settling in...

Well, we've been here in lapilo for about a week and a half. Things are going quite smoothly...actually better than we anticipated. The kids are sleeping well (as long as we drown out the traffic noise and the neighbor kids with a fan!) We're getting settled in a routine which is good for kids and mom! :) Every monday and thursday the store here in lapilo is open for grocery shopping and the fresh fruit and veggie market is also on the same days from 4-5pm just outside the gate. The gate is right beside our house and the store is right across the street, so we don't have very far to go! Grocery shopping is a highlight as there are no other stores here, unless you count the mission barrel, which is a small room where missionaries leave their belongings that they couldn't sell (or didn't want to sell) when they are going home on furlough. Everything is free and to me it feels like garage saling! (only free...wouldn't that be nice in Canada eh Tash?) So far I've been able to find a Meri blouse, a baby doll for Aowyn, some headbands for Tayah, a few books, a small lunch cooler for Clinton...and probably some other miscellaneous items. But it makes me feel good! :)
To give you a feel for food prices here...a small bag of brown sugar - $10, a tin of Pringles - $5, Oreos - $7, Chocolate chips - $4 (small bag), 1kg of mince (groundbeef) - $6, etc. Some foods are reasonably priced while others are outrageous, but there is no where else to go. Everyone around here gets really excited when a container comes in because then you know lots of new foods (or hard to get) foods from the states are coming in. A container came in today so I'm looking forward to grocery shopping on thursday! Even if I just drool over what's on the shelves because some things are too expensive for me to justify right now! :)
The twins celebrated their 2nd birthday on the 25th, so I was able to find a boxed Duncan Hines chocolate cake and icing in the store and we partied!! :) The kids (and Clinton) loved the cake! And I didn't have to slave too hard over it! :)
This morning Rorik was playing in his closet and Aowyn closed the door while Rorik's thumb was still in the door and needless to say it didn't end well. Rorik's thumbnail came almost all the way off and I had to take him to the clinic here to have 2 other nurses and a doc hold him down in order to give him a little freezing before the doc ripped the rest of the nail off. Poor little guy, screamed like crazy and I'm sure all of lapilo heard him. He's tough though, got a sucker after and was fine. Now to keep the dressing on for the next week...:)
Clinton went to NTMA in Goroka for the first time today to start his orientation there. He'll be going in every other day to do the finance end of the aviation program there. He really enjoyed it and felt like he was catching on! (that smart husband of mine!)
We're still going through some orientation stuff in the next two weeks, and continuing to meet new people and starting to recognize others we've already met. Clinton plays roller hockey every sunday and wednesday evening with a bunch of guys from the base here. (Terry Banman plays as well). He loves it!
I'm a little tired of all the uphill climbing while pushing a stroller, but I count it as my workout! I'm huffing and puffing everywhere, never have I felt so out of shape! I walked on the treadmill at the little gym here and I felt like I was walking uphill on that (and no, there was no incline on)! But boy does it feel good going downhill! Rorik has wiped out more times than I can count, but he's starting to get his legs under him while he races down the hills. :)
Anyway, please continue to keep us in your prayers as we adjust out here. Please pray that Rorik's thumb heals nicely and no infection sets in. We thank you all so much for your support and encouragement as we fit into life out here.
Love, Clinton & Rolanda and kiddos

Hello Lapilo!

