Monday

Today I interviewed a new house helper.  Her name is Ana and she is a single Papuan gal.  I’d guess she’s about 20 or so and is from a nearby town.  The head pembantu at the guest house also was with me as I interviewed her and Ibu Salche also felt like she’d be worth trying out.  She begins tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes.  She doesn’t have tons of experience working as a house helper so I will likely have to train her in many things but I suppose that’s good as she’ll learn how I like to have things done.  Thanks for praying for this situation with us.  It’s daunting to do this in another culture as it’s hard to read other people when they are from such a different culture.  I will be trusting her with my children eventually and that is not an easy thing to do.

 

Our bathroom is being renovated today to put in a western toilet.  We are so excited to finally have a bathroom that is normal for us. It’s amazing how things like that can make the day feel so much more normal.  Joel is in a neighboring town getting  a bathroom sink and shower and so hopefully by sometime next week, we’ll be set with one regular bathroom. 

 

In a few weeks, our field leadership team will be here for meetings and this will be my first introduction into the guesthouse.  I will be buying food for breakfast and will be providing lunch and supper for the men and one of the wives.  We are still doing our orientation each afternoon and are learning about how things work here in Papua.  I think we’ll be taking some outings to see various places that are unique to our area.  It should be interesting.  I think we’ll also be picking up again on our language study but as to how that will all work out, we’re not sure yet.

 

Thank you for all the notes of encouragement to us these past weeks. It means so much to have folks praying and even just sympathyzing as we go through this transition.  We miss  you all!

 

bethany