Lion Login Troubles

So you got your Mac updated to shiny new Lion and you're enjoying all those new zoomy features.

Then one day, you go to log in, and the screen goes white and kicks you back to the login screen.
Uh oh. That's not good.

In my experience, something corrupted the keychain(s) simply removing the keychains from the /Users/USERNAME/Library/Keychains/ folder allowed the user to log in and work as normal, save the loss of the passwords.

Fear not, your files are not lost. You're just unable to login to the graphical environment.

Here's the how to:
You'll need to get to the command line of the system. This will be easiest if you have another account on the machine, but could be done through Single User Mode as well.

If you're in Single User Mode, you'll need to mount the system Read/Write.
mount -o update /

If you're using Terminal.app from another user, you'll need root privelages. sudo works if you're an admin user, otherwise, you can su USERNAME to the account that is broken.

Enter the following, obviously replacing USERNAME with the short name of the account that is broken.
Note: the short name of an account can be found by looking at the name of the home folder of an account. Unless specifically altered, the default is a concatenation of the first and last name. John Doe would get the short name johndoe unless otherwise altered.
rm /Users/USERNAME/Library/Keychains/*

Once you've done that, you can reboot the system if you're in Single User Mode (shutdown -r now) or log out of the other account you were using.
At this point you should be able to sign into the ailed account.
You will have lost all the passwords that were saved in your keychain, and while annoying, that's a small price to pay vs losing your data.

Please be EXTRA careful when working in read/write while in Single User Mode as well as dealing with any and all Library files.

With power comes responsibility. BE CAREFUL!

Install a Target-mode Mac without shutting down the host

Have you ever had a Mac that you need to reinstall, but only have a disk image of the install disc? Or, you don't have a DVD that the soon-to-be-reinstalled machine will accept?

So long as you have a Firewire cable, you can still run the install.

1. Put the target machine into Target mode (hold the "T" key as soon as you hear the chime on boot)
2. Connect the target machine and the host machine via FireWire cable
3. Insert the install DVD or mount the disk image on the host machine.
4. Open Terminal and enter this line:

   open /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ DVD/System/Installation/Packages/

5. This will open a new Finder window displaying the contents of a folder on the install disc.

6. In that folder, you'll need to run OSinstall.mpkg and select the hard drive of the target machine as the install point. (you may want to format the hard drive of the target machine prior to doing the install)
7. Select your options (by clicking the "Customize" button) and you're off!

Note: this was written for 10.6.x. In some cases this works flawlessly, in others, it doesn't work at all. Please comment with your experience.

Pictures!

Finally got the pictures sorted through and got them uploaded.

So for your viewing pleasure: http://picasaweb.google.com/seeryn/Palawan

No, I took far more then 102 pictures, but I have a limit on their server, so for the rest you'll have to come visit me.

Y'all enjoy
Nathan

I is be home!

Howdy y'all,

I'm more then a bit late getting this out. Got busy talking with the folks.

I landed at DFW on Monday May 5th at 8:20pm. Just 40min over-due. Not too bad considering how far I had to come from Manila.

Save some thunderstorms around Tokyo, the flights were quite smooth.
The flight was delayed for nearly an hr from Tokyo due to an unexplained noise. Finally tracked it down to to the ventilation system for one of the rear toilets.
We were again delayed in Minneapolis due to traffic. I think we were number 14 in line for take off when we pulled away from the gate.

Customs at MSP went fairly smoothly despite a paranoid CBP agent wanting an explanation as to why I would bring native artifacts home. Fortunately, the other officer, who I suspect carried more clout, wasn't the least bit worried and even helped me tape the box back up.

Both of my boxes and even the 4, 6ft poles arrive with me. I was please to not have to deal with lost luggage.

My family was there to meet me when I got off the flight. Stopped by the Grandparents on the way home.

After a bit of sleep, I'm starting to get adjusted to the 13hr time difference.
Now to get all the pictures sorted and online...

Y'all take care and God bless!
Nathan

Kementian News 04-20-08 Edition

Howdy everyone!

David had an idea while he and Tammy were on vacation a couple weeks ago. The idea was to come up with some flashlights that could be loaned to the local people so that evening meetings could be held at the church. At present no one would come to a evening meeting unless there is going to be a sleep-over or someone loans them a light as most people don't have flashlights at all.

The title applied to this project is Let There Be Light.

