First Contact

Hi everyone, sorry it has taken so long for us to update our blog. It has taken longer than expected to get thing set up here in “da islands”. Life here runs at its own pace, and it is taking us some time to get back into “da rhythm”.

As you all have probably deduce, Natalie and I safely arrived in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday the 10th of June; 10 days after leaving Denver international Airport (see blog entries below for details on our journey). As I made mention of above, since arriving Natalie and I have been running around in circles trying to get Bank Accounts, Internet Accounts, Cell Phones etc. setup. It has been a bit of a challenge reacquainting myself with how things are done.

Also, within the first week, Natalie and I found ourselves knee deep in a number of church activities. Two days after arriving in Port Moresby, Natalie and I attended a Boroko Baptist Church picnic. There were a number of different activities going on, including Touch Rugby, which to my surprise I was asked to referee. It gave us a great opportunity to begin making contacts and building relationships.

The following Tuesday night, the Pastor and his wife came over for dinner. It was exciting to get to hear their story. It turns out that they have only been in the country for 4 months, after moving here from South Africa. They had never even heard of Papua New Guinea, but knew God was calling them here. They happened to find an article in a Christian Magazine advertising the Pastors position at Boroko Baptist Church. So, with confirmation, they sold their house and all their belongings and came.

To add to an already full week, Natalie and I attend a “Shabbat” meal, conducted by visitors from Australia who are in the country holding seminars on Israel. They have been up in the highlands all of last week, and return to Port Moresby for another week of teaching. We have the privilege of hosting one of the Speakers, Bruce Garbutt, who will be staying with us at the house. We look forward to chatting and getting to know him and his team.

Finally, to round up a hectic week, on Saturday, we went to a Gospel Benefit Concert called ‘Children of the Pacific’. This was the first of its kind, but there are plans to make it an annual event. The proceeds of this, the inaugural concert, went to a young girl from Tonga, named Tae Kami. She has Cancer of the jaw and has had most of her upper jaw removed. Tae, by Gods grace, has a powerful God fearing family who is standing on Gods word for ‘complete’ healing. The thing that blessed us even more was her personal testimony. Her relationship with Jesus and her courage blew us away. She had not an ounce of bitterness or resentment towards Gods for what she has had to endure. She is rested and finds her security in the fact that God is in complete control.

Several Christian bands came together to help raise funds to pay for her treatment. There was about 200-300 hundred people in attendance, both young and old. The total raised that night was approximately 10,000 Kina, the equivalent of $3500 USD.