Well, it was as perfect as hoped. The PNG missionaries and staff had been planning this for a long time and a lot of effort has gone into today (Lillian didn't sleep last night).
The day started off at 7:30 when the bus came to drive us around to pick up the food from various friends & family who cooked for us (we hired the bus for all day and it was like our giant taxi). Eva's sister cooked some of the Mumu, traditional food cooked in the ground. Gail (Eva's daughter) now lives with them and they allowed Gail to spend the day with us - it was great to have her around again!
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| Elton receiving the mumu from Eva's sister. |
After we got back to our guest house, everyone was waiting for us to take them to church (we were late). I ran in and changed my clothes, and when I came out, the bus was driving off - I chased it with my arms flailing all around (no, I don't have a picture of this part of the story). They finally stopped for me and we all went off to Lillian's church.
The 2 Aussie leaders were able to share some very encouraging thoughts from their hearts on their time here! It was a great church and I'd like to go back next time (and it's not because of the hotdogs).
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| Erin & Dave sharing how PNG has impacted their lives. |
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| Gail (Eva's daughter) and Stephen eating "morning tea" hotdogs! |
After a quick snack & a change of cloths, all 19 of us took off again in our taxi/bus for Adventure park - to a wonderful pavilion under some trees between 2 lakes! Our first event was coconut opening and drinking. We had forgotten a knife, so Elton cracked open several using his elbow (an amazing trick)... until he cut himself. But I still needed one - so I chewed the end off with my teeth and dug a hole through one of the 3 small plugs in the top - it was fun to remember how to do that!
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| Ice cold coconuts - nothing better than this! |
We had a great time of heart-filled sharing and giving thanks to everybody for what we appreciated about them...
...and then it was time to eat lunch/dinner (about 2:30 pm) - We had Mumu (meat/potatoes/banana roasted in the ground), Aigir ("Stone soup" from Eva's region with greens in it), and Bariva (soft slabs of sago flour mixed and boiled with banana - absolutely wonderful stuff!). It all was very nice - definitely one of the best Mumus that I have ever had!
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| Two Mumus, Aigir, and Bariva - A great feast! |
Then there was lots of rugby, hugs, laughing, hugs, dancing, gifts, and more hugs! A grand afternoon.
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| Great Rugby time! |
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| The PNG gang did 2 dances, one allowed all of us to join in (hence no picture) |
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| Lots of hugging!! |
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| The PNGers gave personalized gifts to each Aussie! |
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| More hugging... |
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| ...and lots of photos! |
We finally left at 5:30, to get back to our guest house before sunset (6 pm).
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| And one last "Bananas in the Universe Unite!" |
For the past 12 days, we've seen many changed hearts and changed lives - it's very thrilling to my own heart!! Thanks so much for praying!
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