"Summer" in PNG: Part 1

This month presented itself with a few challenges, plenty of fun, and some learning.

At the beginning of June, Adam took over the role of supervisor on the job site (the three new doctors houses).  The girls and I finished school about the third week of June and enjoyed some much needed “American” fun in the sun! This last week, after hiring some wonderful local men to clean out the garden space, the girls and I got busy planting. We have some cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, asparagus and zucchini already sprouting!

Our small garden area BEFORE

Adam busy in the new Field Shop

Small garden area AFTER

We currently have a Work & Witness Team here from Arizona. They are busy working on the decks and cabinets in the houses. Adam is proving a great “boss man” and has spent the last month proving to the local workers that he knows a thing or two about “American” style carpentry. It’s been a challenge for him as he learns the language and tries to communicate to them how he wants something done. He has created his own tok ples (language of the village), he thinks just adding “pela” to the end of everything is going to get him by. His workers are finding his humor quite funny and I think he is really enjoying his job. But, at some point he is going to need to buckle down and do some serious studying of the language.

This past week, the girls and I got to be apart of VBS (put on by the W&W Team) at the Nangbe Care Center. Sister Ruth and her husband house/care for about 40-50 orphans as well as provide the community with HIV counseling and care giver training. It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of the work being done there!

Adam is getting ready to go to Tonga at the end of July, meeting up with our home church. I am disappointed that I cannot go this time, but am excited that Josiah Radcliffe (a MK student here and Adam’s summer help on the job site) gets to go with him.

We had about a week this past month that the hospital was closed due to a situation involving the work being done on the hydro electric plant. There are few paying jobs here in Papua New Guinea (about 85% of the population is unemployed) and it proves difficult to please everyone. For the moment everything is back to “normal” and the hospital is busy saving and changing lives. When I start to wonder, “What good we are doing here? I’m not out preaching or saving lives in the hospital.” God has to stop me and remind me that the body has many parts for a reason (Romans 12:3-8) and it takes the work of many to accomplish God’s will. I think I can speak for our whole family when I say that we are so thankful for all of our past experiences. We can see that God is using gifts/talents, which we did not know we had gained or maybe thought unnecessary, to simply share the love of Christ in Papua New Guinea.

Adam holding a cuscus

The local people here are very gracious. Just like in the States, at times you have to be cautious, but there are saints here that have truly blessed us already. I have a gaden meri, named Betty, who I am very thankful for. She has been helping me with my tok pisin. Today she showed up with four other women to work on the ditch and hibiscus hedge which was over grown with weeds just outside our house. My immediate reaction was, “Great, I can’t afford to pay all of them!” Well, with help from my neighbor Gail and further probing, we discovered that just as we are missionaries to them, they want to be missionaries to us. So they started working around the station (back breaking labor, after fasting for a day) to bless us as they serve Papa God. Boy, did I have to go to prayer on that one! But in all honesty, I am so grateful to the people here for showing me service like I’ve never seen before.

Well on another note, we are still having problems with the internet and discovered this past week that our modem had been hacked. Thus the reason we were going through so many units so quickly. Hopefully once the Goossen Family returns in August we will be able to get station internet back on our end of the mission station, which will help a bit.

One more thing, we got a copy of Kenny and Kari Dodd’s home movies from their time here in PNG from 1965-67. (Thank you to all involved in the sending of that!) The Dodd’s were short term missionaries from our home church. We had seen the video footage before, but it was really exciting to see the Radcliffe’s house, the Knox’s church, the chapel, old hospital and many other buildings that are still here and being used on station! 

Thank you so much for all your love and support from home. We are feeling the prayers, so keep em’ coming! 

Blessings,
Stephanie