Next post will be 14 April.

Thanks for checking the blog, and for praying for PNG. The next post will be on 14 April.

Until then, please pray for the local staff, that they'll walk by faith & manifest Jesus everywhere they go:

* Eva - team leader - keep the vision and focus for the ministry.
* Greg - pass all his uni courses & disciple First-year students.
* Lillian - keep completing her New Staff Training assignments and leads the women's Discipleship ministry on campus.
* Elton - that he will find all his ministry partners (support) and lead the men's Discipleship ministry on campus (as well as finishing up his job @ Digicel.
* Student Leaders - to step out in faith and disciple students who will disciple others (will Multiply their Faith).

Thanks!
Dan

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 22 (of 22): "Watch out Kaylynn, Here I come!"

I leave PNG today.  It's been a wild time, and I'm quite tired, but it's been very exciting seeing God work in the lives of the students and the staff.  I know this time with the Aussies will have long lasting effects!

I woke up this morning at 4:30 (my normal time, NZT 7:30), feeling very tired after going to bed late last night from the Alpha party - I got up that early because I wanted to make sure that I got everything ready before seeing the staff one last time before my flight home. 

Lillian had her first weekly New Staff Training seminar (on video) this morning with Eva, her trainer.  She went to Eva's house to sleep over last night so they could get an early start this morning.  When Lilly came, she said it went very well.  Please pray for her as she memorizes the Knowing God Personally booklet for next Monday.

With Elton & Lillian before going through Immigration.

Elton & I both had a local "Go go" drink (cola) - actually very good!

Elton came over to the guest house before Eva & Lilly arrived so that he could come to the airport with us.  It was good having him along.  When we got to the airport the line was way out the door - everyone had to have their luggage searched because their x-ray machine wasn't working.  They said to all non-passengers to let the passengers get in first (which didn't really make sense because it was only the passengers who had bags to search).  Anyway, Elton, pulling my suitcase slid in with me, but Lilly and Eva got stuck (and Lilly had my brooms).  After I checked in, Lillian saw a gap in the crowd and was able to come in, but Eva couldn't (she was on the phone at the time with her daughter who needed a ride somewhere).  But it was great having Elton & Lilly to be with me before my flight (I bought them lunch!).

Yahoo - I'm home!

This past week I bought 2 island brooms and wrapped them in brown paper, and hand carried them on both planes.  I had many strange looks and questions, but every security point let me through (especially at the x-ray as they could see it was only palm stems).  NZ Agriculture had a look at them and said no problem, so out I pop from Immigration waving my brooms in the air with excitement when I saw Kaylynn & Laurie.  It was almost 1 am for them, and really I appreciated them coming - it was great to see them both!  It's been a long time - 22 days - but I'm home now!

My heart is still stuck in PNG and I pray for the staff and students multiple times every day.  Thanks for praying with me!

So, this is me, Dan, signing off until mid April when I go back - thanks for following my blog and for helping to reach all of PNG for Christ!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 21 (of 22): "Hello First-Year Students!"

[Today is Sunday (23th) - I leave PNG tomorrow]

I spent most of the day today (~6 hours) with Elton, going over the mindset and system of our ministry partner development. It was fun and he asked good questions. I went through my own presentation of our ministry so he'd see how mine goes, and I role played a sample phone conversation. He'll still need to be MAWLed by some of the other staff doing actual calls and appointments to fully understand and get his presentation & his phone calling down in his brain, but I'm very encouraged.  So
is he :-)


For lunch, we walked down the street to KMC (like KFC), and he shared some more of what has been going on in his life in the past 3 weeks.  I can't say much, but I will say that he said that he has made it firm in his heart that he is going to serve the Lord, and if any girl wanted to be with him, she needed to go with him - he said, "I'm not turning back".  I was very excited to hear that.  I told him that I'll pray for God to bring a girl into his life that also has the burden to build thousands of multiplying movements of disciple-making to reach ALL of Papua New Guinea and beyond for Christ.  Please keep praying for the next few months for Elton, as he leaves his job and begins to find ministry partners (he still needs his final acceptance on staff first).  He would love to be finished finding his partners (his mission team) by the end of the year. Thanks.

