Cookin' on Rocks

Maui

2010-06-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

So before the summer craziness started I decided to take a little vacation. I found a great deal to Maui, and Katie and Jason (my sister and her husband) decided to go as well. It was a four day trip, which is short but so worth it. We had a chance to relax at the beach and just check out for a while. Maui was wonderful, not really what I expected, but certainly beautiful. It made me miss Papua New Guinea a whole lot. We basically drove around the whole island one day, which was a bit much. By the end we were searching for a beach to crash on! Enjoy the pics.

Tribute to my Papa

2010-06-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

On June 2rd my Papa (my mom's dad) passed away. He was such an incredible man, it's hard to describe what he meant to me and so many others. With the passing of my grandfather (my father's dad) last November, I feel like I am grieving both losses together. This has been an extremely hard week. I am rejoicing that they are both with the Lord now in heaven. I will never forget the things he taught me and the way that he lived in the truth and light of Christ.

Memories of Papua New Guinea

2010-05-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking about my friends in PNG and figured I would share some of my goodbye pictures with you. It was sad to leave, but going around saying goodbye made some sweet memories. Hope you enjoy them.

~ May ~

2010-05-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

This May I spent a lot of time cooking on the weekends for camp. During one week I hosted our Bunco group at my home. It was so much fun. Katie and I took some shots of the decor before everyone got there. I made two Thai dishes; a Thai Massan Curry and Green Chicken Curry. They were so delicious. I'm on a Thai kick this month. Not sure what I'll be in the mood for next month. Oh wait, I'll be living in the camp kitchen....probably won't be cooking anything extra curricular.

It was a Thai food theme, and I put banana leaves around all the tables which looked pretty cool.

The High Table

Katie cooked up some yummy veggies for us.

I try and get out around camp a lot during the week either running/walking, hiking, horseback riding, or whatever. One evening Katie and I adventured out into the canyon on the property to check out the creek. It was full of gorgeous views and we would have stayed out way longer if it wasn't for the mosquitoes that were eating us alive!!

Sweet pool that looked fun for swimming.

There are Manzanita trees all over camp, and they are my favorite trees because of their beautiful red new growth that weaves around the dead branches from the fire...

I loved how the sun was pouring through the trees on the creek.

In the beginning of the month we had my parents over for dinner. It was so nice to have a great place to invite people to. Katie and I enjoy entertaining when we have the opportunity (sadly doesn't happen enough).

2010-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here is my new house up at San Marcos Camp. I moved up here in April and love it. I'm in the mountains where all I can hear are birds, creeks, and the wind. I miss PNG a lot, and this is the closest thing to it that I can get to here. I'll post some more pictures of the area too. I'm now up here cooking full time fore different groups that come up. Once summer kicks in we'll have a full staff and lots of people running around.

My house is looks kinda like a cabin, but from the porch it looks like a pirate ship because of my moroccan lanterns....

I've got a nice little kitchen and dinning room area connected to the living room.

My living room has huge windows that look out on different views which are beautiful now matter what time of day.

Here's my porch. I have my chiminea in the corner (which I can't really light because it's under some big oaks). Maybe I'll turn it into something cool which doesn't require a major fire.

My relaxing porch swing.

My office which I am still fixing...

My upstairs loft where I sleep.

Back from PNG and back to this blog :)

2010-05-15T10:23:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys,

I've switched back to this blog site now that I am back in the States. Enjoy the updates.

Website Change

2008-11-26T00:12:00.000-08:00

Just so you all know, I am closing this blog and I have started a new website. I recently got back from pre-field orientation at the New Tribes Headquarters, and while there I switched over to their system for my email and website. Here is the new info:

www.ntm.org/laura_aijian

laura_aijian@ntm.org

I hope you enjoyed getting the updates on this blog, however, I will be able to communicate more effectively through my website with New Tribes. Check out the different sections on the new site, it's kind of fun =)

Garage Sale!

2008-10-30T11:15:00.001-07:00

Scott and Rachel offered to host a garage sale at their house and donate the proceeds to me for my plane ticket. I was so blown away by the results. God totally blessed it. Tons if people came by to drop stuff off before, and then we sold almost all of it! We had a lot of fun and I was amazing at how many dedicated garage-salers came. Some came so early that they needed flashlights to look at stuff.

Special thank you to my family, Nicole, and Courtney for helping out. You guys were great.

Here are some pictures of the day:

2008-10-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here are two pictures I found of the campus that I will be living at. Enjoy!

2008-10-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

October!

Well everyone, its official. I got accepted as an Associate Member of New Tribes Missions!! Praise the Lord. You should check out their site. My info should be on there as well.

I bought my plane ticket for training that I am going to in Florida in November for a week. This has been quite the whirlwind process. It has been really good though. God is constantly expanding my faith and giving me a peace that I didn’t know was possible. The doors just continue to be opening, and I am very excited to see where the Lord takes me with all of this. If you are interested in what I will be doing specifically here it is:

I will be providing food service for Interface students, staff, and conference attendees throughout the year. The purpose of Interface is to assist the ministry of the local church in mobilizing people for the task of tribal church planting among the world’s unreached people groups. Interface is a college level missions course held in Papua New Guinea that educates students by exposing them directly to what is involved in church planting among tribal people. The campus is also used to host short-term mission trips, field conferences, and other events.

I would definitely appreciate your prayers as I continue in this process. Please pray for:
Guidance and energy as I meet paperwork deadlines while balancing full time work
Wisdom on figuring out the apartment situation that I am leaving
The Lord’s peace as I face the thought of leaving my loved-ones
Continual assurance from the Holy Spirit as I move forward in this process

I will try and post some pictures soon that show my family’s trip to PNG in 2000 to give you a better idea of where I will be going. I would love to hear from you all to be able to pray for you as well.

- Laura

September

2008-09-18T12:30:00.001-07:00

This month has been really busy but a lot of fun as well. I am working for a non-medical home companionship agency since august and it has been really rewarding. I needed a job to get through the next few months, and it is definitely keeping me from boredom. In my not-so-spare time I hang out with family and friends and spent time with the high school students at Calvary Chapel SB. Here are the highlights of these last couple months.

2008-09-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

PNG Situation

2008-09-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

So here is where I am at. I am not 100% sure that I am going, and I would appreciate your prayers. I am in the process of applying as an Associate Missionary through New Tribes Missions. The plan is to go over to PNG for a year. So in the next three months I need to:
Get my visas
~ raise support
~ figure out what I need to bring
~ find a roommate for Nicole =)
~ and figure out how to leave life in Santa Barbara...

My Life

2008-09-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

I thought that it would be good to let you all in on what God has placed upon my heart. In the past year God has begun a work in me that He started when I was young. In fact, the name of the blog comes from my grandparent's experience on the field. Through that heritage and many others I have developed a passion for seeing the Kingdom of God grow all over the world. For the last 8 years I have felt the Spirit’s leading in missions, but for the first 5 of them it was in a more short-term missions role. I have had the opportunity to see missionaries on the field in multiple countries and my passion for seeing God glorified in this work has grown immensely. Currently, I have felt the Spirit leading me away from where I have been, and leading me into where he wants me overseas. I have been searching out the Lord’s guidance and step by step He has opened a door in Papua New Guinea!