July 1998 MINI REPORT

Dear Brethren and Friends;

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

16 July 1998

Hello Hello- We finally got a telephone line!!!!!!!!!

I am starting this before we have a phone hooked up. I paid deposit on June 26th. I was finally told last week that they were out of lines in our area but that they would run new ones and we should be hooked up July 13 or 14 or 15th....... We knew we wouldn't get anything done today (13th) as France won the world Cup and everyone came down with a fever here. They couldn't go to work because they had to ride around in the back of trucks in celebration. It was fun trying to get anything done today. It is so much fun being out of communication. NOT!

I couldn't help but think that you guys would love it over here right now. They say it gets much hotter in Dec-Feb and more humid with the typhoon season. But that is relative (not mine). Relative to PNG it is not that hot or humid. When we opened up everything the smell of mildew from PNG was overpowering. They do not have the mold and mildew so bad over here as there is a sea breeze most of the time and it is not as humid.

Let me start at the beginning (and don't try to sidetrack me with questions and observations):

After three weeks of packing we put the containers on the wharf in Lae on the 12th of June. We stayed in the SIL flats for a couple of nights. We moved back into the empty house and slept on an air mattress. Velma let us use the refrigerator at the Missionary centre. Was kind of like camping out. The 14th I preached for the English congregation (They bought our car for their preacher). The rains which had held off while we were packing the container returned the last week we were in Lae. We bought lunch pack chicken from a local shop and had lunch with the students at MBC. We were able to finish cleaning up the house and left on the plane out of the country on June 19th. We arrived in Cairns Australia and were met by Ron Doyle. We opted to stay at a motel over the weekend as the Doyles had family staying and we would have had to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room. We did go over a visit and I was asked to preach Sunday. On Monday afternoon we flew on down to Brisbane. We had wanted to take the sleeper train but it was school holidays and the train was booked up. Elaine Leggatt picked us up and we stayed with them. Sombo called from Port Vila saying that the visas were approved and that they would be waiting for us at the airport when we landed in Vanuatu. We had left PNG in sweltering conditions and the temperatures in Brisbane were close to freezing. So we rescheduled our flight to Vanuatu (moved it up one week, now I understand why we didn't get on the train - we would not have been able to move our departure up). We did some last minute shopping with Elaine running us around. We have to buy a new bladder for the waterbed (the other one split when I started to drain it), bought an air mattress and a couple of lawn chairs as we would be moving into the empty house in Port Vila we were leasing. We packaged up several items and sent them on ahead as unaccompanied baggage. (Much cheaper than paying overweight.) Our containers were to arrive in Port Vila on the 29th of June. We arrived in Port Vila at 11.00pm on June 26th very mild (almost cold temperature) and no our visas were not at the airport. After looking for over 15 minutes the immigration man finally gave us visitor visas and told us to go to the town office on the morrow to straighten it out. (We have done such and found out that about 90% of the visas are done this way,) Sombo Dowara met us and drove us to a motel for the rest of the night. The next morning Sombo drove us around to the real estate agent for the key to the house, to immigration to straighten out the permits, the bank to get a checking account and to pick up the unaccompanied baggage. We bought a small ice cooler and ice as we didn't have a refrigerator yet in the house. Over the weekend we found out that the house did not have a hot water solar unit or for that matter any hot water. There was a small wall mounted gas water heater on the bathroom wall which supplies hot water on demand. But it required gas and the gas shop was closed over the weekend. Let me tell you that water were cold!!!!

We worshipped with the brethren on Sunday. Kathy and I took the bus. There are small 15 seater buses running all over town from 5.30am-10.00pm everyday. It only cost 70¢ to go anywhere. We have a bus stop right outside our gate. Presently we are worshipping in a building across town which belongs to the Agape Holiness Church of Vanuatu. The son of the 'pastor' was converted by Sombo just recently. His group worships on Saturday.

