Spaghetti feed was a success

I guess I should write a quick note letting everyone know that I had my
Spaghetti feed on Sunday to raise money for my missionary trip to PNG,
and it went well. There were quite a few people from Church that stuck
around for it as well as a lot of the college kids from the UCM group
that I've been attending stuffing their faces with Mr. Doug's tasty foods.

The photos from Africa just got done in time for the fund raiser... I
wasn't sure that they would. I should also mention that the photos look
way better then they did on my computer screen... They don't even look
like my own photos anymore. But I suppose that's a good thing. They'll
still be on auction until this Sunday so everyone can get a chance to
see them before they disappear to the airtight safes... you know, for
posterities sake.

In other news, I'm almost debt free for the 2nd time in my life!!! I
have about three hundred dollars left to pay on my car, which I should
take care of early next month... Man, I sound old, I'm actually excited
about that... well who wouldn't be. ;-)

Long time no type

Wow, has it been awhile since I wrote in this blog site... I have it on good word from many of you that several people were following my travels regularly. That's great news! I'm glad so many people can share in my journeys and see the world through the eyes of my lens.

What have I been up to in the last year? Well, quite a bit. I continued welding and last summer my sister visited me. In August my parents and my Grandmother came up for a couple weeks to see all the flowers in Fairbanks and to see the Aurora's. In November I was involved in a short term mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya to rebuild a health clinic. When I returned from that trip I found out that I had been laid off from my welding job during my absence. Was a disappoint in that outcome... yes, but it was also a great opportunity to test all my current skills while helping others directly somewhere else in the world. So, the original purpose of this wanderer is to continue in a new part of the world...

*whew*... and was worried I'd have to settle down somewhere.

My new wanderings will take me to the island of New Guinea. The independent nation of Papua New Guinea has many different aspects that lend my skills quite useful. Since this country is so rugged, the only efficient type of travel is by air and there are many villages with no road system or reliable way to get medical or nutrient to the people who live in these places. Therefore it was decided some two years ago to build an airstrip that is approximately a two day canoe ride and a days hike from the nearest small airport.

Here's where I come in; I will be the Construction manager on the job and I will be driving farm tractors to level grade (I grew up on a farm) and create the final grass landing strip (I worked for a soil testing lab) and be self sufficient with the tools that are available to me, including a welder (well... this should be obvious).

Currently I am returning from a trip to St. Louis (where the LCMS headquarters are located) where I was involved in a one day mini-orientation for my year long missions trip. I also spent a few days visiting with my family and friends back home since I hadn't seen them in almost two years and won't get an opportunity to for some time.

There are many more details to share, and much more work to be done before I leave, but let me leave you with some quick links to more information before I board the last plane back to Fairbanks.

Project information and need
There is a prayer card that should be updated on that website soon... but since this is all moving so quickly it isn't quite up there yet...

Please keep tuned... there is much more to come...