Tyler and Emily in PNG

As I sat in church, I glared out the top window and noticed huge palm branches stretching out in all direction. I remember as a child we would also wave palm branches or something resembling palm branches on Palm Sunday. We would yell ‘Hosanna in the Highest’ and sing song as we heard the story of Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on a young donkey.

Though this Sunday the message was not about Palm Sunday or Jesus arriving in Jerusalem, I still like to read the account in the gospels of Jesus. I was particularly attracted to Luke’s account in chapter 19 and how Jesus approached the Pharisees.

As Jesus was riding on donkey and approaching the city of Jerusalem and crowd was shouting…

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God. v38

The not so friendly Pharisees who were amidst the crowd asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, make your disciples stop shouting!’ Another words, these followers of yours are making us, Pharisees, uncomfortable with all of this ruckus. Jesus answered them with this cute response, ‘If they keep quiet, these stones will start shouting.’ Could you image a concert of stones or perhaps a rock concert shouting out to God?

Every Sunday there is a given time for testimony during the service. This Sunday a man stood up to testify. He told a story of a man at a previous church that shared a testimony every single Sunday. The man continued to say, this gentleman had a fire inside his heart to share the amazing things of Christ. He had a concern for others and for the sake of Christ.

As I listened to his testimony, I pondered, do I have a fire in my heart to share Christ every day or every moment I have? Do I have a testimony to share every Sunday or any other day? I was challenged by this man as well as the disciples to ‘shout’ Hosanna for the coming of the Lord.

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I sat down at my computer desk (aka my other job) after a long day finishing at 4 pm and tried to gather my thoughts of what I accomplished for the day. All I could think of was the two flat tires that I had to fix at 9 am. This was the first task of many on that Monday though I could not remember what else took place.

That is pretty much the picture in a nutshell what Tech Services looks like here in PNG. (Tech Services is your equivalent of a handy man/utility man/maintenance man, etc.) If you recall, I once before had the double duty of two jobs, IT and Tech Services back in Oct/Nov 2011. That was for a definite time period as the person was on furlough. This time around I am the man for the job infinitively. Yes, that is right, I am pulling double duty for an unknown length of time.

Last week Monday, Emily and I went to the airport at 6 am to say goodbye for the final time to our good friends, teammates, and our Tech Services boss man…Bob Harper and his wife Jacque. So pretty much by default, I assume his job responsibility and also supervising three national employees. I can report, so far so good.

As I have been sharpening my handy man skills at work, it never fails that somehow work and home always mix. I wrote before about the hole in my roof and the pipe to nowhere, well this past weekend I tackled another job. This job has been known for many months or perhaps years though it was critical I was able to band aid the problem while we were on furlough last year. The problem we have in PNG is termites (or white ants as they are referred to here).

These buggers love two things we have in quite abundance, water and wood. It is also part of my job to be the exterminator so every weekend I grab my spray bottle filled with chlordane and spray any new termite tunnels. Our home has 100% wood floors so as time progresses and the termites get hungry, our nice wood floors slowly deteriorate. It was my goal to replace three boards this weekend that had large holes in them. Nonetheless, it was a liability.

I purchased the boards, sanded them, applied clear coat varnish, and they were ready to be cut and installed. The job turned out to be more of a challenge than I hoped for partially due to the curvature of the lumber and the boards I bought were not 100% matched to the original. In the ‘Land of the Unexpected’ you learn not to take ‘no’ for an answer so I did overcome these obstacles. Though the finished job is not your professional quality workmanship, it will pass inspection of this house. It also helps that the location is not in a high traffic area, and most visitors will never notice the repairs by sight.

(Sheba gives her four paw approval)

If I could re-title this blog post it would be – ‘honey-do’ list gets shorter.

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Ah the first week of March and my birthday month is over so no more excuses. I apologize again to the faithful followers of this blog. I have not been as faithful to you as you are faithful to this blog. I am finding it more and more difficult to sit down and write my life journey with you. Not that I don’t have time but by the end of the day I am exhausted of looking at a computer screen. During the day, I am busy helping others and solving end user issues that even writing an email to a friend or family member does not happen.

