Well, after falling apart about missing my husband's birthday, the Lord was gracious to me and showed us a way to get to Goroka for WAY cheaper than our other option. Some sweet friends did all the research and even booked all the flights for us (3 separate flights between the girls and I) and soon we will all be together in time for 3N1 to turn 3N30.
The only scary part was the fact that I had to put my two oldest on a plane without me. They took a New Tribes Mission Aviation (NTMA) flight with two other families on Monday. That meant that 3N1 did have to take care of them by himself for 2 nights and I was a little concerned about that with his injury, but he assured me that he wanted them to come, so I sent them on.
Mia and I will fly commercial (Air Niugini) to a city called Madang at 6 am in the next couple of days. We have to be at the airport at 4 am to get in line because in this third world country, actually possessing a ticket does not guarantee you a seat. Madang is home to one of the other New Tribes Mission bases, and from there I will get on another NTMA flight with a girl who is heading up to Goroka for school.
It sounds crazy and complicated, but it is getting us there!
Here are some pics of the girls' first solo flight! They will actually probably do this a lot in their little MK lives. How does an MK get to a sleepover? By plane of course! So many kids jump on flights to spend a couple nights with their friends in neighboring tribes. It is no big deal to them, so I guess I should get used to it.
The girls and their bags being weighed for the flight. We pay by how many kilograms we put onto the plane, including our bodies and bags.
Waiting to board with some sweet friends.
Mae isn't so sure about getting on without Mom.
Boarding
Lu was just happy to be with her friends. I am not sure she even noticed I wasn't there.
Mae had a great babysitter to help her on the flight!
After I loaded them on the plane I had to come straight home and start packing up all our stuff for Hewa. As I mentioned before, to use the helicopter costs mucho $$$$ and so whenever it is already scheduled to fly into your village, you jump on any chance to get stuff in there. Our new co-workers are coming out of the tribe for a break at the end of this week, so we are using this opportunity to fill the plane with some of our stuff. Some great guys will load our junk on the plane for us and it will meet the helicopter in another village that has an airstrip.The helicopter will then "sling it" into our village (they load the stuff up in huge slings and hook it underneath the helicopter). I will never complaining about moving vans or trucks again. This is saving us mucho $$$$, so even though it was less than perfect timing, it was totally worth it!
At this point I am not exactly sure when we will get to move into the tribe, but half our stuff is moving in this week! I am a little jealous of my dishes, I have to admit.
I am so thankful that the Lord is working all this out for us in spite off all the craziness that has occurred at our house. It doesn't really matter what (or who) is against us- He is for us and that gives me the confidence to keep pressing on towards His goal of making disciples of all nations!
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