First thing Monday I went down and bought gas for the hot water. After much adjusting I was able to get hot water in the shower but not sufficiently hot for the kitchen so you mother has to boil water to wash dishes and will be selling the dishwasher. Took the papers down to the shipping agents to clear the containers, Also met with the bank manager hoping to be able to write our checks and not having to wait 3 weeks for them to clear. Not so! As Vanuatu is a small country with little foreign reserve all checks have to clear before funds are available. We will have to have Bonnie telegraphic transfer funds each month. TT's do give a better exchange rate but cost more as well. I spent the next few days doing some minor maintenance on the house. The containers were delivered to the house on the 2nd of July. The one which belongs to us was ferried into the yard while the leased one was put down across the road in a parking area of a motel. (I had asked permission earlier in the week,) I started unloading the urgent items first: washing machine, refrigerator, stove, dishes, waterbed etc. I had to go somewhere and while I was gone a man from the shipping agency came by and made Kathy shut up the container as they were still supposed to be under customs bond. (No problems we had gotten out what we needed for the moment.) The next morning the agent came with the customs man and the customs man sat around and watched me unload for a coupe of hours and then had me sign his sheet and he left. Sombo came over with a couple of the guys and we unloaded the container across the street except for the printing presses. We used his truck to ferry the stuff to the house. We were able to get a small forklift up on Monday (6th July) and shift the printing presses into the shed next to the house. Also on July 6th I went down and bought a small used Nissan truck. I paid just under what I got for both of our vehicles in PNG. ($3500) It's previous owner was the local brewery. Doesn't look too flash but it has the heart of a tiger. Nice to have wheels again!

We have been unpacking and Kathy arranging. I have been building shelves in the kitchen and my office. Just today (13th July) have arranged enough to actually find things and use the office. Phew! The ole muscles were and are still hurting from unpacking. Some nights we just drop into bed too exhausted to sleep. On the 9th Sombo, Shem (local man whom Sombo is training) and I had our first coordination meeting. We are planning to have a booth at the National Independance celebrations July 28-31th to hand out tracts and sign people up for WBS courses. We are also talking about calling ourselves 'the church of Christ' instead of the current 'Christ's church'. The churches of Christ Associated are here and the brethren thought that by calling ourselves 'Christ's church' it would be less confusing. Wrong it has been more confusing. So we are going with 'church of Christ'.

We found out Saturday night the fuse limiter for the house would not allow your mother to cook on the stove at the same time as I was using the photocopier. So today I had (after I paid more depost money) the electric company came by and increase the fuse limit to 25 amps from 15 amps. They have a system here were they have a current limiter on the line and the electric company is the only one who can reset it.

I planted beans and lettuce last week in some beds at the back of the house. They came up within two days. The neighborhood cats use the same beds for their litter and I have my retraining slingshot handy at all times now.

Yesterday I preached for the Port Vila congregation. Sombo has done a good job getting the brethren together and helping them become more of a fellowship. He has a number of good studies going on as the Pentecostal church just split here. We have about 10 adults and 8 children in attendance.

We watched the World cup final on satellite this morning (13th). Morris and his wife came in from the village yesterday afternoon and spent the night with us and watched the game as well.

We are still unpacking. Just trying to find a place for everything as we get it out. We see that we are going to have to sell/give away a bunch of stuff before we pack up again to go the Harding next year. The weather has been absolutely fabulous. It does get into the 80's during the day but down into the 60's at night. We get the odd rain shower but the sun comes out quickly again.(My, look at that odd rain shower go by. I wonder what the parents looks like!) I will try to take a video of the house instead of trying to explain it. We have a 18 foot satellite TV disc but don't get NBC or ESPN (6 different satellites with Chinese, French, Spanish, Indonesian,, Malay, Australian, CNBC and CNN). We are getting a conversion to digital signal in a week or two which will give us a better variety of channels. The local broadcast channel goes off at 9.30 every night and has a heap of French speaking films. We have been listening to a lot of music. (Not the local FM station either.)

I will sign off here.

I'm back. It is now 12.40 Tuesday. Still no telephone. They have lunch from 11.30-1.30 daily. I spent the morning putting the office together a bit better so that I can be somewhat efficient whenever I get to work on the Bislama songbook or whatever. I have stacks of files and stuff out in the maid quarters where I have put the photocopiers. I will have to sort through them when I get the time.

Another day gone by: Wednesday I was told the phone would be hooked up this morning (16th). Each day I anticipate having communication via e.mail again and thus don't send a letter. I finally figured out my problem. For getting anything done here the standard reply is "tomorrow" . I finally looked on my calender and there is no 'tomorrow'. They had be fooled but now I know!

To keep myself occupied I have that skin rash again which is like poison ivy and spreads rapidly and itches like fire. I picked it up from something out in the grass. I take time out every morning, afternoon and evening to break all the blisters and put alcohol and calamine lotion on the areas. So far I have been able to contain it to the lower areas of both arms and legs. It gives me something to do!

We finally got the telephone line - our number is (678) 25212. It took another trip down to their office after lunch but the linemen came right after that.

In Christian service.

Tobey & Kathy Huff