January 13. Was awakened by loud, detestable “music” this morning although I didn’t get up right away. The body wasn’t quite awake enough to clamber out of bed. I was thankful to have slept fairly well without clear lungs and ibuprofen last night. So glad to be on the mend. Enjoyed a relaxing breakfast and quiet time. No running around this morning. We expected Amos And Dallas to be here around 10:00, and we would have some fellowship with them. But they never came until after noon. In the mean time, I busied myself in the kitchen. Peeled, washed and cut up the rest of the carrots and put them in a pot to cook. Then I decided to add the handful of potatoes that was left so peeled washed and cut those up too. Put the pot of food on to cook, and will have some of that for lunch. So that will give a little variety to my diet, and I won’t be eating just kaukau all day. Too much kaukau is hard to digest. Daddy and I did some walking back and forth on the upstairs front veranda to get some exercise and enjoy the fresh air. We also sat down and sang a few songs together while we were waiting for our guests. Daddy had just put his dinner in the microwave when they showed up at the gate. After a good cry, we all had lunch together. Amos and Dallas just came down to Goroka from Kainantu yesterday. They had gone there with 29 youth from GIBC to attend several days of youth meetings at Bethel Baptist Church. It is a church that was started by Scott Childs, but currently has no pastor. Pastor Daniel from New Testament Baptist in Goroka was there to do the preaching. The youth, along with Mike and other adults who had accompanied them, were on their way back to Owena and were expected to arrive back there some time this evening. We had plenty of kaukau and some cooking bananas to feed the two of them. They spent a couple hours with us and then went back to Philip’s house where they are staying. Then Daddy and I had our nap. After nap, I made a list of produce we need to buy at market tomorrow. Then we figured out what we need most to get at the other stores tomorrow since we won’t have a vehicle available on Tuesday and Wednesday. After supper, I cooked up some ground beef so I can have some to eat in the morning with my veggies. Washed up a handful of dishes. Wrote an e-mail to C&C so it is ready to mail whenever we can connect to the internet. Transferred a few photos to the computer and edited them. Daddy and I read Philippians 4 this evening and had prayer together. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 Praise the Lord for this reminder, for when it seems like our own strength is almost gone, we know that it is not our own strength which carries us through, but it is Christ who strengthens us.
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January 11. Slept in until about 6:45 this morning and even had a long nap this afternoon. Was awake a while before dawn, the sinuses on the right side of my face now getting filled up. I finally got up and took some ibuprofen. After a while, I was finally able to rest and get back to sleep. I did not go out shopping this morning with Daddy. I started getting things ready here for our move over to CRMF tomorrow—packed up clothes and some of the food that we don’t need any more today or in the morning. Enjoyed a little extra quiet time too. Later in the morning, Brad helped Daddy load our four suitcases, one packed box, and mattress into the car. Then Daddy took them over to MAF hangar. When he came home, I had spaghetti cooked for his dinner, and some carrots too. Spaghetti sauce was already made—Daddy had had it over rice for the past couple days. This afternoon, I did go out with Daddy. We stopped at the hangar first so Daddy could pay for the drum of diesel which the workers would purchase for him. Then we went to Hardware House to see if they had appliances. Last of all, we stopped again at Brian Bell. They had a nice twin tub washer, which we hadn’t seen the other day, an affordable gas stove, and an affordable blender. A man named Paul Opa came by to help us and printed us out a quote of the three items we are interested in. Back to the house for a late afternoon snack and time to just relax. In the evening, I washed the dishes and then read and sang a bit, or tried to sing, that is. It’s a little difficult to make a tune when one has a sinus cold. “22Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. 23Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets…. 27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you…. 