Ready to roll

Our lives are sometimes quite an adventure full of unexpected twists and turns in the road! At the beginning of this year, we met with our regional director to make our yearly plan. We planned for Clyde to make a trip back to the Samo area with a carpenter to repair our house and hopefully get some other things like the radio system working again. But it has not turned out that way. Our Ukarumpa Center seems to have a strong hold on us for the moment. We underestimated the time and attention Clyde would need to give to the school and other work here. Then in April came another big change in plans. With our support, Ben decided that he will spend his last year of high school in the USA. He will live with his Aunt Cindy in Maryland. Amazingly, his classmate and friend Adam will join him in August for the same purpose. Cindy has exciting plans for them to get some good work experience and make the transition to life in America! They are looking forward to having more freedom, but they realize that they will sorely miss their many friends here in Papua New Guinea. They have a school-approved plan for completing their graduation requirements in Maryland, which would enable them to return to PNG next year and graduate with their class here. They are already making plans to be here for the end-of-year festivities, which begin in May and end with the graduation itself in mid-June. On of these end-of-year Ukarumpa traditions is a take-off of the American junior-senior prom idea - called simply "Banquet" and scheduled every year near the end of May. It is a formal evening in which the 11th and 12th graders dress to the hilt, are served a fancy dinner, and enjoy an evening of entertainment - all organized by parents and teachers. (Clyde and I helped mainly with cleaning up....) Everything is organized around a theme, which for this year was Africa. The food, a funny play, and numerous "booths" all centered around Africa. Some of the booths offered games, like miniature golf, and others offered a relaxed setting to sit and talk. The following evening the wider community was invited to come and view the set-up and watch a repeat performance of the play. Following tradition, the play was a home-grown one centered on the 12th grade students, who will soon have finished their school career here. It was very entertaining! On the last Sunday of May, Steven Ttopoqogo, one of the people seriously injured in an accident in March, gave a remarkable sermon and shared that he felt like Peter when he was released from prison by an angel. It is a miracle that Steven is alive, a miracle that he does not have any paralysis, and a miracle that he is able to return to his wife and children. His wife just went to the hospital in Goroka, about two hours' drive away, last week to deliver their fifth child! Ezy finally received his passport, also in May! We had been waiting for it for months. As the time became shorter and shorter for planning the trip, we decided that Ezy would only travel with us to the US, but not to Switzerland. It simply would have been too complicated for him to obtain a Swiss visa. For the US visa, Clyde and Ezy traveled to the capital Port Moresby, in order to apply for it in person at the US embassy. Now we even have tickets for the whole trip: June 18 - flight to Port Moresby with an overnight there. June 19 - onward flight to Brisbane, Australia, with another overnight. June 20 - onward flight via Los Angeles to Baltimore. June 20-24 - Catch our breath in Maryland for a few days, get Ezy settled into Aunt Cindy's, and then... June 24 - continue traveling with Ben and Noah via London to Zurich. June 25 - July 11 - In Switzerland with family and friends. Thomas will graduate from his apprenticeship on July 1! Ben and Noah will reconnect with friends. Clyde and I will get to spend some time with my parents, who have not been well. July 11 - return via London to Baltimore. July 11-26 - We will have several days with Clyde's family in Pennsylvania - Clyde's sisters and families have never met Johanna! Then in Maryland we will have a get-together with Gaye-Lynn's family, enjoy time with Ben, and look at a college or two for Ezy and Noah. July 26 - return with Ezy and Noah via Los Angeles, Brisbane, and Port Moresby to Ukarumpa. School will have already started here on July 22, but the boys will only miss three school days. Many thanks for your prayers and thoughts for us, and we look forward to seeing some of you soon!