Christmas in Madang

Cassidy • December 29, 2022

We had a full Christmas season here in town! We got to host and attend some Christmas events with our local church here as well as other mission organizations based in Madang. Thanks to restored internet, we were able to connect with family in the states! Praise the Lord! And though displaced from where we planned to be, we enjoyed some of the Cann Family advent traditions that we do every year. Add to this, that against the odds, we even received a package from our friends in Orland! (USPS no longer delivers to PNG, but they found a way through another carrier.) Here are some pictures of how Christmas looked for us this year.

Being in town means that we get to connect with missionaries from other organizations. We all have a great relationship with the people at Pioneer Bible Translators, which is also based here in Madang. Our first Christmas event was to join in on their progressive Christmas party which included a photo booth (above) and a reenactment of the Christmas story (below).

Oliver and Zach were shepherds and Jude played Joseph.

The boys were invited to a fancy Christmas tea at the Mitchells' home. The other two in this picture are Yohan and Valentina, from Brazil, whose parents are missionaries with YWAM and who live just across the street. 

Advent day 3: Bake Christmas cookies.

Advent Day 11: Look in your stocking for a gift. These Lego minifigures were sent with us in our baggage by their grandparents. So fun! The other grandparents sent some Christmas money which we will use to enjoy a date tonight and a night at a hotel as a family on Saturday.

Advent Day 17: Make Christmas cards. It is much easier to make cards here than to find any to buy.

Advent Day 21: Another "Look in your stocking for a gift." For this one, we gave them Pop Rocks (found these in the missionary store at Ukarumpa when I was there!) and an invitation to a fancy Christmas lunch.

Fancy means steak and Martinelli's.

Because we are on school break, we got to have a couple extra dates at the (air-conditioned!) coffee shop nearby.

On Christmas day, we did a gift exchange with the Mitchells. Their visitor, Ian, from South Africa had also brought us gifts! You guys, he thought about items, bought them, and then carried them in his baggage for so many hours. And he hadn't even met us! So thoughtful. Here is Annie with her new teddy bear.

Package from Orland!




I will end with this video of Annie falling asleep at lunch... because this is one of my favorite things.

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.

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.