, doing it alongside us.

The kids were very happy to play every day, too :)

I love this picture... Emily made the kids hot chocolate one day, and these are their faces, begging for more :)  With the dads imitating them in the background :)  (this picture was in the Rimestad's house)

Louise still adores Kaine!  And he adores her, too.  He is SO sweet with her!  I have never seen him like this with anyone else, ever.  I love their relationship.  So funny--for some reason, Lou's instinct is to lick his face! :)  

Just living everyday bush life with the Rimestads was so much fun :)

Such a good month of learning!  More to come!