Most readers of this journal have heard of Wycliffe Bible Translators, and probably know something about it. Fewer people know about SIL International. In order to understand the purpose of Charlie and Amie’s mission at Ukarumpa in Papua New Guinea, one first needs to understand the mission and methods of SIL and Wycliffe in Papua New Guinea. Read the rest of this entry »
SIL, Wycliffe, and Ukarumpa
July 30th, 2008A Few Photos of the Browns
July 21st, 2008A number of folks have asked about current photos of the Browns. Cindy and I returned with around 8,000 photographs, so the effort to cull through those and organize the remaining ones is huge. We plan on publishing some more complete photo albums later, but for those who cannot wait… Read the rest of this entry »
Mumu at Rose’s
July 13th, 2008
A Papua New Guinean mumu (pronounced moo-moo) is a traditional means of cooking enough food for a large number of people. Rose, Charlie and Amie’s Haus Meri (housekeeper), invited them to bring us over to her clan home for a traditional Mumu on Saturday, June 28. Read the rest of this entry »
Townsend
July 12th, 2008
As mentioned in the Dorelo post, Townsend is another of the three hostels sharing a large, common yard area, including Dorelo. I wasn’t planning on describing any of the others besides Dorelo, but on the Saturday before we left, July 5, Charlie and Amie decided to accept an opportunity they had to move from Dorelo into Townsend.
Dorelo
July 3rd, 2008
There are four SIL hostels in Ukarumpa, and each hostel has a name. Dorelo, Townsend, and Teen Manor share a common yard area. Rama (sp?) is about a quarter-mile away up the hill from the other three. There are also at least two other, non-SIL hostels which are operated by other mission organizations on the SIL facility. Dorelo, Amie and Charlie’s hostel, is the oldest of the hostels. Read the rest of this entry »
Madang to Ukarumpa
July 1st, 2008 
On Wednesday, June 25, we ate breakfast (Cindy, Jeff, and I had two breakfasts) and then loaded up to head out of Jais Aben. After we paid the bill (they took Visa!) we had to go into Madang to the SIL guest house so Charlie could return some paperwork. In typical Charlie-Amie fashion, we had turned the van around and had gone about 50 feet when someone realized Kate wasn’t with us. Amie retrieved her from the bathroom in the office/restaurant building, and we were on our way to Madang. Read the rest of this entry »
Snorkeling at Rempi Village
July 1st, 2008
The Russells, the couple who were the Dorelo hostel parents before Amie and Charlie, invited us to join them at the village of Rempi, where a Wycliffe member who has been in-country for 20+ years “owns” a cabin on the beach. Foreigners are not allowed to own property in PNG, so I don’t know the technicalities of this ownership. They are apparently allowed to own buildings, but not the land on them, so it’s possible that he has leased the land from Rempi villagers, and owns the cabin on it. Read the rest of this entry »
Snorkeling at Jais Aben
July 1st, 2008
As mentioned earlier, the snorkeling on the reef is great. The four oldest Brown kids were in the water when I got down to the tree in front of the duplex which we used for access. They were making their way across the reef, which was painful in bare feet. I made my way uncomfortably across the reef to the kids. Kate wasn’t comfortable, so I took her in, finding a channel through the reef. In the meantime, Jeff was trying to walk his way in across the reef, and was stuck. Amie and I hollered at him to stay where he was, and I quickly made my way out past the reef and around to where he was standing, which fortunately was only a few feet in. I reached up for him and rolled him into deep water, and escorted him around to the tree. Then Chase, Krista, and I made our way back out to the reef for a very nice snorkel together. Read the rest of this entry »
Madang and Jais Aben
July 1st, 2008The road was good (still needing to be ever watchful for potholes and people) as we approached Madang on Friday, June 20. Charlie and Amie couldn’t remember how to get there, so we pulled over on the side where a crowd of men were waiting (may have been a PMV stop) and asked out the window for directions to Jais Aben, the oceanfront resort where we were staying the next five nights. One red-toothed gentleman came over to the car. “Jais Aben? Back this way and right. Go all the way. Big sign.” We smiled and thanked him and got the big red smile in return.