So the first question is, where are we going to find flashlights that fit the requirements (cheap, simple to operate, few parts for the people to take apart, long battery life, durable)?

To answer this question, strap on your time machine and we'll jump back to early February at SWAU where they are packing the Valentine's packages for the SMs. Many goodies were included in these packages, but the item we are looking for is a Pak-Lite. Its a flashlight that was designed and created by a class-mate of my brothers that is quite simply, two LEDs attached to the top of a 9volt battery. Simple, durable, cheap.

Fast forward the three weeks it takes for a small package to arrive via USPS and that flashlight (as well as all the tasty food items) was a hit. Everyone on the project was quite fascinated with the little light. So when David had this idea for the Let There Be Light project, this flashlight was the first thing that popped into his head. On poking around the website for Pak-Lite's <http://www.9voltlight.com> he found the basic model running just shy of $13 each. Multiplying that $13 times the approximately 30 that David feels we need to properly start this project and you come up with a number thats awfully close to $400. Where is $400 going to come from?

On Monday evening of last week, David mentioned this idea to the rest of the team as we were enjoying some yummy food. He mentioned that he wasn't sure where the money was going to come from. As I sat there and listened to his story and the amount needed, I was reminded of an email I'd received the week prior.

Apparently, after I'd already arrive here on Palawan, my church had some additional funds donated towards the fund raising that I was doing to allow me to come over here. The email asked what I wanted to do with this money. I replied that I would ask and see what was needed on the project. I was expecting the George's to come in the following day, but as it turned out, they didn't end up coming back in from the lowlands at all. So I didn't get to ask them. I was intending to reply again with instructions to sit on the money and I'd purchase a few items that I felt were needed when I got home and send them over, but I forgot to send that email three days in a row.

Oh, I guess you're probably wondering about how much money was donated "late". It was $400.

So here we have God answering prayers months prior to the idea even being formed, both in the case of the flashlight itself and the money to make the purchase. Just a little reminder of Isaiah 65:24 "...Before they call, I will answer..." Yup, God is still alive and working for his children, even before we know what He's doing for us!

I'll be leaving the mountains next Sunday (Apr 27). Will arrive in Manila on April 30^th where I'll spend a few days then arrive at DFW on the evening of May 5^th.

A little good news from home to pass along, my "little" brother found his Miss Right and she's agreed to marry him. If you want all the juicy details, you'll have to talk to him, or even better, talk with her.

A big congrats to Larry and Alex!

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Nathan

Kementian News. 04-06-08 Edition

04-06-08

Howdy folks,

Things have been staying fairly busy here in Kementian. Not nearly to the point where we are swamped, but enough to keep me mostly out of trouble.

The number of people on the project has been varying with supervisors coming, families coming in, people going on vacation, obligations out of the mountains etc.

I've been doing more computer work. Never exactly what one expects to find in the mountains, but necessary none the less.

Audio recording/editing has eaten most of my time with a few other things thrown in for good measure

.

The dry season has pretty well set in full force and as a result the water to turn the hydro is nearly gone. Which leaves us relying on solar power.

Thursday saw a reprieve of this as it rained for about 4hrs straight then off and on for the rest of the day. Allowed us to get full power out of the hydro again which was much needed to get those batteries back up to par.

Our demoniac friend hasn't caused any more trouble that I've heard of. The couple times I've seen him he hasn't changed since he left here. He acts as though he's mentally not as old as he is physically. His mannerism are that of a young child. I hear that he's still prone to anger out bursts and this leads me to continue in the belief that he wasn't free of the spirit when he left here nor is he now. Where God is going with this I don't have a clue, but I do know that all things work together for good, so we need to sit back and trust him will continuing to pray. Course, thats what we need to do for every situation isn't it?

In trying to track down the package that contains, among other things, and upgraded alternator for the hydro, I found that it *should* be delivered within the next week or so. Seeing as its taken nearly three months to this point, I'm not going to hold my breath. It would be very nice to see that package prior to my departure.

Speaking of departure, I received my tickets for the return trip on Thursday. I've just 22 days till I leave the project and 10 more till I land in at DFW on the evening of May 5th.

Am I looking forward to leaving? Yes, but not cause I dislike this place. I've had a great experience here, though a challenge at times, and don't for a second regret coming out. I do miss my family a lot and am very much looking forward to seeing them again.

