New Life November 9, 2009

I love baptisms.  Seeing the amazing transformation come across their faces as they follow in obedience to Jesus.  Awesome. There’s no other word.

It was such a privilege to be able to water baptize many for the Faith Club Mother’s, teen girls, and even children that I’ve had the privilege of ministering to.  Many of them come out of the water- speaking in tongues for the first time.

Its so simple really, but the symbolic obedience that believers CHOOSE to make publicly brings such transformation, deliverance, and joy.

This particular Sunday at Living Light we baptized 26 woman- men are baptized after by male pastors.  At our church each person is prayed for by the pastoral staff while they wait to be baptized and then afterward by pastors.  But I will always remember the overwhelming, almost tangible presence of the Lord that day.

Time flies November 9, 2009

November?? Can you honestly believe its November.  Its so hard for me to wrap my mind around that Christmas is just around the corner.  Here in PNG its summer– hot, humid, not allot of green.  It feels so backwards to this Canadian girl, who remembers November being a time for thick jackets, hot soups, and changing leaves.

I’ve realized so much has happened the last 2 months and I’ve neglected sharing some fun things with my friends.

So here’s some updates:  Sept/Oct  were some months of change, excitement and challenges.

• Wendy started asking continually to go back to live with her grandmother– and after a few weekends of “testing” how the two of them would do together, Wendy asked to stay with her grandma.  As difficult as this was– we released Wendy back into the care of her grandmother.   She will remain with her grandma until we can put her in the Faith Club Center (home for abandoned children).
  She couldn’t be happier.  Her life has changed so much now.  Her grandmother, who had neglected and abandoned her– had begun to see the treasure she forgot she held in her possession.  Her grandma has started making allot of progress in her love for Jesus and we are seeing it transform how she views Wendy.   Wendy is still attending school– we see her everyday– and she is now known and loved by many.  She is so confident, funny, and strong.  We are not naïve to think her life is “all better” after a few months with us, but we see God’s hand so strongly in her time with us.  I’m so grateful for all of you who have read these ramblings of mine and have taken Wendy into your heart.  Please continue to unite with me in prayer for this precious girl– we are believing for great things in her future.

Mason, Sophie(pastor's daughter), Wendy and Ezra

• My family came to for a few weeks!  People blame their parents for all sorts of things.  I blame my parents for my heart for Jesus and my passion to love His children.  My mom and dad visiting us here was so…words can’t describe.  It was a whirlwind few weeks of non-stop preaching/teaching and ministering around the different ministries at our church but through all of it—I saw my mom and dad’s love for people, the lost and the hurting.  Mason and Ezra loved every minute with their Nana and Papa.  My mom spent many days volunteering at Mason’s school– and Mason adored having his beloved Nana with him.

Ezra loved playing with papa.   God truly blessed our family with many precious moments together– He is so good to provide times for us to be together.

Top: Arrival at the airport.  Nana and Papa and team being welcomed by us and the Faith Club Mother’s.

Bottom: Papa, Mason, Nana and Ezra- lots of crying as they all got their first hugs.

I loved being able to hug my mummy!

My dad singing worship songs with the children at a medical outreach

The beauty of AIDS October 28, 2009

PNG’s new ad campaign against AIDS.

We are seeing so many cases of young people with AIDS.  I loved this sign… the irony.

The beauty of Aids…100% Avoidable.

The newest stat I saw said the most people with AIDS in PNG are ages 15-30.

PNG Birthday October 15, 2009

My amazing son.

It seems like yesterday I was my baby boy was born. Mason Joshua (Master builder of salvation) just turned 6 years old

For his birthday God once again answered his prayers and brought him his Nana.  And this time God added the blessing of his Papa too!

Because of school holiday we decided to do a picnic birthday with our blood family and our spiritual family, the Goro’s.  Ps Magi and Ps Debbie are our neighbors and close friends and their son Goro is one of Mason’s best friends.  We drove an hour outside of the city up into the mountains to a glorious place called Crystal Rapids,  which is a long river at the base of a water fall.  We picnicked out and had such a fun time swimming in the rapids and enjoying God’s perfect creation.  Mason loves spending time with the people he loves, and as I watched the smile on his face all day I realized no fancy party would take the place of this precious memory.

Mason told me “no cake” and begged me not to make him eat one… I don’t know where he get’s it I LOVE cake. But like any crazy mother, I disobeyed his request and surprised him at school with a whole made cake (thank Nana for the US M &M’s ) and he was so blessed to have a special day at school.

I love Living Light Academy, not only because it brings excellent education to the children of  Papua New Guineans but the passionate commitment the school has to planting Jesus in the hearts of the children.

After the children devoured the cake, the teacher gave him a girraffe  gift and asked his class mates to pray for him.  I was overwhelmed when about 25 little voices began to lift up Mason in prayer and bless him and his life.  As his teacher prayed, his friends began to pray in the spirit, blessing Mason and praying for him.  The Lord really spoke to me that Mason once again is in the exact place where God wants him.

