Updates! :)

Our website: (FYI-I have tried again and again to update our website (richardsroad.com) ....HOWEVER...it appears that it is not going to work. SO I apologize but all our updates will now be on our blog. Including our praise and prayers...SO keep checking this for all such things.)

Bislama: This week has been great. A successful week in another culture and another language. Houghton and I both have become comfortable as we talk with people here. It does get a bit overwhelming though as there is A LOT of the language that we cannot speak. But thankful that we can function just fine in what we have learned thus far. Praying everyday for an opportunity to LEARN more language. (For me, I hear new words and phrases constantly, but for my brain to hold on to it in such a way that I could reproduce it is different all together - thus LEARNING) Thanks for praying for us in this way. We are thrilled that we are able to learn as much as we have. God has been gracious to our ears and tongues.

Family: Si is LOVING all the playmates. He gets right in there in ALL situations. I will go hours without seeing him because he is off playing outside. Gwen is right behind him! She is a bit more cautious (which is okay in my opinion) but LOVES all the attention and being outside! Addy will soak it all up with smiles all around. Dear thing.

Here are some pic's for you to enjoy.
By the way, I am sorry we don't have much for pictures in the respect of talking with the locals here. I feel a bit awkward pulling a camera out. These people have so little and I want to fit in as much as possible and pulling out a camera makes me feel (and look) more like a tourist than a friend to those I am chatting with...so I am so sorry that we are lacking in that aspect. I hope to show you a bit as time goes on though! Still working on more videos for youtube.com (richards road vanuatu - is the key search on that website).

THANK YOU ALL for prayers and encouragements and giving!!!!! CANNOT BE HERE WITHOUT IT!

Putting flowers in the Birthday girls hair

Addy and I enjoying the nightime weather

Gwen making faces with other people on the bus

A moth that Gwen wanted to hold

Si loves all the gecko's and they are in plentiful amounts...so he can play endlessly...even if he accidentally kills them... he is still learning how to hold them gently

Last weekend we celebrated Gwen's 2nd birthday!Addy and her stunned camera face. :)

Gwen with cake on her forehead! But still cute.

This gift was wrapped Vanuatu style. I went to the yard and (with some help) got two banana leaves and vine and flowers. I thought it was the best wrapping paper!

Houghton has been teaching literacy at "won smol bag" (kinda like an after school program minus the after school - most are unschooled) Gretch is hoping to start singing with a choir group that meets here on Wednesday.

YouTube

We are on youtube.com....check us out... we are just starting to get some video on there so be patient with us as we upload and create videos so you can see our life here in Vanuatu.

Go to youtube.com and search "richards road vanuatu"....there we are!!!

LOVE keeping in touch with you this way. Let us know what you think.

Houghton's trip to Santo and Malakula

Gretchen usually updates the blog but every now and then i have something to contribute :). Ill let the pictures do most of the talking and add a bit of narrative as you scroll down to see the following pictures. To put the post into context i recently went to the islands of Santo and Malakula with a medical team from Australia and New Zealand. The Doctors, Nurses, Physio Therapist, Paramedic, and Social Workers who were on the team had just finished a four week intensive course studying tropical medicine and community development or International Health and Development. The course is offered through and on the campus of Tabor College. Tabor is a Bible College in South Australia. Once completed it can be counted for credit for the Graduate Diploma and or Graduate Certificate in Intercultural Studies (of which it forms 75%) of the course work. It was a huge blessing to be a part of the team and get to know the Doctors who teach the program as i hope to attend the program in January 2010 following our Bible translation and Literacy program in Melbourne, AU November 2009. It was also a great opportunity to practice more Bislama and get a birds eye view of some of the outer islands and villages.

On FridayI flew from the city of Port Vila, the capital city, on the island of Efate to Luganville on the island of Santo in the north. From Santo I and the team woke up early Monday morning, 4:30, and met our ship the Kiangah or "sip" in Bislama on the water front. Below is a great picture.

There wasn't much to it. She may have been 15 meters at best which made the waves that much more exciting :). I have a bad history of sea sickness and it didn't let me down. Sickness subsided for the first three hours so i was able to have great conversations or "storian" in Bislama. By hour four the wakes began to hammer the side of the boat and the side to side churning was relentless. At that time i found my old friend Mr. Horizon and the prayers began to be sent up to heaven, "God, for all that is Sacred and Holy let this cup pass from my mouth". He must have thought i needed to get used to the sickness as this is going to be the rest of my life. The nausea didn't relent. I didn't "traot" or throw up and as long as i prayed and looked at the horizon i was ok. To God's great mercy and about 100mg of antihistamines flowing threw my body on the way home i don't remember much other than the inside of my camouflage fisherman's hat and the first part of an audio sermon i hoped would lull me to sleep.