Ok, thats enough rambling from me.

Thanks for y'alls prayers, they are much appreciated.

Nathan

Kementian News. 03-16-08 Edition

 

Howdy folks!

Thank you so very much for your prayers regarding Turni and the demon possession. There was marked improvement of his condition as last week continued on.

On Thursday around noon, Turni and his father went back to their village. We don't feel that Turni is free of the demon, but he had made up his mind that he was better and wanted to go home. His dad was in agreement that he was better and was ready to go home as well. As it was, we were amazed that he had stayed around as long as he had. He'd been talking about going home almost since he got here.

We are continuing to pray for him and how this will be to God's glory.

There is much opportunity to witness through this experience as Turni's father, Mami (pronounced Mommy) is one of the head men of this part of the mountain. He's also one of the biggest witch doctors. The change that has happened in Mami over the duration of this project has been amazing. I'm told that when the George's arrived, Mami was one of the most adamant that the Palawano's should stay away from the clinic, and the school, and everything that had to do with the George's and this project.

A few months ago Mami asked that someone come up to his village to give Bible studies and then when his son became possessed with a demon, he specifically asked for Pastor George to come and help.

Its clear that the Holy Spirit is working on Mami's heart and that is beginning to bear fruits.

Please keep Turni, Mami, and the people of Nerahungan in your prayers. The devil doesn't want to let go of that village nor its people.

As for me, things have been going good. A mix of staying busy and having nothing to do. There's several projects that need to be finished before I leave in just over six weeks, but they aren't quite ready to be started just yet.

Still waiting on the box that the folks sent back in January to arrive. I'm told that its supposed to arrive sometime around the 25^th of March. I know that box is loaded up with goodies, so I guess we'll be living pretty high on the hog for the three weeks or so that I'll have left when it arrives.

Also in the box is an HF antenna so generously donated by my friends on Two Wheeled Texans <http://www.twtex.com> and a high-amp alternator to nearly triple the power output of our hydro generator. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get both of those up and fully functional before I leave.

If any of you were planning on sending me anything, you best send it quick as it takes a long time to arrive. (no, thats not a hint for y'all to send me anything, just a statement if you were planning on it)

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

God bless and y'all take care

Nathan

Kementian News. 03-09-08 Edition

 

Howdy everybody,

This email is specifically a request for prayer.

Starting last Sunday we've been hearing many reports of demon possession and demonic disturbances from several villages in the surrounding area.

Thursday afternoon we were requested to go up to a village to help with Turni, one of the students from our school, who was demon possessed. David. Dwayne, and Rinal went up there that evening.

Friday morning we flew him down here to Kementian to get him into an environment where God was primary focus.

Its now Sunday and the improvement in Turni has been dramatic. He's not free of the demon just yet, and for this I request your prayers.

I also want to praise God for the protection that He has laid out on us. Satan has incredible powers, but none of them have been able to harm us because we are God's children.

I'm sure some will be asking "can't you cast a demon out instantly?" because I asked the same question.

Had that happened in this case, there's several lessons that we would not have learned. Again, another instance where we can't trust in our own thoughts and feelings but rely only on God's wisdom and timing.

I ask that you will continue to pray for this project and add a special prayer for protection from satan and his angels.

Thank you for your prayers!

Take care and God bless

Nathan

Kementian News. 03-02-08 Edition

 

Howdy everybody!

Several months ago, the generator literally shook it self apart and in the process of taking it apart to tighten it all back up, the armature took a fair bit of abuse. When going back together with it, we found that the coil had been cracked in the process as well. We finally got a replacement coil and found that the generator doesn't work. Runs fine, but doesn't generate anything but noise (the muffler is long gone).

Worked on the Sthil 070 chain saw and narrowed it down to a bad spark plug. This chain saw is quite large, in fact it has a compression release so that you can even crank it over. I was unaware of this compression release and proceeded to yank quite hard on the rope. What I did was pick the saw up. As soon as I realized what was happening I stopped pulling which allowed my other hand, pressing down on the grab handle, to force the saw into the 2^nd toe on my left foot. This resulted in a pretty fair bit of damage to the top of the distal knuckle and cracked my toenail all the way across from left to right. After a day or two it started turning pretty colors. Fortunately the chainsaw was not running or I'd be quite a few toes down from whats supposed to be on my left foot. For once, I'm thankful the beast didn't start on the first pull.