I remember when we first told people that we were moving to PNG to become missionaries.  Many people asked, “what about your kids? What will happen to them?”  One day before we left the USA I was crying out to God and I asked, “Lord, am I doing the best thing for my boys?”  The Lord spoke to me, “Following me, and being obedient to my calling is the best thing for your boys.”  Seeing him enjoy his birthday, made me realize once again how much God cares for my sons.  This is part of HIS diving plan for their lives.  They are so loved, and so happy here.  PNG is home for them, and I pray that because of our lives here in PNG Mason (Ezra too) will grow up to be mighty men, that follow hard after the Lord, unafraid and willing to be obedient to HIM with their whole lives.

Mason and his best "girl" friend - Corrie

Yumi kom bung wantaim famili belong God. September 13, 2009

I love being apart of God’s family.  Here in Papua New Guinea nothing makes me feel more “at home” than going to our home church of Living Light Foursquare and the honor of visiting other 4square churches in the surrounding settlements.

Paul’s been invited to preach at many 4square churches in and around Mosbi (tok pisin for Port Moresby).  This month  we all attended a 4square church in the settlement area of ATS, outside our city.

We always say that in PNG everyday is an adventure.  This day was no exception.  We took with us 2 brothers, Matthew and Samuel,  that live at the church office/housing that have become friends of ours.  They “knew” how to get there, but as we began to do some serious off roading into settlement areas one of the guys who “knew” where the church was admitted that he’d only been to the church once at night and didn’t know the way.  Service started at 9:30am and at 10am we were still driving around, luckily we stumbled into a quiet settlement nearby and found someone who knew where the foursquare church was and were happy to direct us to the right road.  I use the term road loosely because it’s a dirt strip with gigantic pot holes and gardens on both sides.  In PNG , its extremely rude to drive over someone’s garden of food, but luckily Paul is a great driver and we made it to the church safely.

We were greeted by the youth pastor who was walking in his towel, cause he just had a bath.  Paul asked him what  time church started and he said, “oh, we’ve started.  I’ll go get dressed and meet you in there.”

The church was nothing more than wooden beams, tin roof and dirt floor.  As we began to worship  I could hear God saying “these are my precious people”.  Worship in most PNG services is about an hour and a half, and as we worshiped I was so taken in and lost by God’s sweet presence in this settlement.  By “welcome time” the church was full with about 85 people that were all smiling and so excited to have some “white skin” as they call us, in church with them.  Here church starts and when the people in the settlements hear the music, they come in to church.  I love it when we get introduced because people are shocked that we are able to speak their  language.  The look on their faces was so priceless as they sat in disbelief at these 2 young “white” pastors speaking to them in pidgin.

Paul began to preach an amazing word on being obedient to God, and as the alter filled up we started to pray for people.  I love ministering with Paul and praying over such faithful servants of the Lord.  I didn’t want the service to end; the peace and presence of God was so thick and sweet.

After the service, Mason and Ezra ran with some of the pastors kids to see the ducks that the church keeps just behind the building.  As I began to ask some of the older children if they eat the ducks they looked at me funny, and said, “no, we only eat the eggs, and we sell the ducks and eggs to people to make money for the church.”  I’ve never had a duck egg, but according to these kids, they are great.

Mason standing at the pulpit of ATS- hand woven pulpit cover. Mason, Ezra and kids showing us the ducks.

The church leaders fed a amazing meal of banana’s cooked in coconut milk, chicken in coconut milk, and bok choy in coconut milk, and trust me– it was so good.  The thing I love most about visiting churches is how quickly I make kindred spirits.  The youth pastors wife (who admitted to missing the service to get food ready for us– which means she goes to the garden for veggies, climbs a trees to get coconuts, and kills a chicken ).  Her and I became quick friend and laughed for a long time together.  She is from the highlands of PNG and laughed at the fact that I have a “highlands accent” like my husband.

Palmaoe (youth pastors wife) and myself, a new life long friend.

As we left the church the pastors came out with bags of kumu (green veggies) from their gardens(another form of helping support the church), and then the big gift came– a chicken– alive.  It was our honorarium.  The church’s way of blessing us. Driving through the mud out of this settlement, I thanked God for my new church family.

ATS Foursquare church really impacted me.  It was a small church of very poor settlement people, sitting on wooden benches in a dirt floor, but the church was full of love.  Love for people, love for God and love for the settlement.  I can’t wait to go back.

What happened to the chicken you ask?  Well, we gave it to a Matthew, on of the young brothers who came with us to the church, he was so grateful.  He said that the day before he asked God for fresh chicken, but he couldn’t afford it.  When Mason and Ezra ask where the chicken went, we tell them, “its in Matthew’s tummy”.

Paul and his honorarium and Ezra with the chicken.