To the right is another soldier called to arms, Monique. She suffered from the "sickness" as well :). Monique is as beautiful, bright, and dedicated servant of the Lord. Ironically she comes from a long line of fisherman from the island of Tutuba just off the coast of Santo and she still battles the sickness. Her brother Kimi an energetic and comical Ni Vanuatu is an almost legendary fisherman catching lobster with his bare hands and every kind of sea creature you can think of in a single hunt. To be in his presence while he tells his stories is a real treat. Though, i couldn't understand 75% of his Bislama the non verbal communication of a Ni Vanuatu can tell an entire story simply with their eyebrows.
I spent most of my time on top of the sip with my back to a dozen or so copra bags riding out the waves and being victimized by the sun every second i was hostage to its death rays. Copra is simply the shelled out raw coconut flesh that eventually makes it into your almond joys and other delicious teats. Though the copra is a real treat the bags that it is transported with is like a giant 100 kilo bag that smells like a pair of old moldy pair of socks. I wish i was exaggerating
but due to my acute sense of touch and smell as brought on by my "sickness" i will never forget the smell. Please look at the pic below. It shows the top platform of the sip. That was my home. the copra bags are on the center of the platform.


One of the men i was able to storian with was a man from the Maskalene islands just of the south coast of Malakula. they are known for their dark skin, maritime lifestyle and sea faring abilities.

When we got to land all of our travel was by foot or transport via Truck. Elections are going on in Vanuatu now and rumor had it that an opposing political party and its supporters had dispersed a plethora of nails along the jungle roads of its oppositional parties roads. Thus the continual blowing of tires below. As well as doing medical work and talking / translating Bislama for the medical team. Ya, i did translation work. Please don't be fooled i struggled a lot but was able to get the gist, I think :). I was able to observe Zack rough cut lumber with a chain saw. Zack is a Kiwi bloke, from New Zealand, and was cutting lumber for a local village. he used a Huskavarna with a 28 inch bar that struggled with the width and density of the of the hard jungle wood. Below is a before and after picture. My team is entertaining the idea of framing our homes in the same way. The log that Zach cut the chruches foundational beems from was about 4 meters long and 24 inches wide. He was able to harvest 9 4x4 from it.

Sadly i didn't get a picture of The Ni Vanuatu, Kinzie, who helped with the project that would justify his frame and demanding presence. It was his land that the Tree was harvested from. Kinzie is about 28. He is approximately 6'4" 230lb with 1% body fat and as dark as iv'e ever seen a black man. He was not your average Ni Vanuatu. As agile and coordinated as i have ever seen any athlete he guided us into the jungle and through his coconut plantation and grazing land for his bullocks. I was privileged to do a skit with him and others later that night. It was a comical skit dramatizing the days when the Ni Vanuatu used to kill and eat missionaries. Ironically we performed for his village. As he dressed himself with the local calico, palm and banana leaves, he didn't hesitate but innately shredded and pealed the leaves and tied them accordingly to his body undoubtedly just as they had done for centuries. He obviously played the part of a Ni Vanuatu who had caught a missionary and literally carried him into the village on a bamboo pole singing out with his resonate bass tone, "kakae blo mi, kakae blo mi" or, "my food, my food" and all the while animately leaping into the air. I was one of his partners though i couldn't sell the part as he did for reasons that don't need to be explained :).




While in the Jungle i was able to get a few pics of the local arachnoid community!!!





















The village that we stayed in had a prefered way of fishing. Yup, with a bow and arrow. Im telling you this is the stuff boys dream of. Below is a local villager demonstrating his "bow skills":) for all you Napoleon Dynamite fans out there. Below is where all of the meals were eaten. We had lap lap every night which is impossible to explain unless you have ever had it before. ( go on youtube.com and search for preparing lap lap and you will probably find video of people making it) We also had rice, chicken wings, and fresh fruit every night. In the mornings we we had Wheat bix, its an AU and Kiwi thing,. its like shredded wheat, granola, and rice paper all wrapped up into one. I hope they don't read this b/c im probably way off :).