After 5 o'clock, the church truck came by to pick up Elton & I and take us to campus for our Alpha party for the 1st-years.  They put me up front... cause I'm an old man :-)  Actually, I was riding in the front, looking out the window and the scenery and noticed my face in the side mirror.  As I looked at my mugshot, I thought to myself that 28 years ago, when Kaylynn and I first went to the Pacific Islands (Palau), I would have never dreamed that I'd be a middle-aged man riding around in Papua New Guinea - God sure has given Kaylynn & I the grand adventure of a lifetime, and I am so glad I am now a middle-aged man in Papua New Guinea helping students to discover how faithful God is, rather than a middle-aged man sitting at a desk as a Chemical Engineer as I was originally planning (back in 1978).

The Alpha Party went very well.  We had some miscommunication and things didn't get started until late (that's often normal), but the content and the atmosphere was really good.  Two of our students who were with the project of Aussies last week, spoke very well and both shared how far they had come and how Student Life has helped them become leaders.  We had 45 First-year students there and it looked to me like they all enjoyed themselves.

We shared about discipleship and how Student Life helps students to Walk by faith, Communicate their faith, and then Multiply their faith into others.  We didn't have them sign up for groups then, but invited them tomorrow at our weekly time called "Splash".  Those who don't sign up tomorrow will get a phone call to see if they want to talk about it more.  This is the student's plan, and I know God will honor it.  I'll be on a plane tomorrow night, so it will be a couple days before I find out how Splash went.

A few minutes after we closed, we started the "Interlude Attack Attack" music and 9 or 10 of us danced all around.  We weren't sure how it would be received because, as one of the PNGers said, "we don't do these sort of things here" - but within 30 seconds, I could hardly see a face in the crowd - everyone had their phones up in the air either taking pictures of videoing.  It was fun.  I had a friend video it on my phone, and he didn't turn it off at the end, to you see me coming up to him panting & panting asking for my phone - I'm a bit out of shape :-(

I didn't get to bed tonight until after midnight - I'll be tired tomorrow, but I can sleep on the plane :-)

Thanks so much for praying - It's been a wild 22 days - and I really enjoyed the staff and students - but I really can't wait to see Kaylynn again!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 19 & 20 (of 22): "Catchup & Prep"

[Today is Saturday (22th) - with only 2 more days left in PNG]

[Sorry there's no Friday post :-/] 

For the past 2 days, I have been at the guest house and preparing Elton's materials for his DMPD (Discipleship Ministry Partner Development, Post Day 18).  There is a lot of material to put together and to make his Calling Folder (for everything he'll need when calling people) and his Appointment Folder (for everything he'll need for having appointments with people).  It's been fun and relaxing not leaving the guest house.

My very comfortable "desk"

I've also been sorting through action points that came up after the Aussie team left last Monday - things to talk with the students and staff (PNG missionaries) about (tomorrow and Monday).

So, I took this very exciting photo of me sitting at my "desk" :-)

One nice thing, since I have my own room and can go to bed early, Ive been getting up at 4:15 and having a lot of quite time, just Jesus & I - it's been wonderful.  And, I finally saw some Olympics!!  There are only a couple days left, but I finally caught them. They are on all night until 6 am, so I got about 1 1/2 hours for the last 2 days watching snowboarding, and a bit of Ice Hockey (when the Canadian ladies beat USA).

Tomorrow (Sunday) is a very busy day with 5-6 hours teaching Elton DMPD and then the Alpha Party at UPNG where we invite the first year students to come and learn more about Student Life.  There will definitely will be better pictures!

Thanks for praying!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 18 (of 22): "Training and Shopping"

[Today is Thursday (20th) - with only 4 more days left in PNG]

Lillian, Eva and I finished the New Staff Training Module for this semester.  The theme for this semester (15 weeks) is Win.  Now that Lillian has finished the initial module, she'll meet once a week for an hour or two (on Monday mornings, starting with a sleep-over at Eva's house on Sunday nights) - the first one is this Monday (the day I leave).  She'll watch a video and be given and assignment or two, which she'll work on until the next week.  The first one, as I mentioned yesterday, is to memorize the Knowing God Personally booklet - due Monday 3 March - pray for her :-).

