Today marks the 3 year anniversary of our arrival to Ukarumpa, the centre that would become our new home. We had already spent three months on the coast, learning, adapting and transitioning into a whole new world and way of life and more was on the horizon....we just didn't know what was in store.
On April 30, 2013 we climbed onto an open air truck, along with several fellow students, now great friends, and drove from the coast up to the Highlands. It took 8 long hours to make our way here with a stop in a village for lunch and thankfully, an outdoor toilet.
What we didn't know then, is that students don't get the option to ride on the truck anymore. We were one of the last classes to have the choice between a 28 minute plane ride or the 6-8 hour truck ride. I complained at the time that THE PILOT chose the truck ride, but I'm so glad he did. It's a beautiful, super bumpy, pot hole-y ride, but I doubt we'll ever drive it again because road conditions are pretty bad most of the time making car rides difficult.
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| Yes...that's our girls ASLEEP in the truck. I don't know how they did it. |
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| One of the river fords we had to cross. |
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| Our first look at the Ramu Valley...getting closer to the Highlands. |
Below, is one of my favourite pictures of the 5 of us. We had stopped to let a huge semi-truck pass on the road which gave us the chance to stretch our legs and look at the countryside that was SO very different than the coastal views of the prior 14 weeks. When I posted this picture on Facebook people said, "WOW! You guys are SO tan!!" What they didn't know is it was actually DIRT from riding in the above mentioned open air truck for the last 6 hours!! We were beyond ready to see our house we'd never laid eyes on and get a real shower...not one out of a bucket!
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Just a few days later, we had our sign up by the front door. Look how little they were!!
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So much has happened over the last, almost 3 1/2 years we've been in PNG. Looking at these pictures reminds me of the Lord's goodness and love towards us, His protection and guidance through all we've seen and done.
Today, I'm so very grateful He's brought us to this beautiful place.
I'm fairly certain you were asleep for a bit in that truck too! :)
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