PNG (After) Milne Bay Day 14: "Back in Moresby!"

It's good to be back in Port Moresby...the familiar vs. the new.  I arrived back with a killer cough, so my bed and I have had sweet time together.  I only have to get up for the lovely meals they provide here.  

Tomorrow, Dan has scheduled several meetings, trying to take care of admin. stuff while we're here.  We'll see if a good night sleep will kick this cough, and then I can join in.

My souvenir from our time with our student project is my fan.  Although it's not new, I had all the students and staff sign it.  That fan has surpassed my metal bucket in my affections as a most needed piece of equipment to take on a trip.  I used that fan for keeping cool, for sitting on damp ground, to shoo flies away, as a clean surface to put my wet wash cloth...the list goes on.  

 

PNG Milne Bay Day 13: "Last Things!"

Our last day in Milne Bay has been full of "last things."  We had our last church service here and said good-by to the church as a whole. (Part of the good-by was singing two songs up front...the first of which I didn't know the tried to fake the words!)

We had our last "team time," when,as a mission team, we got to debrief our time here, and had our final discussion on the book:  The Finishers, (in which we talked about serving God out of gratitude for His grace.)

In the evening, we had a farewell party with the youth group at the church.  Both the church youth leader and our own group directed games.  (And we came away with great, new ideas!)  We ended with a sideshow of our time here, and then good-bys were said.  Dan and I were presented with beautiful Milne Bay necklaces.  (Mine was presented to me by Angela...the lady with the umbrella!)

We took our final walk back to the SIL guest house.  (My feet are glad of this!)  Tomorrow we leave for Port Moresby at 4:30 am.

PNG Milne Bay Day 12: "Going Deeper!"

Stove on lt., oven (with fire around back) on rt.

Girl's sleeping accomodation

Our trip overnight into a village, staying on a family's land, seeing the kitchen building, the oven, the living style, and the welcoming/giving hospitality... was fascinating.  It was interesting that the more unlike my own experience and culture we got, the more relaxed and comfortable our students became as they were enveloped into their homelike atmosphere.  So, while I stuck out like a sore thumb, I was so thankful our students and staff could have a break like this in the midst of our busy schedule.

Our bathtub!

Our host family had a nearby river to supply extra water to the home, and it was also used for bathing, dish washing, etc.  In fact, I was shown a leaf that they use as steel wool for cleaning pots.  (It's very rough and thick!)  

With good friends, Diane & Andrea

One of the funniest things I saw was all the boys trying to catch a chicken for our lunch.   Talk about free-range birds!  Those chickens definately knew it was not in their best interest to be caught! The meal they provided was not only fresh, but bountiful, as all the sidedishes were added.  Along with chicken, we were presented with cau cau, tapioca, taro, greens, coconut rice, noodles, cooked bananas, and tea.

Boys slept on this platform

Liquid refreshment!

Eva took several plants back with us so that she could plant her souvenirs in her own garden back in Port Moresby!  Some students also took plants to add to their own village gardens when they return home in a couple of days. (I guess collecting souvenirs is a world-wide practice!)

PNG Milne Bay Day 11: "Movies!"

I had never seen an outdoor Jesus Film showing before...and it's so cool!

We've done one showing in an open space between a transit house (which provides rooms for people passing through town, so it attracts people from all over the province,) and the sea.  We also did a showing in another village a couple of hours away from town.  In fact, it was for enough away that my white skin scared one young boy. (He initially didn't want to see the movie because of the "dim dim," but was persuaded by his parents.)

The screen is a round white fabric with sleeves along the edge, into which flexible poles are inserted (like the new tent poles...light.)  When the movie is shown on this screen, it can be viewed from either side.

On these warm nights, outside under the stars and moon, watching people watch a movie of Jesus is pretty special!  450 came to the showing by the sea, and 90 came to see the movie in the more remote village.  

After the film is shown, one of our students tells their story of how their personal walk with Jesus began, and another reviews the gospel again.  For some of our team, it's the first time they've spoken up front to a crowd of people.  Faith-stretching stuff!

PNG Milne Bay Day 10: "Following the Umbrella!"

Church ladies waiting for the group to gather

Our team took some of the church people out sharing and distributing the Jesus Film DVDs this morning.  I was teamed up with two ladies:  Angela and Eileen.  Angela had not been to all our training, but was an older,very confident, take-charge type of person...with an umbrella, which acted as a parasol.  Eileen was slightly younger with a quiet, gentle personality.  (I wish there was a video photographer following us.  What an unusual team we made!)

