Selling Kerosene bottles

These men are selling the plastic juice and pop bottles to people needing
kerosene. Outside of town most people use kerosene lanterns since they
don't have electricity.

Trip to Kainantu

Kainantu is a town about 10 minutes from where we live. We went with some
friends who had a vehicle to go second hand clothes shopping. The next
nearest place to go clothes shopping is 2 and half to 6 hours away.

Police Vehicle

PMV - Public Motor Vehicle

This is a common mode of transport in PNG - the PMV. It's usually so full
of people that you wouldn't think you could fit anyone else in, but there
always seems to be room for one more. When we were in the village and Noah
cut his foot with a bush knife, we took a PMV to town. It wasn't too
comfortable, especially since we were stuck in the middle on the floor. :)

Time to eat

After the singing and speakers, it was time to eat. The men retrieved their
plates and got in line. We were able to feed about 150 men and had some
food left over for the prison guards. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit
will continue to convict the hearts of those who do not know Christ.

Prisoners say thank you

The prisoners greeted us with music as we arrived with the food. We were
able to shake hands with about 130 inmates and were able to share some
encouraging words. The bottom picture shows one of the men thanking us for
our previous visits.

At the prison

The top picture shows the prison warden.

The middle picture shows a man who had been an inmate previously in the
prison. He related how the gospel changed his life. After two years of
being incacerated he was found innocent and let go, yet he is not bitter
about losing two years of his life.

The bottom picture shows another speaker who urged the prisoners to keep
themselves connected to God and his word.

Visit to the prison

One of the local ministries is a group of men from the center who visit the
prison twice a month to bring Bibles, pray, and minister to those who need
the gospel. This year for Christmas we were able to bring a meal for the
incarcerated men. The prison's typical diet is rice with some canned tuna
twice a day, so a meal of vegetables, lamb chops, and baked goods was a
highlight for the men.

The top picture shows the men listening to a program. A local church from
PNG did most of the food preparation and also led some singing.

The middle and bottom pictures also show the prisoners during the program.
A number of speakers addressed the group, challenging them in their faith
and sharing various Bible passages.

"Mumu" otherwise known as "PNG potluck"

Benita was able to experience her first "mumu" as a farewell to Rachel, who
is retiring from the clinic lab, after working for over 25 years. Rachel
shared her wealth of knowledge with many, including Benita, when she first
started helping out in the lab.

A mumu is a special feast held on special occasions. The food, from their
gardens, (yams, taro, aibeka, corn, sweet potato, kumu (greens) is cooked
together in a deep hole in the ground over rocks, covered with banana
leaves, and left to cook for 4-8 hours. Pieces of chicken are also cut up
and cooked with the food. It's a lot of work to prepare, but tasted very
good.

"Well done, Good and Faithful Servant"

On November 20th, we were able to celebrate and rejoice with Alex and Lois,
(one of the first translation teams in PNG) as they returned to Ukarumpa for
the last time from their village. After serving 52 years with the Tairora
language group, Alex and Lois will be returning to Australia. A red carpet
was rolled out to welcome them off the helicopter, and the band played, "To
God be the glory, great things He has done,". We couldn't keep back tears,
imagining the mixed emotions they must have been feeling leaving their
village, and getting off the helicopter for the last time. Alex and Lois
probably would have preferred to quietly slip away, and while we know they
didn't want any credit for anything they did, the community did want to
acknowledge God's faithfulness to them over the years.

They are an amazing example to us. We are so thankful we have been able to
visit them in their village. In the past year, we have often felt, "Are we
going to make it?" There have been times we have felt like we wanted to get
home as quickly as we could. God enabled Alex and Lois to finish well the
task given them, and we know that they will continue to serve Him until they
are called Home.

STEP cultural day

At the completion of another STEP course, the attendees of the course put on a special “Cultural Day”, where they dressed up in traditional costumes.  STEP is a workshop offered to Papua New Guineans from many different villages, with the goal of training and equipping them to meet the literacy needs in their community.  STEP stands for, “Strengthening Tok Ples (vernacular) Education in PNG. 

Carnival Time

Every year in October, the highschool sponsors "Carnival" as a fundraiser.
There's lots of games and food. The highlight is always the homemade Ferris
wheel that highschool students made in their metals class probably around 15
years ago. Doug was in a booth making and selling doughnuts. Half of the
proceeds this year went to a ministry that is getting started in Port
Moresby for street kids.

Worship

The words on the outside of the church: "Bikpela I gat olgeta strong, mi
laikim tumas haus bilong yu." Verse taken from Psalm 84:1, "How lovely is
your dwelling place oh, Lord, Almighty."

One man preached in Tok Pisin, and the other translated in tok ples (the
vernacular).

The service was so encouraging. They had their Sunday school program, where
the children recited scripture and sang songs. Then the pastor preached the
sermon on Deuteronomy 6: 6-8. He challenged the congregation to be very
active in teaching the next generation how to live by God's word. We see
this as the key to building a stronger land; the next generation needs to
escape the conflicts of the past and find a new way to solve problems. Our
prayer is that the coming generations will grasp this Biblical worldview
both intellectually and in living it out. Only this type of transformation
will be able to bury the animosities of the past.

In the village

In the village we passed a few places where village houses had been burnt
down during the tribal fighting in September. The four graves mark the four
villagers who were killed in the fighting.

A typical Highlands home is pictured. Unlike the coastal homes, that are
built up on stilts or poles, these are low to the ground to keep in the
warmth. The nights and early mornings can get quite cool. The thatched
roofs have little ventilation and since most have their cooking fires in the
house,a lot of Papua New Guineans suffer from asthma and other respiratory
illnesses.

Bridge Over the River Bai

People were once able to drive over this bridge.