Hope your Christmas was great

I decided to wait until after Christmas to show you the version of me that my congregation has had to look at for the last couple of weeks. This picture was taken about 10 days ago and thankfully the bandages have been getting slightly smaller after each daily dressing change at the hospital. By the time I get back home there may not even be a band-aid.

“What happened?” you ask, just like everyone else who has seen me lately. Well, I’m not sure, but guess it might have been a spider bite or fly bite that became infected. When I mention a fly bite people suggest a doctor fly. Doctor fly? I can’t find any reference to such a beast even on the Internet except in reference to fly-fishing or “if you are really sick and have to fly have the doctor fly with you”. Any other suggestions anyone?

I spent a great Christmas Day with a couple of fellow expat pastors and their families, one from Scotland-Australia-USA and the other from South Carolina. They live about 7 miles out in the country, a veritable paradise of peace compared to downtown PG. Here Christmas Eve was the day for setting off firecrackers until well after midnight, and Christmas evening there was a Garifuna party across the road with drums and singers as well as canned music. I have got so used to the noise I wonder whether I’ll miss it in a couple of weeks!