At Long Last

Yes… It has been a while since we have added to our blog. We apologize for the delay.
We are in the Darwin area with some friends at the moment in preparation to fly out on Saturday night (tonight) for a 5 week break in the USA. What a drastic change that will be! We are in the wet season which is also the hottest time of the year with daily heavy rains and thunderstorms. Living on the island this year has been an experience we will surely never forget! What a privilege it has been to serve with Tiwi College even though this first year of pioneering the college has been tough on all the staff. Some staff have been talking about designing a shirt that says, “I survived the 1st year of Tiwi College”.
We finished the year in what we would call “victory”! The students, school and staff have come a long way since the beginning of the year. We have especially seen the students come a long way. Many have improved drastically in their literacy skills along with their behavioral and social skills. Linda and I feel we are now connecting with most of our boys in the house. It was very encouraging to actually get hugs from some of them as they left for home for the Christmas school holidays. The last day of school was a grand faunally of football, people and food. The Hawthorn Hawks, an AFL team that recently won the Australia Football league championship were there to spend time with the students. They were actually water boys to the boys as they played football. How cool is that! Tiwi College did go on to win the game which added to the excitement. There were many locals from the communities there for the game and there was a fantastic BBQ to finish off the days events. Of course we are all ready for a break and need to recharge for the year to come. Linda and I will be returning back to Tiwi College on January 19th 2009. Until then we are very much looking forward to a restful time with family and friends.
Papua New Guinea...
During our free time at Tiwi College I have been in close touch with Tony the station manager of “Laif FM” a radio station we pioneered in Wewak, Papua New Guinea. I continue to be very proud of Tony as he leads and grows in the work there. We have been assisting him to obtain some new broadcast equipment which will enable the station to transmit a much greater distance allowing many more thousands of people to receive the broadcast. The new equipment should be installed in a matter of a few weeks and a celebration is planned where the Prime Minister of PNG will switch on the new equipment.
I’ve been hearing some very distressing news from Tony over the last few days concerning large waves pounding the coast. I’ve noticed this story has been carried in the news internationally. These waves hit Wewak last Monday afternoon about 3 or 4:00. Many of the waves were several meters high and destroyed many homes, businesses and town infrastructure. The hospitable was especially hard hit and had to be closed. The patients were all sent home. The local Toyota dealer was destroyed along with businesses including a couple of hotels and restaurants and the wharf where the town’s supply of goods and fuel are received. A hotel/ restaurant where Linda and I used to visit for a meal named “The Windjammer” is gone! Wewak is experiencing a very difficult time. Please pray for this situation and for the many people who have been displaced through this tragedy.

Love and Merry Christmas …Bill & Linda