Update and Build Trip 8 - Orland Team

Cassidy • January 10, 2024

The last build trip was a success, thank you to all of you who prayed and asked us about it! Bryan, Zach, and Kombuk were able to completely demolish the second house, which was their primary goal. In addition, they were able to store and organize the building materials and household items, and they were able to finish all the girding beams and floor joists on our new home.


Starting with the solar panels on the roof:

... then the roofing, and then wall by wall:

... then organizing all this wood and metal and beginning work on the floor.

Partway through their trip, we sent an extra helicopter up to the village to drop off plywood. Here is a truck I hired and the guys loading it on:

Work on the foundation interrupted by the extra heli:

They sent the heli back out with some bulky items we don't have space for (since we are going from two houses to one):

Spending time with people, strengthening relationships, reminding them of our purpose in rebuilding - so we can keep teaching them the good news.

Bryan and Kombuk, along with some village helpers, finished all of the girding beams and floor joists!

Back in Madang, we kept on with our advent activities and school:

In the southern hemisphere, slip n slide can be a Christmas activity!

After three trips in two months, Bryan and Zach sorely needed a rest. We had a few weeks of break and celebrated Christmas. Pictures of that time:

Our coffee date (my mom's Christmas gift to us):

Christmas morning:

Christmas dinner with the Twomblys:

Ellie still growing up:

Swimming outside:

Bryan trying to show Zach how wonderful fishing is (it did not work):

Fixing screens on the property:

...and lots of prep for the next build trip.

As for current events, today build trip number 8 began! On Sunday, three guys arrived from a supporting church in Orland, California and this morning they flew into the village. They hope to strengthen the bearers, brace the corner posts, put down a plywood floor, frame all the walls, put up roofing, make some sort of roof cap, and wrap the whole house in plastic. If these things happen quickly, they will begin to frame and hang doors and windows and/or build steps to our front door.


We are thankful to have these guys here to help! One of the men, John, is a professional carpenter and came twice in 2015/2016 to help build the first houses. So sweet how he uses his specific skills to support God's work in the Finisterres.


Here are some pictures of the last couple days:

Prepping our cross-bracing, third-world-country style. Kyle helping John bash the metal flat and then Oliver is helping Warren (in the background) drill holes for the bolts.

John made friends with Annie:

Kyle the amazing pianist encouraging all our young piano players:

Ready to leave this morning:

Please pray alongside us again for this trip! Lots of the same requests as before: that these guys would be efficient and safe and not get sick, that relationships with the guys in the village would be smooth and encouraging, that tools would work and every bolt/nail/piece of wood/etc they need would be on hand. And our ultimate goal is that God would be honored in this one trip, in our house building, and in our whole work.

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.