Lae City

I've subscribed to a facebook page called Lae City. This page gives you (somewhat up to date) information on what's happening in Lae and I've been noticing lots of rather interesting posts lately! I thought I'd share a few with you to give you a glimpse of what daily life is like here. All of these photos were taken off the facebook page and had been posted in the space of about 2 weeks. I think you'll be quite surprised at what you see! 

So true!!

Another day, another truck in the drain...

...and another car in the ditch!

Roast potatoes PNG style paired with roast chicken in the drawer above!

Just a regular occurrence really

How about a tree change?

Market Day advertising - this was something notable, hidden in amongst the accident reel

Despite the frequency of car crashes and roll overs, I've so far managed to avoid accidents. It's my Australian driver training you see  - most drivers here are much more into renegade driving, not just your regular, run of the mill, get me to my destination style of driving. And some of them actually don't even have a licence. Feel like going for a Sunday drive with me? I can't promise that it'll be relaxing :)

A New Missionary

This post has VERY old news, but I still wanted to include it on my blog. At the end of March we had Pastor Ryan DeJonge visit us from Canada. He had been called by the church of Armadale in WA to become a missionary for Lae, so to find out what this would mean for him and his family, he came to visit for a week. It was really exciting to think that we were hosting a minister who could possibly become a colleague in the future. Ryan spent most of his time with Ian discussing what being a missionary in Lae involves and he met with many of the Candidate Pastors, with the Lae Church Committee and with lots of the church members. It was fun having Ryan here and talking to him about what life in Lae is like. A few weeks after the visit we received the FABULOUS news that Ryan and his family are coming to Lae. God is good! They have started their visa process and we pray they will be able to come in November. My visa process took six months, so we will see how this one goes. PNG does look more favourably on Canadians than Australians, so that's a positive!

The kids and I worked on creating a banner to welcome Ryan - it was a team effort, that's for sure

Didn't they do an incredible job!

We had a bungkai for Ryan (of course). I took this photo because I had been in Lae weeks but this stage and until then Francine had been scared of me because I'm white and she didn't know me. This was the first time she came near me and she climbed right on my lap!

Caleb and Lou loving the ice cream!

Chris, Nicole and I took Ryan out on Saturday morning - to the market, out for coffee (at a little cafe in the kitchenware store) and then to the Lae war cemetery - which has the most beautiful gardens in the whole city

Walking around the memorial plaques

Reverend Ryan DeJonge, his wife Ruth and their four children - our new colleague

(they're also expecting a baby in August)

Second Hand Sale

On Saturday we had Second Hand Sale at church. It's basically a garage sale - just named differently and there were drinks and snacks sold too. It was all done to raise funds for the Yut Bung (Youth Conference) that's happening in Lae in July - all of the youth from the churches all around PNG coming together for a camp. The items for the sale mostly came from us at 11 Mile - some of our old clothes, books, toys and also various items that other mission workers have left over the last few years. It was a great way to clear out a bit!!! We also made bracelets to sell and there were lots of soccer shirts that were sent over from the Western Australian church soccer league - which were HUGELY popular. I dare say most of the church members now own a FRCA soccer shirt. It was an enjoyable afternoon working together for a common purpose. Enjoy the photos!

Clothes galore

Busy, busy, busy - there was plenty of buyers! 

Love the wig!!

Trudy being security :)

During the morning the boys worked on the school ground. The digger flattened and cleared it while the boys and other helpers moved piles of dirt and dug a drain so the water could flow away, rather than pool on the exact place where the volleyball court is trying to be built!

Luke and Frank pitched in too and got themselves nice and dirty

I love, love, love this girl's hair

Anceh selling bracelets

Imelda working the cash box

I found this at the sale #omajknits Maybe it was one of Mrs Jongeling's creations? 

Me and Grace - she bought one of my old cardigans and was absolutely thrilled with it! Good to know it will be well used here in Lae

Jeremiah stylin' with his baby bib 

All in all, it was a very successful day - raising about K750, so that's great! I had to laugh, the markets finished the second 2:00 chimed. It was almost instant that everyone stopped what they were doing and packed up. No more sales! I've never seen Papua New Guineans move so fast!! 

A Day Out

Yesterday morning I headed off with Shannel, Karlyn and baby Anna for a bit of an adventure. This is always a novelty for me as I spend much of my week at the house :) The International School of Lae was having it's fundraising market (similar to a school fair) and we went to check it out. I'd been once before when I was here in 2014 and was super impressed by the quality of the items and I wasn't disappointed this time! There were lots of local arts and crafts, jewellery, food and a few other stalls. The stallholders do their very best to encourage you to buy their wares!!! After looking around the market for a while we went and had coffee before heading home. It was a fun morning and great to get out and see some more of the PNG culture. 

Enjoy the photos (they're a little blurry but so be it!)

I love these paintings - here you can see a piece which shows how much the culture has changed over the years. The words on this painting say 'man bilong past' and 'man bilong nau.'

This painting is the same as the one above, but showing how culture has affected the appearance of women. Quite telling isn't it!

These woven rugs are absolutely stunning!

I bought this carving. Here is the artist that made it. 

A little turtle on display 

Anna absolutely LOVED the highchair!

My carving hanging on the wall at home