35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Luke 6:22,23,27,28,35,36 How shall we respond to and treat our enemies? Rejoice and even leap for joy when they treat you spitefully. Love them, do good to them, bless them, pray for them, show them kindness and mercy. January 12. We arrived in PNG a week ago today. By God’s grace, we have finished this first week, although very tired. Many sleepless hours traveling; + for me, battling sinus infection all week, and for Daddy, the stressful task of driving the land rover through and around giant potholes all over Goroka, and making and keeping up contacts with proper parties to help us arrange flights, transport, lodging, etc., and running here and there checking on availability and prices of building supplies and appliances, etc., the hassle of getting his driver’s license (that’s another story), ad infinitum; and all the running to and fro to dozens of little stores trying to find things we need; repacking the suitcases so they are ready for the airplane; packing boxes of supplies, taping, labeling. I went to bed early again last night. This sinus cold and all the running around has kept me really wiped out. We were both up a little before 6:00 this morning. After packing up for moving, having breakfast, quiet time, etc., we headed out for town to look for a few more things and buy fewer than we looked for. Were just out a couple hours before coming back to the house and packing away the goods we just bought. Then we made a quick call to Christy and Connie. Daddy didn’t have enough time left on the phone to talk long. Then we started doing the rest of the packing up so we could clean out the house. Felt hungry before we finished the job so had an early lunch. Then did the dishes and finished the rest of the cleaning. Around noon, Rachel W came over with the key to the CRMF flat, and Daddy started loading up the car for our move over there. Daddy prayed for help in loading up, and the Lord sent the new pilot, Tim, along to help him. We didn’t have any help carrying things up the long flight of stairs to the flat, however. I was able to carry three or four light loads, and that was my limit, both for carrying and for going up and down the stairs. We were thankful we had already taken the suitcases and a couple other heavy items over to the hangar. After we got the fridge food put away, we lay down for a nap, totally exhausted. Part way through nap, Amos called Daddy and said he was down at the gate. Daddy got up, but I was just too worn out to move. He went down and talked with Amos and Dallas, and they will come back tomorrow morning and visit with us. When I finally got up from nap, I got busy putting away clothing, personal items, and other food items. Felt hungry before that was done, so stopped for a fruit snack. I had set a couple bananas on the counter by the sink; and when I picked them up to wash them so we could add them to our fruit snack, they were covered with ants. I quickly turned on the water and washed the ants down the drain. Then washed the bananas. No more of that kind of food will go on the counter, and all dishes will be immediately washed. They need to be washed right up anyway, as there are not very many of each kind, except for cups, of which there are plenty. After a while, I cut up all the kaukau that we had bought at market the other day so I could cook it for supper. Hmmm! One match box with just one match. Better try the lighter first. That didn’t work. Light the one match, but no flame from the burner. Maybe the gas had been turned off. Daddy went outside and turned on the gas. No more matches now. Here are two more lighters to try. Nope, neither of those work either. Knock on the neighbors’ door. There is a PNG couple staying in the next door flat, who are missionaries to northern Australia. They didn’t have any matches, but the stove in their flat has a pilot. She was getting ready to cook something so would bring me some fire. The fire went out before she got in here with it, however. Talked with her a bit. Her name is Judy, and they have been missionaries for thirty-one years with the Foursquare Gospel Church. What was the next step? Daddy would go out to Bintangor (one of the few stores open Saturday afternoon, but it would soon close) and get some matches. As he was on the way out, however, the missionary man said he was going down the street to see his pastor for a few minutes and would ask him if he had some matches we could have. While we were waiting, I mixed up some tuna and mayonnaise for a sandwich for Daddy. Then he sat down to his sandwich supper, and I decided to eat some crackers with tuna and cheese. The few minutes the missionary was spending with his pastor turned out to be rather long so Daddy texted Rachel to see if she could help us with matches. For some reason, she didn’t receive his text, however, until a half hour or so later. Since we didn’t get an answer back from Rachel, we decided to ask Judy if she would mind putting the pot of kaukau on the stove in their flat. She was happy to do that and said she would bring it over when it was ready. In the mean time, her husband, came back with a box of matches. By now the kaukau was done so he and Judy came over with the pot of kaukau plus a plateful of cooked bananas and a bagful of fruit. They are leaving tomorrow to go back to Australia