SteveStanley

We live with the knowledge that in living in such a remote location we don’t have quick access to health care in an emergency. It’s a weight we always carry while in Kovol which we don’t feel most of the time. Occasionally we’ll think of it after a near-miss with a knife, when we look at the thick bank of clouds around us and realise there’s no way a helicopter can get in if we needed one and we need to trust the Lord through those fears.
What an immense challenge it was to work through the fear of thinking we might be losing our twins, we only found out a week and a half ago we were having 2.

How quickly things can change. The news we’re having twins has caused quite a jarring shift in gears. This break was supposed to be us catching our breath before a final month’s language learning push before a language check followed by returning to the UK at the end of January.

What a total shock, but also delight! While out on break (which is refreshing and very much appreciated) we had a 20 week ultrasound. While the Doctor is taking measurements he blurts out “hang on, is there another one?” Sure enough there was and we’re now very much looking forward to being the parents of twin girls.

Coming out for a break is a good time for reflection. We’ve been in the tribe for close to a year after spending 3 years in training, 2 years waiting to get to Papua New Guinea and 2 years in Papua New Guinea acclimatising, followed by a year of work to get ourselves set up in Kovol. 8 years of preparation to get to where we are now, learning a tribal language and culture with the aim of communicating God’s word into it with clarity.

During those 8 years we pick up certain expectations of what life in the tribe might be like, so here’s 5 ways expectation and reality have differed.

My goal for the day is to write this blog, and survive. Phew talk about up and down.

What a week. I spent 3 days down and out with a stomach bug which meant Gerdine had to pick up the slack. She started not feeling so well, but didn’t really get sick – just super tired from keeping us all going while I was sleeping.

Houses take a battering in windy season. There are nights lying awake hearing the howling wind and feeling it shake our house about. It’s easy to imagine our roofing peeling away and the wind and rain coming inside… especially since that actually happened to Nate’s house over in our neighbouring tribe 🙂

If the wind gives us cause for concern I’m sure you can imagine how much worse it is when your roof is made of leaves! One of our friend’s roof was left with all kinds of holes and storm damage which needed fixing, and we got to see how it was done.

We’re pretty excited for Oscar to be getting a baby brother or sister, and it’s going to mean a trip home. Having a baby in the capital city here is (maybe) an option or Australia, but if we’re going to have to travel anyway we’d prefer to head home so our family can see our new baby (and how much Oscar has grown!)

The season has definitely changed; wet season has started and we’re suddenly seeing lots and lots of rain. There’s a double benefit to that though, one is that our water tanks are full (overflowing) and we don’t have to think about rationing our water any more (if it’s yellow…). The other benefit is rainy, miserable mornings where people just want to stay at home huddled by a fire. That means a chance to catch up on office work for us.