Tayah had a frog painted on her cheek
during the PNG Independance Day festivities.

Shooting a blow gun our language helper made

from bamboo in his village.

Rolanda's first homemade apple pie!

Rorik potty training. He still has his share of accidents

but is doing good. Can't shake that pink soother, though!

Aowyn is almost completely potty trained.

Hello again, how are you all doing?

We are doing good over here in PNG. We just had PNG Independance Day on September 16 and it was a fun day here at Lapilo. There was a small parade put on by the high school and there was even some candy thrown!

In the past few weeks we have continued to have language training and culture classes every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. We are making progress, but still have a long way to go. I can here our language helper telling people every we got that we know a "liklik tasol", a little only:)Rolanda's birthday is next week and some friends of hers threw her a party here on Friday. She really enjoyed it. She said later her throat was hurting because she had laughed so much.

I am feeling more and more settled at the finace office in Lapilo and at NTMA. There seems to be more talk that I will be at NTMA full-time in the future. We'll see what happens. There is need everywhere.

We experienced a little PNG culture just a couple days ago as a truck carrying a load of coffee hit the ditch across the road from the centre. A large fight and many small fights broke out as it appeared that some people attempted to protect the truck from theft and others tried to take the coffee. We are told that it is common practice to raid vehicles that are damaged on the road. Probably the only reason anybody protected it is because they knew the owner. There was a lot of alcohol involved it appeared and at one point a man with a machete attempted to re-join the fray, but a friend turned him back. We have been told that if we hit a pedestrian as we drive we are not to stop but to go strait to Lapilo, or strait to the police station as the people will react in anger and there is a good chance you would be killed with machete's.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read! Please continue to pray that we would be a blessing ot the missionaries on centre, the missionaries in villages preaching the good news of the grace of Jesus, and to the our neibouring PNG nationals.

God Bless!

(Just some ordinary PNG scenery. I was way overdue, so I snapped this as we drove.)
The family headed to church in Lapilo. This pic is right in front of our house and Aowyn is lagging behind as usual.
This is the river we crossed to get into one village. I saw a lady heading out of the village with a big basket of banana's on her head to sell at market and a bag of supplies in her hand. I asked how she would get through the river and was told with a blank expression "she'll cross the river". Bare in mind the river is chest deep with a strong current, even though you can't see it in the pics.
Just some really tall bamboo trees.

Bena Bridge Church singing in their tribal language.

We feel truly blessed that you would take the time to read about the happenings of our little family in Papua New Guinea. I look at my family, and all the special people we are surrounded by out here and I thank God. We begin at times to feel lonely for the familiar, but we feel joy in knowing that our friends and family back home are praying for us, and that God has no limitations in time or space and that he remains for us.
This past week provided several good opportunities for me (Clinton) to get inside a few of the local villages. The area of Papua New Guinea we are in would not be considered remote in PNG standards, and yet we are surrounded by village after village. Most of these villages you would not know exists, until you follow a small trail into the seemingly jungle/forest, and realize that many communities are all around. I can't remember the names of the villages, but I was in one last Thursday, another this Tuesday, and another this Thursday. It is part of the language training to get into the local villages to experience some of the culture and hear the language spoken. I also went to a village church for their service this morning. Our understanding and capability to speak in Tok Pidgin (Pidgin English) is quite limited, but is expanding. Each tribe also has a Tok Place (sort of a tribal language), but the people we have met all speak Tok Pidgin fluently. Unfortuantely, Rolanda has not been able to get into any of these villages. Women are more limited in their ability to travel at times, so she has been stuck with the kids. Don't worry, we will make sure she get's a chance to experience all these villages as well!
Probably the neatest village for me to go to had to do with the "road" into the village. It is only about a 10 minute walk down a side road (at home we would call this road a bush trail, to give you a sense of what we are talking about). Then the road dead-ends at the river. The river is about chest high, about 60 feet wide, and has a strong current at this time of the year (one guy crossing with me actually was pushed about 30 feet past the opening on the far side and we pulled him in further down the river. It sounds more dramatic than it was, he was fine:). On the way back we started about 100 yards up stream from the opening we wanted to hit, walked straigt, and the current still almost moved us too far. I got my phone and camera wen on the first trip across, so I didn't get any pics of the village. Fortunately, with some air-drying and some prayer we got the camera working again.
This morning was pretty neat as well as I enjoyed a church service with some believers in the Bena Bridge Church. I understood little that was said, but enjoyed singing with the believers. I posted a little video of some of the singing. The video I posted was in their tribal language, and most of the songs were sung a little different (for those that were in Guinea, West Africa, I found it to be similar). They sing with throats a lot more than North America, but the people are unafraid to sing and the Tok Pidgin songs were actually very catchy! I still can't get one song out of my head. After the service all the people gathered around us white guys on the floor and they wanted to sing with us, so we sang for another half hour. I am so small to think that God would be limited to one side of the globe, but to see the believers face-to-face praising God was really cool.
So, what to pray for:
Continue to pray that we adjust to life here and have an impact on the ministry and the local people as much as we can.
Pray that we would continue to establish meaningful relationships.
Pray for the tribal missionaries who are presenting the Gospel, and for the persecution they and the believers in those tribes face.
Pray that we would draw nearer to God personally, and as a family.
God Bless!
Clinton and Rolanda Friesen

