June 28th

Greek Course

Beginning on Wednesday of this week, Aaron will be helping to teach a 6-week long Biblical Greek Course for national translators here in Ukarumpa.  Being the nerd he is, he’s very excited about it!  J  Please be praying for him to be able to communicate clearly and for the participants to be equipped with the tools they need for an accurate translation into their local language.  Also be praying specifically for Waks, one of our translators from the Usarufa language group, who will be one of the participants in the course.

Baby Update

We were able to go in for another ultrasound today and see a VERY ACTIVE little baby bouncing around in there – praise God!  Continue praying for a good pregnancy and healthy development for this child.

Baby News!

Rather than completely re-telling the story here on the blog, I’ll just copy two emails that we sent out to those of you on our newsletter email list. 

 

Sent on May 27^th: Dear Friends and Family back home,

 We are writing you today with some sad news and asking you to pray for our family.  As we are beginning to draft our next newsletter to you all about our lives and work here in PNG, we were anxiously anticipating telling you we would be coming home for the holidays for the birth of our second child.

  We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon and after three ultrasounds with two different doctors, unfortunately the news wasn't good.  They said that they couldn't find a baby in the sac - just disorganized tissue.  They expect that I'll start miscarrying sometime soon.  So, we are, obviously, very sad and disappointed since we've been praying for this baby for almost a year now, but even in the midst of our sadness recognize God's goodness in that I shouldn't need a D&C (and thus, a medevac to Australia).  I will go for a follow-up appointment on Friday.  Pray for me physically as I walk this road as well as emotionally for both of us.  Please pray for peace and that God would give us another baby when the time is right. 

~ kara (for aaron and titus, too)

 

 

Sent on June 9th: Dear Friends and Family,

So many of you have been praying for us over the past few weeks, regarding the fact that Kara was told she would miscarry, and we sincerely want to thank you.  Your prayers are invaluable to us.

In order to keep you better informed and able to more accurately pray, we are sending this update to let you know what we found out today.

We went to the clinic this morning for Kara to have another appointment since she has not started to miscarry yet.  We were very concerned, because we were told if it took longer than 8 weeks of gestation, the chances of complications and a possible medevac to Australia for a D & C would rise significantly.  The doctor wanted to have an ultrasound taken to see if there were any changes.  What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

During the ultrasound, the doctor stood, staring at the screen silently - adjusting her eyes again and again.  Today, instead of "disorganized tissue" or a "completely empty" sac that they'd told us about two weeks ago, there was actually something in Kara's uterus.  About the time that she told us that something was in there, two of the other doctors inadvertently came into the ultrasound room as well.  One of those doctors is the resident expert at reading and interpreting ultrasounds.  She took over and moments later, we were seeing a heartbeat from the baby that is growing inside of Kara!  (This is the same doctor who told us 3 weeks ago that we were definitely going to miscarry within the next two weeks...) So, three of the four doctors that live and work here were in the room at the time, all saw the baby, all saw the heartbeat - and according to measurements that the machine can make - everything is normal for a 10 week pregnancy.  We are still pregnant, and barring other unfortunate circumstances, we are still going to be having a baby! 

Please pray for us (and for those of you who have been on this emotional roller coaster with us):
- we are still shocked, surprised, and completely dumbfounded.  We asked the other week if there was any chance they were wrong and they insisted that NO. They'd used two kinds of ultrasounds and had two doctors look before and there was nothing there - Kara should miscarry within a week or two.  This is, without question, a miracle!  The doctors said they'd "Never been so happy to be proven wrong" and insisted that two weeks ago, what was a completely empty sac and thinning uterine lining, now holds a living baby!  Pray for peace and that the reality of a baby, who was not there but now is, will sink in. 
- Praise God for this miracle!
- Pray for the clinic staff who will be taking care of us - that the Lord would continue to lead and guide them - and that the machines would be accurate.
- Pray for the child to be healthy - Kara is concerned because she took some medications last week that, had she known she was pregnant, she would have avoided.
- Pray for our future plans here - getting ready to have another baby can sure change a family's plans - particularly when you have to leave the country to do it!

In shock and awe of our God of wonders (Ex 15:11)...
- the Willems

 

Wow --- isn’t God incredible?!

June 15th - 18th

More Oral Language Documentation with Steven Bird and the Usarufa                 

So, over the past week, I (Aaron) have been working more with the linguist from Australia and the Usarufa to refine the methodology for Oral Language Documentation.  Basically, we tried a bunch of different things and worked out some kinks along the way.  Now, the Usarufa language helpers are back in the village and Steven and I are collaborating on a paper we are hoping to publish sometime in the near future – that’s right, still dabbling in academic work!

June 1st - 5th

Madang - Women's Retreat

“Come Before Winter” is a retreat put on in different countries around the world each year by a group of women from Texas.  It is their way of ministering to missionary women and pastor’s wives serving overseas.  They raise money so that it is offered at no expense to the participants themselves.  This year, it happened to be in PNG and I was one of the 40 women chosen to participate – what a blessing!  We spent 5 days in Madang where we did intensive study of Psalm 103, had times of worship, prayer groups, and intentional time to reflect and re-connect with God.  I feel so blessed to have been able to have some time to get away from all of my other responsibilities and dig deep in the Word, listening to what God might have to say to me.  (This was during the weeks when I was awaiting a miscarriage – see ‘Baby News!’ for more info.)  On our last night there, (since they were all from TX) they threw a ‘shin-dig’ of sorts with a steak dinner and line dancing – it was good to laugh and have fun with friends.  (I even won this lovely rubber chicken in a dance contest, if you can believe that!)

