July 8, 2007	may – june NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 2
Home Sweet Home: After purchasing our house property on May 24^th, 2006 our family has been anticipating the joyous occasion when we would be able to take possession of our house. That much-anticipated occasion happened within the timeframe of this newsletter. On May 21^st, 2007 we moved into our new house. Perhaps we need to work on improving our attitude, but it lacked a certain amount of joy because the house did not have any power, running water, or telephone. We did make due by hooking a light up to a car battery at night and carrying buckets of waters from our water tank to the desired location. The latest news as of the beginning of July is that there is now power in our subdivision, though the power has not been hooked up to our house yet. Relaxing on moving day Craig and Jeri Ford P.O. Box 912 Alotau, MBP 211 Papua New Guinea E-mail pngfords@gmail.com Please note – we have temporarily discontinued using our Daltron account. We can only receive emails from the above address. Prayer Requests: o Ongoing work in Alotau. Pray specifically for our teammates Les and Loopie Williams along with Marcus and Diane Reese. o A healthy pregnancy and delivery for Jeri and the baby. o Our travels o Additional fundraising over furlough We thank each one of you for your prayers and support. May God Bless You!	North Coast Bible Camp: Over the third week of May, Marcus and I spent the week conducting a Bible seminar for the North Coast churches. The village where we held the classes was about a four hour boat ride from Alotau. A total of about 60 people came from a half dozen local churches. The three day seminar focused on issues pertient to the local church. We presented a biblical perspective on issues from starting a church to developing a strong leadership. During the week there were two ladies baptized and four couples who were married. It was defintiely a blessing to everyone who participated. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the area Christians who live outside of Alotau. Although it was an enjoyable week, it was great to get back home to be with Jeri and Hannah. Harding Interns Arrive Five interns from Harding University, David and Jenna Reese, and Logan Williams all arrived at the end of May. Jeri and I were blessed to host Luke Shaffer and Daniel Nicholas, who spent three weeks with us before we left for furlough. From the very first night they arrived they were given a bucket for washing, a car battery for light, and they were left to survive. They certainly rose to the occasion and were a blessing to our family. The interns (mentioned above) along with Bethany Cannon, Rachel Gould, and Rebekah Gibb will be in Alotau until the end of July. They have been busy attending studies and getting ready for a busy summer of camps and other service/teaching activities. 2007 Furlough: Underway On June 23^rd Jeri, Hannah, and I arrived safely in Beamsville, Ontario, Canada. We were scheduled to arrive on the 22^nd, but a delayed flight out of LAX translated into a missed flight in Cincinnatti. We fared better than our luggage, which arrived a day later on the 24^th. Many people have been interested in how Hannah did. We are happy to report that of the 29 hours of actual fly time Hannah may have cried 30 minutes at the most. Otherwise she did very, very well. Our travels took us from Alotau to Port Moresby (PNG), to Brisbane (AU), to Tokyo (Japan), to Los Angeles, to Cincinnati, to Detroit, to Toronto. The highlight of our trip was the time we were able to spend in Sendai, Japan. It was truly a blessing for us because our good friends have been involved in the work there for almost five years. Jeri and I have followed their work, but we learned there is nothing more valuable to understanding a setting than visiting. From improving my pronunciation of place names to dispelling many myths, the lessons were numerous. Please continue to pray for the work in Sendai, Japan. Upcoming Plans for Furlough ½ June and July: CANADA Visiting the following congregations: Beamsville, Meaford, Tintern, Newmarket, Fennell Ave. August: WYOMING and COLORADO We will be visiting Lander, Cheyenne, and Colorado Springs to make presentations to churches as well as visiting friends and family. September and ½ October: HOUSTON Six weeks with the Church of Christ in Champions, our supporting church. Fundraising: During our time in North America we will be doing some additional fundraising so we would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows of a church who might be interested in being involved in our work. Family Perspective, written by Jeri: The last few weeks before we left for furlough were certainly challenging and busy, but we experienced many blessings as well. Many of our Christian brothers and sisters helped us move and get settled in our house. Two Christian sisters, Pastola and Susan, even managed to give our yard a face-lift by planting all kinds of flowers and trees. They spent hours and hours weeding and planting things at our new house. I have come to appreciate some things that most of us take for granted -including running water, electricity, and telephones. Thankfully I only had to live without these things for about three weeks and actually survived to tell about it. But I must admit that my first hot shower in the hotel felt incredible. We look forward to returning to our home in October with the luxury of electricity in our house. It is hard to believe we have completed a year living in PNG and are already on our first furlough. I have been blessed with an easy pregnancy which allowed me to travel easily and enjoy it. The time we had with our friends in Japan was such an encouragement, and we have already enjoyed a couple of weeks with the Ford family in Canada. Hannah seems to be enjoying the traveling and has adjusted well to the many changes. She loves the time with Grandpa and Grandma and her cousins. We look forward to the rest of our furlough and are eagerly awaiting the birth of our second child. Check it out: o If you interested in seeing more pictures or finding out a little more about our lives on the field visit our blog: pngfords.blogspot.com J o Previous newsletters have been archived on the Champions Church of Christ website : www.championschurch.org.