friends, language, and sewage!

Well we've been here in Lapilo for a month, which means we left Steinbach just over a month ago. It feels like forever ago and still just a bit ago that we left, it's weird how that works. Things have been running very smoothly for us, which causes me some concern as that's usually when something goes wrong right? :) Clinton has settled into his job quite nicely, he's now on his own doing the accounts receivable for NTMA (the aviation program of New Tribes in PNG). He is out at the hangar mondays, wednesdays, and fridays for now and works here at Lapilo in the finance office on tuesdays and thursdays. His days at the hangar include him leaving for work at 6:45 am with the pilots and mechanics in two big vans. He then comes home around 4:15pm with the same group of guys. He has developed a love for flying (which freaks me out regarding what kind of hair-brained ideas he's going to get about getting his own license in the future!) :) He's been enjoying his time there in any case.

I have taken on the role of the school nurse here in Lapilo. The school is called Numonohi Christian Academy and it's students are largely missionary kids either from New Tribes or other mission organizations around here. There is also a fair group of national kids who go to school here as well. So far my job has included doing lice checks and immunization checks. I've been going through the health records of the students and seeing who needs to be caught up on immunizations and then they get sent to the clinic to get updated.

Eventually I hope to be able to put in some time at the clinic as well, but I'll be patient and wait! :) Clinton will hopefully be able to get one day off a week and then I'll go in the clinic for that day.

Last week sunday we had the immense pleasure of joining with Terry & Rosie and Pete & Lesley for lunch in Sobega. It was a great time of visiting and sharing. (and Rosie cooked a wonderful lunch!). We were able to get a picture of all of us to show our fellow Steinbach CMCers a shot of us together. It is largely because of our sending church that we are all out here. I've been missing church back home already, so many of you guys that went to church with us became great friends of ours, and we miss worshipping along side you guys. Tayah asks periodically about different people back home, usually people from church.

Tayah has tried talking to some of the nationals out here and she kind of just babbles nonsence to them, they look at her a little funny but she figures she's speaking their language because that's what their words sound like to her! It was really quite funny and then I had to explain to her that she's not saying anything, she's just babbling! Oh well, I'm sure she'll pick some of it up.

This past week they were emptying our septic tank in the back yard, and they had to leave it open over night to finish up the next day. Well let's just say the smell of sewage in the morning is not pleasant (or at any other time of day!). Besides it being offensive to my nose, the fact that they left the pit open made it a danger for my kids, so needless to say they stayed inside until it was all done! I went to open my back door to bring in the laundry hanging under my porch and there was a few workers taking an afternoon nap under my drying undergarments! Well I just closed the door and let them sleep, I collected my laundry after they were gone. Things are so different here in a lot of ways.

We've started language classes twice a week in the afternoons. So you can pray with us that we'll pick it up quick as Clinton & I both have a desire to be able to communicate with the nationals that work around us and also at the market. Clinton was able to take a short field trip into a neighboring village last week as part of the language and culture classes. He says it was interesting but a little boring as he didn't understand anything that was being said! :) This is another reason it would be nice to know the language!

Anyway, we just want to again stress how thankful we are to all our friends and family back home who are praying for us and encouraging us with emails or phone calls. (our phone number is 011-675-531-4425 just in case anyway wants to call and say "hi"). We would love to hear from you back home. Our mailing address is: box 1079 Goroka E.H.P. , 441, Papua New Guinea.

Love, Clinton & Rolanda (Tayah, Aowyn & Rorik)

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)