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!