Drew and Bobbi Scholl connecting you to tribal missions We made it to Port Moresby, PNG on Sunday July 18th but our connecting and final flight of the trip was canceled. We spent the night in Port Moresby then caught a re-scheduled flight on Monday the 19th and arrived to our final destination that afternoon. What we encountered upon our arrival was a reality check of the 3rd world culture we would soon be living in. The sights, smells, and sounds told us we weren’t in Kansas (Indiana) anymore. We were definitely the center of attention amidst hundreds of nationals standing around outside the airstrip terminal (which is about the size of the Winona Lake Post Office), especially with the white haired kiddos. Miraculously all of our 20 pieces of luggage made it all the way here; after we gathered it and loaded it (strapped it all on top of a land cruiser) we headed to the place of our orientation just a few miles outside of town.
Our temporary location is situated in a small village down a bumpy dirt road about a half mile off of the main road and is pleasant. We are in a high valley (about 5,000 feet) surrounded by mountains in all directions. The house we have while here is very basic but nice…mostly made out of wood…all wood floors, beams, etc. Our back porch overlooks a coffee plantation which is about 10 feet away from the porch. We often see locals working and handpicking the beans and putting them into a sack.
The kids love it here. They are thrilled with things like the variety of big beetles everywhere as well as small lizards. We have a german shephard guard dog nearby that the kids love…his name is Rugar and he is very friendly with the kids but is trained well to recognize intruders. The kids have been going through orientation with us and have been troopers! Both yesterday and today we were out most of the day visiting the town and another NTM center and they did very well. The orientation thus far has basically involved getting to know the region, other ntmr’s, safety, culture, etc. We will begin our language study next week. They are squeezing a 4-6 month program into what was going to be two months but reduced it even more to one month because of the great need at Interface. The sooner we can get there the better.
Tomorrow we will be heading to the Interface camp for a visit and are very excited to see where we will be living and working. It will be Drew’s first experience tackling the challenging roads (and driving on the left side) …should be a real adventure! We are also hoping to get some of the items we shipped, like the kids bikes, etc., and bring them back to our temporary location.
We are adjusting pretty well and are enjoying our time here so far in spite of all we have left behind in the states. We really miss our family and friends but the Lord continues to give us strength and peace each day. His faithfulness and provision has been remarkable!
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Praying for you all. It’s so awesome to hear how the ‘angels’ are doing so well. Give them a hug from me. Love you all!
I’m thrilled and in awe how well such a long trip went with the kids and all the luggage. What fun it is to watch the Youtube video of your trip. I’m showing it to everyone in the office. Your experiences are making it hard for me to take making a commitment on faith… more and more I’m convinced so it isn’t faith but conviction that if you truly commit your way to our Lord He will straighten your paths and guide your ways.
Is it OK to be proud of you; while the glory is the Lord’s.
The Grace of the Lord be with you all and upon your mission.
Non-ceasing prayers for your strength, your patients as parents and your work for HIS kingdom.
1 Cor 13
Kirk
Thanks for the update! It’s awesome to read all the things that you guys are experiencing there. It’s almost like I’m reading a book about an adventure in a far away land and I know the characters personally:) I look forward to reading more in the future. I will be praying that you soak up all the knowledge you can in the little time given at the interface.
In HIm,
Nick