This is where i slept. The kids loved the hammock. They each had their turn in it. They were alway cautious of it and were more than happy to let me sleep in it. They told me that they wouldn't be surprised to see me on the ground before the week was over b/c of it breaking on me. Praise God it stayed strong and kept me from all of the bugs, crabs, centipedes, rats, mosquitoes, etc. Once she proved herself the Ni Vans thought it was great. The big man in the village even gave it a try.

Well i better stop with that. I could go on and on. To summarize it was a great trip and i can't wait for my teammates to show up so we can do some real survey work and get into a village. Keep praying and we praise God for you all.

Another great week...one ending with Internet connection

I will start with just some random pictures...

Sitting in the kids room.

Walking into town

Gwenny is starting to really love babies...what a relief for Addy eh?

Houghton stretching before playing a game of soccer with some locals and the Gibb family (teammates)

Everyone loves to hold Addy. Thankfully she doesn't mind a bit.

Gwen checking out a "bigfala pik" or in MT English...a big 'ol pig

As I sit at our desk enjoying a nice breeze coming through the window...I cannot even think of what to type. It is amazing how much can be pressed into a couple weeks when you are only hanging out learning some language and just living in a new culture.

I tried to think of what I would like to know from friends who moved into such a place...so I figured that a run down of daily life and of course pictures...lots. So that is what this post will be. I also am working on some videos that I am going to edit this week and post on Youtube.com for you all to check out.

OUR ROUTINE:

MORNING: We wake up around 6:00 to a bright sunny day (with an occasional slightly overcast day with some misty rain), roosters crowing, car and bus (van) activity picking up. Most people wake up and start getting daily stuff done around this time.



DIAPERS: As I get breakfast ready I start the first washing of the diapers that have soaked all night. Takes two washes and then get them up to dry as quickly as possible so we have diapers for the next day.



BREAKFAST: We have oatmeal for breakfast 5 out of 7 days. With an occasional special Sat. breakfast of cereal (AMAZINGLY expensive here! for example a large box of Cheerios is literally $ 18.00) or french toast or pancakes.

MORNING: We have a usual morning. Hang out around the house playing/cleaning/etc or just finding time to shower (for gretch) While Houghton usually tries to take off and work with the guys outside. Sometime in the morning we also do some Bislama book study.




MORNING: This is also a time when Gwen likes to go around the house and pick up all the dead cockroaches and gecko poop that has found a place to rest on the floor. She LOVES to sweep and I LOVE to let her sweep up these little messes.

SNACK around 9:00: We have a snack of fruit (grapefruit, banana etc) with peanut butter (about a cup of pb for $1.00)

PLAY OUTSIDE: Either go for walks, down to the SIL library just down the hill on our property (toys and books, chalk, crafts)
SNOW IN VANUATU???? Nope...just scraping out the freezer and letting the kids play in the ice.

LUNCH around 11:00: Almost always a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. (except thurs lunch - keep reading for that explanation)

NAP: Gwen and Addy go down for a nap right after lunch and Si either watches a movie or naps as well...whatever he needs! :)

SNACK around 3:00: Consists of either home made Popsicles or chips/cracker thingys

PLAY OUTSIDE: There is also a sand box down the hill that Si enjoys or anything really outside that he and Gwen get into...spider hunting...throwing toys off the porch and then retrieving them...typical outside play

WALKS: We try and get out of our little housing area to chat with the people living across the street too. We will walk to Laura's house (just so we have a destination) or to the meat market and just stop and talk along the way.

SUPPER: Start cooking around 4:00 so supper is done by 5:00 and eat as the sun is setting (dark by 6:00)





BATH: Bath time just after singing and Bible stories (yep we are one of those WEIRD families :)) Bath is every night as they are incredibly dirty by the end of the day.






BEDTIME: Kiddos in bed around 7:30. Houghton and I get stuff done and head to bed around 10:00.

DIAPERS: Right before bed I take the days load of dirty diapers and put them in the solution to start soaking overnight.

OUR WEEK ROUTINE:

MONDAY: Laundry day. I try and get this all done in the AM so it has all day to get dry. When it is raining then this day gets pushed back to Tuesday. Also kind of a family day as we try and hit a beach etc.