Well friends...we have arrived! We actually arrived in PNG on thursday (wednesday canada time). We experienced many delays throughout our trip here. After almost missing our first flight out from winnipeg due to taking a long time going through security, our flight was delayed in vancouver for an extra 4 hrs (making that layover 8hrs). Then the flight from Hong Kong was delayed 24hrs (so we spent our second night in Hong Kong at the Sheraton which was beautiful!). Then our flight from Port Moresby into Goroka was delayed 5hrs. But we did make it! And all our luggage did too, with no luggage fees anywhere! Praise God! The kids were amazing on the flights up until leaving Hong Kong...then the twins decided they didn't want to be on a plane anymore and were quite a bit fussier then we were hoping for. I think all the time changes were adding to their frustration (as well as ours). Airport personnel throughout our trip were so accommodating to us, mainly because of the twins I'm sure! As soon as they would start fussing, someone would open up a new line for us or move us to the front of the lineups...it was great for us! In Hong Kong our twins were treated like celebrities, people stopped and stared and even the security guards were baby-talking to the twins to make them happy going through customs! :) One lady was staring so hard at the twins as I exited an elevator that she walked straight into the elevator doors as they were closing! It was quite comical!
Although the trip was long and drawn out, we felt very blessed by our travels and could definitely feel the prayers of our faithful friends and family back home.
As for our transition to PNG, we've been slowly getting our bodies switched over to PNG time, this morning our kids woke up at 6am which is almost back to normal! The kids have fallen in love with the bananas and pineapple here (which are amazing), and tomorrow I'll have my first go at the fresh market outside the gate. I was able to buy a few groceries at the Lapilo store for our first few days here...food is definitely more expensive here than I'm used to! Brown sugar $14 (and that's a small bag!). Some items are priced similar to home, but most is much higher. It's also hit and miss with what you will find at the store. We've been blessed these past few days with having families from Lapilo cook us supper and have us in their homes. Tayah has already made quite a few little friends (shocker, I know), and all three kids are adjusting well to Lapilo. We went to church this morning held in the gym here in Lapilo, and it was nice to meet many new faces.
Clinton's job has changed a bit since we got here. The need is greater for him to be working with NTMA which is the missions airplane service, so he will be still be doing finances, just now with NTMA instead of the general mission finances. He's quite excited about this. Clinton will most likely start in the office at the end of next week. I will take a while longer to get myself and the kids settled and make some new friends that will be able to watch my kids while I work before I start at the clinic. I did get a tour of the clinic already and I'm very impressed. It is much better stocked and organized than I had anticipated. I'm very excited to start working as well.
I know this is a long post, but there's just so much that has happened in this past week. We just want to thank everyone for their prayers and ask for your continued prayers as we settle in here. So far we're doing well emotionally, but I know the hard times are yet to come.
Blessings, Clinton & Rolanda Friesen and kiddos

Less than 3 days...

Hey All,
Well, last night we said a few more good-byes. Lately, life has been filled with "lasts" and good-byes. Rolanda and I were commenting to each other that we already feel like out-of-towners; the last couple weeks of good-byes make it feel as though we shouldn't be here anymore. We get asked a lot if we are excited, and the answer is "not really". I always follow that up with the fact that we are not nervous,either, except for getting the good-byes out of the way. I expect that when we get past the good-byes and get on the airplane we will begin to feel very excited. Probably very nervous, too!
Yesterday we also got just about all our stuff into a little storage area at the church. This is really exciting for us! I did not expect to get it done so quick, but we worked really hard and got some unexpected help. I never thought it would all get in, but we still have room to spare. We were very thankful to God for the smoothness with which we were able to get that off our minds.
So, in the last couple days before we leave we will have some last visits with family, last minute shopping for our long flight, last minute shopping for our 2 years in PNG (and still hoping for some last minute golfing!).
We have been so blessed by the many forms of encouragement we have recieved. Thanks to you all. Thanks also for your continued prayer!
God Bless!

house, tickets, visas, and more!

Well it has been awhile since my last post. Quite a bit has happened. WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see I'm quite excited about that. :) Possession is June 15th, so we move in with my wonderful sister Glanda until our departure for PNG.
That's another big thing that has happened...we booked our flights!!!! Our plane leaves Winnipeg at 7:45am on July 17th. We're really looking forward to going, but not looking forward to the flying with the kiddos. We will be staying in a hotel for one night in Hong Kong to give the kids (and us) a reprieve from airports and airplanes.
We have also now received our entry visas and they are stamped into our passports! Yay!! So in other words we are completely set to fly to PNG! Crazy!! I can't believe we're at this place in our journey now...it seems like it took forever, and now it's coming so quick!
As far as support goes, we're at a little over 50% which means we'll survive out there. :) Our church had a fundraiser supper for us in May, and a total of $5600 came in which covers our airplane tickets and the hotel in Hong Kong (as well as a bit more to cover any additional flying expenses). We were so pumped about that figure!! God is good and He knows what we need. Overall it's been a crazy past 2 months. We are so grateful to friends and family who have encouraged us during this time.