Though there is good news…the Hewitt monthly newsletter has been published! You can find the March newsletter here.

One highlight of the weeks past was attending the pukpuk races. A pukpuk is a crocodile in Tok Pisin. We do not have pukpuks in Madang town though we do have lots of them in rivers in PNG. I had never been to a pukpuk race but heard of them in the past. It is held at the country club and this year it was to benefit the disability center in town and also Rotary Club. The basic idea is that of a horse race though instead of horses you race pukpuks. There is a fishing line tied to the pukpuk and a reel of sorts at the finish line that you (the jockey) wind up to reel in the pukpuk. Of course, the fastest pukpuk wins the race.

PBT took part in sponsoring the races and I was one of their two jockeys. The other jockey was Michelle. She really stole the show with winning 4 straight races. Sadly, I did not win a single race and I have to blame the poor reel. Trust me, there was definitely an advantage and disadvantage depending on what lane you were assigned to with what reel.

It was still fun to watch the races and cheer on our team. In the end, Emily and I won a nice stainless steel electric teapot and also a free large pizza. It was an evening worth attending and we have fun.

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When your car approaches another zero on the odometer, sometimes it might be a big number like 100,000 miles. You might stop, get out of the car and literally push the car to roll it over the milestone mark. Well this past weekend, we stopped to celebrate a milestone mark in Tyler’s life, the rolling over of the big 3-0! Yes, God has blessed him with three decades of life.

On February 9, with the help of our colleagues we celebrated Tyler’s 30th birthday. We took advantage of the reason to celebrate and barbecue party at Rempi. Rempi is a small house along the ocean about thirty minutes outside of Madang. The location is great for good snorkeling and for those who don’t enjoy the water there is space on the porch to play games. It was a beautiful day, perfect for time of fellowship and playing! Emily prepared a great lunch as Tyler grilled hamburgers for all to enjoy.

On February 10, Tyler’s actual birthday we enjoyed a nice breakfast before church, attended church, then took a spin in our boat for a few hours. The evening ended with a nice steamboat dinner at the Madang Lodge. Steamboat consists of pork, steak, lamb, chicken, and fish combined with lots of fresh vegetables. You cook them on your table in the pot of boiling water in the apparatus shown on the right of the picture below. The other day someone asked Tyler how old he was and he hesitated a bit and replied, 30. He shared that I guess I am no longer that twenty-something and now I am the new twenty-something which starts with a three. Tyler likes to believe he is just that much more wiser and experienced than his better looking and younger wife.

This week our office is currently under remodel. In order to have space for the future teammates we have been praying for we have started on our plan of office remodel. The particular part of the office that is being remodeled is the area where Tyler works. Hopefully by the end of this week Tyler’s new office will be finished. The other two offices that will come from this remodel are Directors office and another shared office space. All three rooms have air conditioners that have already been installed and adequate desk space for people to go about their work. What a blessing it is to have to dream about new office spaces for incoming teammates. A prayer we have prayed many times and still continue to prayer daily, “Lord send more workers into your harvest field.”

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By Emily

This morning in my daily devotions I read the story of Joseph. The coat of many colors, jealous brothers, sold into slavery, dreams interpreted…these are all the things I remember reading of the story of Joseph from the time I’ve been able to read. It’s a popular story of the Bible. While reading this morning a new portion of the story seemed to resonate with me and that is the part found in Genesis 45:3-8.

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph; does my father still live?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come near to me.’ So they came near. Then he said: ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and the lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

As I meditated on this passage throughout the day, I wonder what God is preparing to reveal to me. Will I encounter hardships to be bent and molded in order to find new ways to glorify the Father? Or has God led me through a season that He wants me to identify ways to respond as Joseph did, “For God has sent me.” Perhaps, it’s the reminder to simply recognize each passing days and the trials and joys of each are opportunities to claim the His power over them.