TUESDAY: I (Gretch) and Addy use this morning as my shopping morning. Arian (our house girl) comes at 9:00 and I leave at 9:00 by bus to get to my first large shopping stop. Have our weekly taxi driver (Elder Willy) pick me up when I am done at the first stop and take me to my final stops. Usually including the market, the "supermarket", some warehouse stores that sell things in bulk (when you can get the things you want...depends when shipments come) and then back home I go. I am usually home around 11:30. The taxi costs us 9.00. So it is not bad.

On my way to town to get some shopping done...Si is in the pic but he doesn't go along. (fyi)

WEDNESDAY: I go to a ex-patriot play group with all the kiddos from 9-11. After paying some membership fees and whatnot you can rent toys from the group which has proven useful since we didn't bring much for toys. The kids enjoying playing with all the others. There are about 15 moms in all so it can get a little crazy...but good.

THURSDAY: Arian comes at 9-12 and helps with sweeping as I mop the house. We chat the whole time, as to help me with Bislama. She also teaches me how to cook an island meal for the lunch on Thurs. Last week we had SUPER YUMMY meal: We peel sweet potatoes (here called kumala) and boil them while we grate coconut to make coconut milk and squeeze the milk on little island cabbage bundles. Boil and cabbage in the milk and then eat it poured over the potatoes. YUM YUM. I think coconut milk makes everything taste amazing. Plus it is fun to make.



FRIDAY: Arian comes at 9-12 and helps with laundry and sweeping...but mostly hangs out with the kids so I can get caught up on Internet and business things. Friday afternoon is bread making day. So we make two loaves of bread each week to last us for the week. Friday night is also pizza and a movie night for our fam. I make homemade pizza and we pick a movie out from ones we brought. You can also buy movies here for SUPER cheap as they are all pirated movies and were totally video taped in a theater...pretty funny actually.



SATURDAY: Just chill...enjoy some special breakfast...catch up on it all.

SUNDAY: Go visit a church here. We are trying to get a good idea of the churches in the area (there are a ton) so we have visited a different church each Sunday. Usually I sit outside with the kids and all the other ladies with kids while Houghton sits in on the service. I kinda like it that way...then I get yet another chance to hang out with ladies.

SOOOOOOO....

As you can see our days are not TOO different that yours probably...just a little bit here and there.

Greetings from the other side!

We are doing great. The kids did marvelous on the plane ride. They all slept most of the 11 hours and the 3 hour layover in Fiji went good as well. Seemed to not have any problems with thier ears because of the air pressure, Praise God!

It has almost been a week here in Port Vila (Vila town - Bislama) and we are starting to get into a good sleeping habit. For a while we were going to bed at 5:00 PM and getting up around 4:00...ahhhh...:) but we are now in a good routine. The kiddos have been SUPER. Thanks for your prayers!

We are learning Bislama surprisingly fast. I was at the market today while Hought did some internet work here at the Cafe and was able to talk with some ladies in Bislama. They are so helpful with words and it was good for me to practice a bit. Hought is doing AWESOME with Bislama. He talks with the gardner for a couple hours a day and works with him to help learn quickly. I am super proud of him because he thought he would be bad at learning a language. So Praise God He is helping us learn. All in 5 days anyway....we have a long ways to go!

Since a picture can speak a thousand words.....here you go!


Houghton looking off our porch with his macheteKids playing on the front porchAddy enjoying it all

On the steps of our front house (only temp house for now)

Went to the beach and collected hermit crabs and put them in a coconut shell. Gwenny and Si both loved to play with them.

Flying to Port Vila, Vanuatu from FijiFlying to Port Vila, Vanuatu from Fiji

Flying from Fiji to Port Vila

Flying from Fiji to Port Vila

A indescribable view from our temporary home
This looks out onto most of the island!!! We will be moving to our permanent house soon.

Take off!!!!!!!!

Well, if you are the type of person that checks out what time it was when the message was posted... you would see that it is entering the wee hours of the morning. I am waiting out our washing machine so I can throw the next load into the dryer. I find myself always waiting on the wash. I guess that is partly because of cloth diapers. But no complaints here!
We are almost officially packed. I would be able to say "officially" if only the wash was done. :)
It will take a miracle for us to get all of our luggage to Vanuatu! We seem to have a problem with only having two hands each...bummer. But our God has proven a thousand times over again that He is in the business of miracles...so off we go.

