Build Trip 6

Cassidy • November 17, 2023

Build Trip 5 was successful! While it was a bit crazy to head into the village only eight days after arriving in country, it went smoothly for the guys and smoothly for us back in Madang. Thankful that Bryan is willing to do hard things with Zach to get us into the village soon! And thankful that his wife is willing to do the hard work of life on her own here so he can go and help! Here are some pictures of the week:

Zach got to introduce Bryan to the people we love and got to reconnect with many.

Enjoying time with some of our dearest friends:

Zach and Bryan installed all of the solar panels for the office, installed the lights and outlets, and ran the wiring all back to the main brain of it all.

The only missing piece was the breaker box. So the lights work and the outlets should be functional as soon as the breaker box is installed!

The village installed the outer walls while we were gone, so those were pinned in the final places, interior walls were installed, and even some cabinets.

Also, super exciting: On November 2nd, the men broke ground on our house! Bryan got the four corner posts in the ground and was able to use those to measure for all the rest of the exterior ones.

Back at home we celebrated Halloween. Thanks to the beautiful Kerra, we did more than just our usual one-house trick-or-treating: she helped the kids make spooky themed pizzas and they watched Charlie Brown. But here are the pictures of the costumes:

A greaser, homeless man, Hawaiian girl, and mummy.

A jellyfish, ballerina, and dragon.

We got settled in to our new normal:

Homeschool for the boys.

Preschool (blanket time) for Annie:

These last 13 days back, one major project was cutting and welding the rest of the exterior posts for our new house. They cut them to size and then welded tabs on so they can be attached to cross-bracing.

This morning we said "goodbye" again to our husbands as they head back to Mawerero for another trip. 

They are hoping to finalize the plumbing and electric on the office, move internet and power over to there (the fridge and freezer), and then get as far as possible with emptying and gutting the Mitchells' old house.

So thankful for Kombuk and Bryan!

In God's kindness, the Mitchell house's electrical system worked after the earthquake and we have been able to charge power tools, use the fridge, and run the internet all 13 months since then. BUT... when the men landed today they found that that system is now dead. This is the trip where we were going to move all electrical to the office anyway, so now there is extra motivation.


Please pray for easy transitions: moving a DC fridge and freezer system, laying satellite internet cables to a new spot... sometimes it is just a matter of FINDING the piece we need among all the piles in that old house.

Please pray for good weather so items can be moved without getting wet.

Please pray for good relationships with those in the village. Zach will be hiring some people to help him, Bryan, or Kombuk.

Please pray for safety and health for them and for us back in Madang.

And please pray that we can all be joyful as we serve God and not ourselves in all of this. His plans may be different than ours and we want to wholly submit to Him.


Thank you to everyone who gives prayer, money, and encouragement to us as we work to see God's name praised in the Finisterre mountains.

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.