May 16th

80's Surprise Party - Kara is now 26!

Aaron can be proud of himself.  For the first time ever in our relationship, he managed to do something to surprise me (believe me, he’s tried before….).  To celebrate turning the big 2-6, he arranged a surprise birthday party for me with some of my close girl-friends here.  I was absolutely shocked when I walked into the room (lucky I didn’t have a heart attack!).  They were all decked in 80’s garb and had a whole selection (from the high school prop room) for me to choose from so I could join in the fun.  They did my make-up in 80’s fashion, we sang 80’s karaoke, played 80’s trivia, and watched some old episodes of the “Cosby” show someone had on DVD.  It’s hard to be creative here where resources are so limited and you have to make your own fun, but they did great.  J  Aaron even emailed my mom for her famous (in my opinion) peach pie recipe and made two for us for dessert -- what a husband!  Thanks, Aaron…

May 15th

Fun with some Translators         

On Tuesday evenings during TTC, we are having our translators over for dinner.  This past Tuesday, Titus had some pre-dinner fun reading his books with Wopa (on the left) from the West Kewa and with Waks (on the right) from the Usarufa – he was just visiting for the day…

May 14th

A Peculiar Pastime

Can you guess what Titus' favorite thing to do is?

May 10th

Mother’s Day (in the States)     

We feel so privileged to be in a place where we can call home for a special holiday to remember our mothers.  Just wanted to say it here too: 

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!! We love you and miss you.

Relaxing in the hammock

May 2nd

Just Like Dad

He may not look a lot like me – but he sure likes trying to be like me. (Now that’s scary!)

April 30th

They start ‘em young here!!

(Actually, this is Sivini’s grandchild (Sivini is a translator with the Usarufa people).  

(This kid was deathly afraid of me and moments later, was sobbing uncontrollably.)

April 29th

Translator's Training Course (TTC): April 28th - June 4th

  Kara and I started to help with the TTC program here in Ukarumpa.

  Kara is teaching Study Skills (14 lessons in 5 days!!!) and I am co-teaching Language Discovery and mentoring the West Kewa, who are here to refine their Old Testament translation skills.

April 28th

Return from Usarufa land...

One week ago today, I returned (via helicopter) from the Usarufa with visiting linguist and gentleman Steven Bird.  We were in the village for a week, investigating the Usarufa language and different components of it.  Here is a tour of what I saw through a lens...

April 24th

Panera's in Papua New Guinea?

That's right!  Kara (Ukarumpa's own version of Panera's) was asked to lead a training session for other women on how to make bagels.  Now there are plenty of women on the center here who can make these culinary delights!

April 14th

Trip to the Usarufa

Titus and I stood out on the veranda this morning waving to 'daddy' in the helicopter as he flew overhead.  Aaron, along with visiting linguistic consultant Steven Bird and his wife Kay, left for the village where they will be conducting some testing in order to make some important decisions about how to more forward with the Usarufa orthography.  

Please pray for their health and safety and that they would be able to draw some very clear conclusions as result of the testing they are doing.

April 12th

Happy Easter!  He is RISEN! 

While it's always difficult to be away from home on the holidays, we were able to have a very nice Easter celebration here: we went to the church service, ate a big meal with friends, had special goodies (thanks to those of you who sent things like cookie cutters, jello molds, jelly beans and plastic eggs!:) and topped off the evening with a bonfire.  

Here's a picture of some of the cookies that we made and gave out to our neighbors:

April 11th

Being a missionary... 

Perhaps you have heard some jokes about missionaries, such as, 

"You know you're a missionary when you think it trendy to wear socks with sandals." 

Well, let me tell you we have 'arrived' and have some ideas from our own lives to share... 

So, 

"You know you're a missionary when..."

 

- the cockroaches crawling over you feet in the dark no longer make you jump and squeal 

- you don't even bother to go to the effort of picking the ants from your cereal in the mornings anymore - your feet have a perpetual dirt stain in the shape of your flip-flops 

- you are elated (and a bit surprised) when the water from the shower is hot enough that you actually think about maybe turning on the cold faucet too 

- you see your favorite item in the grocery store and buy 15 of them (because you never know when they will be in stock again!!!) 

More to come in the future!

April 9th

Thank you all so much for praying for our fellow missionaries who were in the car wreck this past weekend.  We praise God that they are all improving daily - after seeing pictures of the vehicle it's a miracle that they are all alive.  

They do still have a long road ahead of them, however, so please keep praying for healing as well as for their families while they are separated during this time.

April 8th

Branch Conference - 2009

Every two years, all of us working in the PNG branch get together for a time of fellowship, worship, strategizing, and taking care of business matters that effect the work going on here. So, over the past 2 weeks we have been busy with meetings, round table discussions, Robert's Rules, and more!  It was a good opportunity for us to meet some new people and mingle with different departments that we don't see everyday.  We were able to hear some phenomenal speakers and get a better grasp of the broader picture of translation work being done here in PNG.