Being a stranger here, I asked the other two ladies where we should go as we started out from the church.  Angela said, "To the barracks!" and off we went...quickly.  (She's a fast walker!)    On the way, we came to a house and Angela said, "We'll stop here first."  It seems she had ministered to the lady who lived there and knew she needed to gospel.  Angela told us to wait on the bench outside the house while she went inside to fetch her friend.  She returned with her friend and a plastic chair for me...and told me I was the one who would do the sharing.

So...I shared to gospel with Marianne.  When I'd ask a question as we went along, Marianne would just smile.  (Being an older foreign white lady can be a handicap.)  I'd look over at my partners, who would both begin speaking "language," explaining my question, then Marianne would nod.  It was worth the effort of plowing ahead this way, because Marianne is now my sister in Christ!  However, when Angela told Marianne to go into the house to see if her daughter would also come out and here the gospel, I told Eileen she could do the talking this time.

On our way again, up went the umbrella and we followed Angela through to another house she had in mind on the way to the barracks.  We took a short-cut between two houses, down a narrow, muddy, rocky hill.  (Eileen, following me, said in her soft voice, "Just go easy...I'll hold your hand."  On the narrow path was no room for hand-holding!)  After wading through a small stream (!) and up another hill, we came to the house Angela had in mind.

I let my partners both do the talking as we shared the gospel to the old mother and her grown daughter.  As I listened to Angela and Eileen both sharing (one to the mother and one to the daughter,) I was struck with how quiet their voices were.  I really felt like a big, loud American sitting there...but what a privileged American!  I was sitting in a village in Papua New Guinea, hearing two newly trained local ladies share the gospel, and witnessing God at work, bringing people to Himself.  Wow!

We never did make it to the barracks.

Eileen and Angela are behind me, at my shoulders.

PNG Milne Bay Day 9: "Matthew & Mayhem!"

We're here with our teammate from New Zealand, Matthew, whom all our PNG staff and students love.  This is his last day here with the team, as he travels back to Auckland tomorrow...and what a last day!

In the morning we split into two teams to cover two different primary schools.  The goal: to read through a children's tract explaining the gospel to assemblies of students, then pass out the Jesus Film DVDs.  Dan and I went with one group,  Matthew went with the other.

Our group went pretty much as planned, except that instead of talking with an assembly, we went into 4 classrooms.  Since there was 8 of us, that meant 2 of us went to each classroom.  We had a delightful time...the children were excited to have us there.
 
Matthew's group was another story...nothing went to plan.  They thought they were speaking to one assembly, then the next hour, another assembly.  Upon arrival, because of miscommunication between the upper and lower primary schools, no one was expecting them right then.  Matthew's group waited 2 hours...then ministry mayhem (or in Matthew's case, "heaven") broke loose.  The principal wanted our team to speak to ALL the classrooms...and it's a huge school.  Bottom line:  the team, divided up, spoke to 4 classrooms at a time.  They ran from one classroom to another, with Matthew acting as a go-between (introducing teams and passing out supplies).  By the end of the morning, they had spoken in 16 classrooms and one of assembly.  (The assembly was 400 of the youngest kids.)  Because of God working through Matthew's group, 1000 kids heard the gospel.  (They thought they would speak to only 300.) 

Matthew's talk on God's "call."

In the afternoon, Matthew gave a talk to our whole project team on "finding God's call."  By the end of the day, two of our PNG students came up to Matthew and told him they felt God wanted them to become full-time missionaries. One  of those students was so excited that she couldn't eat dinner or stop smiling!

Elton (Staff) taking notes

   What a way for Matthew to end his time here!

PNG Milne Bay Day 8: "Highschool!"

Today we all packed 50 DVDs of the Jesus Film and Knowing God Personally booklets in each of our bags and we all walked 20 minutes to a local high school.  500 of the 700 students came to hear about Student Life at UPNG, Diane's testimony, and an outline of the gospel.

We then distributed to every student a DVD and invited them to stay if they would like to hear how they could know God personally.

Each of our team members ended up talking with a group of about 10-15 students...except Dan, who zeroed in on a male teacher who was hanging around.  It turned out the Fred taught math and science (like Dan did in Palau), and didn't know who Jesus is...very unusual in the islands.  Dan went through the gospel with him and he looks a little scared.  He said, "This is a big decision!"  Dan shared his own story about choosing to follow Christ.  At the end, Fred asked Jesus into his heart and is beginning his great adventure as God's child!  Yahoo!