Tyler and Emily in PNG

The past two weeks have been very busy for Emily and I. We have had the honor to be camp missionaries for the past two weeks at Little Rockies Christian Camp for Sr. High and Jr. High camps. Also last week we were the missionaries for Vacation Bible School at Emily’s home church. Last week we had our time split between VBS and church camp. In the morning we were in Havre for VBS then drove out to camp (1.5 hrs.) for the afternoon activities, dinner, then our presentation before driving back home (another 1.5 hrs.) so we could be back at VBS in the morning.

The Lord provided safety on the road as we drove over 1000 miles to and from camp every day (Mon – Thurs). It was a pleasant drive and gave us time to pray and reflect.

All three programs have had good themes and an opportunity to reflect and grow. The Sr. High camp theme was ‘Outpour.’ The challenge was to live a life poured out for Christ. We studied Paul, the first century church, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and the effects of each on how we are called to live a life poured out for Christ. The Jr. High camp theme was ‘Make your one turn count.’ Emily and I were not at camp for the lessons but we tried to emphasis the theme throughout our missions presentation every night. I told the campers, we have decisions to make everyday and it is up to you to make your one decision each and everyday count for the cause of Christ. I made the decision to follow Christ but that decision is not a one time decision rather an everyday decision to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Him.

VBS theme was ‘Adventures on Promise Island.’ Every day the kids learned a new promise of God that is relative to everyday life. I care for you, I will answer you, I will save you, I give you what you need, and I am with you. These are all promises from God that he assures each and everyone of us each day. Of course the island theme played into the island country of Papua New Guinea. Emily and I shared Pidgin words, pictures of houses, food available, and to pray for two national translators currently working on their translation in the book of Ephesians.

Our mission emphasis has been to raise money for new laptop computers for use by national translators. As our branch and group visions to grow in the coming years, the need for more technology and computers will increase. Today, it is imperative for effective and speedy translation progress that a computer be utilized. We challenged each group to raise $600 to purchase a new laptop computer. First week of church camp, the Sr. High raised enough money to purchase one laptop and a little extra. Second week of camp, the Jr. High met little more than half to purchase a second laptop. During VBS, the kids topped the Sr. High by just a bit more to raise a third laptop computer. After combining the funds from all three groups, we have raised funds to purchase three new laptops for national translators to use to aid in their vernacular projects.

If you would like to help towards purchasing a new laptop for PNG national translators, please contact me for more information.

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Monday will mark Emily and my four week anniversary! A time to celebrate right? Our first week anniversary was in St Lucia during our honeymoon, second week was our wedding reception, third week was spent at Sr. High church camp, and now today we will be at Vacation Bible School. Ah, the exciting life of newly wed missionaries.

Life over the past four weeks have been busy and time has not allowed for me to write and share my wonderful experiences with you such as our wedding, honeymoon, and wedding reception. I will try to share with you some of the great blessings over the past month that God has given us.

It all started out on a beautiful blue sky Montana day on May 14. Emily and I agreed to have a small private wedding in the Bears Paw Mountains south of Havre, MT. The minister was Emily’s good friend who flew in from New York City. The Matron of Honor was Emily’s best friend Genevieve from Billings, MT and the Best Man was Emily’s brother, Evan. Other than that, the photographer was the only other invite despite the multiple pleads from family and friends. If one thing had to go wrong it was the tardiness of the photographer. We scheduled a 1:30 pm wedding however the short 10 minute ceremony did not start until 2:30 pm. Yes, the photographer delayed what God had created in marriage. In the end, it was hard not to smile at such a beautiful bride.

Following the short ceremony we took some pictures with a much apologetic photographer then ran out of town and soon out of the country. Following our first night together in Great Falls, we started our 24 hour marathon journey to St. Lucia, West Indies in the Caribbean. After an 8 hour layover in Denver, a redeye flight to Miami and a 5 hour layover in Miami we finally arrived to our slice of honeymooners paradise in St. Lucia.

From the Intl Airport, I arranged a private car transfer to the Sandals resort which was an 1.5 hour car ride on narrow, windy roads through the mountains. At the resort we were greeted warmly with a towelette and a drink along with the beauty of the manicured gardens. Our oceanfront honeymoon luxury room was balanced with tossed flower pedals and a bottle of champagne. It was definitely a room fit for a king and queen.

We had lots of fun lounging in the sun and eating at various all-inclusive resort restaurants. We found it close to impossible to stay up past 11:00 pm. We kayaked, water skied, sailed our own Hobie Cat, and tried paddle board which were all free for guests. We had an awesome and fantastic week in paradise!

