PNG Easter Conference trip - Last full day: "Not Somehow, But Triumphantly!"

This is the last full day of our trip.  This is the day of frantically trying to attend to all the details of ministry that need a personal (not online) touch.  Some of these details were planned for yesterday, but alas...

Eva Puipui’s (our former PNG director’s wife) sister died and her funeral was yesterday afternoon.  Funerals here are longer than in the U.S. or New Zealand.  We left the funeral early after almost 4 hours.  (There was probably another hour or so to go.)  Eva’s sister and brother-in-law have been instrumental in supporting and helping our PNG ministry and our young staff team here.  The brother-in-law is a busy and influential pastor, but has taken time out for such things as taking our staff to the airport in the early morning.  He's also come to some of our programs, doing things like giving prayers of dedication for graduating students.  Our hearts go out to him as he deals with his great loss.

As I’m writing this, Dan is flitting around to do banking, meeting with Elton, modeling leading a discipleship group, hashing out issues of taxes with the PNG government, getting the ministry van inspected for road fitness, etc.

The girl who discipled me in high school had a saying, “Not somehow, but triumphantly.”  It’s based on that verse in 2 Cor. 2:14 that says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”  So, my prayer for Dan today is that he’ll depend on God...and smell good!

PNG Easter Conference Trip - Easter Weekend: "Smashing Walls!"

 Dan leading one of his 6 seminars

"Smashing Walls" was the theme of this year's conference.  Of course, Jesus smashed the biggest wall of all when He made a way for sinful man to get to a holy God.

My personal wall for this conference was having the energy and clarity to come up with and deliver the 3 devotional talks I was tasked with.  (The 3 hour earlier time difference on top of getting here just the day before the conference started didn't give much leeway for foggy brains.)  Dan also has a similar story to tell.  However, I think our PNG staff had the biggest wall to smash through with regards to this conference.  It seems the common thread of all conferences that the staff organizing it are pretty much over-taxed and exhausted by the end of it.  I feel bad that Dan and I weren't able to be here a few days earlier to help out practically with the on-the-ground prep-work.  That being said, God did some big things in the hearts of our students this year.

As we went through the written feedback from the conference, it looks like 7 students became Christians.  Many more learned what it meant to walk with God and the importance of being involved in small group discipleship.  One student in particular couldn't seem to get over being amazed at the truth of God's love and forgiveness for him personally!

Learning how to share their faith and then going out to a nearby marketplace to practice seemed a favorite part of the conference for many of the students.

Even though there were many details of this conference that we could have improved upon, it's wonderful to know that God's Spirit can smash through and cause His work and purpose to be done.  Easter is all about Jesus' light conquering the darkness.  We got to see the personal darkness of the 7 of our students conquered when they trusted Jesus to be their Saviour, as well as the 36 others that did the same on our day of outreach.

Our prayer is that the darkness in PNG will keep being pushed back and that the Light of Jesus will keep getting brighter...especially on the campus of UPNG!

PNG Easter Conference Trip - Day 1: "Comings and Goings!"

As we’re paused here in Brisbane, Australia, awaiting our flight to Papua New Guinea, I can’t believe all the farewells and hellos of this last month.

During a dinner honouring our outgoing director (Don and Kathryn Mansfield) and welcoming our new director for the Pacific Islands (Justin O’Malley and his wife Heather), I had yet again another gall stone attack.  It resulted in a 5-day hospital stay and farewelling a toxic gall bladder.  It was my first surgery, and Dan’s first experience as the support person.  (He, of course, has been the patient many times...so this was a complete exchange of roles.)  All is well.  New Director, new team (the Islands have been merged with the New Zealand ministry), an empty space in my body (and a loss of 10 lbs. that I’m trying to keep off.)

We also sent our passports off to Wellington (New Zealand’s capital) to the PNG High Commission to get our entry visas placed in them.  After months of supplying Papua New Guinea with info, and a packet of money, we found out (by chance) that the High Commission in Wellington was waiting for our passports.  We were uninformed.  We also were about to embark on this trip to PNG for the student Easter Conference.  We telephoned to see if we could just enter the country as usual with a visitor’s visa.  We were THEN informed that we were already in their system and if we entered as a “visitor,” our long-term visa would be canceled and we’d have to begin all over again.  SO, we said good-bye to our passports for a few days, and paid for a courier to return them to us.  We greeted our passports last night at 6:30pm.  (We left for the airport at 3:30am.)  That was cutting it close...which caused much prayer and “funny tummys.”

In all this business of change, adapting to new circumstances, etc., I’m hanging my hat on the truth that God doesn’t change.  He’s the same kind, sovereign, powerful, faithful Father that He’s always been...and He wins over all the darkness and uncertainty of life.

Feb. 2018 PNG Trip - "Dan's Dad Always Said..."

As we finish up our stay in PNG, it's always a rush to try and get everything accomplished before the airplane takes off for home.