We get asked a lot if we are nervous....I think that as each minute passes it sets in a bit more. Tomorrow (or today I guess) we will be saying our good-byes to my mom and dad (Thulesens). This will probably start the chain of nervousness for me. It is bound to set in at that time. Thank God that good-byes are really not good-byes...ya know? But only "see you soon's". I know that our kiddos will not really totally get the good-bye time as we have said good-bye to grandpa and grandma hundreds of times. This is maybe a blessing.

We will be spending a couple days in CA with Houghton's family before our departure to Vanuatu (Aug 3rd) so it is also a blessing that we have seperate time with each family to say our good-byes. God has been so gracious to us in the little (big) things!

We will keep this blog rolling even from Vanuatu...so keep checking us out!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting ready...to pack that is...

We have decided to use the next couple days to practice pack. It should be interesting to see how and where we are going to fit everything...and who knows maybe we will be pleasantly surprised to find we have EXTRA space. I am not sure about that though. ;)

We have 4 suitcases, two large backpack/duffle bag things, and some carry ons that we will be using to pack the next 2 years into. Five words for you I LOVE SPACE SAVER BAGS. :) They will be super helpful. Ya know the little gadgets that are like a glorified zip-lock that you can suck the life out of with a vacuum and they shrink all your stuff. AWESOME. One problem being that although your stuff gets smaller...it doesn't get lighter! So we will be preparing by lifting weights! :)

We keep getting asked if we are ready. To which Houghton and I almost simultaniously say "NO". :) One day at a time we get more and more done. I am amazed at how much little things are floating around on our "to do" lists. Houghton said the other day that on his "to do" list was to organize his "to do" list. Craziness. ;) I think if we get to Vanuatu with most of our brains we will be doing GREAT. God is so good though. We are sleeping fairly well..perhaps that will change as the days get even closer. PLEASE PRAY for us in this regard. That our minds would be able to let us sleep so we can have energy to get through another hectic day.

A couple days ago we got these little handy guys at Wal-Mart. You cannot imagine (or maybe you can cause you have been there) navigating through the airports we will be going through with our kiddos. Not that they are not WONDERFULLY behaved kids, but I just always wecome a little peace of mind. So we plan on having our kids where these cute little backpacks while we are trecking through LAX (oh my what a mess) (thats the airport in LA, CA if you were wondering) and also in Fiji and Vanuatu. Jesiah and Gwen LOVE them. They have been wearing them around the house for fun and think they are just the best. So that is helpful.
I cannot wait to post a picture of what we will look like when we get all airport geared up. It will be an art now doubt. What a blessing to have another set of eyes along with us. Laura that is! She is such an awesome help.

Keep us in your prayers as these days pass! CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE (link on the right if you didn't know) so you can see more pics and also know our schedule and see more prayer requests!

Is it time to FREAK OUT yet?

We have been keeping busy these days. Getting our will prepared plus burial arrangements...wow isn't that crazy, and retirement info gathered and consolidated, bank accounts consolidated and closed, addresses changed, last minute Internet purchases for things we need before we take off.....and the list goes on and on.

We are so excited to be IN VANUATU and yet there is a lot of anxiety that goes along with it! I cannot imagine what our life is going to look like there. We have secured housing which is a HUGE blessing, praise God, and so that takes a lot of anxiety out of the move.

I, Gretchen, am anxious about flying over the Pacific...not because of flying but because it means 10ish hours of my kids needing to be good and SLEEP. I am also anxious about packing everything into our suitcases...I am sure it will all fit..but we may not have enough hands to carry it all through the airports! AHHH...I do freak out every once in a while when my mind begins to worry. Thankfully we have a God who promises to take the anxiety out of our lives when we cast it all on Him. THANK YOU SO MUCH LORD. I NEED that!

Please keep our family in prayer as we take this on full force very soon. We would LOVE to hear from you and also hear that you are praying for us! We are all in this together ya know! We are joyful to be going out for Christ's name and with your help.

Thank you to one of our supporters who sent me this verse, "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rest between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

It is officially JULY

Can you believe that we have been blogging about Vanuatu for over a year now and we have now reached THE MONTH that we fly out? It is incredible. God has been speeding us right along. Now the only thing standing in our way is writing our wills...any attornies out there to help out???
We are mulling through the paper work now so we can be official overseas residents. Lots to sort through.

We just got home from a quick vacation to South Dakota. The kiddos had a blast and so did we! Check out the photos on our slide show to the right.

We would love to have pictures of our supporters so we can keep a little photo book in our computer of all those who we are partnered with! So if that is you...send us a pic!