Return to Madang and Build Trip 5

Cassidy • October 30, 2023

Hello from Madang! It has been a bit of a whirlwind this past week. Our last flight from Port Moresby to Madang was canceled, so we spent the night at the "Shady Rest" hotel. That is its actual name. :) It was fine and the restaurant was delicious and it was all paid for by Air Niugini, so that was nice.


Monday we arrived in Madang and were welcomed by the sweet and awesome and lovely Twomblys (Bryan, Kerra, and their three kids). The week has been full of unpacking suitcases, unpacking our boxes here, setting up the kitchen and homeschool spaces, and cooking. A lot of cooking. Plus, we have had lots of good time with Bryan and Kerra; and our boys have played with theirs at pretty much every opportunity.

This week this lady has made us a meal, shared her homemade cookies, and watched all our kids so we could shop.

A heart-to-heart about potty training :)

Blanket (towel) Time

Unpacking old toys.

Getting back into Legos.

Growing up!

Early after we arrived, Bryan suggested to Zach that we charter a commercial heli and they fly to the village asap. He is eager to help us get our office finished and our house built. Bryan has never been to Mawerero, so this trip will help him see the scope and scale of the work as well as some of the obstacles and challenges of working in a remote place.


So... this morning (Monday) Bryan, Zach, and Kombuk left! Phew. They are hoping to get these things done: bracing the office, starting the electrical and plumbing work on the office,  building a storage area, and setting the first four posts for our house. Of course, they could do more and of course they could get much less than that done.


You can all pray for efficiency: for having everything they need for a job, for tools that work properly, etc... And you can also pray for relationships: for navigating the business relationships with guys who helped while Zach's been gone, for various requests and problems, for good communication between Zach and Bryan as they work hard in an uncomfortable place.

Goodbye to Dad

Kombuk has been on a couple of the previous trips. He is going to start off today building a temporary-but-strong storage structure while Zach and Bryan start on bracing and electrical.

Last hugs

And you can pray for us here. We have school to teach, infants to nurse, toddlers to chase (and take potty), food to cook, and above all we have to care well for our own hearts and the hearts of these little ones.

Home school this morning. The boys are doing great! And the little girl is... keeping busy for five minutes.

Kerra sent her girls up to help with Annie for 30 mins!


That's all for now! Stay tuned for more updates... whenever we have time next to send them!

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.

50th Independence Day

By Cassidy • September 28, 2025
On the 16th, PNG celebrated 50 years of independence! There were big celebrations all over the country. In our village, they had a flag raising ceremony at the school to start off the week. Then there were basketball and soccer tournaments, dart games and lots of food. Hiking down to the school:

Literacy Class 5

By 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:

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.