With our ministry we focus on building multiplying disciples, and we do this through Winning, Building, Training and Sending* (the Sending is like the Leave of MAWL - sent, but not forgotten).  We'll rotate these 4 sections around and around each semester and new staff can join any one first and then go through all 4 - there really is no order because we Win while we build and we build while we train and we train to win and all the time being sent to disciple different people at different times, etc.

The Theodist, where we got most things for Elton

After the training, Eva took me shopping (I'd rather fill her petrol/gas tank up than pay for a taxi - as long as she has time).  We went looking for notebooks, a card file, dividers, etc for Elton's DMPD stuff.  Lillian went with me, which was good because we had to go to several stores to find what we wanted, and I needed Lillian to be with me in some of them (while Eva stayed with the car).   I didn't get any pictures (sorry), but I found these on the Internet of the shop where we got most things - it's called the Theodist supermarket.

The Theodist on Independence day 2013

Thanks for praying!

* Win-Build-Train-Send: We step out and trust God to WIN people for Himself (salvation), we BUILD them in their faith, we TRAIN them how to Win, Build and even Train others, and we SEND them out (on campus at first) to do these things.

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 17 (of 22): "Getting Elton ready for DMPD"

[Today is Wednesday 19 Jan - 5 more days in PNG]

Today we continued New Staff Training for Lillian.  We had planned to spend 3 hours for 2 days, but it's taking longer than planned.  We are watching 10 videos that explain different things and now and then the speaker asks us to pause and talk about it.  Also, in between each video, I like to talk about it to relate it to our (Lillian's) situation.  It's going real well and Lillian is really enjoying it!

Greg and the Knowing God Personally booklet

Her first assignment is to memories the Knowing God Personally booklet.  Basically it is mostly scripture to explain John 3:16 (God loves us, we need saving, God gave his Son for us, we must believe), but it's still about 10 pages.  She has a week and a half to do it, and is working on it.  This should help her to be able to share the Gospel concisely when just chatting with someone (without a booklet).

As I mentioned yesterday, Elton & I didn't get to sleep till late (I slept in this morning until 6).  He worked today and isn't staying with me tonight.  He stopped by after work and I showed him the photo album printed in black ink only, and we made a few minor changes.  His next day off will be Sunday, so over the next couple days I'll try to prepare everything reasonable from the DMPD training to go over with him on Sunday (DMPD is "Discipleship Ministry Partner Development" - the discipleship comes when everyone models & critiques everyone, like MAWL).

Thanks for praying!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 16: "New Staff Training for Lillian (and Elton's in a basket)"

[Today is Tuesday - 6 more days in PNG]

This morning we started our New Staff Training.  It's been a long time coming.  We try to wait until the new missionary has all their ministry partners (support team) before we begin training.  Lillian has been with us for more than 2 years, but because we needed her help so bad on the campus, this made her finding her ministry partners take longer than expected.  This is very exciting because she is our first staff to find all her ministry partners - hopefully others can look at her and have more confidence in God that he will raise up their team also.  This training will go for 2 years and it takes place on the campus where she is already working.  Eva will be her trainer.

This should be an exciting year for her as she now has more time to spend with the students, and we have some student leaders who have been MAWLed on how to build movements on campus.  (See post on Day 8 for an explanation of MAWL: http://travelingmills.blogspot.com/2014/02/pngaussie-project-day-8-mawl-hitting.html)

Elton, who has applied to join our staff is very excited and said last week that he's tired of his job and wants to earn enough money to live and then quit and go on campus.  He knows God is calling him to the ministry, and he's already been tentatively accepted, but it's hard for him to wait until the planned time (October this year).  As a staff member, he will be required to find the ministry partners that God has raised up for him, And we have a 4-week intensive training & mentoring (MAWLing), but not until October.

Elton in a basket

So I decided to give him what I can now, let the staff MAWL him in the areas of calling people and having appointments, and asking our regional DMPD coordinator to come in April to run a mini-training (2 weeks) for him and the other staff.

So tonight we worked on his photo album that explains the ministry and his calling and the need for a mission team (of ministry partners).  We were up 'til 12:30 am, which is normal for me in New Zealand, but not here.  Here I get up between 4 and 4:30 am (NZT 7 - 7:30) so that I have some quiet time around here by myself.  Anyway, it was for a good cause - Hey Elton, you're a good cause :-).