so wanted to share some of what they had left over. Then we learned that Judy’s husband’s name is Paul. He introduced his wife, whom we had already met, and I told him we were “one name”. She said the word for one name in her language is ahpo (stress on the first syllable). Her language is Gahuku, here in the Bena area. After they left, I ate a small amount of kaukau; but it wasn’t well done so I put it on to cook a little longer. Washed up the handful of supper dishes and then sat down to remake the shopping list again. Later, Daddy and I took time together to read and pray. The Lord is giving us more rain this evening. We are thankful that He gave good weather today for the plane to get into Owena and bring out our empty gas bottle so we can have it filled to send back in. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Philippians 3:10 Philippians 3 is the chapter we read together this evening, and verse ten was a special challenge. The spirit desires to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings; but the flesh, although it may delight to know the power, finds it harder to delight in the sufferings.
January 9. Went to bed very early last night. Don’t even remember what time it was. Praise the Lord for a much better night’s sleep. Not quite as hot today. Cool and cloudy with periods of rain. We pray for sunshine and dry weather for flights coming up and for re-roofing our house. Up just before 6:00 this morning. After breakfast and some quiet time, we headed to town. To market first where we got potatoes, kaukau (sweet potato), greens, green onions, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, and popo (papaya). Then to the new Seng Da to look around and also do some shopping. Bought a number of grocery items there. Tired now so back to the house, but no time to rest yet. It took over an hour to get things unpacked—some things put away in fridge, some packed in boxes, some set out in baskets; find a bucket and wash the mud-covered kaukau; wash the popo so it is ready to cut up later; have a light snack and something to drink; go through the shopping list and mark off what we purchased at Seng Da and make a list of what is available there. Daddy had gone back out to do some other shopping. After lunch and nap, we went out to Goroka Food Mart and had a successful shopping trip there. We were thankful that they had gotten in a container-load of products as they had a number of things that are unavailable anywhere else, including baking soda, oats, almond milk, whole grain crackers, mustard, dates, raisins. Came back to the house after that. Had a snack of popo and bananas. Washed up the dishes. And went through the Goroka Food Mart shopping list to mark off other items we had purchased and make a list of what is available there. Then remade the shopping list so we can see what we still need to buy. Daddy went out again around 4:00. We hadn’t heard anything from Hannah today, but Daddy wanted to check and see if our suitcase arrived on Air NiuGini this afternoon. No suitcase yet. He filed another claim there at the Goroka Air NiuGini office. I had just sat down to eat my supper when he arrived back. I thought maybe I could do some repacking this evening, but am much too tired out after being so sick yesterday and doing as much as I did today. “9Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. 10Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. 14But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” I Chronicles 29:9-14 While so many believers today seem to feel that giving is a burden and sacrifice, David and his people felt humbled and they rejoiced that they had such a privilege as to offer willingly unto the Lord. January 10. It has been a very long, very busy, very tiring day. We were up a few minutes before 6:00. I took a shower and washed my hair. (I was thankful there was still warm water. The water is heated by the sun.) It looked like it was going to be a bit nicer day today so before I had breakfast, I put a load of clothes in to wash. When the clothes were done washing, I had this thought, I’d better check the clothesline and make sure it is clean before we hang out clothes. So I took a dry rag out and wiped off the lines. Dirty and then some. After I wiped them a couple times with the dry rag, I rinsed the rag out well and washed the lines with the wet rag. Then I felt much better about hanging out the clothes. I think the clothesline hadn’t been used for a long time. Daddy took the basket of clothes out to the line for me and helped me hang them up too. Then we got ready to go out shopping. Before we left the house, Hannah from Air Niugini in Moresby called and said that our suitcase would be on the plane this morning and would arrive around 10:00. We went and looked around at other things for a while. Went to the computer shop to find a modem so we can get e-mails in the village, but they do not have any modems for windows 10. Then