For more honeymoon pictures see my Facebook photo album Honeymoon St Lucia May 2012.

As the saying goes, all good things have to come to an end…well, our stay ended at paradise and we had to journey back to Montana. We got back on Thursday, my parents came the next day, and then on Monday (Memorial Day) we celebrated our marriage at the wedding reception. As the groom I had a few small requests like shrimp cocktail, pub mix, and chocolate fondue with fresh fruit. Not all groom get their way, but this one managed to hit a home run. I even had an Oreo infused wedding cake.

Emily and I were blessed with many family and friends who came to the family farm to celebrate with us and what God has formed together. After the final picture and after everyone had left, it was just me and my wife. I whispered in her ear, ‘I love you Mrs. Hewitt’ and she responded, ‘I love you too Mr. Hewitt.’

More wedding reception pictures will be posted later.

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Life has been busy but I have managed to at least write my monthly update. I am off to church camp for the next couple weeks and will try to write more and post later to my blog. I want to share with you my wedding, honeymoon, and reception we had on Memorial Day.

But for now you can check out my June 2012 newsletter HERE or click Newsletters tab.

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As I draw closer and closer to hitting three decades of life, I can finally say I am no longer single. Today I said, ‘I do’ to my beautiful bride Emily in a remote location in the Bear Paw Mountains in rural Montana. By the time I publish this post, Emily and I will be well on our journey to our chosen honeymoon destination, a Caribbean island.

Not to worry, we will return to Montana where a wedding reception will take place on May 28 (Memorial Day) at her parent’s home.

I will be sharing more with you about our private wedding and honeymoon in the weeks to come. But for now, I will be without communication to the outside world as I rejoice with what God has blessed me with and the gift of marriage.

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Emily and I enjoyed a nice afternoon and a 3.5 mile hike at Turkey Run State Park in west central Indiana.

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Following the ‘Announcement’ from my last post, Emily and I have been busy meeting family here in Indiana and of course showing off the ring. We arrived late into Indianapolis and greeted warmly by my parents. After a steak burger at Steak n Shake and an 1 hour drive to my parents house we had to jump in the hot tub a little past 1 AM. It was worth it and enjoyed by all.

Last week was spent visiting friends and making many appointments for dinner dates. I think last week we ate out at a different restaurant everyday with a different person. It was really good to reconnect with friends and share with them what God has done in my life over the past 15 months. Emily and I also got some shopping done and spent a few afternoons outside hiking. One afternoon we went to a local park and another afternoon drove to one of my favorite state parks in Indiana.

Turkey Run State Park in west central Indiana is probably one of the best nature parks in Indiana. Emily and I got Subway for lunch and headed north with the top down on the convertible. It was an enjoyable ride with temps in the low 70s. After hiking through canyons and crossing small creeks we stopped on top of a hill for lunch. It was nice to go early in the season as the park did not have many visitors. We both enjoyed a relaxing day on the trails and gained a bit of exercise too.

So far our trip to Indiana has been blessed with many hugs and smiles from friends and family. It is exhausting but it is well worth it. This week we will be on a road trip to Illinois to visit my sister then to Kansas City to visit my oldest brother and his family. On the way to Kansas City, we will make a stop in St Louis to catch a Cardinals baseball game at 1 PM.

Please pray for safe travels this week as we travel the Midwest and make many stops. We will be leaving Indiana next Tuesday and flying back to Montana. Life is busy and full of reconnecting and appointments. Emily and I are excited to begin life as a married couple and join our journeys together as one.

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It has been two weeks since my last post and a lot has happened since then. Everything from leaving the tropics of Hawaii to snow filled fields of Montana. Throw in Easter, meeting new family, battling being sick, time change, drastic temperature change, and engagement. So how do I wrap up the past two weeks…it has to start with the exciting news that I am engaged to my beautiful fiance, Emily.

A few short days ago on a mild sunny day, I got down on one knee and asked the most important question of my life. “Emily Jo, will you marry me?” As she giggled with excitement and danced with joy, she said “Yes, of course.” We hugged and kissed with overjoyed hearts. I presented her the ring (aka the ‘rock’) and she giggled once again as the surreal moment was happening. Her finger has been the most sought after sight in Havre, MT. At church I told her I should charge a $1 viewing fee so I could recoup some of the costs of the ring. I think I could easily made $100 at church.

Following the phone calls to parents and family the announcement was sent to the mega social network of Facebook. It is amazing how fast and broad the real world is when you post news or change your relationship status. Within minutes, likes and comments were posted to our pages. It is almost scary to see first hand the reality of sharing such an announcement on Facebook.

