On to the next stage...

We were able to visit with my family (Gretchen) in SD before we left for CA

But here are some photos of our glorious time in CA visiting with Houghton's side of the family (apart from his sister and her family which live in GA)

And a glimpse at our time here in Australia.  We have been having an awesome time re connecting with friends and meeting new people as we share in various churches and Bible studies and such.  Melbourne really is another home for us and we consider ourselves to be SO blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

What it looked like to pack our container

Merry Christmas

Well, this is a busy week for all of us isn't it. :)  Either travel, cooking, wrapping, family, preparing, or all of these tend to take up our time this week.
It has been a busy week for us too.  With all of the above going on in our household.  We are getting ready for our move back overseas ad that has been an extra boost on the "to do" lists. :)  We have been enjoying Christmas concerts from Gwen and Addy's pre-school and will get to hear Jesiah's tomorrow.  Then on Thursday we have the joy of celebrating Jesiah's 7th birthday!  Wow, time flies.

Please check out our "Praise and Prayer" tab for some current ways you can be rejoicing with us and praying with us.  Thanking God for His ultimate care and concern and involvement in our live,

Houghton, Gretchen, Jesiah, Gwenyth, and Adalaya

Back to "settle in" for the short winter

We are back in MT now and will be sticking around here for the next 4 months until we head to Australia and then on to Vanuatu.  Our tickets are purchased for Melbourne, South Australia for the 5th of February!  We plan to visit supporters and churches in the Melbourne area for a couple weeks before heading to Vanuatu for the next 4 years.

February will come SO quickly!  We have LOTS to do before we are ready to leave the U.S. and so we are going to have kick it into high-gear (haven't we been in high gear ever since we got back in the states- LOL) to accomplish all that needs to be finalized in just 4 months.

For more details on what we will be doing in the next couple months, click on the "Newsletter" tab to read our latest Newsletter.

Here are some pics that might show you what we have been up to these past month.

Laura and I went to a medical training geared specifically for missionaries in remote places...we met up with Christina Widup who also lives in Vanuatu with her family. Here are some pics during that time...

                         
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During the two weeks that Laura and I were in North Carolina at our medical training, Houghton was spending one week in Colorado at a solar, water, waste training with Casey.  Casey and his wife are considering partnering with us in Vanuatu.  Here are some pics from Houghton's trip.

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Just two weeks after this training ended we took off for some more training in Florida where we met up with two families interested in heading to Vanuatu.  And then to New Jersey to meet up with Casey (same Casey as in the previous slides of Hought's solar training stuff) and Val to talk to them about their interest in North Ambrym as well.                                    Click picture to play

And some family photos from our recent days

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A little bit of fun

Are we allowed that! OOOHHH yeah! :)  Just a fun little pic taken the other day for you to enjoy with us.

pumpkins fumpkins

What is it about taking a large vegetable and cutting a picture in while eating its roasted seeds that is SO stinkin fun?  I was pumped to find some little carving tools at Wal-mart the other day so I could acutally let my kids carve this year.  Last year we just made faces out of paper and yarn for hair etc.  (also we were in Vanuatu and didn't feel that we could use a source of food as a decoration).
Here are some pics of our creations.  And we plan on doing more in a week or so!  So many designs so few pumpkins! :)

 Dad's puking pumpkin

 Si and grandpa cutting out a spider

 Kids with their finished products

 Cool eh?

School already???

Wow it seems that Summer flew past!

Our summer was packed. Absolutely packed! We were able to visit each of our supporting churches and  almost ALL of our supporting friends and even got to fit in some family times too.

I am continually in awe of the constant care that God graces us with through His followers. We have been so encouraged through our times of sharing with others about what He is doing in Vanuatu and the hopeful work among the people of North Ambrym.

So whats ahead??

Gretchen and Laura will be taking off this next Sunday (18th) for some training in North Carolina.  This training is a "Missionary Medical Intensive" course that is designed just for missionaries who are in remote situations and don't have acess to hospitals etc.  It is (as it says in its title) a very intense 2 weeks where the days will be FULL of super helpful workshops including all types of medical emergency situations.  We have read one of the books already and it covered everything to flushes out foreign objects in they eye to skin grafts.  Suturing to broken bones.  Midwifery to skin issues.  LOTS of this will be very helpful to have tucked away in our brains (hopefully never to have to use) so we can be available to any who may need emergency care.   As most know Houghton is a nurse and so a lot of his training has already come in handy but we would be naive to think that he would be around all the time.  And also it will allow us to be a better help to him in case need be. SO all this said, we would HIGHLY appreciate your prayers as we take off and try to shove some important stuff in our already stuffed brains. :)
You can be praying too that I (Gretch) wouldn't miss my family terribly!  Two weeks is a LONG time!  I will be feeling it before I even hit the airport to take off for North Carolina! :)

Also during the 2 week that I am gone Houghton will be going to Colorado for a Technology training in solar, water, waste and all things pertaining to this (wow am I totally not knowledgeable in this I cannot even write about it) :) This training will be a HUGE benefit to him as he has been trying to wrap his brain around building in the bush.  We are so thankful for those who have come along side him and helped him with what they know in these areas!  It is incredibly helpful to have your support in this matter as sometimes it can feel as if we are going it alone.  You are a HUGE help to us!

