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Deconstruction Trip: Our House

Cassidy • March 20, 2023

Yesterday the guys returned from the third trip into the village since the earthquake. While the last trip was gutting our home, this trip was taking the structure down and beginning the footings for the office. Here are some pictures (with a little more "how was the trip?" at the end):

Ryan, Lington, Kombuk, and Zach. Kombuk and Lington are trained carpenters who live in Madang. We hired them for these last two trips and have been really thankful for their skill, help, and for the relationships they build with our friends in the village.

Step one: removing the roofing iron.

There was a pretty significant earthquake on the day when they were removing the roof, but no one was on the roof at the time and the house didn't sustain any more damage - for that we were thankful!

Step two: Removing the walls.

Look at our floor!

Taking down the last few walls.

Step three: removing the floor.

Removing the floor trusses.

All that is left for now is our water tank and the concrete footings.

While all the pieces were coming down, we needed to hire other men to remove nails.

Early in the week, Ryan oversaw the construction of this shed to house all the wood.

Organizing the wood by size.

Securing building materials inside.

Ryan worked hard also in marking, digging, and pouring cement for the office footers.

All ten footers done.

We hired several men from the village each day to help.

And many of our close friends came each day to help for free.

The guys spent a full seven days working hard.


You might expect that a trip like this would be difficult. Let me tell you, it WAS difficult. Physically, it was hard. Ryan suffered much with an injured knee and back. Zach and Ryan both had trouble breathing (and therefore sleeping) each night in a smokey hut. And waking each morning with sore muscles to remove nails and haul wood again was tiring. Yes, it was physically difficult.


But let me tell you: emotionally it was more difficult. As an example, removing our boys' green walls: walls that were installed at the cost of lots of time away from wives and kids. Walls that we painted army green for Jude and Oliver in the early years of Mawerero ministry. Walls that saw those little boys do so much growing up. Walls that still had various artwork and nicknacks tacked to them. Those walls had to be ripped out and new ones will have to be rebuilt again some day. Yes, it was emotionally difficult.


Yet Ephesians 5:20, Paul tells the Ephesians that they are to give thanks always and for everything. Not just to always find some reason to give thanks, but to actually give.thanks.FOR.everything. Because of God's promises to us in the gospel, Zach (and I from afar) can give thanks to God for the very removing of our walls since in His wisdom God is doing all things for our good and the good of all those around us who know Him.


We are so very thankful that they finished all they set out to accomplish on this trip. Even more than they expected. And we are thankful to be back together!


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.

Christmas with the Demarests

By Cassidy • December 23, 2024
We were thankful to host one of our pastors and his wives, Scott and Sarah Demarest, for five days this month. We got to do our Christmas activities and advent readings with them each day and had such a sweet time with them.  (Since they TOOK most of the pictures, they are absent from many...). Gingerbread cookies instead of sugar cookies this year, which was the right choice. Why haven't I been doing this all along?!

The Death of a Baby

By Cassidy • December 8, 2024
Sepla came to our door two days ago asking for an egg. Her baby boy was very sick and she needed the leaders to pray over an egg so they could confess any wrong they had done, eat it, and Alfons could be released from the sickness. Zach explained to her that this practice is not from God, and therefore has no power. He got Eki and the two of them went to Sepla's house to pray to God that her baby might get well. Sepla is a good example of the syncretistic thinking prevalent here. She attends church faithfully, but she holds on to many animistic beliefs. A very imbedded core belief is that sickness can be caused by the bad thoughts of a wronged person, or in some cases: a sorcerer who is actually intent on evil. Sadly, Alfons died yesterday afternoon. The leaders asked Zach to speak at their vigil in the evening and he shared two things. First, he read from Psalm 139 and explained that Alfons lived exactly the number of days that God had decided. God is in control of life and death. Second, he shared the story of David and Bathsheba's baby dying in 2 Samuel 12. There, the Lord is in control of everything. He is the one who passes over David's sin and gives the child a sickness. God is the one to whom David prays while the baby is alive and worships when he dies. Zach pointed out at the end that David says that someday he will go to him, but his baby boy will not return to him. From this text, Zach explained that Alfons' spirit isn't wandering around on the earth! David believes the child is in heaven where someday David will be. Zach said he believes Alfons is in heaven, not because he was good, but because God is merciful. What we also need to consider, Zach explained, is if WE will someday be with God. He shared the gospel with them and encouraged them to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus for forgiveness. Some of those attending last night, like Sepla's husband Bui, never attend Zach's teaching and therefore didn't know this good news. Please pray for Sepla and her husband Bui.

Annie Turns Three

By Cassidy • November 24, 2024
This girl is three today! We celebrated with cake and presents and phone calls. Sadly, she had a tummy bug, so she spent much of the day heading back to bed to rest, but true to character, she was a happy girl nonetheless.

Scott Maxwell and Uriah Come to Visit

By Cassidy • November 24, 2024
As you may have read in our email update, we were able to host Scott Maxwell and Uriah earlier this month!

A Hike to the Pig House

By Oliver • October 25, 2024
This is Oliver and I am writing my first blog. Today Jude and I went on a hike with my dad's language helper, Giye, and his sons. We hiked from our house to Giye's pig house. A pig house is a second hut they build to look after their pigs.

Oliver Finishing the Bible

By Cassidy • October 24, 2024
When our boys learned to read, we encouraged them with the words of our pastor: "Now you can hear from God yourself!" Learning to read means we can read God's Word, the Bible. What's why we need a strong literacy program here in the village! Oliver began reading the Bible right after his sixth birthday: February 2020, with a Bible given to him by his Aunt Sandy. In these 4 and a half years, he has plodded well, and on the 18th of October, 2024 he read the last chapter of Revelation! This is cause for celebration in our family. He had picked out a new Bible in the US and we gifted that to him and ate cake. The next morning, he began his second reading through the Bible. How different his understanding of Genesis must be at ten years old versus six!

Ruscios' Visit

By Cassidy • October 9, 2024
Our mission organization, FinisTerre, recently sent a new family to do ministry in Madang. The Ruscios only arrived in PNG in July, so they are just starting to learn PNG culture and the trade language. As part of their orientation, they came up to stay in the bush for a week. We SO enjoyed getting to know them. Frank and Jacklyn have three boys and a girl, so it was a fun week for our kids, too! Eki gave them a proper welcome:

Back to the Village

By Cassidy • August 18, 2024
We have been back in the village for almost a month now! It has been a season of adjusting physically (cloth diapers, cooking, laundry...!) and relationally, doing the final unpacking/minor projects, and getting back to work. We are well, we are grateful, and we are moving forward with ministry! Here are some pictures. Jude and Oliver recruited some old friends to build a little shelter:
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