The Move

Since April last year we have been planning a move to Tanna island in hopes of strengthening 8 Christians who were baptized and to plant the church in more villages. Well, on January 24th, all our planning and preparation came to fruition when our family moved to Lorakau village.

We had shipped our truck and our belongings previously (read prior post) and now WE were ready to move. We hopped a plane on Monday, January 24th which marked the beginning of our village adventures. A short one-hour flight from Vila brought us to our new home, but we weren’t there yet. After the flight we had to get a local transport to take us to the main town of Lenakel where I had parked our truck. Being greeted by Pbles and Ruth, Christians from Etas now living in Lenakel, we were excited to begin our work together.

With some laplap made just for us now nestled in our tummies, we piled in the truck to try and tame the wild road to Lorakau village. It took us 1 ½ hours to reach Lorakau, which is longer than usual because the road had nearly been washed out by a recent rain. All the passengers piled out of the truck at the base of the large mountain and walked up the hill to repair the road so the truck could pass. Climbing the hill in 4 wheel drive, it felt like we were inside of a washing machine being tossed back and forth. Any minute, I was sure it was going to rain to complete our “rinse” cycle and let us know that we truly had been in a washing machine.

What I miss most
You may ask, “What do you miss most, living in the village?” Well the answer is anything but short, but here goes.
1. I miss any cold drink. Having luke-warm ice tea is better than plain water, but only just slightly.
2. I miss ready access to medical facilities and pharmacies. For about 2 weeks I have been battling a rash that I hoped could be cleared up before our move. This was not going to happen even though I went to a doctor in Vila, the problem is still “persistant”. Not having the right medicine to nip the problem in the bud is quite annoying.
3. I miss a mirror. Not trying to be vain here, but I just realized that I haven’t looked in the mirror for 4 days. I really need to shave.

Food
Our diet consists mostly of root crops, with which laplap is made, rice and canned meat (corned beef or tuna fish). When you have no refrigeration, your options are limited. Cindy will be writing more on this later. Sorry to make you wait.

We have no dining room table, so we pull out a piece of wood that we brought at every meal and use our makeshift table to save room in our house.

House
Speaking of house, we live in a cinder block house. It is about 24 feet long by 15 feet wide. It has been divided in the middle by one bamboo woven wall. On one side of the wall are the beds: two single beds for Kaela and Melia, and one double bed for Cindy and I. We noticed right away that privacy was going to be nearly non-existant and when I change clothes or put medicine on my body, the girls have to go outside.

The other side of the bamboo wall serves as our kitchen, dining room, sitting room and office. Yes, all that in a 12’ x 15’ area. If nothing else we’ll grow closer as a family, right?

Well, that’s it for now. More to come soon next week.

In Christ,
Aaron and family