And yes, I did take pictures of it. Don't expect to see them prior to my return though.

After getting the toe taken care of, I went back down and was able to get the chainsaw running. Found it was missing a vent hose and couldn't use it. Got the vent hose and found that the spark plug failed when under load due to a cracked insulator. So now we're waiting on a replacement to be sent in.

After that much fun, I started working on editing sermons that we've recorded since October of last year to be placed on some media players for the local people to listen to.

Sadly the computer I'm working on is, well, we'll just say its seen its better days. It runs poorly even after a fresh install.

The audio software I'm using to do the editing (Audacity, for anyone that cares) is great for its price (Free!) but its nothing like some of the commercial software thats available. This is resulting in some of the sermons being unusable due to the inability to remove background noise, white noise, and other things we don't want there.

Ideally, I'd love to see a new computer and nice software to produce good quality audio for the people to listen to. Sadly the budget just doesn't allow for this right now.

Received word from home that someone was kind enough to "borrow" a wheel and tire off of my 4Runner thats sitting at my parents. While its really of no importance in the grand scheme of things, its annoying that someone would do that. Fortunately, the wheel itself was just what was available so nothing special. The tire on the other hand was pretty nice and had at least 90% of its tread-life remaining.

Oh well, I hope the person that borrowed it is blessed by the tire.

On a lighter note, I experience God's amazing workings just recently. When I left I called Verizon and had my service suspended till I returned. Unfortunately, something got mixed up and they reactivated my service back in December. This of course resulted in a bill which I wasn't expecting as I thought it was suspended. Since I was in Manila at the time I found this, I called Verizon and tried to straighten it out. At some point in the last 5yrs of service I've had with them I added a verbal password to my account and then promptly forgot it. So when I called I wasn't able to get around this password. This was the first time that I'd had that happen as on prior calls I'd been able to answer a series of questions and bypass the security question. This time that didn't happen. As a result I wasn't able to get anything done. I sent mom and email asking her to call from my phone (left in the states) and see if she could get anywhere. Nothing else I could do, so I prayed about it and let it be.

about a week later I receive an email from mom thanking me for adding her to the account and enabling her to get things worked out. Since I wasn't able to get past the security question, I wasn't able to do anything of the sort.

To top it off, the late fees, and many of the other fees were able to be removed from the bill thus reducing it immensely.

Again, God steps in and intervenes in the lives of His children. And to think that I have the audacity to doubt Him!

Somethings come up dealing with this project and I ask that you keep it in prayer. I feel its best to not expound upon the details at this time, I will say that it is at its base a differing of opinions and prayer is the only solution. If you could please keep it in prayer, I'd be very thankful.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support, its much appreciated.

Take care and God bless y'all!

Nathan

Kementian News. 02-14-08 Valentine's edition

02-14-08
Howdy everybody!

So what have I been up to? Vacation.
It was one of those whirl-wind vacations that you need a vacation from
when you are done.
I had a lot of fun even though it was really busy.

The vacation got started on January 30 when we were able to catch a
ride out in the helicopter as Dwayne was picking up plywood. Sure
beats hiking!
Jan 31 we caught the 4am shuttle to Puerto Princessa where we were to
catch a 245pm flight to El Nido.
long story short, I wound up missing my flight due to a traffic ticket
I received and took the 7am bus to El Nido the following morning. Not
exactly how I'd had it planned to go, but I still got to El Nido and
saw some pretty country side during the 9hr bus ride.

El Nido is really impossible to describe. The sheer beauty of
everything out there is just amazing. Exempting the town, everywhere
you looked was just amazing. I tried to take pictures, but beauty just
doesn't fit inside a picture, it has to be seen with one's own eyes.

On February 4th we caught the 6am bus from El Nido to Puerto to meet
Brandon's family. I also managed to finish getting the traffic ticket
finished that didn't happen before.
Went and saw Honda Bay and the Subterranean river there near Puerto.
Both are nice, but don't even remotely compare to El Nido.

Flew to Cebu on Thursday Feb 7th where we did nothing that after noon
and then took the ferry to Bohol on the morning of the 8th.
Upon arriving in Bohol we dropped our stuff at the hotel and took off
on a countryside tour.
Saw the chocolate hills, the Tarsier (sp?) monkeys and had lunch on a
floating restaurant.

