Indo Update

Hey, you guys!
Thought I would send an update out quick tonight as I know you will be headed to church and people will probably ask you how the guys are.
Porter said they took the day off and hiked up to a place where a couple families live in their own little hamlet. These people still build their houses up in the trees like all of the Arintap people use to do. (I guess about 20 ft. off the ground). Porter thought the guys would like to see it and they were all wanting to do some hiking anyway.
He said they were almost there (although they didn’t know it) and Lance said he just could not take another step! (poor guy!) I guess because he is so tall he had a hard time balancing on all the logs, etc and his boots were bothering him too. He sent everyone on and said he would wait there til they came back. Porter stayed with him. A few minutes later a couple of the other guys came back and said it was only about 200 yards further to the tree houses, but Lance said he just needed to stay there! Port was worried about him, but when the others came back to go back to our village he was doing great and ready to go. They made it back in the same amount of time it took to get there. I wonder if on the way back he was able to just mentally prepare himself for how far it was. (Mary Beth, don’t worry… he said he is doing fine and they had a nice relaxing afternoon after that). I guess they have some fun stories from that trip so all of you gals will probably get an earful when you get home from that one! Eating sago, sharing cookies, taking pictures, etc… probably lots of falls and slips too!
Porter gave the guys their “packages” this afternoon from you gals… he said they really enjoyed that. Sounds like they really miss all of you! (that’s a GOOD thing, right?!!
Us gals are doing well. It has been a HUGE blessing just to have someone to TALK TO besides little kids(although I do love my children dearly, it is nice to have ADULTS to talk to when Porter is gone! They have also helped me cut many yards of material for all the curtains to cover our windows in our soon-to-be house, held, bounced and consoled a fussy little baby, read more books than I can count, done dishes, cooked meals, as well as going through the guesthouse and getting rid of some very OLD items and making it look like a “new” and nice place for our missionaries to take a break! Whew! Did I mention that they TALK to me too!?! That is what I love most of all… hearing their stories from home and getting news of how all of you are doing! There are many people here going on furlough soon… we don’t know when we will be able to take one so THIS is my furlough… you guys sent them to me so I can have a taste of home without even having to leave the country!!! NOT TO MENTION all of the things they were able bring over for us… when they unloaded their bags it looked like Christmas 10xs over!!! Please pass on a very big THANK YOU to all of your Sunday School classes that donated money or things to make it possible for them to bring it all to us!! We are truly blessed and amazed!
This afternoon the gals and I walked over to a fellowship meeting with our other NTM co-workers (4 other families were able to attend). We had some sweet fellowship and mutual encouragement as we prayed and shared together. Our gals were able to be a real encouragement to a couple of the families who are headed back on furlough and very nervous about going home and speaking in their churches. It was neat to see the Lord use them in that way! AND Rita, Gwen and I learned something new about Marie… she can play guitar and sing!!!
The gals had a treat today… we were able to listen to the UT game through our computer this morning… you should have seen the three of them huddled around the computer listening to the game… how fun for all of us to be able to listen to the last exciting minutes of the game!!! A friend of ours here has satellite tv and is able to tape the game!!!! …SO we are going to surprise the guys when they come out and they will be able to watch it! We’re going to TRY to keep the ending a secret… I think Gwen can keep the secret, but Marie and Rita?!?! …we’ll see!!! (hee,hee!)
Well, I should get this sent off before you guys head to church. Just wanted to give you the latest update so you would have something to share. Thanks for all your prayers for the guys and for us gals as well. They are being answered! The guys are staying really healthy, LOTS of work is getting done and we are all being blessed! You have NO idea how excited Porter and I are about so much getting done on our house!!!! THANKS to EVERYONE who has prayed, given or is here now! Praise the LORD!!!

Sending our love and prayers and missing all of you!

Lexie for our family and the team