One thing I do know is that I am thankful that God has allowed me to learn of Him through the Word in my language. What a blessing to start the day in His Word and what an honor to be able to serve in a capacity to help people of this world have that opportunity.

Lord, humble me to recognize this gift each and every day!

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We have officially been back in the ‘land of the unexpected’ for two full weeks. It has been a busy 14 days. Last week we were contained in a conference room for a week long annual branch meeting. It was a good meeting which as a group we accomplished much and set forth for another year. We elected three new directorship roles and disbanded a long running committee which has changed focus over the two previous decades.

Since I have been back, I have encountered some home repairs. Though we do not own this house, we are responsible for much if not all of the maintenance work. After been gone for the past 10 months you can guess the repair list. I knew a few of the issues I needed to address such as replacing terminate damaged floor boards, installing new fly wire, and leaking faucets. However there were two unknown projects that needed immediate attention.

Last Saturday I got the ladder out to journey upward to the roof. It was my goal to check on our new gutters that were put in place last March before I left the country. I wanted to check the integrity and see how much gunk has gathered in the gutters. The placing of the ladder was imperative for what was to be seen. As soon as I climbed to roof level, I found a rather disturbing scene. I had a hole in my roof! Luckily, the hole was over the eave and no water had  come inside the house. However, this hole still had to be fixed ASAP as we are in rainy season and who knows how long the hole has been in the roof. End of story, Bob came yesterday and got it all fixed.

The other disturbing scene was seeing water come up from the ground. I knew that was not good! Yes, it has been raining everyday, but that does not mean water should be coming up from the ground. Of course I didn’t have a shovel so I had to buy a new shovel in town the next day. As I started to dig where the water was coming from I found a 3” black pipe. I traced this pipe back to the laundry/garage building and I knew it was discharge or gray water pipe. As I continued to dig to find out where this pipe went, I quickly found that the pipe simply was cut-off and ended right there in the yard. It was no more than 8” below the grass. I again talked to Bob about this problem and he mentioned to me, that many people in PNG discharge their gray water into the yard. This was our case as well. Problem solved but the problem has not been fixed…perhaps I will just cover the pipe back up and let the washer machine empty out into the back yard.

Besides home repair we had another issue with our truck. We had no working air conditioning. I thought that was funny since when I left in March it worked great. So I thought, I guess the freon could have leaked out or expired over the past year while the truck was sitting idle. After all, we did have a rat chew through some mechanical wires in the engine compartment while we were gone so perhaps the same rat got a ‘high’ from a leaking air conditioning unit. Once again, I talked it over with Bob and he had a look at it the next day. As we were diagnosing the problem, Bob spotted a loose wire on the compressor. With a cheap wire nut we were able to join the two wires thus supply power back to the compressor. Ah…the refreshing breeze of cold air in hot, humid Madang is once again welcomed.

So our first two weeks back have not been lacking any excitement. And not to forget, I also fixed the hot water heater by replacing the booster switch with a spring loaded timer switch.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts as we have been settling back into the swing of life in PNG. Be on the lookout for our February newsletter by next weekend.

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The long awaited arrival back to Madang has finally come and past. We arrived 6 hours later than scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but we cannot complain. All flights, connections, and international transits were great. Our only hang-up was in Port Moresby with our domestic flight to Madang which was delayed till 3 pm from its original departure at 9:30 am.

Before our arrival back to PNG, we enjoyed a beautiful stay with my brother and his family in Honolulu. The newest member of the family baby Rachel Elizabeth Hewitt was a joy to hold. My brother put Emily and I up at the Hale Koa Hotel (military resort) in Waikiki which was a pleasure. Emily and I enjoyed a Hawaiian sunset and a walk on the beach plus some last minute R&R Waikiki style. Though the stay was short we enjoyed many of the sights of Oahu including military history (USS Arizona, Missouri, and Utah Memorials), North Shore and a whole island drive.

This past week we have been adjusting back to the time and temperature of PNG. (We are +16 hours ahead of central time) We unpacked, setup house, went shopping, bought market foods including great pineapple, papaya, and bananas, and enjoyed friends with a few game nights.