Yesterday, we should have remembered what Dan's dad always said, "Just think of the next thing."  We were trying to think two steps ahead of where we were and arrived at the mall (which houses a post office, office supplies, grocery store, etc.) with our list of tasks and realized we forgot to bring our money (as well as driver's license and credit card.)  Oops.  We missed that step!  We had to retrace our steps, calm ourselves, and begin again.

Here we are, packing up, with one meeting to go before going to the airport.  It's always a crazy time of wondering if we did all God intended for us to do...Did we choose the right things to attend to?  That's when it's a comfort to remember Who is in charge.  We are just God's servants, doing the best we can.  We take great encouragement from the fact that so many people are praying.  As we leave, and the country of PNG gets smaller in the distance, our staff seem so vulnerable...until we remember Who it is that has their back.  This ministry stuff is definitely God's business, and if we hold on to that, then whatever happens will be gold, silver, and precious stones...not wood hay and stubble.  We just have to look to Him for our next (and each) step, one at a time.  

Feb. 2018 PNG Trip - "View From the Middle!"

Here we are at the half-way point of our stay here in Port Moresby.  I've been having computer internet issues, so here's a summary of what's happened in our story so far:

We helped our 3 new staff girls celebrate completing their training in how to develop their ministry partner team (to find people to pray and finance their ministry on the campus.) Eroni from Fiji came to help with their training, so we were also on hand to hear his report and thank him for the wonderful job he did.  (Because Eroni is an islander himself, our girls felt quite comfortable learning from his training, advice, and encouragement. He had a great impact in their lives.)  Front row:  Elidah & Tanya (new staff), Diane (coach during the training), Beautlyn (new staff).  Back row:  Dan, Kaylynn, Eroni, Elton.

We've helped celebrated Elton's birthday!

Beautlyn, Elidah, and Tanya (new staff girls)

We've had good conversations with all our staff, both as a group and individually.  (Face-to-face communication is so needed and treasured when the majority of the time we communicate from two different countries.)  We are constantly grateful for the gifted and good-hearted staff God has entrusted to our care.

We got to observe the giving out of the first year gift-packs to the incoming new students at UPNG during the orientation week.  These gift-packs contain a Jesus Film DVD, a devotional book, a brochure about our ministry, and a survey card to see if they are interested in more information.  The interested students are contacted and invited to a party where they can choose to be in a small group bible study.  One father of a student picked up a gift pack for his daughter standing nearby.  He pulled out the survey card and gave it to her.  He offered his pen, but then filled out the card for her.  We'll find out if the daughter is as interested as her father when our students contact her!  

 

Feb. 2018 Adventure in PNG - Days 1-3: "Back in the Saddle Again!"

Here I am...back in our "home away from home."  The Mapang Missionary Guest House feels familiar and the the hosts are so welcoming.  I've only walked into the wrong room once!  (There are several rooms along a corridor, all of which we've stayed in at one time or another.  Automatic pilot is a dangerous setting for me around here.  Fortunately, the darkened room I burst into had a man  looking at his phone while listening to something through his earphones. Someone else was snoring away.  I quickly and quietly whisked the door shut, berating myself for not paying attention.  I think I got away undetected...at least no one confronted me the next morning.  Sheesh!)

Being with our staff is such a blessing.  It's reassuring to see them clinging to their faith, taking on responsibilities that take them out of their comfort zone, and bravely moving forward.  There are so many things that could derail them, but God has faithfully kept them, nurtured them, and is growing them to be beautiful men and women of God.

Part of our job is a lot like ironing.  Wrinkles appear, whether it be in relationships, paperwork, or finances, etc., and we attempt to smooth things out through prayer, and God's grace and truth.  I've come to the conclusion that only by God's grace and miraculous power can we be used to have any lasting effect.  This is very freeing because if I compare myself to the other missionaries staying at this guest house, I feel under-qualified and a bit lacking.  If I stick to looking at God, I do much better. 

 

PNG May Visit - Days 9-10: "Awkward Moments!"

Getting gifts ready to present

The new university year has begun and our party to introduce the first year students to Student Life was last night.


It was a wonderful time of songs, games, testimony, vision...and a devotional talk by me.  Usually I just share what I'm learning in my own "quiet time" with God, but I was having trouble making a talk out of it this time.  I was a little nervous, so my hands were sweating.  It was hot and humid, so the rest of me was sweating as well.  I was wearing a PNG top and slacks, both made out of non-absorbent fabric...therefore, it did no good to wipe my moist hands on my clothes.  I was a little worried about dropping the microphone!  However, since God answers prayer and can do wonderful things, the devotional went as well as it could.

 

Another awkward moment came at the end of the evening when students introduced themselves and we shook hands or hugged.  I saw one girl approach who either "high-fived" or hugged people around me.  When she got to me, I lifted my hand for a "high-five," while she leaned in for a hug.  I almost hit her face by accident...but danger was averted, and a successful hug was achieved!  

What amazes me about ministry is that although a million things could go wrong and everything could easily fall apart...in the midst of it all, God can work. He's the One who holds all things together and changes lives.  And...He can use even the awkward!