Literacy Class 5

Cassidy • September 3, 2025

On Monday, a new literacy class began! Our literacy teachers, Maikepe and Namura, have been gathering names and school fees for a year, but interest here was low. Once some men from a nearby village decided to join, interest (there and here!) spiked and we have an overflowing classroom.


Sewing to bind four more literacy books to account for the extra students:

(In case you are confused: I coach the reading class on Saturdays for those in our village who have already graduated from literacy and want reading practice. The Literacy Class 5 I am referring to in this blog is the class for brand new students. It will run Monday-Friday morning for 3.5 months.)

Though I taught and then coached the first, second, and third class, the fourth class was completed while I was on furlough back in 2021 and it was clear that the teachers are still in need of help.


For background: these literacy classes have students from all across the reading spectrum: some read and write in Pidgin very well, some haven't written more than a handful of times since grade school and can only barely read their own name.


As I watch this class beginning, I can see one big problem: whether from shame or passivity, some of the unschooled students are allowing their friends in class to help them and do work for them. I have taught the teachers to curb this, but it's evident that this needs to be driven home acutely. So daily I have been encouraging the teachers to remind the students that they will not learn if they allow others to help them during these important foundational lessons.

So, you can pray for us! I don't EXACTLY have 2.5 hours each morning to devote to literacy, so Zach needs to step into homeschool and taking care of girls during that time... pushing back his workday significantly. 

But for now, we both think it is important for me to be there for now.


Literacy is a foundational need for a thriving church here! We want to see men and women know how to read in their own language and then be able to access God's written word in their language so they might grow in the knowledge of God and be able to share that knowledge with others! God's Word is in a book and therefore we must work hard to equip the people here to understand it for themselves.

JAARS Video

By Cassidy • August 6, 2025
JAARS trains and sends pilots over here - we are thankful for them!

Highlands Break

By Cassidy • August 1, 2025
We were able to fly up to the highlands to take a break at SIL's mission base (called Ukarumpa). We wanted to rest, see doctors, connect with coworkers, and give the boys time with friends.

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
Our littlest Ellie turned two! We love this little girl and thank God for completing our family with her. We can see her beginning to grow A BIT in independence and contentment as she matures and is able to communicate. She has lots of words, giggles often at Annie's silliness, loves rice, and (as a last born) is usually just along for the ride. She is happy to write in the dirt or play on the rope swing, look at books on the couch or look out the window in a hut, but if anything goes wrong, she just wants her mama. It is sweet to see how good the boys are with her, and Annie is a good big sister, too! (Though Annie DID have a good cry a few days ago when she realized she wasn't going to get any presents on Ellie's birthday 😉)

April and Easter

By Cassidy • May 4, 2025
After celebrating Jude's birthday, we had a pretty low-key April and Easter. Zach has been faithfully preaching through Ephesians, and there have been good opportunities to follow up with people afterward.

Jude is a Teenager!

By Cassidy • April 7, 2025
The boy that made us parents turned 13 on Friday! This boy is growing up!  He has always been an analyst, but now he is thinking big thoughts about future plans and budgets. He has always been conscious of the feelings of others, but he is now taking more initiative to step up and handle things for others.

Australia Break

By Cassidy • March 20, 2025
Last month we got to take a break in Australia! Our first stop was to the town of Madang where we spent several days with the Twomblys and the Ruscios. I have basically zero pictures, but we LOVED our time with them. In Australia, we stayed on the Gold Coast, a bit north, in a sweet Paradise Point neighborhood with lots of parks and restaurants along the water. We went to Costco and ate good food and played in the ocean and felt so refreshed and thankful for our time! Here are some pictures. My mom and Zach's mom flew over and stayed with us for the first half of our trip. SO great to see them and we miss them already!

Teaching on Baptism

By Cassidy • January 20, 2025
The established church here in our village is Lutheran. Or, at least, it’s called Lutheran. In reality, it is a mix of Lutheran religious practices, animistic beliefs, and a false gospel of being good enough to be accepted by God. One of the practices here is that they baptize their babies and believe that this baptism saves the baby. After being baptized as a baby, the child should grow up and do good things and will go to heaven.

Oliver Turns 11

By Cassidy • January 15, 2025
This boy turned 11 on Sunday! He chose cookies and ice cream as his dessert because he knew everyone would enjoy it. Sundays are a busy day, but we celebrated midday with food and dessert and presents, followed by some fun family games. It is a joy to watch Oliver grow in wisdom and stature. This year he finished his first trek through the Bible, memorized Psalm 139; he listens to and think through the great claims of the good news of Jesus Christ, and is making efforts to be generous with others (especially his brother). On the stature front, Oliver is probably the strongest member of our family - certainly for his size. He is regularly swinging from his ninja course - a series of ladders, ropes, and handles hanging from our rafters. He can do a 6 minute plank and 35 pushups (far surpassing his parents' abilities in those categories). And we love how he uses his strength to care for and protect his little sisters.

Christmas with the Demarests

By Cassidy • December 23, 2024
We were thankful to host one of our pastors, Scott, and his wife, Sarah, for five days this month. We got to do our Christmas activities and advent readings with them each day and had such a sweet time with them. (Since they TOOK most of the pictures, they are absent from many...). Gingerbread cookies instead of sugar cookies this year, which was the right choice. Why haven't I been doing this all along?!