I put Elton in a basket (that Kaylynn drew) illustrating that he's willing to go full time into the ministry and can do so only
if he has enough people to "hold the rope" for him (He's willing if they hold the rope).

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 15: "Aussies to Oz, we stay put"

Heidi checking in (Business Class???)

Note: I just uploaded a 16 second video to my previous post (Day 14) - if you are one of the 3 that has already viewed this post, you may want to go back to watch it.

We all got up early - except Alex, who got up 5 minutes before the bus arrived :-).  Most of us climbed aboard the bus with the Aussies (or got into a cab with me) and went to the airport (4 PNG students had to go to Uni as classes started today).

In my experience, Airports are usually either very happy places (when you're excited to go somewhere or eagerly waiting for someone to return home) or very sad places (when someone is leaving) - this was neither... or perhaps both.

Boaz and John (doing something??)

These people connected with our hearts and our minds and the main thing they taught us was how to MAWL: Model something, Assist as others learn, Watch others as they do it themselves, and Leave.  Today was the LEAVING part.  They had to leave or we would we not be forced into applying what we learned.  So we were excited for them to get back to the ministry God has called them to on their own campus - and we were excited to step out in faith and see God work through us where God has called us - but life seemed to deflate as they walked away (and John popped out of the Immigration area twice to fetch a flag that he dropped (on purpose, I'm sure).

Heidi, Lilly, and Shei -good friends!

Heidi, Shei & Danika squishing Adelyn

Who is this crazy group of people???

Planning the Alpha party for next Sunday (23rd)

After they left, we walked up the hill to catch the local bus back to Boroko & our guest house, as we heard the plane take off in the distance.  Since all the staff were already at the guest house, we had a short meeting to get planned for the week... but I found myself jolting my head once out of a doze only to find everyone else was dozing as well! So we decided to take maps :-)   [We did, however, decide to call those who lead discipleship groups "Movement Builders" - that will help them rem

ember what God has called them to do.

I woke up at 2:30, and we were supposed to be at the campus to meet the students at 2:30 - Elton was still asleep and Greg had just woken up.  We got to campus by 3:00, which was PNG-time for the 2:30 meeting :-).  The meeting was mostly with those who were on the project - to plan the Alpha party coming up on Sunday (when all the first year students are invited to learn about Student Life).  

We also spent a lot of time trying to find a new name for our "Monday night Fellowship" (yay), and in the middle of the discussions, Boaz said "It doesn't really matter what we call it as long as it describes what we do, Build Movements on campus" - good answer, Boaz!  We decided to call it "Splash" - making a splash on the campus as we make disciples, which will ripple across Port Moresby and all of PNG (and then the world).

Elton & John (not Elton John) & I

I asked Elton to stay 2 more nights so that we could talk (he works during the day).  He is so excited to join our staff and to work full time on campus!  He told me that last year he couldn't see how this project could work, and he thought it was a huge risk - but God worked it out!  He said, "I only wish more students could have joined us".  He then reached out his hand to shake mine and said "thank you".  God used so many people to make this project a success - too many to thank!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 14: "Farewell for the Aussies"

Today (Sunday) is day 12 of 12 for the Aussies - their last full day here with us!
(sorry for the delay in posting this)

Since today was the Aussies last full day with us, we wanted to give them a traditional meal (a mumu).  So 2 PNGers spent the day with Eva yesterday going to the market (in the rain) and preparing & starting to cook the food.  This morning all the other PNGers went to her house this morning to cook and get ready for our arrival, while Greg (PNG staff) took 3 of us to church before we headed over to Eva's house at 3 pm.

Greg, Nathan & Danika - early in church!

Greg's church is the same one where George's funeral was, and this is the first time I've been back since (21 months).  It was a bit sad for me - a great church with good sining and a great sermon - but my mind kept flashing back to George (former PNG National Director).

The "Boroko River" (we named it today)

On the way home, we passed by a stream that we named "Boroko River" (Boroko is the suburb where our guest house is.

=======================================================

Welcome Aussies!

