"The Land of the Unexpected"

Everything seemed to be going well that day - until we turned the light off in our hotel room.

We were actually staying in the nicest of the two hotels in Vanimo, just inside the PNG border, awaiting for our NTM airplane to come pick us up.

As Kristi tells it:

" Jessica and I were in a room with Kayla---Jess in the single bed and Kayla with me in a double bed---I had actually thought of putting her on the floor but we decided it would be best for her to be next to me for more protection from critters---we were thinking more along the line of cockroaches. Soon after we turned out the lights I kept hearing a noise and kept asking Jessica what she was doing---she said “Nothing, Mom.” Then I felt something running across my pillow above my head---I turned on the light and saw a big rat’s tail coming out from behind the diaper bag on the little coffee table---I told Jessica to go sit next to Kayla. When we both turned to look at Kayla we were shocked to see her little face COVERED in blood. The strange thing was she was wide awake, but wasn’t crying at all. It was amazing how much blood there was---all over her face, sleeper, and blanket. I called Phil’s room and he came right away. When I got the blood all cleaned up I was relieved to see only three little bites on her right hand---two were cuts and one bite not only broke the skin, but was hard enough to bruise her little pinky finger. "

We praise the Lord the rat didn't chew her finger off as is quite often the case. There are tons of diseases caused by rats, but we are trying not to dwell on those for the moment. We are thankful that Kayla's immunizations were up to date. Upon arrival here at our home, our missionary doctor gave her a broad spectrum antibiotic injection as well. Please pray with us that she does not pick up any of those odd diseases.

On another note:

Thanks for praying for our bag that we lost in Hong Kong. Twelve days later and after countless hours on the phone, the airlines have finally located our one last bag in some baggage warehouse in Hong Kong. They are attempting to get the bag delivered to us here in PNG. Pray that it will actually arrive.

We are so glad to be back "home" and are getting settled back into a routine. The kids have started school and seem to really be enjoying it.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for our family. You mean so much to us!