Prayer requests:
- a bit more monthly support to come in
- packing and moving our stuff
- flying with the kiddos (patience for us and them)
- getting our household set up in PNG

Lots of love, Clint & Ro (and kiddos)

march madness!

Well once again it's been far too long for a blog post. I feel like there is not much new to say...
Our house has been on the market for quite a few months now, and we have had a boatload of showings. Atleast my house gets cleaned fairly regularly! :) We had an offer a few weeks back that we accepted, but it's conditional on the sale of their (the potential buyers) house. So we're praying to that end, that their house would sell. In the meantime we continue to have showings... (which means more cleaning for me!)
We're still in the partnership development phase, which in other words means finding people to come alongside us as supporters. We've been to a number of the churches in our conference (CMC) so far and they've all been so welcoming and encouraging. We've also had some friends join us in financially supporting us this past month. We still have a ways to go, but best guess is that we're at about 30% of our recommended monthly support level. We need to reach 50% before we can leave for PNG, and we're really praying that we'll be able to fly out mid-July, 2011.
Prayer requests:
-that our house would sell
-for prayer and financial supporters
-patience for the waiting (mostly for me!)
Thanks for following our journey to PNG, if you feel like you would like to partner with us prayerfully or financially just send me an email and I'll add you to our list! rofriesen@yahoo.ca
Blessings!

waiting for PNG...went to Haiti?

wow it's been awhile since I last posted! :) sorry about that. obviously not much has changed. Our house is still on the market, and I must say that it's getting tiresome waiting for our house to sell. I need to keep reminding myself that this is all gonna happen in God's timing and that's good enough for me!
I was able to go to Haiti this past december for 2 weeks with Samaritan's Purse...what an experience. I worked straight nights for 2 weeks, approx. 150-170 hours is what Clinton figured out I worked. It was very exhausting emotionally and physically, but I made it. Cholera is a horrible disease. It dehydrates someone so quickly. Iv therapy and maintenance was my main job in the cholera clinic. I worked with pediatrics the whole 2 weeks, and fell in love with so many of the children and their families.
I missed Clinton and my kiddos like crazy, and am so happy to be home with them now! :) Christmas was busy and great! Lots of family time and good food. Now it's back to the grind and with that comes the start of our fundraising support for PNG and talking in churches. At first we weren't supposed to start raising support until our house sold, but now leadership at NTMC have decided that we should start raising our support starting Jan, 2011 so we'll be ready to leave when our house sells. We are happy about this, and excited/nervous about this new phase. Please continue to pray with us that our house would sell soon, and that we will be successful at raising the necessary support.
Blessings, Clinton & Rolanda and kiddos

the latest in our journey...

Well, since the last time I posted quite a bit has happened. A group of guys from our church (steinbach cmc) came over and helped with the basement. Doors and closet doors were hung in place, some electrical was done, and the ceiling was put up! And boy does it ever look great! We hired our the flooring and that is now complete as well. The only things left to do are finish off the electrical and get the toilet and vanity hooked up to plumbing. It is looking great! We have listed the house a few places online, in the Carillon, and also made it it's own blog site!
59breezy.wordpress.com
Please tell anyone you know if they are looking to buy a house. :) We're really praying that our house sells quickly.
Also a praise item is that our entry visas are approved and are waiting at the Australian High Commission in Ottawa. We need to have our visas stamped in our passports, but in order to have them stamped in our passports we must provide our flight itinerary. However, because our house is not sold yet, we can't buy tickets and therefor don't have a flight itinerary. So...in other words, nothing further can be done until our house sells. It's nice knowing that our visas can be stamped into our passports within 48 hours as they are already approved.
At times we find it very difficult going through this process. Part of us feels like we just want to be out there already, and the other part feels like it's happening so fast. It's kind of like living in limbo right now. I've heard it explained by other missionaries as feeling like the 9th month of pregnancy. You've been living with expectation for awhile and it's all coming close to the end, however it never seems to come quick enough. I finally understand what that means! :) We've been very blessed with encouragement from family and friends and we couldn't do it without that.
Please continue to pray with us that our house would sell quickly and that we would be on our way! And in the meantime that we would learn patience and reliance on God to meet all our needs along the way.
Blessings, Clinton & Rolanda & crew