At 3 pm we all went to Eva's house and had a great final party together.  The PNGers met us at the street and gave the Aussies leis and ushered us to the house.  There was laughing and speeches and gifts and dancing, and of course so much food - it was great.  But what made it the best were the friendships that we made with the Aussies.  All of the PNGers drew very close to them and our lives will not be the same again - that's a good thing :-).

Mumu

The big meal (lunch-dinner) was chicken & lamb cooked traditionally (East New Britain style) amongst hot rocks from the fire.  There were greens and a couple different cooked bananas.  They call it a Mumu, and the Aussies loved it (they dove right in)!

Great feast!

After the meal, several PNGers (and myself) shared what it meant to us to have the Aussies there!  I shared about the time when we were in Australian last July and I was talking with some of the Australian Student life leaders about their mission trip this year.  The idea came up to move it to February instead of Easter, and I called Eva (in PNG) to discuss it with her.  She listed 3 reasons why it would be difficult to pull off (3 obstacles), but that we should still try it.  Then in December, when Eva was in New Zealand with us, we listed about 12 things that we hoped would happen as a result of this project - all were completed within a few days!  The result was way beyond my expectation.  God is good!!! And He worked these past 12 days!

Lillian (PNG staff) gives here gifts to Danika

After our sharing, the PNGers gave gifts to the Aussies and then the Aussies gave gifts to us.

The PNGers do a dance for the Aussies

The the PNGers did a dance for the Aussies... and then the Aussies joined in.  After that it was dancing all over the place.  Kind of what I imagine heaven to be like - pure joy for all!!

The Aussies try the dance :-)

It was a great day. Thank you John, Danika, Nathan, Shei, Heidi, Alex, and Vanessa for giving up your time (and money) and coming to make an impact in PNG that will ripple across the country to the world!  It's a joy to work with you.  And as John said to me, "don't get emotional on me", I'll quit right here :-)

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 13: "Market day"

[Today (Saturday) is Day 11 of 12 for the Aussies]

This morning we were going to go to the market to buy souvenirs, but it started pouring down rain at about 7:15 am, and we never made it :-(   We headed out finally to the local market down the street at 3 pm, but it was all closed down.  The Aussies leave Monday morning and some wanted to buy some souvenirs (all markets are closed on Sundays).  So we went to the supermarket and one of the Aussies (Shei) bought 48 packets of chicken crackers & beef crackers.  This picture is her feeling a bit embarrassed.  The manager came over for a while and just watch them scan them in - I think he was trying to figure why anyone would buy so many (but they are good... and unique).

Adelyn & Greg enjoying ice cream!

The guest house we're staying in has great dinners (it's hard to lose weight here), and ice cream almost every night.  This being the everyone's last dinner here (except for me), we all made a big deal of the ice cream!  [tomorrow we have our big farewell dinner].

 After dinner, several of the Aussies put on a skit that they wrote which takes place when Jesus called James & John to be his disciples.  It is told from the point of view of a lady collecting water who is observing the conversations - and has both James & John sharing their thoughts. 

The point was that both James and John said yes to following Jesus and left their previous life (fishing/family business) to follow Jesus - they, like us, had barriers to overcome: like their father's expectation to continue fishing, etc.  It was excellent!! 

Nathan (Aussie) & I

Then we had 3 people give testimonies as to what happened in their lives to lead them to accept God's call to join Campus Crusade (Student Life).

The PNG clan (all except Eva)

 Here are 2 more pictures.  The large one to the right was myself, our 3 PNG young staff members, and our 6 student leaders - Eva was not with us because she is staying at her home and it's not safe to drive at night.

Thanks for praying!!!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 12: "Happy Valentine's Day"

[Today (Friday) is Day 10 of 12 for the Aussies]

Happy Valentines Day!

This morning I went to campus to meet Ume, and first year student who we shared Christ with  last Friday.  I have talked with him a few times and texted, but this was the first followup meeting.  Last night I sent Ume a text saying that I hoped to be on campus between 10 and 12 and maybe we could meet then - he said sure, and that he'd let me know what time would be the best.  Then this morning I received this text first thing: "Morning.. happy valentines and have an awesome day.. cheers!!"

