Jan – Feb 2012 Newsletter

Just click on the link below to view our Nov – Dec 2011 Newsletter:

Nov – Dec 2011 Newsletter

On to bigger and better things. We are now just four months away from moving. When we packed our things and moved to PNG about 5 1/2 years ago, we had no idea how long this ride would be, or how things would turn out. As I reflect over the past few years, I don’t regret our decision to move here. Not one single bit.

In some ways, these have been a few of the most challenging years of my life. On the other hand, I feel like I’ve grown exponentially faster and learned significantly more than any other time in my life. I’ve had some incredible experiences in a beautiful place. It has truly been a blessing.

There are some things I learned because I was blessed to be a missionary here in PNG. (I’m sure I could’ve learned some of these things in North America, too.) Also, I could’ve known some of these things before, but I never really appreciated them until I lived in PNG.

30 Things I’ve Learned on the Mission Field:

1. It a blessing and necessity to have a spouse who is also your best friend.

2. How to cook tasty meals from scratch

3. How to sew curtains

4. How to drive through mud and rivers

5. How to use cloth diapers

6. Ministry can be a challenge no matter where in the world you are.

7. How to (try to) converse with people of a different culture & language

8. How to scrape a coconut

9. I’m a person who likes anonymity.

10. How to appreciate people of another culture/ethnic group

11. How to hang clothes on the line

12. Family time is important.

13. Our families in North America have sacrificed more than we have.

14. Saying good-bye is never easy.

15. Pineapples don’t grow on trees.

16. The roads in America are so smooth.

17. My stuff isn’t important.

18. How to snorkel (and like it!!)

19. How to wait … and wait … and wait …

20. How to plant pineapple seeds

21. Teammates are a blessing.

22. Somewhere away from ‘home’ can become home.

23. Christmas in the tropics is special, too.

24. How to mow a yard

25. How to home school

26. There are male and female papaya trees.

27. I am rich.

28. How to feed a crowd

29. How to drive on the right side of a truck and left side of the road

30. How to depend on God (though I’m still working on that one…)

I’m sure I’ve missed something, but I’m amazed at all the things I was able to learn from this experience. God is so good to me.

Sept – Oct 2011

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I just wanted to thank you for being involved in the work in Papua New Guinea (past and/or present).  We know the work being done there couldn’t continue without your generous support.

As you may or may not know, we will be working in Alotau for one more short term then relocating full time to the States.

In order to assist in the transition, Champions church of Christ, our overseeing congregation, will continue to support us financially until September 2012.  This is six months after our intended departure from PNG.  If you are currently supporting us would you be willing to join them in continuing your until September 2012?

Could you please let us know by August 15^th, 2011 if you will be able to continue supporting us until September 2012?  The best way to contact us is by sending an email to pngfords at gmail dot com.

After September 2012, there will be no need to continue sending any support.

Thank you again for your ongoing support and participation in our work.

Craig, Jeri, Hannah, Caleb, and Elizabeth Ford

You can click on the link below to access our March – April newsletter:

We recently had our annual church camp.  It was a great time.  It’s always fun to spend some extra time with the local Christians. 

Here’s the group of kids that were staring at me as I put up our tent.

Hannah and Caleb love Susan, one of our Christian sisters here. She works at our house two days a week.  The kids are all very close to her.

Here are the camp attendees. Can you spot the missionaries? (Don’t look for Craig too long. He took the picture.)

Kindergarten

Hannah has officially graduated from kindergarten to first grade. We are excited that we’ve completed our first year of home school. Hannah did a great job. It’s amazing how much she’s learned in one school year. On our last day of school, we had a little family celebration. She requested tacos for supper with homemade tortillas.

Hannah is done with kindergarten, and Caleb is the honorary graduate.

Now that school is over, the kids are finding all kinds of fun things to do to pass their time.  This is the fort they made on their bed a few days ago.

Furlough Prep

We’re in furlough preparation mode now. Of course we have the normal packing to do.  But we also have to prepare the house to be left with someone else for 3 1/2 months.  We have to arrange for bill payments to be made and all the other fun stuff that goes with leaving your home for an extended period of time.

Here is our house that we’ll be leaving.  I’m not sure if I’ve put a picture of it on the blog before.  We love this place and will miss it.

Since we’ll be in some cold weather on furlough, we decided to get out the long pants we could find.  Unfortunately, the kids’ long pants are more like capris now. I guess we need to do a little second hand shopping!

Elizabeth had a great time in the suitcases I was getting out this past week. 

The kiddos love their Daddy!

(They love me too!)  This was taken on Mother’s Day.

It’s a good thing Hannah is getting big enough to do some different things now.  We even have our own family photographer. Craig and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary in a few days.  Time sure flies when you’re having fun.

If we’ll be near you on our furlough, please email us so we can see you!  (see our newsletter for dates/places)

Sorry for the delayed publication, but we had a little trouble with the blog. Everything is up and running now!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted for so long.  I do have at least 3 good excuses though: Hannah, Caleb, and Elizabeth.  They keep me so busy that I often forget I’m supposed to be taking pictures and writing about them, too.

For basically all of January, Elizabeth demanded most of my time.  She got an infection (maybe staph) that caused her to get multiple boils (abscesses) on her little bottom.  Those things are incredibly painful, so I’ve heard.  She had one a couple of months ago, but we managed to get rid of it within a couple of weeks without any antibiotics.  This round of infection just wouldn’t go away!  She ended up having to be put under so the surgeons could lance and drain those huge boils.  The poor girl couldn’t even sit down for at least 3 weeks before she had her little procedure.  So, I spent many, many hours at the hospital seeking treatment for her.  It was a tiring month, needless to say.  She seems to be on the mend now.  Her incision is healing nicely, she’s sitting down again, and she is happy.  (So is her mother.)

My two little princesses are such a blessing.

So is my little prince!

With the hot weather, we’ve taken advantage of some outdoor time.  There is a manmade beach at the International Hotel here in town.  We like to go play in the sand and then swim in the pool there.  The view is amazing!  Since we are right on the bay, we can see the ocean with the beautiful mountains in the distance.

There’s plenty for us to do on rainy days, too.  Yesterday we had a HUGE rain.  Maybe it was a little aftermath from Cyclone Yasi.  It looked like we had a river for a backyard!

We had a hard time being responsible with all those huge puddles outside.  They were just calling our names to come and jump in them.  We delayed school and took advantage of playing in the rain (until we got too cold).  Craig even slipped out of his office and into his swim trunks for a little rainy day fun.

Our gargantuan water tank was overflowing like crazy because of all the rain.

Once we were back inside, we savored some hot tea and warm baths.  Then we had more rainy day projects.  Hannah and Caleb made some newspaper hats.

Elizabeth enjoyed a good Dora book.

School is going really well, and we enjoy the flexibility that home schooling offers.  All of the kids especially like the science projects we do. While I was writing this, Hannah just walked in and said, “If you find a container with mud and water, it’s my experiment.”  Seems like we have a lot of things like that sitting around lately … 

Rain or shine, we’re usually having a good time.