If you do your math well (and I know you do!) you would figure that our kids will be parentless for a week. :)  That is where the ever faithful and even more gracious (and a little bit of crazy mixed in) grandparents come in!  What a tremendous blessing that both sets of grandparents are in the area to be so involved in our lives.  HUGE blessing.  We look forward to the relationships shared while mom and dad are away.

Please check this out for current praises and prayer requests! (click here )

Did we not get a chance to hook up with you yet and you acutally want to see us? :)  Give us a call! 406 853 6412

4th of July 2011

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Some pictures of late

It has been awesome to visit many of you and share what God has been doing in Vanuatu and in our lives these last few years. What an incredible blessing to be serving with some amazing followers of Him.
Here are some pics as we have traveled here and there. :)

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Our video

A little video Gretchen threw together a few weeks ago. The guy singing in the beginning is from North Ambrym. He is singing a song in His language, Ral. There are about 5,000 speakers of Ral in North Ambrym who do not understand the the words of Christ in their own language. Please pray as we continue to prepare to return to North Ambrym and continue our work. They would describe our work like this, 'Turn God's talk into Ral'.

What now?

Enjoying a day of uninterrupted work. :) The kids are spending the weekend with grandpa and grandma Richards in Terry, MT. Hought and I were talking about the last time that we experienced this. And we figured that we never have. We couldn't think of a time when we had the whole weekend to just us at the house to get stuff done. Or not get anything done. :) That was our options. :) So we are doing a little bit of both. We are working on getting some tax stuff done. A sideshow full of just pics of our best from the last 3 years. And well, you get the point.

We had an awesome time at Frontier School of the Bible. We were able to meet with students who are interested in missions whether it was through encouraging missionaries or through going into missions themselves. What a joy to see the enthusiasm and passion in these students. God used this week to encourage us greatly. We were also able to spend time with friends that we haven't been able to spend time with in a long time.

Some pics from our trip

We also go to go and see our family in South Dakota.

Heading off to FSB

Houghton, Addy and I all have the chance to hang out on the Frontier School of the Bible campus for this next week.  FSB organizes two missions conferences a year, one in each semester and we are thrilled that we get to participate this year.
Our family has been able to communicate with some of the students through Prayer Bands (students meet for prayer during designated chapel times to pray for specific alumni who are involved in missions) and also through AMOOK (Advancing Missions On Our Knees).  There was also a small group of students that chose Vanuatu and our ministry specifically to use as a case study for a missions trip.  So we have joyfully been involved in the students lives for the last couple years, which makes this trip in person to be even more fun.
Houghton will be speaking at two different times (formally).  And then we will always be around and available to any and all who would have questions about... well .... WHATEVER.  :) SO we are excited to see what God may have in store for us there BUT more importantly what He has in store for His kingdom through those He will be leading into missions.  I have outlined some prayer points for you to keep us in prayer in our "Praise and Prayer" tab on top.  Click here to check that out.
My mom and dad will be keeping Si and Gwen fed and washed (and well, much more than that...) while we are away.  As I said in the first sentence, Addy will be coming with us.  She is (wow, I hope this to be true anyway lol) a bit more "controllable" in these types of settings.  AND she doesn't have school to keep her in Miles City. SO we are able to bring her sweetness along with us. :) 

Enjoy this smilebox of our goings on these past weeks. :)

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WHOO HOO!

We have safely arrived in our blustery, blistery, snowy home for the year.  As I sit here and type Hought and I think about how we REALLY need to get outside and shovel.  Amazingly enough, I am actually looking forward to it.  We will see how long before I change my mind. :)  SO,  without further ado, I am going to go and shovel for the first time in almost 4 years! :)

I wanted to post a quick message to let you all know that we will be updating our blog (this here contraption that you are now reading :) ) and our facebook pics as soon as we get my computer connected to the internet.  BAH humbug, oh the joys of my little Mac. ;)

I hope to do that this weekend.  SO HANG IN THERE, that is if you are even hanging. :)

Happy New Year!

Malakula Report through Pics Part 1

I recently went to Malakula, the second largest island in Vanuatu. They have over thirty different languages alone! I was able to hear 6 of them. That was a fantastic opportunity. I went to Malakula to survey one of these languages, Na'ahai. Na'ahai is spoken by almost 1500 to 2000 people on the south coast of Malakula. They do not have a Bible in their language 'yet' and have been frustrated with the Bislama (national language) Bible. Simply, they say it is not very clear. I should point out that the major problem is not with the translation itself. Its due to the fact that Bislama is a second language, and for most from south coast Malekula it is a third or fourth language. This added to the fact that Bislama is a very imprecise language makes for very interesting interpretations and discussions about what God has to say to us in His word. 

