Phone Line

We have a telephone now!! The most exciting part of that is that it comes with free coverage for Canada and USA. We are so happy that we will be able to talk to Noah (our 2 year old grandson in Canada) quite often. Our first conversation with him left us in laughter. He amazed us that he hadn’t seem to have forgotten us at all - as soon as he took the phone, he said, "Hello Omma", and then continued to tell me what he had done that day. I had 'programmed' him this summer that he was my ‘little treasure’ and Selah was my ‘precious gem.’ So I had to check it out and see if he remembered that. I said, "Noah, you are my little...," and he immediately answered ‘treasure.’ I continued, and "Selah is my precious...," and he replied "gem". I am so happy that even if we can’t see him very often, we will be able to keep up the connection on the telephone. Then he said, "Ok, Omma, have a good day... Bye." And hung up. Our little pumpkin is growing up!!

As I was walking to our office this afternoon, I walked past a few young guys playing soccer. I was all dressed up in a long sleeved top and heavy sweater plus my winter coat, hat and mittens, and still hurrying along because I thought it was sooooo cold. Some of the young men were playing soccer in their T-shirts and shorts!!! At first I was just so shocked at how they could do that, and then it gave me hope, that someday I too may acclimatize to this weather. It is hard to believe that this ‘tropical bird’ was brought up in Canada!! However when I shared this with a friend who I had worked with in the Philippines, she told me that she also ‘froze’ her first year home in Minnesota, but she gradually thawed out. Great - only 11 more months to go!!

We have enjoyed visitors in our home the last few evenings. During our many visits here over the last few years so many people have been very kind and hospitable to us, sharing their homes and lots of meals with us. Now we are thankful for the opportunity to be on the other end, and have some of them in our home.

Pre Field Orientation

Ragnar just returned from taking some of the PFO (Pre Field Orientation) candidates to the nearest airport. The last 3½ days in the classroom were notable. Knowing that next time, we would be the ones doing the Seminar, caused us to try to be very alert, attempting to take in as many details as possible.

One of our new responsibilities here is the Associate Program - people who go out with NTM for 6 months - 4 years, to help in a support ministry. This is like a mini "Missions Training" Course. It was a great Refresher Course for us, and a good beginning for our involvement in this commitment.

Classes were a wide variety from the History and Vision of NTM, Health Classes, Ways to Keep in Touch and Traveling Tips to Entering another World. One evening of skits from Senegal, Indonesia, the Philippines and PNG brought lots of laughter, but also showed life as it really is in various countries.

The ice breaker our first evening was a fun way to get to know each other. You tossed a big plastic soccer ball with questions written on each white octagon to someone across the room. After they caught the ball, they had to answer the question that their right thumb was on.
Some of our questions and answers -
What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten? Balut (a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell)
How many countries have you visited? - 26
Have you ever seen a snake - tell us your story. - When our airstip was being constructed in our tribal village a snake was killed, and we were told that was the cause of all of my headaches.

Since the PFO finished at supper time last night, we were able to have all of the candidates in our home in the evening. There were 5 from the Netherlands and 2 from England. One couple is going to Indonesia and the others to PNG. What a fun bunch! An incredible start to this segment of our new ministry.

One month in England

It is hard to believe that England has been our home for one month now! In some ways it seems a long time ago that we said good bye to Ryan, Kara, Noah and Selah in Niagara Falls - in other ways it seems like we just arrived. We are starting to feel more settled though and a daily routine is beginning to take place.

We are glad that when Craig came up this week to do some work in our backyard he brought Ellie with him. We have enjoyed lots of special time with her. It has been fun to have a little shadow around the house for a few days. Besides ‘helping’ me with the housework, we have enjoyed playing games and reading lots of books together. It is amazing how a little 2 year old can keep you entertained. It would have seemed a little more complete with Claire and Rebekah too, but Claire teaches at a College near where they live 2 evenings a week which would have cut Craig’s work period too short. Next time!!

This morning Ellie helped me make a dessert for our friends who joined us for supper tonight. We worked with Kevin and Marie Still in the Philippines for a few years, and have been in their home many times when we have been visiting here over the last few years. Now it was our turn to have them in our home. They also know Craig and Claire quite well from their year of studies here, so a good chance for them to catch up.

Day in Barcelona

What a great day in Barcelona! We enjoyed our quick tour of the city on Saturday. Although it was about a 2 hour bus ride from where we were staying, it was well worth the trip. Our first stop was at beautiful planned and laid out gardens, where we spent an hour walking around. At the top we had a lovely panoramic view of the city.

Our next stop was to see the eternal building project of an amazing cathedral. Walking around the unfinished church brought constant amazement at the structure. The Sagrada Family began construction in 1882. Although he passed away in 1926, work on the project has continued until now.

