Cats, dogs, birds… and decisions

We’re thinking about getting a guard dog. The pros and cons of dog ownership in PNG have been waging a war in my head ever since we started entertaining the idea. During our first term we house/pet-sat for dear friends while they were on furlough. Their collection of animals included an outdoor dog, an indoor […]

Waking up to PNG

Our 3 yr old “sister” going into her bush house with a bag on her head. When you think about it… why not? It was the kind of Saturday morning where I could almost forget that I’m not living in the States. If it weren’t for the sweltering heat already baking the house and the […]

When fears and life collide

“Oh crap.” Not very eloquent, but it’s the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the twenty or thirty men standing by the road a hundred yards ahead of my vehicle. The sun was dipping close to the jagged mountains on my right and bouncing off the sea to my left. It was the […]

Inviting chaos

As we all piled into the truck Friday, I enjoyed the feel of my hair being wet and clean at the same time. It wouldn’t be long before the wet became sweat and being clean would be those precious seconds between the completion of a creek bath and the start of a sweaty, muddy walk […]

Things unseen

Many people in the church have a misconception about missionaries. They believe we’re the infallible, the upper echelon, the holy-and-set-apart warriors of God. Or something like that. A little known fact is that we prepare ourselves before going to our home country to deal with the inescapable pedestal that we’re put on. For me it’s […]