Lae to Madang
June 29th, 2008We were up early Friday morning, June 20, so we could get to Brian Bell’s, a general store with a restaurant inside, for breakfast and some purchases before we headed out. We arrive before 8:30, when the restaurant opened, but they went ahead and took our orders for preparation while we shopped. Cindy and I gave Chase PGK10 (10 Kina, approximately $4) as an early birthday present. He purchased something for himself, but also something to share with each of his siblings. We also purchased a pair of fins for me and a mask for Cindy for snorkeling at Lae, since we didn’t bring ours from the States due to weight constraints. Read the rest of this entry »
Port Moresby to Lae
June 28th, 2008
At Mapang Missionary House in Port Moresby, there was a lady and her son from Ukarumpa who were headed back to Holland, but they didn’t have visas. This seems a little odd, but you can’t leave PNG (maybe this is normal everywhere) without a current PNG visa, and PNG is notoriously slow about handling the visa paperwork, especially work visas as required by missionaries. Her flight was leaving at 3:30, she was supposed to check in at 1:30, and here it was 2:15 and no visa yet. Luke, the gentleman who picked us up at the airport, along with someone else, was at Immigration downtown trying to get the visas signed, and we had just received a call at Mapang that Luke was on his way over to pick Cindy and me up so we would get to the airport on time, but they didn’t know if he had the missing visas. They were going out to the airport with us anyway, to be there when the visas were signed. I’m sure many, including me, were in prayer for those visas, and God provided, as when Luke pulled up he said they had her signed visas down at the airport. Read the rest of this entry »
Cairns to Port Moresby
June 28th, 2008
On Thursday, June 19, we had an early flight out of Cairns for Port Moresby – leaving at 6:45 AM, so we needed to be at the airport by 5 AM. Cindy had called the taxi company (Black and White) the night before, asking for a 4:30 pickup. Cindy and I were up before 4 AM after a fitful night of sleep, probably worrying about oversleeping, even though I had set the alarm. We got everything packed up, and at 4:30 started down the hill from our room to the Tree Tops office, and saw the taxi waiting for us. I had peeked around the corner a few minutes before and he wasn’t there, so I was duly impressed with the promptness of the taxi at that time of day. A quick ride with a very nice taxi driver to the airport, and we arrived at the international departures terminal by 4:40. The fare was about 21AUD, I gave him 25, nearly exhausting our Australian money supply. Read the rest of this entry »
We are in Ukarumpa
June 25th, 2008Just a quick note, more later. We have arrived in Ukarumpa via Port Moresby (Mapang Guest House), Lae (Lae SIL guest house), and Madang. Wonderful week so far, great visiting and snorkeling. Very interesting ride on the Lae<->Madang “highway.”
Tree Tops, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
June 18th, 2008
After about 35 hours in transit, Cindy and I arrived at Treetops Lodge in Cairns (actually Stratford), Queensland, Australia. The trip went smoothly, no real hitches. Our suitcases weighed in at 48 and 48.5 lbs, so we should be good in that camp until the POM->Lae segment. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. -> Ukarumpa Itinerary
June 15th, 2008Cindy and I leave Chattanooga at 11:22 this morning, flying to Atlanta. An hour and a half in Atlanta and we head for Los Angeles, where we’ll get our luggage from Delta and check it in on Air New Zealand. (We saved several hundred dollars by booking each segment separately; it’s yet to be seen whether it was worth it to have to handle our luggage each time we change airlines.) Read the rest of this entry »
About the Trip
June 14th, 2008
Gerry and Cindy Williamson (and Ernie and Lynda Brown) have a child (daughter Amie for the Williamsons, son Charlie for the Browns) stationed as house parents for the Ukarumpa International School (UIS) on the SIL facility at the village of Ukarumpa near Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea. Along with Amie and Charlie, their five children – five of our grandkids! – have been away from us for just a few days short of a year, as of this writing.When Charlie and Amie confirmed that they were going to stay a second year, after much prayer and discussion the Williamsons resolved to make a visit to them during the UIS winter break starting in mid-June, 2008.
