Sometimes it’s hard to make decisions inside a culture that is new. We found this to be the case more than once during our first term in PNG. During our first several months after arriving in PNG, our daughter, who was three at the time, struggled a lot. She was sick from the moment we stepped foot in PNG and had an extremely hard time adjusting to all the many changes.

While we were living in a village at the tail end of our training, she was not doing well. We knew that she wasn’t acting like herself and were very concerned. We would pray and worship with her, which helped some, but we knew instinctively that there was just something wrong. I turned on my phone out in the middle of the jungle and called the nurse that would check in on us periodically to make sure we were all in good health. I chatted with her for a few minutes telling her what was going on with our daughter and then we hung up.

To our surprise, a counselor, whose specialty was working with children, showed up at our village the next day. We were in the middle of the jungle in Nowhere, Papua New Guinea, and a counselor shows up at our door. It may not seem like it, but this is a big deal.

She spent the day with us and was able to give us some good advice about our next steps with our daughter. We wound up leaving that village early and taking some time in town for all of us, but especially for our daughter, to rest and find some stability.

It was definitely the best thing we could have done to call someone and ask for help. Our daughter’s overall health improved significantly following this time of rest. We were able to get back out to another village and our time there was a complete contrast to our first experience. She absolutely loved living there. She was full of joy and wanted to play all day long with her new Papua New Guinean friends.

We are grateful for the wisdom we found in seeking help; we just can’t do it on our own.

Erin and her family are on furlough in the US. They will be returning early next year.