We have been practicing MAWLing (see Day 8) which means that we don't do anything alone.  We always want someone with us who, after watching us model several times, will eventiually do the same thing on their own.  So Isaac & I went... but we but couldn't find him.  :-(

He tried to call me around 8:30, but was cut off before he could say much.  I tried to call him but couldn't get through (I still can't).  I suspect that his phone died and he couldn't let me know (my number was in his phone).  I looked for him, but couldn't find him.  I'll keep trying - on Monday.  It's really strange, and it's strange why he didn't text me after topping up his phone (unless his phone was stolen).

=================================================================

Yesterday 4 of us guys went to the mall and bought flowers & chocolates & shirts for all the girls.  We had to sneak them into the room without them seeing , cut the ends of the flowers off and put them in water (I stored them on the floor behind my bed).

Practicing our song for the ladies!

 We wrote new lyrics to a popular song and sang it for the ladies.  We didn't get to practice until after the dinner bell rang, so we ended up coming about 15 minutes late to dinner.  

When we preformed it, parts of it were butchered, but most of the lyrics were understood and the girls were giggling and laughing the whole time.  Here are some pictures of the girls afterwards (I have a video, but can't upload it from here due to weak Internet).  It was great & lots of fun!

Susan & Eva

Eva & Lillian (staff)

Shei & Danika!

Shei, Adelyn, Heidi & Naomi

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We had our last PNG team meeting tonight and it was so good!  The staff & students talked about how to improve the organizing of new students into new groups during our Alpha Party (a week from tomorrow).  We needed to adjust it, but I wanted to the students to come up with the plan once they understood the bigger picture of our goal (to build a movement of multiplying disciples).

They also said how much they appreciated all this training, and how the Aussies already knew their needs before they showed up - there was no wasted time at the beginning.  They said that this group from overseas created the best project that they've ever had.  I mentioned that it all started with of our time in Australia last July (Lillian, Jasmine & myself) - how we connected with the Aussie leadership and had many talks about how they could help us the best.  Going last July was instumental to what happened these past 10 days!

Thanks for praying!

PNG/Aussie Project - Day 11: "Partnership to reach ALL of Paupua New Guinea (all 836 people groups)"

[Today (Thursday) was day 9 of 12 for the Aussies]

Shei holding the Prayer Request Flag

Shei, one of the Aussie girls found a piece of cloth (a lavalava) at the market with the PNG flag and all the province flags on it.  She asked us (PNG) to write some prayer requests on it - the plan is to take it back to Australia to the big mid-year conference to Aussie students to pray for PNG.  They will also buy an Australian cloth and send it to us with prayer requests on it to help us pray for the Aussies.  I thought that was a great idea!!

Before dinner we talked about a strategic plan.  Vanessa (& Heidi not pictured) explained to us a simple method to come up with a strategic plan for the year.  We need to know where our goal is and how to reach it - and evaluate it monthly to see if it needs to be adjusted.

Vanessa explaining the Strategic Plan

So, after dinner, the PNG staff & students got together and came up with a strategic plan (I tried to not say much so that the plan would be their own).  This was very exciting listening to what they were coming up with and seeing them envision the whole year (and beyond)!

PNG Staff & Students creating their first Strategic Plan!

While the PNGers were coming up with their own plan, the Aussies has a time together to talk about their future partnership with us.  They had Lillian, Greg, Elton and myself come into their room in shifts to explain different aspects of the ministry like their needs, the opportunities, our vision for the future, and how would it look to have some Aussie stinters (for a year at a time) come.  It was also very encouraging.

Our PNG team (without Eva, Elijah, and Susan)

I told them that this training and MAWLing (see day 8) has been excellent, but I leave 1 week after they do and I could easily see the momentum fading rather quickly.  I firmly believe that the staff (and students) that we have now can take this ministry and turn it into a movement, but they would be so much more effective if there were someone here "on the ground" modeling these things continually.

Shei (front) & Danika (back)

After some more discussion, they told me that they were committed to try to find 2 ladies (probably Danika & Shei) and 2 men to come next January 2015.  My heart started to jump all over the place - I was so excited.  I have been holding my breath, praying that this would happen for the past 2 years, and it's going to happen - in 11 months!!!  Well, we still need to pray for the right people to be found, trained, and sent, and for housing (which is a huge problem here in Port Moresby - to find safe affordable housing).  S
o, please keep praying for us - GOD IS WORKING!!!!!!