It’s  been a  while  since  you heard  from  us, facebook  tells  us  from  time  to time. Even longer,  for those  who are  not  on facebook,  as  it’s  now  over two months  since  I last  wrote. Much has  changed,  and yet,  much is  still  the  same. The  Wildeboers  have  left, and  should  be  in the  process  of travelling across  Australia, on their final farewell  tour. In a  way, I hope  that  this  is  like  Johnny Farnham’s  final  farewell, in that  he  had several, as  they  are  missed here  in Church, in  Lae,  and in the  compound. Not  only  is  it  quiet  (some would prefer  the  word “tranquil”),  but  we  were  priveleged  to be  able  to glean from  their experience, and  relationships  were  forged  in the  short  time  we  shared a  yard.  At  first  it  seems  odd, how  life  just continues  without  people  you’ve  come  to expect  to be  there;  how  a  vacuum  is  quickly  filled.  But life  does  go on, and our work doesn’t  stop – not  for anyone. On Saturday,  a  work team  from  Reformed  Ministries  arrived from  Perth, so we  have  five  familiar faces  (some  more  than others), and  five  familiar accents  here  for a  short  time. From  what  I can  see, they’ve  wasted no time  in getting busy with the  task at  hand. The  day after  this  team  leaves, City  Mission  will  be  joined by a  group of 30 youth (read:  teenagers) from  the  Summer  Institute  of Linguistics, or SIL, for a  four day stint,  during which they  want  to help  on any work projects  we  have  going.  Then  they leave, and  we  expect  to have  our first  visitors here,  which is  pretty  exciting.  We’re  also  telling people  that  so long as  they have  an  Australian or Canadian passport  (possibly others,  but  these  two are  the  ones  we  know  for certain), they  can get their visas  on arrival  in  Port  Moresby again, so if they  happen to  have  some  time  up their sleeves (nudge,  nudge, wink wink), they don’t  even  need to  plan ahead to be  able  to visit.  Although they might  want  to check  with us  first, before  they jump  on a  plane. Schooling  seems  to be  going well,  and Cheree  tells  me  that  they  are  3 weeks  ahead  of schedule (although they  did start  the  school  year two weeks  early),  which  gives  us  a  little  flexibility in  being able  to plan things. Calvin joins  Timmy DeJonge  for Bible  Studies  and Science  every morning, and all  of the  children  get  together  for  Art  and Science, with  the  teaching  load being  shared between Ruth  and Cheree.  Personally, I still  get  a  pretty big kick out  of seeing  (and hearing)  my children reading books, so I can’t  not  speak  highly of Cheree’s  work in this  area. However, being  a  teacher,  on top of being  a  wife, a  mother, a  housekeeper, a  nurse,  and a  million other  things, takes  its  toll. Not  only is  she  extremely busy, but  this  climate  is  draining.  There  is  no other  way to put  it, and it’s  not  something we  really comprehended  until  we  lived  it  for a  while.  And so, we’ve  taken  on a  haus  meri, to free  up Cheree’s  schedule  a  little,  and take  some  of that  burden off her shoulders. It  still  feels  a  little  weird, hiring someone  to help  out, and I secretly hope  that  if there  is  any prejudice  in the  way we  are  percieved, it  is  that  we  are  the  weak white  folk who can’t survive  without  help  (probably true),  rather  than the  rich  white  folk, who see  housework as  beneath them  (obviously  wrong). We also hope  that  having a  haus  meri  will  help Cheree  learn the  language  a  little  faster,  as  she doesn’t  get  anywhere  near  the  exposure  I do. I offered  to trade  places  with her for a  week,  but  the offer was  never taken up. She  tells  me  that  it  is  already helping – to  hold a  conversation in  another language, you need  to learn to think in that  language, so the  only way forward is  with constant practice  – as  she  managed  to have  a  full  conversation  at  Church  on Sunday.  Looks  like  the  haus meri  is  paying  for herself already! The  immersion into  a  foreign  language  does  come  at  a  cost  though. Madison seems  to be  learning Tok Pisin quicker than  she  is  learning  English, and  sometimes  listens  to  an instruction in  Tok Pisin, while  ignoring  the  same  instruction  in English. Calvin,  meanwhile, thinks  he  has  it  all  figured  out, and  his  version  of  Tok Pisin  is  to just  use  English words, structure,  and grammar,  but  adding “p’la” to  the  end of every  word. Work  is  something  which keeps  me  extremely  busy. Having  taken on the  role  of farm  management, as  well  as  kicking  off a  maintenance  crew  with their own schedule,  means  that  I can  almost guarantee  that  I’ll  be  spending  the  best  part  of Monday in town. Sometimes,  that  spills  over to the Tuesday  as  well, and some  weeks  it  seems  like  I’ve  spent  very little  time  actually  working  alongside the  young men here.  As  they are  one  of the  biggest  reasons  I am  here, I am  in the  process  of trying to  set  some  form  a  schedule  into place, where  I can  carve  out  a  large  section  of the  week to  spend  in working directly  alongside  everyone  else.  I do understand that  management  requires  taking  a  step back,  but  I don’t  want  to  step back  so far,  that  I’m  out  of contact  with everyone. The  extreme  busy-ness  can, and does, take  a  toll  on family  life  too,  so while  I can  be  glad that  I am usually  home  for my  lunch hour,  I find myself in  a  place  where  I and  seeing a  need  to step away  for a  short  break, and to  re-assess  priorities. Some  would  say that  it  is  a  balancing  act,  or a  juggling  act, but  I tend to  favour the  view  that  it’s  not  so much  about  balance,  as  it  is  about  the  order  of priorities. Leading my  family, must  come  before  leading anyone  else.  That’s  the  way God made  it, and  the criteria  for office  bearers  make  it  abundantly  clear  that  to allow  your own house  to  fall  into disarray, is  to  disqualify  yourself  from  leading the  Church.  Whenever  I think  about  this  subject  now, I remember  a  discussion I had a  while  ago, about  doing great  things  for God, but  neglecting wives and  children.  The  two are  diametrically  oppposed. Prayer  Points • Health.  This  seems  to  be  a  recurring theme, but  health  can change  quickly  here. Everyone was  well  yessterday, but  Nik woke  up with  a  nasty cough and  a  low  fever this  morning.  Two of the  others  also look  to be  coming down with the  same  cold,  but  there  is  always  the  danger that  it  turns  into  a  chest  infection,  or that  it  can  become  pnuemonia  (simply  because  of how wet  the  air  is  here). Infections  grow, and spread, very  quickly here. • Strength.  The  heat  is  oppressive, at  a  whole  different  level  to  anything  we’ve  experinced before.  This  drains  us  very quickly, and we  are  often “wiped”  by the  end of the  week. • Grace.  Even with  our growing  understanding of  Tok Pisin, there  is  something  to be  said  for “heart  languages”, and  for sitting  under the  preaching  of the  full  Gospel  in your own heart language. Eventually, I’m  sure,  this  will  subside,  and we  will  be  fed by the  preaching  here, but  for now  it  can feel  like  we  haven’t  been to  Church (as  we  know  it)  in the  longest  time. • Patience.  Especially with  the  children.  ‘Nuff  Said. • Rest.  I’ve  heard it  said that  we  should aim  to take  a  break  every three  months.  It’s  been six, and  I’m  beginning  to see  the  rationale. • Love.  Of the Agape  variety.