We have withheld from working too much at the office though I did get pulled into quite a few jobs from day 1. I fixed three computer system fans one morning in the publications office that I noticed were not working. Keeping airflow and computers cool in the hot climate here is very important. The office also got a brand new copier/printer/scanner/fax machine on Tuesday which will be my job to setup and install. I started to read the quick start manual and play around with it a bit this week to get a feel for what will be ahead the week after next.

Emily has been busy with setting up home. Putting pictures around the house, clothes in the the closet, and finding out what is in the kitchen. The house we are staying in is a new house for the both of us though I lived here for six weeks before I left last year. Today she will be preparing cinnamon roles for our annual general meeting next week.

Thank you for your prayers last week during our travels. We are free of illness and gaining our legs back from the jetlag. We have been going to bed early and rising early as well. Please prayer this next week for our annual general meeting. We, as a team, will be meeting to discuss business and matters at hand. We are also slated to elect three directors roles, too.

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Welcome again to the year 2013. I guess the world did not end after all as the Mayan calendar predicted. I like to look at the new year as lucky 13, or it is just more fun to have that perspective. There is plenty on my mind but before I get carried away I want to reflect on what God did in 2012.

2012 Highlights:
The biggest news this past year was tying the knot with my beautiful bride. May 14 was a wonderful day and God gave me a wonderful woman, Emily. Yep, that was the best thing to happen last year so I guess the rest is just trivial.

Ok…for those who like more…we spent June at church camp, the rest of summer in Alaska, fall in Dallas, Nov in Indiana, and finally back in Montana to wrap up the year with Christmas. I don’t think I ever experienced a Montana Christmas like this one, a frozen –20 F morning. Santa had lots of hot chocolate in Big Sky that night.

However, the year did end on a high note. Emily’s home church does 5th Sunday offerings where all the offering from the 5th Sunday of the month goes towards missions that her church supports. Last year, there were 5 5th Sundays in 2012. A rarity in itself and Emily and I got the pleasure to share during the morning services about ‘Good Gifts’. The Sunday offerings were totaled and it was the largest 5th Sunday offering Fifth Ave Christian Church ever received. Praise God! All of the money given that Sunday went to missions and world outreach. Wow…what an awesome faith promise and statement. It is very humbling to be apart of a church body with such a world vision.

2013 Preview:

As you are aware, we are in our final hours of being stateside. We are departing Montana tomorrow for our start back to Papua New Guinea. We are stopping in Hawaii to visit my brother before continuing across the Pacific.

As we have been saying good-bye, I have been telling folks see you in 1000 days. That is about the time we are projecting to be on the field this term, 3 years or about 1000 days (365×3). Yes we are leaving the comforts and luxuries of America and trading them for the rough and developing country of Papua New Guinea. We are both ready and eager to return to our team and ministry we left behind over 9 months ago.

We know the work will not be easy and tough times are expected but we know and God has confirmed to us that we are to be in Papua New Guinea serving him during this season of our life.

We are so thankful of the times we had this past year to reconnect with so many of you and share what God is doing through us with PBT in PNG. We (everyone collectively) are on one team and it is exciting to see what the team can do through Christ whom strengthens us. We can do anything!

However, anything can easily turn into nothing unless we first pray. Emily and I ask you to pray for us specifically over the next few days, weeks, and months as we start our home together in PNG. January is a packed month for us as we have important team meetings for one week, Jan 21-25.

Recently, I heard Oswald Chambers quoted from his Oct 17 devotion…

Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work.

http://utmost.org/the-key-of-the-greater-work/

It is easy to forget that the most important tool in the bag is simply, prayer. As we start our new year together and as we depart the confines of the USA, please remember us in prayer.

Fifth Ave Christian Church praying over us last Sunday.

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Yesterday, Emily and I got the honor to share the ministry of Pioneer Bible Translators at a small rural Lutheran church in Montana. It was a bit awkward to be sharing on Christmas Sunday as missionaries, nonetheless it was an honor. As I sat down on Saturday to figure out how I was going to incorporate Christmas into our presentation of Pioneer Bible Translators and our ministry in Papua New Guinea, I struggled a bit.

