Greetings everyone. It’s just a few short months before I return to minister in Papua New Guinea. Many people have asked about my upcoming trip. So I’d like to take this opportunity to answer a few of the more common questions.
1) So where are you going? I’ll be heading back to Papua New Guinea, a large island in the South Pacific- just North of Australia. My place of service will be in the Madang Region. For those who were wondering it takes about 36 hours to travel there through Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia.
2) When are you going and for how long? I’m planning on leaving early January of 2010. My plan is to stay for a two year term, then return to the USA for a 6 month furlough. I’d like to continue working in PNG for as long as I can, or until the Lord plans otherwise.
3) What will you be doing there? I’ll be working in a support role- doing whatever I can to assist the tribal missionaries in their job of church planting. Which means fixing vehicles, building houses, buying supplies, driving folks to town, loading helicopters, or whatever else is needed to allow them to focus on getting the Gospel out.
4) Where will you be living? It looks like I’ll be moving back into my old duplex apartment at the Madang center- with most of my old furniture even- stuff I built many years ago.
5) What are the living conditions like? Do you have power and water? We do actually have things like town power and running water, but not quite like in the USA. The town power tends to be a bit… erratic (we average about one blackout a day), but we do have a backup generator. The center also has a well and water tank, so there’s lots of running water. However, my apartment lacks air conditioning, so I’ll have to get used to the heat again.
6) So, what’s the climate like? PNG is very close to the equator, and the weather stays pretty constant: hot and humid, especially on the coast. One can usually expect rain every evening, and some locations average about an inch of rain every day. However, if one travels to the Highlands which tend to be about 1 mile above sea level, then it is nice and cool.
7) How does one get around? PNG is a very mountainous country, with very few good roads (all the rain tends to wash them out). So, most long distance travel is done via airplane, either through a missionary flight service, or by the national air line. For trips to town one can rent a mission vehicle. Personally, I’m looking to buy a motorcycle- it’s a lot cheaper and easier way to travel.
8 ) What are the people like? The citizens of PNG are pretty neat bunch. The culture is very different from that in the USA- so much so I’d need to write up a whole letter just to explain it. However, the country is very open to missions and missionaries, and the folks tend to be pretty open and friendly.
9) How can we help? First, please keep me in your prayers. Second, you can help out financially- I’m not paid any kind of salary other than the generous gifts of others. If you would like to assist financially, just click on the link above marked “give”.
God bless you all and thanks once again, Joe