NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

First of all, he is definitely not bored here!  Kirsten’s washing machine malfunctioned (no it is not a rock at the creek as some of you may think) and since our “Maytag Man” here on the center is so busy keeping the center stuff going, I tried to fix it myself.  When that didn’t go as planned, I carried it to Bill (Maytag Man) and begged for help.  Bill, fearing Kirsten would have to start using the rock in the creek, went to work on it right away.  When he ran into a problem, he contacted the manufacturer in Australia with a few questions.  They refused to give him any tech support over the phone but offered to send out a service guy!  What part of “we are in Papua New Guinea” did they not understand?  After research online, Bill found someone in New Zealand who was willing and able to answer his questions.  After that he gave me the list of parts we needed and I contacted our “guy” in Australia to purchase them.  NTM has a chartered flight coming up from there in about a week so we are hopeful the needed parts will be on it.  If not it may be another 6 weeks or so before there is another flight available.  In case you lost count, that’s 3 countries(separated by lots of water) and 4 guys involved in repairing one washing machine!  All this to keep Kirsten’s life as comfortable as possible here.  I love it when a plan comes together. 

TA

Kirsten & I were shopping the other day at one of my favorite stores.  It’s a grocery store that also has a small amount of electronics, tools, clothes and assorted other items.  This of course is why it is one of my favorites.  Another reason it is a favorite is because they blast music throughout the store.  Most of the time its rock n roll which really pleases me but sometimes it is hip hop which I am not too excited about.  The main thing is it is American & familiar so it brings about a smile.

Hearing the music in this store is so common I rarely stop to think how strange it is to be hearing my kind of tunes in PNG.    On this particular trip I did have to stop and think, “Is this for real?”  I’m not sure of the artist or the title of the song but do know the genre is country.  Maybe you have heard the song, one line in it says, “I want to check you for ticks.”  I guess the moral of the story here is no matter how far from home I go, (the farthest ends of the earth) I can’t escape being reminded of my heritage – Southern Redneck!

I have been accused of being a character & now it is confirmed.  A few days ago I had yet another new experience that comes with my current occupation.  I had to have a Character Check completed in order to obtain a permit needed for one of my responsibilities.  This required multiple trips to the police station to fill out forms, answer questions and be finger printed.  Anyway, after all 10 fingers and both palms were liberally covered in ink and the prints taken the officer was very appoligetic & said in English, “Sorry, I dont have any way for you to clean your hands.”  No towels or water were available.  Fortunately I had been tipped off by a co-worker beforehand & I had brought a handi-wipe with me.  The officer was impressed.  Just another ordinary day in PNG – pretty funny what you get used to!

TA

Finally done with all the printing!These are a few of our first completed orders. The bulk of which was headed to Aziana. (Kos 2 - red books) Loading all the boxes for Aziana

Boxes loaded & ready to roll!

Weighing the boxes for Aziana