Hey Everybody!
Christmas is in a week! How incredible is that?! I have to keep reminding myself it's the Christmas season because I'm not used to sweating and seeking out air conditioning with Christmas right around the corner. It's rather ironic how all the Christmas carols about snow are still sung down here in Australia, where if it would snow this time of year, it would be a good indicator the world is coming to an end. But, when it comes down to it, the season is just as exciting, important, and heart-warming just because we get to celebrate Jesus, despite the difference in temperature and precipitation outside.
The past two weeks have been the most stressful weeks here on DTS so far. We realized that our trip to Papua New Guinea is coming much faster than we thought - and still so much to do! We had barely started preparing any dramas, still needed immunizations, still needed all our individual supplies, and on top of it found out that our outreach location contacts had fallen through. Let me explain that last bit...
Our outreach team leaders reached our contacts for the planned Kikori outreach - only to be told that they'd love to have us come, but we're coming in the wrong season. Because it's the holidays, our contacts will be on vacation and the kids won't be in school. We basically had to start from scratch to find a place to go in PNG for outreach. Upon receiving this news, I was a little disappointed. I had spent lots of time praying for Kikori specifically, and had definitely developed a heart for the people there. We spent a couple days praying that God would set some contacts in place somewhere else in PNG. After a couple days, our leaders came back with the new plan. We were so excited! The place we're going to start is a village called Baimuru. We have some contacts there and they are very welcoming. When we arrive, we'll work with that village, and then just pray for where to go next. There are lots of riverside villages, so we may just take the dingy and go up some of the rivers and tributaries. A dingy looks something like this...
This will be our main form of transport. It should be interesting, that's for sure! Some more details - we're leaving on December 28th really early in the morning, and then coming home the 28th of January. We’ll be flying out of Cairns airport, arrive in Port Moresby, the capital of PNG, and stay a night there. Then, we’ll be taking a dingy to Baimuru.
Just for fun, we went to Billabong this past Saturday. It was so much fun! It’s a sort of wildlife reserve/zoo type of package. The kangaroos are like squirrels on a college campus, coming right up to you and eating right out of you hand. We also had to opportunity to hold a koala, a snake, a lizard, and a wombat. They also did a display with the crocodiles, and they were huge! It was quite a lot of fun! Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after arriving, so some of these pictures are borrowed…
Nikki
I just remembered something else to share with you! Our team is officially covered financially! The last two people on our team who needed finances finally saw that money come in this week. God is so faithful!
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