The Very Latest Very Biggest News

So, look at this:

Ain't that the cutest, sweetest baby you've ever seen?

That's Andy.

Andy Bennett.

Yep, that's his name.  More formally Andrew Raymond Bennett.  Born to our oldest son, Drew and his wife Andrea 2 days ago, May 26.  17 3/4 inches (that's an important 3/4 inch!), 4 pounds, 2.4 ounces.  His birth was induced about 4 weeks early because of some pregnancy complications.  He's small, but doing very well.  We were able to get to Swedish Hospital in Seattle within about an hour of his birth, and were able to stay around for about 2 days.

He'll be in the hospital for a few more days, just until he is growing, taking adequate nutrition and regulating his own temperature and blood sugar.

So, from now on, we respond better to the names "Grandma" and "Grandpa".  If you were wondering.

AB

On the Big Island

I don't really think that I need to blog every detail of our home assignment.  Really, I don't.  But here's a little more about our time in Hawaii before moving on to other things.  We went to the "Big Island" to speak at several events at the Hilo and Paradise Park churches.  We were also able to go to Kona for 1 day of delayed anniversary celebration, and then to speak to the youth group at the Kona church.

 Angel Falls in Hilo.

 With Pastor Rick Ragle at the Hilo church.

 At the Paradise Park church.  We had a combined service with the Micronesian and the English congregations.  Here the Micronesian people are doing a song with marching and motions.  Our PNG friends would have enjoyed this "drama".

 Some old family friends, the Birds, who were in our church in Kalispel, Montana, when I was a little kid.

 We spoke in the chapel service of the preschool at Hilo.

In a Starbucks in Hilo, we saw a poster for Kigabah Estate, the coffee plantation owned by our friends Billy and Joesa Gardner, just down the road from Kudjip.  They were the recipiants of the Black Apron Award in 2005, the award for the best green coffee that they bought this year.  We've seen the poster a few times in the US.

 Judy with Captain Jack, in Kona.

 Shave Ice, a Hawaii specialty.  Judy loved this.  I thought it was a lot like ice with flavor on it.

Speaking to the youth group at the Kona church.  We had a great time there!

Pearl Harbor

We did have some time for sightseeing while on Oahu.  Our priority was seeing the Perl Harbor memorial.  We were able to visit all four of the major sections (Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri, Pacific Air Museum, and the USS Bowfin/submarine museum), as well as several of the smaller exhibits.  Obviously, this was more of a moving emotional experience rather than being fun, but it was a good day together, seeing history, and remembering those who gave their lives, not only for the USA, but for the free world.

 I'm showing PNG on the giant map of the pacific in the entry area at the memorial.

 A long view of the Arizona Memorial and of the USS Missouri, which is now a permanent museum in Perl Harbor.

 One of the turrets of the Arizona is visible above the water.  I assume that this varies with the tide.  Other parts of the ship are vaguely visible below the water.

 Inside the memorial.  There is a large opening in the floor.  The structure blocks a lot of the glaring light, so you can see a little more of the wreckage under the water.

 

The memorial wall, listing the names and ranks of each of the men who died on the ship.  Most of their bodies were never recovered.

 One of those Wallaces was the uncle of our Dr. Becky Wallace.  Maybe great uncle.

 A conning tower of a WWI-era submarine that saw some service in WWII.  The periscopes work!

 The USS Missouri.  She has been de-commissioned, moth-balled at Navy Base Bremerton, re-commissioned, moth-balled again, and now is on permanent display in Perl Harbor.

 The plaque in the deck of the Missouri, marking the place where the Japanese surrender was signed, marking the end of the war in the Pacific.  Copies of the surrender documents are displayed nearby.

The mess in the USS Bowfin, a submarine that is displayed.

AB

Speaking Schedule, Washington

• Sunday, May 1, AM, Gig Harbor
• Sunday, May 1, PM, Camas
• Tuesday, May 3, 11 AM, Seattle Aurora
• Tuesday, May 3, 7 PM, Port Orchard
• Wednesday, May 4, Kent
• Sunday, May 8, AM, Seattle Beacon Hill
• Sunday, May 8, PM, Everett South

More Hawaii

If you haven't caught on, we really enjoyed our time in Hawaii.  Here's a little more about our time there.

Speaking at kid's camp.

On the first Tuesday we spoke at kid's camp.  We had a beautiful drive across the south part of Oahu to the camp, then had a very fun time speaking to the kids.  The highlight for them was when we dressed one of the young pastors in PNG clothes.  They didn't care that every item he was wearing was from a different region.

Waves on the North coast of Oahu

We went back via a different route along the north coast.  It was a windy day with a very high surf, so we stopped several times to take pictures of the spectacular waves.

