Saturday, August 30, 2008
We went on our first hike today. The curriculum at POC is designed to get progressively more difficult, so today was an easy 2 hour walk to the villages around the top of the mountain. The older kids had a scavenger hunt for the hike, and Sarah wanted me to share some of the things that she found:
-a red flower
-a eucalyptus leaf
-a sensitivity plant
-buai tree
-vanilla plant
-bilum with red colour on it
The kids also had to count how many chickens (14) and how many dogs (8) they found along the way. The sensitivity plant was planted by the Japanese during WW II. The leaves close when touched, so the Japanese could tell if anyone had recently walked on the path.

The big excitement for today was the earthquake we felt this afternoon! The tremors only lasted for a few seconds. I guess this is life on the Ring of Fire.

Sunday, August 31, 2008
This morning, the campers and the staff met for church. Next week, we'll attend a local church in one of the villages close by. We've begun learning some songs in Tok Pisin that will help us participate when we go to churches in the neighborhood. After church, I did three loads of laundry in a cute little twin tub washing machine. It's a far cry from the pristine water (we pipe up creek water) and the big machines that do everything for you in the States, but I'm so thankful that we have the machine! There's nothing like sheets snapping in the breeze on the clothesline.

Aaron led worship tonight as he played the POC guitar. I love watching him light up when uses his spiritual gifts exactly the way God intended. The other faculty and students got a little taste of the great and goofy guy that I married.

Monday, September 1, 2008
Thought I would share today's schedule so you can see what a typical day at POC is like for our family:
6:30 Kitchen duty – set up for breakfast
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 School for kids; Tok Pisin lessons for grownups
9:30 Morning tea with Tok Pisin tisa (teacher)
10:00 Devotions
10:15 Medical lecture #2
11:00 Anthropology lecture #1
12:15 Lunch
2:00 Hike
5:00 Aaron meets with computer guy to work out some kinks
5:45 Supper
6:30 Kitchen duty – clean up supper
7:30 Kids in bed
8:00 Fellowship small groups for adults

Somewhere in there we have to squeeze in some reading and homework for class and some time with our kids. Keep praying for our time management!


Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A few highlights of the last 24 hours:
-Olivia lost tooth #2 last night. She was eating peanut butter toast, and her tooth fell right out!
-Aaron was one of four students voted onto the Student Committee this morning.
-This afternoon, we got to practice our ocean swimming and continue working toward the lofty goal of swimming a mile.