we looked around at Istana store and found good prices on a few things there that we will need. Just before 10:00, we went on over to the terminal. We had to park outside the terminal area across the street. The terminal area is all fenced off, and only those with tickets or who have paid to park inside are allowed in the gate. Air Niugini flight hadn’t arrived yet so we sat in the car and waited about twenty minutes before it landed. We gave them some time to let passengers disembark and to unload cargo. Then we went over, and Daddy showed the security at the gate his claim ticket for our piece of baggage. He let us inside the gate, but we had to stay outside the terminal for a while. Then another security called us over to the entrance, but he would only let Daddy go inside. I had to wait outside. It took a while for the baggage to come into the terminal; but, praise the Lord, our piece of baggage was there. Thank God for answered prayer. Daddy rolled the suitcase across the street and hoisted it into the car. We brought the suitcase back to the house. Had a drink and snack. Put the suitcase up on the bed to open it. After going through the suitcase and pulling out a few things that we’d been needing, we had an early lunch. I did peel and cut up a few potatoes and carrots first, and let them cook while I finished up the rest of the stew. We also had an early nap. Then we brought in the clean clothes before getting ready to go out shopping again. We stopped by Goroka Food Mart first to get some packing tape, but they were out. We picked up a couple empty boxes and then went to Papindo West where we found some packing tape and also got some chicken powder and whole wheat spaghetti. It is the only store in town with whole wheat spaghetti. From there we went to YuYu Trading and got a few items. Then next door to Green’s Variety Store where we found a 4” mattress.* We didn’t buy it right away because we were going to go to Papindo first, and it isn’t safe to leave things in the vehicle for a long time. At Papindo, we looked around and purchased a few items; and after that, we went back to Green’s and got the mattress before heading back to the house. *Foam mattress four inches thick We were really tired, but there was still lots to do. Had a snack and drink first. There were clothes to be folded, and we wanted to repack the suitcases with whatever we don’t need so they can be taken to the hangar tomorrow before we move over to CRMF guesthouse on Saturday. Worked the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening getting that job done. Took time out at supper time to prepare the watercress, green onions, and zucchini we had bought. While they were cooking, I warmed up a bowl full of the taters and carrots I had cooked at noon. Also cut up a couple small tomatoes (Daddy had finished up the others I had cut a couple days ago) and added some to the taters and carrots. Then seasoned it all and added mayo. Voila! Supper at last. (Also sliced up some cheese in between preparing my supper.) We were both really wiped out so, after supper, we took another small nap. After getting the last suitcase all repacked, we packed and taped up one boxful of the groceries we have bought thus far. There are a few groceries left to repack, but not enough to fill a box until we do more shopping. Some of the groceries went into one of the suitcases. “27And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. 28And he left all, rose up, and followed him.” Luke 5:27,28 As soon as Levi heard Jesus’ call him, he left all, rose up, and followed Him—no hesitation, no questions asked. January 7. Lewis’s spiritual birthday. We went to bed a little bit later yesterday evening, but still were up early this morning, around 6:00. Daddy realized this morning that his bilum (string bag) to use around town is in the lost suitcase so I have started making him a bilum and hope to finish it before the day is over. It was time to start shopping today. We left the house around 8:15. Brad has a big old Land Rover that he is letting us use whenever Michelle doesn’t need it. She doesn’t need it most days until later in the afternoon, as she is home-schooling the children for the rest of this school year. We had to disturb Michelle this morning, however, to see if she had a little stool we could borrow. We were thankful she did as there was no way I was going to be able to get up into that truck without a step to help. We were out all morning shopping and didn’t get back to the house until around 1:00. Getting around town is something else. The roads are a mess, the worst we have ever seen. Huge potholes everywhere. We started first at Papindo West—didn’t buy anything, just looked around. Then on to Goroka Food Mart. They have shrunk that store and made half of it into a second hand store. They said they get more money from the second hand store. The mama runs the second hand store (Labels) and the children run the food