My time is drawing to an end here in the north central plain state of Montana. Mid-week, Emily and I will be traveling together to Indiana to visit my parents and family. I am excited to see my parents and formally introduced my wife-to-be to them for the first time. There will be many more appointments, faces to see and hugs to be given. I look forward to reunion with family and friends and to share the joy that the both of us now have.

Please continue to pray for me this week as I am recovering from a cold and as I prepare for travel to Indiana. Pray that God will lead and direct my time in the Mid-west with family and friends. Pray that God will lead and give wisdom to both Emily and I as we prepare for marriage.

I close with a picture of Emily and I at Pictograph Cave State Park south of Billings, MT.

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I have been back in the good ole USA for 1 week now. No, I did not kiss the ground when I landed but I was glad to be back on home soil or lava rock in Hawaii. Since I have been back, here are a few small things I have noticed that are different than life in Papua New Guinea.

• Power – lights come on instantly when you flip the switch
• Power – no blackouts, power is dependable
• Hot showers – freedom to take hot shower without be ashamed of over use of water and electricity
• Real food- yellow cheese, milk, cereal, pizza, … well just American food
• Too many options – restaurants, services, more than one TV channel
• Technology – smart phones everywhere, fast internet, iPad, DVR

I have also noticed I tend to find myself gravitating outside rather than sitting indoors. Being in the warm tropics all homes have open air concept with the windows open and drapes pulled to the side. Here I find air conditioning and the house to be shut to the outside world. I miss the sound of leaves and the wind blowing the palm trees.

As far as culture shock…the biggest shock has been seeing scandalous women on the beaches of Waikiki. Talking about going from one culture of modesty to practically string bikinis in Hawaii. I noticed this ‘casual’ dress on my brief stop in Brisbane, Australia then it followed me to Fiji, and now in Hawaii. I shake my head in disbelief and well…admire the beauty of a woman but think really, is this woman really wearing what I think she is or isn’t wearing.

Overall, my time back in America has been pleasant. I have two beautiful nephews that love their Uncle Tyler and of course I love them dearly. I brought them gifts from the Land of the Unexpected. The picture below, the two boys are wearing bilum hats that are typically worn in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. This past Friday, Gabriel the oldest, worn his bilum hat to school for hat day.

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Here in PNG their is a prepay system for electricity. You pay first for units or credits, then you input a series of digits into the meter. Once the credits you purchased expire, you have no more power until you buy more credits. It makes it impossible for the power company to loose money, you are never indebted to the power company.

Check out this video:

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The songs titles and lyrics are rolling through my mind…I’m leaving on a jet plane don’t know when I will be back again…I’m coming to America, today…Mama, I’m coming home. Can you name the artist’s?

So yes, one of the longest days of my life will be here this Sunday. It will be 44 hours long. I leave PNG at 6:15 am and arrive Hawaii 45 minutes later after traveling through two countries…hum, I love time travel but I don’t think my body will enjoy it too much.

This last week I am finishing last minute projects that I had going and have meetings with folks about my duties that will be left unattended. Many of the team members already feel my absence and wonder, what we will do when Tyler leaves. Well, I don’t think they will miss me that much and I know they will survive. The year 2012 will be another survival year for the branch here in PNG. I am the sixth and final person to leave on furlough so far this year. The manpower and team members are dwindling.

As I came to work on Monday, I had a odd thing going on with the satellite internet. We could send/receive emails without problem but when we would try to go to a webpage an error came, ‘111 connection refused’. I checked the router/firewall and found the web proxy log has completely full. Over 12 GB of logs, so being a Linux machine I had to reach out to our external consultant for help. He promptly cleared the log but that was not the problem. He found out from a recent change on our external network that someone changed a cable around. The cable was suppose to be plugged into the LAN port but someone moved in to the WAN port thus causing mass confusion on the network. Once this was found, webpages were functioning as normal. I hope the rest of my week is much more calmer and no big problems flare up.

Please pray that my travels will be smooth and all my flights will be on-time. Pray that customs and immigration officers will be pleasant to work with. Pray for strength and health as I travel and prepare the long arduous journey. Continue to pray for the plans that lie ahead and the busy schedule of events once I return to mainland USA.

It has been a great journey so far in PNG and I am leaving with joy in my heart. A joy that God has given me and an assignment to bring God’s word to the people of PNG. I am eager to leave for this period of time but excited for the plans God has ahead of me.

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

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