Earlier in the week, I was following my daily e-devotion and the message has been about why Jesus came into world. The author explained Christmas is about LOVE. God loved us so much that he sent his Son, John 3:16. The Christmas story is a love story.

When we share I like to read from the Tok Pisin Buk Baibel to give the listeners a small taste of the trade language in Papua New Guinea. I chose to read from Isaiah (Aisaia) 7:14:

Wanpela yangpela meri i gat bel, na bai em i karim wanpela pikinini man na kolim nem bilong en Emanuel.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, andwill call him Immanuel.

Immanuel: Hebrew עִמָּנוּאֵל meaning “God is with us” only appears three times in the Bible: Isa 7:14, 8:8 and Matt 1:23. Ever since Adam’s time in the garden, the people of the Old Testament have been looking for the Messiah who would deliver them from suffering. Fast forward to Luke and the story of an amazing woman, the mother of a Savior, and the woman God had favor on…Mary.

Mary was a lucky woman plus blessed and favored by God. However, she was confused, worried, stressed and quite disturbed by this message from an angel. But the Lord had favor on her and she was to carry the Christ child. (Read Luke 1:26-38)

The angel told Mary both about her pregnancy as well as Elizabeth’s then ended with stating, ‘for nothing is impossible with God.’ As missionaries in PNG we witness many impossible things in our eyes everyday but God sees differently as the angel proclaimed here. God was eternal eyes and nothing is impossible with God!

Christmas is about love. God loves you so much that he sent his Son into a world filled with hurt and evil. It is our duty as God’s chosen ambassadors to tell the world the story of Christmas. As Emily and I prepare to return to PNG in the coming weeks, it will be on our hearts to tell the story of Christmas to those who have not heard or read it. It is a great pleasure and joy to be on a team that their call is to put God’s word in their language so one day the people of PNG can read the Christmas story for the first time.

Go tell it on a mountain that Jesus Christ is born!

Mele Kalikimaka / Merry Christmas!

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Winter has arrived in Montana. A few inches of snow fell over the past weekend then the temps dropped to 0 degrees…brrrrrrr for our standards of the South Pacific. As the man of the house, I thought it would be a great idea to shovel the small parking area in front of the garage. It did not take but a few shovel loads of snow to realize I really do not miss this. I would rather trade the four letter word of ‘snow’ for ‘sand’. Anyway else, agree?

Last Monday, I did not post a blog because Emily and I were finishing our 1935 mile drive from Indiana to Montana. We pretty much covered the mid-section of the continental USA plus Alaska and soon Hawaii during our time in the USA. (A nice photo illustration to help everyone who is a visual learner like myself.) Our last trip is about to commence tomorrow as we leave for eastern MT to visit Emily’s grandfather in Glendive then a short side trip to North Dakota for lunch with a ministry partner. Add another 900 miles to our yearly total.

One of our highlights from the past 30 days has been we have been able to visit with my 94 year old strong grandmother. She just rolled over into her 94th year last week. She was able to join us around the table at Thanksgiving and we will able to visit her at her home in Huntington, IN as well. We even jumped at the chance to sit with her at her favorite event, watching Huntington College men’s basketball. She is a great inspiration and testimony to both Emily and I. My grandparents were missionaries to west Africa for many years and my grandfather was the college president for 16 years. It is always special for me to enjoy the energy, excitement, and compassion my grandmother has.

My brother-in-law, Charles often likes to be coordinates, 0’ 0’ 0’ or home. Emily and I are both feeling closer to being ‘home.’ It is nice to know our travels and commitments on this side of the world are nearing the end. We are both eager to return to coordinates, 0’ 0’ 0’.

I will end with a funny photo that I captured while testing out my new webcam on my laptop. Emily and I were with Hannah and Logan (two of our favorite nieces and nephews) for a photo shoot with Uncle Tyler.

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