store. We mostly just looked around there too. We were told that a container had just come in and the shelves would be newly stocked tomorrow. “Come back tomorrow and see what we have.” We bought just a box of tissues there. From there we went uptown. Made a pit stop at the Bird (Bird of Paradise Hotel). Then went across the street to Bintangor. Bought about a dozen items there. From there we hit the uptown Papindo. Bought a number of items there and also had lunch there. On our way out, we ran into John and Margaret and talked with them a little bit. It was nice to see them. Next we went to City Pharmacy looking for a specific item which they didn’t have. Went around to ChemCare pharmacy and were able to buy what we needed, but at quite a price. From there, we headed back to the house, exhausted. Unpacked the few groceries we had bought and lay down for a nap. After nap, I got caught up on journal notes. Then I worked on crocheting Daddy’s bilum the rest of the afternoon and evening, except to have supper, do dishes, read Bible and pray with Daddy, take time to stretch legs. “And they came with haste….” Luke 2:16 As soon as the shepherds knew that a Savior had been born, they came to Him with haste. Oh, that men and women today might come with haste when they hear the gospel story! January 8. I finished Daddy’s bilum just a few minutes after 10:00 yesterday evening. Daddy was already in bed. He was tired and went to bed early. The bilum was made from scraps of yarn which I “just happened” to have in my suitcase. It turned out well and is good and strong and actually looks nice too. So I’m grateful for the Lord’s help and that I was able to make something to give Daddy for his spiritual birthday. When I went to take my shower last night, I noticed there was a rash on both forearms. Wondered if I were allergic to one of the yarns with which I had been crocheting. Grateful for a pretty good sleep the first half of the night. After that, I started feeling cold, especially my legs and feet, so got up to try to find another blanket. Didn’t find one so put my bed socks on and put my sweater over my legs. But I never did get back to a restful sleep. After a while, my sinuses started filling up, and I was getting a sinus headache. The last couple hours of the morning, I watched for daylight. I was happy to get up and get some Clear Lungs and let my nose start draining out. After breakfast, I copied the shopping list from the computer since we had forgotten to print a copy before we left home. As I copied, I also reorganized it. Then we went out to CRMF to talk with Michael, Lucas, and Nick about purchasing a solar panel and supplies for setting it up. We also were able to get e-mails in while we were there. Brought the computer back to the house and Daddy called Hannah at Air Niugini in Moresby to see if there was any news about our lost luggage. She said she would check and call us back. So we went up to Goroka West for a while. Stopped first at Brian Bell to check on appliances and a few little things that we need. We found a blender that is a fairly decent price. They were all out of water filtration systems. Freezer prices were out of sight, but there were none the right size anyway. Didn’t see any stoves, but maybe they had some. We forgot to look specifically. Didn’t see any adapters, and there was no one at that counter to help us. While we were in Brian Bell, Hannah called back. Praise the Lord, our suitcase is found. It is still in Fiji.:😊 They are going to try to get it up here on the next flight. We pray that will work out. After Brian Bell, we checked the two little trade stores next door for power adapters so we can both plug our computers up to the power. We’d been taking turns using the one adapter that we had. When we were in the second store, we had a call from CRMF worker saying that he had a breakdown of the cost of the supplies we need and a total price ready. So we went back to CRMF to look that over and make a final decision about what to purchase. We didn’t make the decision yet, though, as Daddy wants to check and see if the battery that’s already in Owena is still working or if it is dead. He needs to try to get in touch with Amos or Tomas or someone to see whether it needs to be replaced or not. The cost of the battery is a large percentage of the total cost of supplies we talked about. We had planned to go do more shopping when we left CRMF, but by then I was not feeling well at all. So we went back to the house and had an early lunch and nap. I also took more Clear Lungs. I propped up for nap time and was able to get a good hour-and-a-half rest. Daddy, in the mean time, went back out. He looked around Goroka Food Mart, but said it doesn’t look like they have much more in stock than they did yesterday. Picked up some empty boxes plus more boxes of tissues, a bottle of mayonnaise, and a box of corn flakes. While Daddy was gone, I washed the dishes. Then sat and read my