This past month I had the opportunity to visit two locations outside of where I live at the main center of our mission organization in the highlands of PNG. First, I visited the Eastern Area Conference on the island of New Britain off the eastern coast of the mainland of PNG. There is a conference once a year here, where the missionaries get together for fellowship and encouragement. It’s been four years since I’ve been to this conference, and I’m so glad I went. It was a beautiful time of getting to know and hear the stories of the families there. Often at conferences though, I’m reminded of how hard this work is— the isolation, the disappointments, the unknown medical issues, searching for teammates. So many hard stories, and yet, they persevere, because they trust that God is faithful.
I was able attend a ladies’ evening, teach jumprope to the kids, visit with friends I don’t normally see and offer a session about the communication resources I’ve created that are available for them to use. I also prepared four frozen meals ahead of time and sent them over via our mission plane and then had four groups of ladies over for a dinner, breakfast and two lunches. I’m thankful for Tessa, who I stayed with, enabling me to invite so many different ladies to her home.
I ended up getting sick right after the last meal I hosted, and I’m so grateful that it didn’t hit sooner and that. As far as I know, I didn’t make anyone else sick! Despite the 24-hour stomach bug that hit a few of us, it was a great visit, and I am glad for the time I was able to spend with the ladies and their families serving in the Islands of PNG.
The morning after I arrived back from the Eastern Area, I started a new Missionary Care Discussion Group. This group has been a great encouragement to me, very engaged and excited to care for their missionaries well! Pray that our last call will be filled with helpful information and resources for them that they’ll be able to carry out well.
And then I went on a house building trip! The same team whose land agreement signing I shared with you a few months ago is now in the middle of building houses to be able to move in and work among the Uruwa people. I went in for four nights to help paint and sand and varnish, to add the finishing touches and mold protection to my friend Jessica’s house. It was hard work for me and the whole team of people helping! But a great experience. Click on the image below or here to see more photos and video clips and to get an idea of what house building in a tribal location looks like.
