Doing more than expected
Lourens and Marie Laureti were discouraged, but understanding, when they realized a work team might not be able to come to Papua New Guinea to help them build a house.
"When missionaries start doing work on their houses, they often get work teams from their home countries to come and help out," Lourens wrote. "Unfortunately, none of our friends could come around and this is especially due to the economic crunch we are all experiencing worldwide."
But one church group decided, after helping out at a conference and assisting missionaries in another village, to extend their helping hands to Lourens and Marie by building a new shed for their airstrip and helping with their house.
"They could have traveled around," Lourens wrote, "yet they chose to wash down walls, break down termite infested floors, cover windows with mosquito screens, and paint and varnish floors and walls from early morning till late at night."
The Lauretis are now able to move into their home much sooner than they thought, allowing them more time to begin learning the Mengen culture and language.
"They actually made a huge difference and took a large chunk of the work off our shoulders," Lourens wrote. "This team has really been great and they are very special people."
Please pray that the rest of the transition into their home will go smoothly for the Lauretis and that they will get a good grasp on learning the culture and language of the Mengen tribe.
"Learning new cultures such as ... Northern Irish, Dutch Australian, and now ... Mengen, has truly given us opportunities to get to know ourselves better and to learn that we are but a speck of dust in this life and that we can truly learn from each other," Lourens wrote.
"When missionaries start doing work on their houses, they often get work teams from their home countries to come and help out," Lourens wrote. "Unfortunately, none of our friends could come around and this is especially due to the economic crunch we are all experiencing worldwide."
But one church group decided, after helping out at a conference and assisting missionaries in another village, to extend their helping hands to Lourens and Marie by building a new shed for their airstrip and helping with their house.
"They could have traveled around," Lourens wrote, "yet they chose to wash down walls, break down termite infested floors, cover windows with mosquito screens, and paint and varnish floors and walls from early morning till late at night."
The Lauretis are now able to move into their home much sooner than they thought, allowing them more time to begin learning the Mengen culture and language.
"They actually made a huge difference and took a large chunk of the work off our shoulders," Lourens wrote. "This team has really been great and they are very special people."
Please pray that the rest of the transition into their home will go smoothly for the Lauretis and that they will get a good grasp on learning the culture and language of the Mengen tribe.
"Learning new cultures such as ... Northern Irish, Dutch Australian, and now ... Mengen, has truly given us opportunities to get to know ourselves better and to learn that we are but a speck of dust in this life and that we can truly learn from each other," Lourens wrote.