Family Trip to the Village

Cassidy • December 17, 2022

Last month we finally had the opportunity to fly back into Mawerero and handle some of the clean up from the earthquake. Zach and I decided that we really both needed to be there, so we brought the whole family.


Though we have lived in PNG for eight years, and in the village for over six, this was a fairly new experience for us as a family. Zach spent many weeks living in a hut during housebuilding, but I and the boys didn't move into the village until we had our home.


We spent five days mainly cleaning up and packing all salvageable personal items, then moving them up to the Mitchell's house. We lived in a hut nearby, used an outhouse, and ate food provided by our hosts. It was a great time for our family and a great time for our relationships with people in the village. (Zach explained this in our last update letter.)

Here are some pictures with more details:

Flying in.

Our awesome pilot, Gavin, with John from SIL. Ryan coordinated with John (who works in construction and maintenance) to come into the village for the day and assess the safety and teardown of our homes. Thankful for his assessment and advice!

John's assessment of our home was that it was unsafe to enter until it could be braced, as the left side of the roof is not well supported and in danger of falling in. So Zach and Ryan worked on that the first day so we could get to work inside.

This is the room our hosts set aside for us Canns to sleep in. Much to their curiosity, we set up Annie's pack n play since we needed her to be able to nap without supervision.

We brought snacks to eat for two of our meals each day. Annie and Oliver are enjoying clif bars and raisins in our room. These clif bars were sent by our sweet friends Jeff and Lorie all the way from America in the Mitchells' baggage.

More snack time with lovely Bangena. Though Annie would cry, Bangena took care of her as much as possible. It was SO helpful since we didn't feel comfortable having her in our house while I was working... what with the roof wanting to cave in and the glass all over the floor.

Also pictured, a green bag full of dish towels we cleaned out of the kitchen after finding a rat's nest inside. Homes left open to the jungle don't fare too well. ;)

Since we had no running water, we retrieved water each day from a pipe about 100 yards away. So we were always thankful when rain allowed us to wash our hands and fill our buckets without the trek! It rained several times during the five days.

Our toilet.

We ate in Ryan's room each evening.

Sharing Annie's raisins while we waited for the heli on the last day. My friend, Rani, thought they were a food ONLY for kids (since I said they were Annie's), so she shared them with any kids who were brave enough to try something new.

After moving all personal items to the Mitchells', we boarded up all the windows to lessen the burden of security for our friends there.

Giye holding Annie while we loaded the heli. I had to take a picture of her being held without crying.


All in all, our trip was successful and our next one will be interior demo on our home.

Juli's Funeral

By Cassidy • October 31, 2025
Juli died yesterday. The news came to us through Bangena and her young daughter on our steps. “Juli died and her brothers are trying to hurt her husband. They are hiding him there in the Counsel’s house," they said, pointing to our next-door neighbor’s hut. So many people were shocked. “How could she be dead? She wasn’t sick. I saw her just a couple days ago…!” Eventually we learned that Juli had hemorrhaged all night and had died in the morning. A brand new baby, miscarried, and they could not stop the bleeding. Juli has seven children close in age (the youngest was still nursing). Her parents knew that children so close together can cause complications, so a while back they told Samuel to stop getting his wife pregnant. Samuel agreed and promised his wife she wouldn't have any more kids, but it was a promise he couldn't keep.

Millers' House Build

By Cassidy • October 30, 2025
As you may have read in email updates and other posts, we have new teammates - Josh and Autumn Miller! We are so thankful to the Lord for giving this sweet couple a desire to serve the Lord here among the Do people. They have been working since July to turn our previous office into their new home! Josh and Kombuk (our Madang carpenter friend) have flown in every couple weeks to work. A close family friend Johnathan is also here helping with the build. He flew out from the states in August and is staying here in PNG until the house is done! Johnathan has stayed in the village even between trips to keep working, which has been sweet for our family as we have been able to get to know him.

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JAARS Video

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Teaching Video

By Cassidy • July 7, 2025
Zach and I put together a video for our church's Sunday school hour. The first small part explains how we keep ourselves supplied and the rest of it is how Zach handles foreign concepts in translation. If you have an hour and want to know more about the work here, see the video below:

Ellie Turns Two

By Cassidy • June 28, 2025
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April and Easter

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Jude is a Teenager!

By Cassidy • April 7, 2025
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