Brandon's aunt's classmate is the wife of the mayor Tagbilaran (sp?)
the capitol of Bohol, so we had the pleasure of being the mayors
guests for duration of our stay. As a result of this we were invited
to the grand opening of a new resort and then a birthday party for the
mayor the following evening.
I skipped the grand opening as I didn't bring any dress clothes with me.
The birthday party was quite nice, but I'm not used to being at a
party where you've got millionaires (in USD not PHP), movie stars,
famous singers, etc. Especially when there's only 150 people there.

Sunday morning we took off early and went dolphin watching, then some
more snorkeling. The dolphin watching itself wasn't that great, but I
did see a nice sunrise from the boat.

Monday morning we flew to Manila where I had to stop doing the
vacation thing and get back to work.
Running several errands there takes a lot of time and again reminds me
why I don't like big cities.

I actually made my flight from Manila to Puerto yesterday. Picked up
some groceries and caught the 1pm shuttle down to Brooke's point.

And so concludes a whirl-wind vacation trip.

I have received all the emails y'all have sent me, I just haven't had
time to reply to them. Don't worry I'm not ignoring you, just gimme a
bit and I'll email you backpacking

Happy Valentines everybody!
Take care and God bless
Nathan

Kementian News. 01-13-08 Edition

 

01-13-08

Howdy folks!

Things are continuing to continue on out here. The weather can't really decide if its rainy season or dry season, stuff keeps needing fixed, the clinic coming along, and is being held up by a lack of materials. Yup, pretty much the normal around here.

I am quite happy to say that my relations with my supervisor have improved dramatically. I ask that you continue to keep this specific issue in prayer as I know that its only through everyone's prayers that it is working out.

Had communion at church yesterday. Its a fair bit different here then back in the States.

For the foot washing service we used whatever buckets, pans, pots, etc that we could find.

The unleavened bread looked like a pancake (about 3" dia) and tasted like fried flour. Quite tough, but entirely edible.

The 'wine' was coconut milk. Again, different, but worked quite well.

Like everywhere else, the kids had a hard time waiting to eat the bread and drink the juice when it was already in their hands. Even saw a few adults 'sampling' before it was time.

With communion, church ran nearly an hour over. This wouldn't be a problem except we were hiking out to Bingbilang and Malis. We finally got on the trail for that just after 1400, and made it out in about 1.5hrs. Told our stories and sang our songs at Bingbilang then loaded up to head over to Malis.

I don't know if I've explained this before, but Bingbilang is basically at the trail head. Malis is about a 20min drive away. All, and yes, I do mean ALL, the kids from Bingbilang just love to climb in the back of the Hilux pickup for the ride to Malis. Yesterday the bed was so full that they all had to stand, no sitting cause there wasn't room. To top this off, there were six of us in the cab where there's only supposed to be five. Just wait, it gets better. At Malis we sang our songs and told our stories, then it was time to find the patient that needed to be taken care of. We were thrilled to find out that the individual was actually at Malis so we wouldn't have to go chasing all over the place to find him. So we loaded up the patient and his three family members (family is required at the hospital as the hospital provides no services besides medical and thats after we bring the meds to them from the pharmacy). Course the sick people go inside the cab so now there's 7 people where there's only supposed to be 5 and now we have three people hanging onto the window frames and standing on the running boards. I wish I'd been able to get a picture of everyone on the truck at once. But I was basically unable to move.

We needed to call back into Kementian to see what we were to do with the patient, so we drove out to the National Highway where the radio would reach into the mountains. While they were talking on the radio all the kids and those of us not involved in the radio conversation stood around and goofed off. Took a few pictures, which prompts everyone else to want a picture of them too. Showed them some juggling, got a picture of me juggling in the middle of the National Highway. And watched a tricycle (its a ~150cc motorcycle with a homemade-sidecar-type-thing attached go by with a carabow in it. Now a carabow is a domesticated water buffalo. These are quite large, about the size of your average cow back home. I'm really not sure how to explain how this thing fit in the tricycle cause it just doesn't seem possible. I don't fit in a tricycle very well, let alone something that big!

I wish I'd had the good sense to take a picture of it. I think I was too busy staring and trying to contemplate how in the world that could actually happen to snap a pic with the camera that was in my hand. Oh well, such is life.

