January 2005

Greetings from my village (pu-KA-pu-ki)!

Well, I have successfully arrived at my destination of my village. My first
few weeks here have full of lots of cleaning and setting up housekeeping.
I've also met lots of people and have been warmly welcomed to my new
village.

First impressions include watching the river rise and fall daily, spraying
copious quantities of Mortein (that's bug poison here), having so much
pumpkin, pineapple and papaya (I guess my village is the place for "p"
vegetables) brought to the door that I've even had to turn some away, every
night and morning thanking God for my mosquito net, getting to hold a young
crocodile caught by locals, and having my first experience of seeing a woman
that's given birth with some complications in the dirt and muck of a village
toilet and getting to cut the an umbilical cord (I wasn't there for the
whole delivery but caught the very end of it). And that was just the first
week. Life here is very different than at home, to say the least.

Work is underway to prepare for the remodeling of the house that I'll be
moving into. Later this week, Lord willing, our building supplies will
arrive via a barge on the river and we'll start the construction. There's a
crew of four guys that are coming in from Wewak to help for a few days and
I'm so thankful for their help.

I'm also very excited to say that my sister and her husband will be coming
here for a visit for a few weeks and will be able to help out as well with
the house building project. It is such a thrill for me to have them coming
and I just know that the Lord will use their time here as a blessing.

I'm so very thankful to you all for your prayer and encouragement. Please
continue to pray for

-diligence in all the tasks ahead, whether they be house building,
developing relationships, or learning language
-continued good health
-safety and the logistics in the house construction project
-that I would daily die to myself and my own flesh
-unity with my coworkers
-the people of my village, that they hearts would be fertile ground for God's
Word

I count it a blessing to have such a wonderful support team. Please know
that your generous support and giving of time and resources is greatly
appreciated.

Trusting in Him,

Mary

Mary Kenny
Box 625
Wewak, ESP 531
Papua New Guinea

website: www.maryinpng.com <http://www.maryinpng.com>

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