Last day in Adelaide

We've had wonderful, relaxing time in Adelaide and are thankful for Bill and Di for showing us so much of Adelaide. We really have seen most of the tourist places! This photo was taken at Glenelg Beach last night.

We leave for Sydney this afternoon and then at 7am tomorrow morning, we'll fly to Vanuatu via Brisbane. We'll arrive there around 2:00pm. Bill and Di have shared about their experience in Vanuatu and we've looked at their pictures and are really excited to be going there!

10 things I like about Adelaide, South Australia

1. South Australia leads the nation in recycling and is way ahead of Minnesota.

Plastic bags are banned in stores.
More items are recycled here than in MN.
Beginning Nov. 1, incandescent lights will not longer be sold.
Solar energy is on the upswing.

2. Great public transportation.

3. No tipping.

4. By the ocean.

5. Tropical birds and plants.

6. Magnum bars and Tim Tams.

7. Beautiful weather.

8. Interesting animals.

9. Friendly people.

10. Bill and Di live here, great friends and hosts!

What Morris doesn't like:

1. No Starbucks but he's learned what to order at a coffee shop to satisfy his palate. :)

Ma'di Translation

Bill Eckermann, our friend here, is serving as an advisor and mentor for the Ma’di language of Sudan. Among the several thousand Ma'di-speaking refugees from southern Sudan who are now living here in Australia there is a core group who desire to have a new translation in Ma’di since a translation that was completed in the 1980s is not very readable. Bill shared about his work at church this morning and showed this in a powerpoint.
Shows the importance of a good orthography!

Bill and Dianne Eckermann served with Lutheran Bible Translators Australia (LBTA) in Papua New Guinea and completed the Bukawa New Testament and selections of the Old Testament. They returned to Australia at the end of 2002. As well as working with the Ma'di translators, Bill also does some translation consultancy for translators in PNG as well as in Vanuatu. Bill and Di were instramental in getting us involved in the Adzera translation program. It's been great to be with them again!

Australian Wildlife

Unfortunately, we didn't spot any penguins. They come back to Granite Island every day as dusk after a busy day of fishing.

We spotted this koala bear on the side of the road on the way to an overlook of Adelaide.

This Magpie comes to Bill and Di's door everyday for some cheese.

We are doing well and are sleeping really well too. We'll soon be over jet lag.

To view more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29876367@N07/ or my Facebook profile.

We've arrived in Sydney! The trip went well and we were able to get seats together! We took a 30 min. nap and then headed off to Coogee Beach. We have to remember to look to the right before crossing a road and walk on the left side of the sidewalk so we don't bump into anyone. We had a delicious lamb yeero (hero) for dinner. Yes,that is the correct spelling at this restaurant and we look forward to eating more lamb in the next weeks.

We're off to Adelaide in the morning to spend a week with Bill and Dianne Eckermann, good friends from our time in PNG. They visited us in Minnesota the week we moved in to our house and graciously helped us paint and move in. I wonder if they have a big project waiting for us?

We're ready to go

It's been a busy day but we are all packed and ready to go. We're excited to see what the Lord will do on this trip and we go knowing that He is in control of everything. I had to remind myself of this when I found out while checking in that Morris and I are not sittting together for the long flight and I have a middle seat! I'm hoping/praying that we can get exit row seats or that someone will change with Morris so at least we can sit together. But, I'm reminded that I'll survive if I have to sit in between 2 people for 12 hours. God knows what we need and I choose to trust Him in this. Just hope I don't drool on the person sitting next to me while I'm out with a little help from some little pills....

Map of Vanuatu

Most of our stay will be at the SIL guest house in Port Vila but Morris will go to Tanna Island for 5 days of the checking and then they will come back to Port Vila for the last week of checking. At least that is the plan at this time, always subject to change! The flight from Brisbane, Australia to Port Vila is 2 hours.

Why are we going?

We had planned on doing something special to celebrate our 30th. wedding anniversary (Aug.26) ever since our 25th. anniversary. We talked of many things but never could come to an agreement and nothing ever felt "right".

However, as Aug. approached, we realized that we had to make a decision and plan something or nothing would happen, which wouldn't be unusual. I finally convinced Morris that an Alaskan cruise would be a good idea. There were good deals to be had and we had frequent flyer points.

We were all set to start making bookings when, on July 11, this arrived in an email from Ross and Lyndal Webb, good friends and the Director of SIL Vanuatu : "25th October - November whenever. We do need someone to consultant check a gospel of Luke - did you do consulting Morris, I forget?" I read it first and knew Morris would be drawn to it. I asked Morris to read it and left the room, praying all the way! I came back in to see him sitting in contemplation and could tell by his face that he wanted to go. "Let's do it!" was my reply. What was I thinking?? There went my relaxing cruise and in came lots of uncertainty, planning, work details, etc. but the decision came with great peace. My "no more than 3 weeks" turned into 5 weeks as we looked at dates, vacation time there and when the cheaper flights were. We couldn't go all the way there and not visit good friends in Australia!

We hoped to do something special for our 30th. never dreaming it would be this special. Seeing good friends from PNG is wonderful but being able to be involved directly again in Bible translation, priceless!