Speaking of pictures, I've been able to get the first couple months worth of pictures sent home. Now if we can persuade my family to quit looking at them long enough to put them online (amidst all the other things they have to do) I'll be able to give y'all a link to them. Don't hold your breath till it happens as my family is pretty swamped. It'll happen, I just don't want to get your hopes up too high.

A wee tidbit of news that has nothing to do with my being here, but something I'm kinda excited about:

I received an email last week telling me that my attempt at completing over 1000miles in less then 24hrs on a motorcycle has been accepted by the Iron Butt Association ( www.ironbutt.org) and I've been admitted into their ranks. Most of you think this is nuts I'm sure, and I would have to agree. Its and idea I'd been toying with for awhile and then the opportunity was forced on me when I needed to get to AFM's training (1200mi from home) and only had a day to do it in. So yeah, I can now say I've done it and I get a few nick nacks to prove it. Now I think I'll pass on doing anything like it again for quite some time.

If any of you are bored enough to go look at the trip report, you can go to http://1talltxn.blogspot.com and look it up there. You'll have to dig past all the Kementian News to find it. Should be under the month of July '07.

Ok, enough rambling from me.

I thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I can't express how much they mean to me.

I pray that this note finds each and every one of you happy and well.

May God bless y'all

Nathan

Kementian News, 12-30-07 Edition

12-30-07 Kementian News

Howdy everyone!

I'm sure you are all wondering what my Christmas was like. To tell you that I need to fill in a few small details.

Wendy's parents came in for a visit last Friday (the 21^st) for their first visit to the project in ten years. Wendy's been quite adamant about them not coming in because she didn't feel comfortable with them hiking the trail. So now that the helicopter is here, they were able to fly in without having to mess with the trail. Watching them hike around the valley here, I totally agree with Wendy's assessment of their hiking ability. They could probably make the trail, but it would be an issue of unnecessary worry.

Normally we are not allowed to even think about entering Wendy's hut (she's a single female and thats wrong on both our social standards and even more wrong in the social standards of the Palawan people) though since her folks have been here and staying with her, we've been allowed to go and visit for meals and various other gatherings.

Leonda George came down with malaria on the 18^th and was in no condition to host a Christmas dinner from then till the 27^th. So our Christmas dinner was provided for us by Wendy's parents.

They really went the extra mile. (Kilometer since I'm in the RPI?) We had rolls, specially carried in from the lowlands, we had stuffing, we had cranberry sauce, we had mashed potatoes and gravy, we had FriChik just about everything thats supposed to be at a proper Adventist Christmas meal. In fact the only thing that I felt was missing from the meal was my grandmother's gluten.

Christmas day itself wasn't really anything spectacular save for the meal. Well, I guess we did get a day off which is an absolutely astounding deal up here. Even our Sabbath's are packed with things from sunrise to sunset. It was nice to have a chance to do whatever I wanted.

Chris, Michelle (A former SM), and Bubit (A Palawan thats off at Mountain View College) were able to hike in on the 24^th to join us for Christmas. We were starting to wonder if we were going to have to launch another Holiday Rescue Mission© when they didn't show up when we expect them. They did make it safely, even with the really slippery trail (The rainy season decided to come back for a visit the first of last week). We are already wondering what kind of Holiday Rescue Mission© we are going to have to mount for Valentines day...

I had a good Christmas, but the pervading fact that I wasn't going to be able to spend it with my family left a permanent shadow over the day. I'll be the first to admit that I was envious of Wendy's parents getting to come for a visit. It helps when they are already here in the RPI, its just too expensive to fly anyone here during the holidays.

As a result of Leonda being sick, we weren't able to get our Internet time in, so I apologize for not getting to everyone's emails in a reasonable time.

I am in need of your continued prayers regarding my relationship and interaction with my supervisor. To say that we clash would be akin to saying that the Empire State building is kinda tall: an incredible understatement. There's a differing of opinion on what the cause of the problem is as well.

I ask that you keep both of us in your prayers as we work to resolve this difference. I am working quite hard to be optimistic that this can be worked out though my gut is telling me that its only going to build and get worse as time goes on.

I pray that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully surrounded by family and friends.

I also would like to wish you a slightly early HAPPY NEW YEAR! If you'd like to find out what next year's like, give me a call and I'll tell you as I'm about 14hrs ahead of most of you so I'll get there first.

Belated Merry Christmas, early Happy New Year, and I pray that everyone is doing well and enjoying this holiday season

Take care and God bless!