From there we went to the downtown area and strolled down a wide walking street with lots of shops on both sides. Lots of people were out on the street inviting you to come into their shop for coffee. As our friends were talking to one of the gals, the waitress asked if she should use Spanish or English. Our friend replied in Tagalog that maybe she should just use Filipino. You should have seen the surprise on her face! We had joined them by now, and found out that all of the workers in the shop were from the Philippines. She invited us in and told us she would treat us to juice. She asked us if we would like to sit near the front or the back. When we told her it was up to her and she started to take us to the back, the waiter in the front said, "No, no, no - let them sit up here, so I can talk to them while they eat." After the shock wore off for them that they were actually speaking in their native tongue to white people in Spain, we had quite a conversation. What fun!!

Next came a couple hours of walking around "Spanish Village". A ‘small city’ was constructed representing all of the areas of Spain. It was a very interesting tour. Among other things, we saw them weaving, painting, leather and glass making.

Walk into the town of Roses

Our meetings have gone very well, having been able to cover many topics. The most encouraging part for me though was to listen to the reports from the various countries each evening - the things that have taken place - new ideas for this coming year etc. God is certainly doing great things in many areas.

Games in the evenings brought lots of laughter - helped us unwind after trying to concentrate all day long!! Tonight just for the enjoyment of it, we sang some of the ‘old songs’ that we used so often during our Mission Training days. We could all picture ourselves back in the classroom - how many decades ago???

Yesterday we walked into the next town (40 min.) and were able to explore the Museum of the Citadel of Roses. It reminded us of Citadel Hill in Halifax, or maybe more like Corrigidor Island in the Philippines.

Coffee break on the way home.

Do you see the snow capped mountains in the background? Amazing to be standing beside a palm tree and looking at snow!!

We were well taken care of this week - plenty good food - a mixture of familiar European food, along with some new questions for our taste buds.

Who would have thought?

Sunday morning found us at the Robinhood Airport - a little over an hour’s drive from our new home. It was Ragnar’s first time to drive on a British Motorway, but having a few experienced drivers along brought encouragement, as well as directions. Discount airlines are great - basically like a bus - no seat assignments or food provided etc. It sure is worth it on the pocketbook side though. 2 hours later we were in Birana, Spain.

Although our main purpose in coming to Spain was to attend meetings, we have enjoyed the in-between times when we could take walks around the town, and along the beach. We are staying just a couple of minutes walk from the water which has made it nice and convenient.

Fellowship with our coworkers from the other countries has also been great. We never know where we might end up seeing some of our friends! Who would have thought when we said good bye to our Norwegian friends in Manila in February that we would be walking along a beach together in Spain a few months later? Who would have thought when we left our Faroese friends in the spring that we would be playing Rook with them in November? Who would have thought that when we attended a wedding with our German friends in their country a couple of years ago, that we would meet again at an airport just outside Barcelona? Who would have thought that the American man who helped me set up our Website in Italy two years ago, would be giving me more hints on how to keep up the communication with our friends around the world a couple years later?

Filipino Night

It was lots of fun having Betsy Bucad join us for dinner tonight. I’m not sure which language we used the most - Tagalog, Ilocano or English! Betsy is from the village where our flight center was located in the Philippines, and where we lived the last few years, so we have known her for a long time. She came over to England to attend the Bible School and Missions Course, and then stayed on to work in the kitchen. So we had lots to talk about while we cooked our own fajitas at our dining room table.

We have been able to get lots of pictures hung this week. Since most of our walls are cement, we had to go into town to get a special drill bit. It sure was worth the trip though as the next few holes were drilled much faster.

Today Ragnar tried taking the wall paper border off in our guest room. Some places went very smoothly as the one in this picture - other places were quite a bit more stubborn.

Tomorrow it is back to packing the suitcases again! They have been in our attic for almost 2 weeks now, and are getting lonely. We will be going to Girona, Spain for some meetings, along with 7 of our coworkers here.

Faroese Visitors

Our first visitors in our new home were Faroese! God has blessed us with coworkers from the Faroe Islands (teaching at the Bible School and working in the Nursery) and her parents were here for a short visit. We are glad they had time to spend a few hours with us. We trust they will just be the first of many to come down this way!

Having a few extra dishes that night gave us the idea to try using our dishwasher. I have never had one before and until now hadn’t even thought of trying to figure out how it works. Ragnar, being a bit more interested in that, got out the papers the former owners left us and soon had it working. Maybe I should not even try to learn which buttons to push!!)

As I was showing our guests thru our house, hearing her comment 'I think every woman should have one of these', told me that her favorite part was our bedroom closet. I agree with her. I think that is what sold me on the house the first time I saw it. Having a walk-in closet with room to spread things out is a dream come true!!