Waikiki in the dark!

 

 

 

The only time we could find to go to Waikiki Beach was late one afternoon.  By the time we got there it was dark.  Oh, well.  We had a great time walking along all the stores and the people in the area.  That's our hosts Al and Linda, along with Judy.

I'll try to do one more Hawaii post before moving on to CANADA!

AB

Catchup. Not ketchup.

As promised, I'm going to try to catch up on our travels and deputation.

We took a route home that we've never tried before; from PNG to the Solomon Islands to Fiji to Hawaii.  We did 2 weeks of deputation in Hawaii before travelling on to Idaho and our family.

Scott and Olivia Dooley

The Dooleys took us to the airport.  This is Scott and Olivia.  We successfully avoided overweight charges, got checked in and away to Port Moresby without too much stress.  We spent the night in Pt. Moresby, staying at Mapang Missionary Home.  Early Sunday morning we left for the Solomon Islands.

Airport in Honiara, Solomon Islands

This is our only evidence that we were ever in the Solomons, and not very good evidence, since you probably can't read the sign.  We didn't go through Immigration (so we don't have stamp in our passports), just got off the plane, went through security, waited a few minutes then got back on the Air Niugini flight.

Singers in the Nadi (pronounced "nandi" if you care), Fiji, airport.

This is our only evidence of ever having been in Fiji.  We just went through as transit passengers, so still didn't get our passports stamped.  These young men were there in the airport playing and singing Fijian music for the people waiting in the line for the transfer desk.  After a while I guessed that they were singing Christian songs, based on the fact that some were to familiar hymn tunes.  As I sang along in English I made eye contact with the guitar player, who smiled.  When they finished, he came over, shook my hand and introduced himself.  He confirmed that they were, indeed, Christians, and were from a church there.  What a delightful break in the boredom of standing in line.

Judy with happy little kids at the Living Waters Church of the Nazarene

Even thought it was Sunday morning when we left PNG, we crossed the International Date Line, so it was Sunday morning again when we arrived in Hawaii.  Well, missionaries doing deputation can't waste a Sunday morning, so we got off the plane at 7:30 AM, and were speaking in a church at 12:00! 

This was in a delightful church plant called Living Waters Church of the Nazarene.  They meet at noon, because that's the only time they can get time in the school where they meet (apparently 6 or 7 church groups meet at this school).  They are effective in ministry and evangelism--a significant number in the church are homeless, and many are new believers.  The pastor is R.J. Strickland.  He and his wife were both music majors at NNU, and have a great ministry in teaching music lessons.  In fact, one of the requirements for being in the worship band is taking weekly lessons. 

We don't have any pictures of us speaking there, but we weren't too alert by then.  We were thankful to go to the house where we were staying and take a nap!

More about Hawaii soon!

AB

Update and apology!

OK.  I see how long it's been since I blogged last.  I'm ashamed.  I have lots of excuses, but they probably aren't very interesting to any of you.  Suffice it to say that as we got closer and closer to home assignment time, the harder it got to sit down and do it.  Plus, the internet trouble we've been having at Kudjip made it hard.

Photographic proof that we were in Hawaii.

Well, we are now on home assignment.  We left Kudjip March 12, and flew to Port Moresby, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Hawaii.  We spent about 2 weeks in Hawaii, speaking 10 times--in churches, on the radio, in a preschool, at Bible Studies, and doing a just a litle bit of touristy stuff.  We left there this past Monday evening, flew overnight to Phoenix (no, I don't understand airlines) and on to Boise, arriving Tuesday afternoon.

At the radio station with Pastor Rick Ragle

We have had a few precious hours with Amy and Sam, and with other family.  This morning we spoke in chapel at Northwest Nazarene University.  Tomorrow we will speak to a class (if I can finish this, and organize what we are going to do).  Then Friday we leave for Spanaway, Washington to spend a few hours with Drew and Andrea (our son and daughter-in-law) and then on Saturday we will head to British Columbia for a 2-week district tour.

My assumption is that we will have some free hours while we are in BC, and I can blog in more detail about some of our adventures along the way.

Here's our schedule for BC:
April 3 - Surrey (Guildford) - am,  Abbotsford - pm
April 4 - OFF
April 5 - Langley (Living Hope)
April 6 - Betel/Primera (Spanish Congregations together - location to be determined)
April 7 - Vancouver
April 8 - Burnaby (Como Lake)
April 9 - OFF
April 10 - Kelowna - am, Penticton - pm
April 11 - OFF
April 12 - OFF
April 13 - Nanaimo
April 14 - Port Alberni (Southside Community)
April 15 - Duncan (Cowichan Valley)
April 16 - Esquimalt (9:30 am breakfast meeting)
April 17 - Victoria - am

AB