Nathan

Kementian New. 12-16-07 Edition

Kementian News. 12-16-07 Edition

Howdy to everyone!

Things are pretty much going the same as they have been for the last three months. This email marks nearly 13 weeks for me here in the Philippines. Just over 1/3 of the time I'll be here. My, how time does fly.

Rain's slacked off a bit, which has allowed the trails to dry out and be much less treacherous.

My language learning has progressed to some degree. Still not nearly as far as i would like, but thats to be expected. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just 'install' another language as easily as a program can be installed on a computer?

I managed to stick my foot with a saw Wednesday of last week. No, its not dangling by a piece of skin or anything like that, just a small gash between the last two toes on my right foot. I took some pictures of it, but as usual, the Internet doesn't allow me to upload them.

On the bright side, I do have a DVD of pictures en route to the folks, so hopefully a few of the good ones will make it to the Internet from there.

The clinic was dormant while Dwayne took of to Manila to get some stuff done with the Govt there and to pick up a fellow GMI pilot to come look at the project. When Dwayne got back, it was discovered that Jonathan (the other pilot) has a history of home construction so the plywood is down on the floor, the walls are framed and its time to start pulling wire for electrical. This is an amazing amount of progress considering all the delays that were thrown up due to discussions about how the clinic was to be laid out which should have taken place before the construction began.

The Kensuli and Kementian schools had their Christmas plays this past week. They came off quite well and the kids seemed to have fun.

After the programs there was various fun and games for which I served as a bit of a half-time show by doing a little tumbling. (no, I didn't have a wardrobe malfunction) I wish there'd been some grass to tumble on, as the dirt was quite hard and strewn with small rocks. So the folks didn't get a decent sampling of what tumbling is. I was very much wishing for a trampoline, but the thought of carrying it in on that trail quickly expelled that idea from my mind!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and emails, its very much appreciated!

Take care and God bless!

Nathan

Kementian News, 11-25-07 Edition

 

Kementian News, 11-25-07 Edition

Howdy y'all!

Thursday started out like most any other day, with one exception. We were all anticipating the evening meal that Tammy and Leonda were working on.

Work proceeded as normal with a little extra checking of the time to see how much longer till we went down to play games till the food was ready. The weather finally gave us a bit of a break in that it didn't rain all morning, just most of it. There was enough break in the rain that it was decided that if Chris could get free in the lowlands, that Dwayne was going to fly out and pick him and the groceries up. In the end it turned out that Chris had to stay down there and baby-sit a few patients so was unable to come in. The river's were flooded enough that Chris wasn't able to cross them to get the groceries to the trail head for someone to bring them in either. So many substitutions were made in the recipes.

Sometime mid-afternoon, we were informed that we could head down around 1600 to play games.

Getting everything wrapped up took a bit longer then expected so we were just about ready to head down when we got a radio call from Kensuli that there was gentleman there with a large cut in his foot that hadn't quite bleeding in about 36hrs. Somebody needed to go stitch him up.

To get to Kensuli from Kementian, you have to cross the Tamlang (Pronounced Tom-Long) river as well as several smaller creeks. Usually a 30-45min hike down to the river and up the other side to Kensuli. Since Thursday was the first day in about 5 that it hadn't rained all day, these water ways were very flooded. Pastor had tried to get to Kensuli earlier Thursday morning and had to turn back at one of the creeks. The Tamlang has a rope across it so that was passable.

With the injured person in Kensuli needing attention, Dwayne fired up the helicopter. We kept waiting for him to take off, but he kept getting out to look at the tail rotor. Apparently the incessant rain had filled one of the blades with water, making it out of balance. Dwayne was able to get it drained and took off with David, 10min later then anticipated. By now its nearly 1700, it gets too dark to fly by about 1805. The flight is maybe 3min to Kensuli, but stitching takes time.

The rest of us headed down to Pastor's house praying that they'd make it back in time.

About 1810, we heard the helicopter fly over and we jumped on the radio to contact Kensuli to see if David had come back as well (he had said he'd stay if it was needed). We were saddened by the news that David was still in Kensuli.

David is a big fan of food. Thanksgiving has a lot of food. David had been talking about the food for well over the past week and was very eagerly awaiting the meal. This, coupled with the simple fact that we wanted as much of the team together as possible, and that David didn't need to stay the night, but had simply finished about 10min too late to catch a ride back on the helicopter, made us quite sad.

