“Great multitudes followed Jesus and he healed them all” (Matt. 12:15 KJV). Even though our primary goal is to help the Dom people spiritually by providing them with God’s Word both in teaching and in written vernacular form their physical needs are ever before us. We can not heal them miraculously as the Lord did but we provide what medical help we can everyday.
We are not physicians. We do not operate, give injections or suture wounds. We do provide primary care and first aid through our little “clinic” here at our home. Coughs, colds, sores, tropical ulcers, infections, malaria and wounds of every sort are the daily routine in the afternoon. From newborns to the elderly the Dom people of the community come to us for help since the nearest hospital is nearly two hours walk away.
[singlepic id=71 w=320 h=240 float=]We are also the de facto ambulance for the more serious “gotta get ‘em to the hospital” situations that arise. Sometimes it is life or death. This was Alua’s situation not long ago. And then recently Gena’s wife,[singlepic id=73 w=320 h=240 float=] Rose found herself in crisis after the tragic still birth of their son. Praise God that both times the weather and road conditions allowed us to get them both to professional medical help.
We have lost track of how many times we have made such emergency runs to both the larger hospital in Kundiawa (the nearest town to us) and to Nera Gaima Medical Clinic (previously mentioned). Both are good hospitals that we are very thankful to have available. Both are also a long walk away from here and subject to weather and road conditions for us to drive to in emergencies. It goes without saying that it is all in God’s hands.
As you can see it is imperative that our vehicle is kept running. However it is nearly twenty years old and itself in need of constant “medical” attention. The years of rough, off road use has taken its toll on our Toyota Hilux. At the present we have no mechanic down at our field office (3 hours’ drive from here) to do any major repairs so we are driving by faith so to speak. Needless to say that we need to replace our vehicle as soon as possible.[singlepic id=85 w=320 h=240 float=]
Speaking of vehicles, both Heather’s and Ilai’s vehicles are down, making things difficult for them. So we would appreciate prayer for wisdom for them in what to do. We would appreciate prayer also for Ilai to know what to do with his future. He has really only two choices of location, both with problems, but he is trusting in the Lord to work things out. Heather needs employment that suits her class schedule. Ilai needs a consistent on the books job. He has been able to get work here and there but nothing consistent. Brian and Terra are busy with work and two boys. Darren loves his job looking after the two men that he is a caregiver for and he is ready to start his online seminary courses.
Translation is moving along. Lord willing, in January, Jim will have Matthew checked, Jude, James and Hebrews are ready to check, and he is working on getting Luke, John and Revelation ready for checking later in the coming year.
2012 is election year in PNG which is always followed by fighting here in the Dom as they are poor losers. Also climate scientists are predicting a severe drought which will cause garden food shortages. Papua New Guineans rely on their garden produce to survive so a drought is a very serious thing.