June 4, 2006	Our arrival in Alotau Volume 1, Number 6
Going to a baptism Our mailing address in Alotau: Craig Ford P.O. Box 837 Alotau, MBP 211 Papua New Guinea E-mail pngfords@gmail.com Prayer Requests: o Wisdom deciding what our specific role will be here o Guidance in making major decisions like purchasing a house and vehicle o Open hearts among those with whom we are working o Our cultural adjustment We thank each one of you for your prayers and support. May God Bless You!	On May 16^th we finally arrived in Alotau. Our travels here were basically uneventful. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy a small family vacation by spending four nights in Auckland, New Zealand on the way over. It is hard to know the best way to describe our time thus far. From day one we have been busy with church work and taking care of all the details associated with moving. This has left little time for reflection. In addition, we are making decisions regarding buying a house and a vehicle. In fact, we have already secured a piece of property in town and Lord willing the house will be built in about 18 weeks. In the meantime we are blessed to be watching the Williams’s house. Church lnvolvement: To this point I have been preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings. We hope to get the men involved a little more, but we want to ensure the responsibility is not too much because there are so few men. Each Thursday night I participate in a men’s meeting where we pray about issues involving the church and have a lesson on leadership. I have also had the opportunity to teach Religious Instruction class at the local high school. Jeri is hoping to start some personal studies with a couple of ladies who are new Christians. Other than the scheduled events we spend a lot of time getting to know the Christians and meeting people around town. Time with our team We were able to see Loopie Williams and her kids for a couple hours at the airport in Port Moresby on our way into the country. She had to leave Alotau early to get a visa for their adopted daughter. Leslie Williams stayed around for the first three days we were here until he left to join the family for a three month furlough. We will stay in the Williams’s house until early September. Marcus and Diane Reese have been extremely helpful assisting our adjustement to Alotau. It is great have the support of teammates. Adjusting to a new culture: One of the things we have had to do this first month is adjust our pace of life to the pace of life in Alotau. This means planning an hour just to go to the bank to make a withdrawal. This means being prepared for the truck to break down, water to be shut off, power to go out, and phone line to stop working (all have happened in our first two weeks here). Alotau is a very social culture. We have people in the home most days of the week. We are also learning how to prepare meals for 4-5 people rather than just the two and a half of us. We often have guests for lunch and dinner. Family Perspective, written by Jeri: Having a “Family Day” is important to us. Every Friday we plan to spend time alone as a family. That’s difficult to do in this culture, since people often show up at the door wanting to visit. We got a membership at a lodge in Alotau where we can go swimming whenever we want. The pool is always empty so we can have time alone. Hannah really enjoyed her first swimming experience. She kicked, smiled and screamed so much. I think we’ll be going back! Hannah is really getting big. She will be one year old on July 1. Everyone here says that she looks just like her Daddy. That’s not such a bad thing! J Check it out: o Visit our blog: pngfords.blogspot.com! J o Visit the church website: www.championschurch.org