A quick consultation of the problem and it was decided that we should at least try to get him home. Pastor said the creek was passable if a rope was available. So Brandon, Napthali, and myself took a rope and headed out to get David.

Crossing the Tamlang was kinda fun actually, you hold onto the rope and work your way across hand-over-hand while your body is essentially surfing across the top of the current. Not to hard, but your tired from fighting the current once you get to the other side.

Once the three of us had made it across the Tamlang, we set off down the trail. In about 10min hiking we came to the creek (whose name I don't know) with David on the other side. This creek is normally a docile, pretty babling little creek. After all the rain, it was just shy of waist deep and moving very swiftly.

With nothing to tie the rope too on our side, Brandon and I anchored the rope to ourselves and braced against the rocks. Napthali waded out as far as he could and tossed the other end to David. Once the rope was there, it was quite easy and he made it across in no time.

The rest of the trip back is simply a reverse of the trip across save one small detail. David has lost nearly 30lbs since arriving here over a year ago and his shorts are over sized. As a result Pastor had recommended that he remove the shorts to keep them from becoming a sail in the water and pulling him off the rope of the Tamlang. So this he did, leaving him in his boxers. The problem is, boxers have no way of being tightened around the waist and on David's first attempt to cross, it became clear that the boxers weren't going to stay on. Saying that these were a good pair of boxers, he took them off and proceeded to cross. Brandon was on the opposite shore with myself on the home side when David came across. Brandon's headlamp is very bright and while he was laughing at David, he kept looking across the river right at David. This tended to keep David in the spotlight. If it hadn't been for the light, it was more then dark enough to keep everything hidden.

Due to this little streaking experience, I very nearly titled this story "Naked in the Tamlang" :-)

Once we made it back to the George's to sit down and have our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, it was 2000, yes, we were quite hungry and ate huge portions.

Leonda and Tammy had spent at least the afternoon in the kitchen and had made a veritable feast. I honestly hadn't expected nearly that much food and was pleasantly surprised how many of the items I'm used to seeing at home were on the table. Grandma's gluten wasn't there, though I think I survived without it. I'll just have to eat double next year!

As with any holiday, the most important part is family. Since I'm out here, I was missing family a lot. I was able to talk to the folks on Wednesday morning, which was very nice, but its just not the same as having them there.

I've a great many things to be thankful for this year. Far too many to begin listing here, but the foremost items on my list are these:

A loving God who cares and protects even little ole' me.

And, family and friends who show they care by keeping in touch when its oh so easy to just forget that I'm on the other side of the world missing them terribly.

If you could keep a couple items in prayer for me, I would be greatly appreciative.

First, my learning of the language is far behind schedule. I know a few words and phrases, but I'm not where I should be. This is partly due to weather, schedule, and a few various other things, but the single biggest problem is a mental block. I'm not averse to learning the language, in fact I want to, but something isn't working right. If you'd keep that in prayer.

The other request is a silent. I need prayer for it, but don't want to expound on the details.

I pray this letter finds you all quite stuffed from Thanksgiving, reminded how much you have to be thankful for, and blessed.

Take care and God bless!

Nathan

Kementian News 11-11-07 Edition

 

Howdy everyone!

Hard to believe I've been here on the project for two months now. My, how time does fly.

Things are still going very well. Been staying busy so the past few weeks have been a bit of a blur. Guess Pastor is trying to keep me out of trouble ;-)

Wendy had a birthday on Tuesday. Dwayne brought in a bunch of ice so we could have ice cream for her birthday party that evening. Sadly the ice cream freezer didn't work quite right so we had cold cream. It was very tasty but was lacking in the "ice" part. No worries, I enjoyed it quite nicely over the chocolate cake.

Thursday the hydro-electric generator decided it was going to give up the ghost. After much poking and prodding we decided it was something within the alternator and took it apart to discover that the brushes has pretty much disintegrated. Pastor had a spare set laying around and we were able to put it back together and get it working again in a few hours. Its funny how much we rely on power even out here in the sticks.

I'm at a loss as to what to tell y'all about life here. I suppose I'll give y'all a break from my long diatribes.

If you have any questions about anything out here, drop me a note and I'll do my best to answer it next time around.

Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers.

May God bless each of you and your family and friends

Nathan