I worked in coordination with SIL, Summer Institute of Linguistics, and with a local man from the area, Aman. He is fluent in 6 languages alone! My partner in crime, Jim Kenner, is currently in the states so it was just me and Aman. During the  survey i visited 9 villages, slept in 4 of them, recorded 4 130 word and simple sentence wordlists and transcribed 3 of them. A final 29 page report was completed and sent to SIL at the end. The hope is that one day a Bible translator will move into the area and begin to learn the language, love the people, translate the Bible and begin Bible teaching/discipleship.  

The first few days of my trip were spent in the Maskalyene islands south of the south coast of Malakula. I attended the Presbyterian General Assembly. It was a great time to advocate for Bible translation and the importance of missionaries living in villages throughout Vanuatu rather than staying in the capital city. Not surprisingly, before i was even able to get started the rumor was out about me and many of them came to me to talk. The remainder of the trip was spent on the south coast of Malakula.    

Below is just some pics of the trip and some short excerpts. Thanks for your support and prayers!

Above: children are singing in the background anticipating a visit from the Prime Minister. He was visiting b/c the Presbyterian church had their general assembly on the Maskylenes this year. If 

 I'm not mistaken he addresses them annually.

Maskylenes are well known for their reefs and fishing. And for good reason! I had fish most of the nights with dry rice. Everything but the bones went into my belly. Children are fishing above. 

Just one of the evening meals. The village provided free food at the assembly but the guys i bunked with were from Tanna and preferred to pay 120 vatu (about $1.20) for this plate of dry rice and fish. So that's what i did.

Men and women pealed yam, taro, and kumala (sweet potato),  all day for about a week and a half to keep up the demand. Over 500 men and woman attended the small island during the assembly. You can imagine the stress the village and gardens experienced. A lot of the food was shipped in in preparation for the assembly. The people also grew more root veggies in anticipation of the assembly.

This little guy (rainbow lorikeet) turned out to be my best friend. A local guy in the village trained him though he just lived in the trees in the village. For whatever reason (the locals figured it was b/c i was white or he liked my blue shirt) he followed me everywhere.

The men of the village performed a custom dance for the prime minister. During the dace they lead the PM to the church. Kinda interesting!

During the last day of the assembly each different session from all over Vanuatu had a ceremony to literally 'pass the torch' to the next province who would host the assembly next year. Man Tanna are in the orange. I bunked with them in a single hut. Man Ambrym are in the Red. Malakula is in the purple and Santo is in the green. They will host next year.

The hut where i slept with roughly 30 other guys. Concrete floor with 3 layers of mats. Concrete blocks about hip high then woven bamboo the the walls and a thatch roof. Aman is in the orange. My pack is on the left. A favorite bag to pack belongings into are rice bags. They are large and water proof. You can see it on the right.

Everyone packing up and getting ready for the 16hr boat ride home. 

During my 6 hour boat ride to the mainland we stopped on the island of Axamb. Absolutely gorgeous! B/C of rising sea levels and depleting reefs the island is disappearing into the ocean. Thus many of the locals have moved to the mainland to a different culture and language than their own on the small island.

This is the party i traveled with and our small boat in the background.

Having a smoke after breakfast. Many of them grow their own tobacco.

Just an example of some of the toys they make from the jungle.

Of all of the young strong boys standing around when we left the village they picked these three girls to pack us out of the village and to the next leg of our trip. My pack alone was 23 kilos. Way to heavy. Believe it or not we struggled to keep up with them. As soon as we hit the trail they threw their sandals off and got to work.

This was the end of the trail for them. They prob saved me 5 kilometers of walking up and down and through sand. It would have killed me. From this point we went another 10 strong kilometers or so. It was a long day to be carrying the weight i was on sand beach. Trying to pack lighter but its the recording stuf that weighs the most. I just have to stay in shape!

At the end of their leg the took a dip in the large cool river.

Children washing clothes in the river.

Walked through a large cocao (coco/chocolate) plantation.

Going to trade tobacco for oranges with a village on an island off the mainland

No food, clothes, resources or space is taken for granted or wasted. Woman using her ear to hold a coin

When he found out i was from the US he had an unlimited number of WWII stories. Everyone of them worth recoding and listening to! This story was about the time he spotted a Japanese sub off his island. He reported it with the radio the Americans gave him and a few minutes later fighters were chasing it off. As the story goes they blew it up next to the island of Pamma.

This couple is heading home after a day in the garden. The village has a salt water lagoon with an island in the center of it. Most of their gardens are on this island. During high tide they canoe to the island. During low tide they canoe out.

Preparing for a bride price ceremony. Who said woman aren't valued in this part of the world :). This was a dual ceremony as there were two weddings. Each price was about $500 US.

The price is payed in cash. Each member of the woman's family touches the money and passes it to another member. I was told that this symbolizes that each will get a share (the price isn't about getting rich) and that each accept the union.

The man waiting for his newly purchased bride. The club symbolizes that he can protect and the bow and arrow symbolizes that he can provide.

The woman covers her face with the leaf (taro leaf) that represents her clan.

Mr. Love patrol (tee shirt) is holding the money waiting to pass it off.

Second man waiting for his new wife. He walked down the alley and she, with her family of ladies, followed behind.

A fleet of canoes and fiberglass boats.