Gathering wood and taking a break!

My special friend

I was happy to see my special little friend, named Allen. It was so good to
see his beautiful smile again. In village living he was always our escort
whenever we went somewhere; we found him playing on the beach when we
arrived.

Swimming in the Ocean

We visited our "wasfamili", the family we spent 5 weeks in the village with,
when we first arrived to PNG in August 2008. It was great to see them
again, and swim in the ocean. Unfortunately, the sand flies were still a
problem, and we came back covered in bites. While in village living, we had
a constant battle with skin infections from the sand fly bites.

Trip to Madang

April 5th, our family also set off for Madang, with Nafian's motorbike on
the bike of a pick-up truck. He wants to use this bike in his travels from
village to village visiting different translation teams. It was slow going
as there are two mountain passes to go through before you get to the coast.

Back Home

On April 4th, Nafian and Janet began their trip back to their village. It
had been over 2 months that he had seen most of his family. They drove with
another family the 4 1/2 hrs to Madang, then caught a boat to the Rai Coast,
and then another 3 hour hike back up to his village. It was a happy reunion
for them all, and we praise God for allowing Nafian to continue his teaching
and mentoring in Bible translation.

Nafian's recovery

Following a 2 week stay in a provincial hospital in Madang, Nafian and his
wife Janet came to live with us to continue his recovery. He had some tests
done at the clinic in Ukarumpa, which showed improvement of his liver tests.
The cooler air of the highlands also helped him in his recovery. Seen here
is Tia and Nafian watching "Swiss Family Robinson".