Mom Greer August 14, 2009

Last month we were finally able to have Paul’s mom and dad come and be with us here in PNG.  It was fun having 3 generations of Greer’s together in Papua New Guinea.  I will always say that Paul’s mom (I call her mom too) who helped pray us into PNG.  She was one of the first people to say to me, “I just really feel like you are suppose to go there.”  So Mom and Dad came for with a team to minister in the Highlands and attend the 25th anniversary of the Bible School they started with Paul’s grandfather (Kathy’s dad), Papa Post.  The legacy is amazing.  Its even funnier to me that now Paul is the principal of a Bible College in another part of the country.  Isn’t God cool??  It is a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of great missionaries, who continually encourage and support us and our love for the people here.

Unfortunately I stayed back in Port Moresby  with the 3 kids  but when I saw this picture I had to post it.  This is Mom at the opening ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Foursquare Bible College.  In PNG the people dress up in traditional clothing for ceremonies, I think this precious “mama” on the left (in the sunglasses) was embarrassed to go topless (the traditional way) so she opted for the black bra to protect her modesty.  Love it!

Corrie Joy August 14, 2009

This is Corrie Joy.  Corrie Joy is the adopted daughter of our next door neighbors and close friends (they feel like family) Ps Magi and Ps Debbie.  Debbie is mother to 6 children– none of them biologically her’s.  Yet everyday I feel like I learn from her how to be a mother.  Her unconditional deep love for the children God has brought into her life.  Later I will have to share about Debbie, another amazing 4square pastors wife who teachers me to much.   One of the things I love about having them as neighbors (our apartments are above the church offices) is that every morning they gather as a family 8 in total and worship as a family.  Its a great way to wake up.

Debbie named Corrie Joy after our sr. pastor’s wive, Ps Corrie. “Joy, Joy” as Mason calls her is just that, joy.  She is so precious, loved, a the best behaved baby I’ve ever met (and we have thin walls).  She has just learned to walk and will often sneaks out of her house into mine, to find her friend Mason. Her laugh gives her away.  This picture was taken on a Sunday service during some ministry time where her mother was needed.  Corrie Joy loves to worship, dance, and sing, but here after 3hrs of service, she was ready to sleep.  I didn’t mind getting to hold her.

Sports day July 23, 2009

Chariots of fire

Mason attends the school at our Foursquare Church here in Port Moresby.  It is an amazing school with incredible AUS/USA curriculum and he has excelled in every area there. He is the only non-PNG kid at the school so he sticks out but it has helped him to make tons of friends.   But the thing he loves most about school is Friday’s sports day.  Every Friday he gets up early and puts his “red” shirt on (he is red team or “red house”), and comes into my room reminding me, “mommy, its sports day.”  “Yes Mason, but it 5:30 in the morning and sports day isn’t for another 3 hours.”  I lovingly remind him.  Here he is running the relay on sports day.

Scraping Coconuts and Eating Kumu June 23, 2009

So I love reading recipe’s on my friends blogs and getting cooking ideas.  This is not a reciepe but I wanted to show you how to part of the process of making my favorite PNG food…Kumu cooked in coconut cream.  The fun part is cutting open the coconut with a machete (I still can’t do this) and then scraping the inside of the coconut on a small spiky blade that is hammered to the end of a little wooden bench.  Paul and I are still learning how to do it so it takes us about 15 min or so to hand scape a whole coconut.  But amazing PNG friends can do it in about 2-3 min.  When I compare myself to them I’m reminded that they have been scraping coconuts since about 6 years old.

Above is my good friend Pastor Christine.  She is the one who taught me how to make Kumo cooked in coconut creme.  She’s holding a bowl of the finished product.  Kumo is PNG greens (sort of like spinich but also nothing like it) cooked in hand cremed coconut grease with carrots, tomatoes, oinions, hand grated fresh garlic and ginger.  It is so yummy I could eat it for the rest of my life.

Ps Christine is an amazing woman of God.  She is the vice-principal of the Living Light Academy, she teaches over 45 children english every day, and she is the children’s pastor to over 600 children.  Plus she is raising her 6 year old neice, Sophie who is Mason and Wendy’s best friend.  Christine daily teaches me the joy of serving selflessly.  She has been such a surprise gift to me, a good friend and kindred spirit who lives about 15 steps from my flat.  She lived in the US for a year so she uses allot of American slang and humor.  She’s a rare friend to find, here or in the US.  We laugh together, cry together (she was good friends with Wendy’s mom), pray together, and go 2nd hand shopping together.   She is now “auntie” to Mason and Ezra, who love her so much.  Ezra always sees her and says “I love you Auntie.”  I will post a better picture of her soon.

June 2, 2009

Just a few pictures of my boys and Wendy! I still can’t believe I got a picture of all three of them standing still together.  They like to play tag together (right before bed)  while running around our coffee table.  Wendy’s english is getting allot better, although I still get asked to interpret for her when she wants to tell the boys something. (Mason’s shirt- NO! He’s never seen Pirates of the Caribbean, we got it cause it was glow in the dark).

I had just finished reading this book to Ezra and Wendy and Wendy decieded she wanted to play mommy and read to Ezra.  He sat there so quietly while she made up a story in tok-pisin.  So cute!