Bible for a while. Lay down around 5:00 for another hour’s nap. Afterward I had supper. Haven’t felt like doing much of anything. Daddy took a subsidy request form over to Brad this evening and returned their dishes in which Michelle had brought us the meal when we came. Found out that Michelle is sick with the same thing I have. “5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Luke 3:5,6 Praise God for all the valleys He has filled, all the mountains and hills He has leveled, and all the paths He has straightened and smoothed! Why does God do that? Not for our sakes only, but that all flesh might see His salvation. Photo by Mom 😊 MAF guesthouse where Dad and Mom stayed the first week. January 6. Was so grateful for a shower last night. It felt so good to be clean again. It was around 9:00 when we lay down to sleep. Praise the Lord for a bed upon which to rest. Right after I lay down, I started getting terrible cramps in my right foot. My toes got all gnarled up, and it was so painful. I tried to relax, and it would go away, only to return again in a few minutes. As soon as Daddy finished his shower, I had him bring me some salt. After a while, that seemed to help a little. Then I thought of Arnica Gel which I remembered seeing when I unpacked my suitcase. I didn’t know if it would help or not, but thought it would be worth a try. I told Daddy where it was and he brought it to me, and I rubbed my foot with it. So thankful that my foot felt better after that.
Didn’t have a sound night’s sleep nor an interrupted night’s sleep, but periods of rest and sleep were more than we’d had in a couple days. We were both ready to get up by 5:00. The first thing I did was prepare some sea salt water to drink throughout the day. Didn’t have any Celtic sea salt although, I believe, there is some in our lost suitcase. But Michelle had bought us a small grinder bottle of sea salt which I discovered is better than nothing. My body obviously was needing salt. I had a breakfast of oatmeal with fruit. We both had to use our pocket Bibles for quiet time as our other Bibles are in the lost suitcase. Most of the day was spent catching up on journal notes and sleeping. We did call Christy and Connie in the morning to let them know we had arrived safe and sound and to have them pass on a prayer request concerning the lost suitcase. In the evening, we went over to the Ventors’ for a short visit to try to get in e-mails using their phone line. We had partial success, but there is not a good connection here. “74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” Luke 1:74:75 Because we have been delivered from the hand of our enemies (from Satan, from sin, from death), we can now serve God without fear; and we should serve Him in holiness and righteousness ALL the days of our life. photo maxpixel.net Note: Long post January 3 (and probably January 4, but there is no telling when and where it began, and it ended abruptly when we crossed the international dateline) and January 5. (There has been no opportunity to write in my journal for a couple days so the following notes may or may not be 100% accurate, especially since we haven’t caught all up on sleep yet so the brain is somewhat foggy. So first back to January 3.) When we left the girls’ house last night, we said tearful good-byes to Christy as we knew we wouldn’t see her this morning. She would be gone off to work by the time we got there. I didn’t even bring my computer back to the apartment last night. It had been a busy day, and I was too tired to want to do anything else on the computer. We just got ready for bed and went to bed. It was still a little after 10:00, I believe, before we settled down. This morning, we were up at 6:00. Washed and dressed and started right in doing all the last minute packing and cleaning up around the apartment, eating breakfast and reading Bible in between tasks. Then we went to say good-bye to Monte. He wanted us to check out the books in his store and take some to read. After we said good-bye to Monte, we went over to “G’s” apartment and said a quick good-bye to him. Then we were off to the girls’ house and arrived there a little after 9:30. Got the car unloaded and put away some items we were returning or giving to C&C. Finally got to make a smoothie. Had only had a small breakfast and was getting pretty hungry. Time to look at and write an e-mail or two. Then I put away the computer and we had an early lunch, thinking we would get an early supper at the airport before boarding the plane. Following our early lunch, we had a short nap. We were glad we had made it short as Stan J arrived early. He and Daddy loaded up his car with our baggage. Then we shared another tearful good-bye with Connie and were off to the airport. On the way there, I received a call from a friend. I was surprised, but thankful. I didn’t know how she would feel about my having written her a letter, sharing the gospel with her. (We had hoped to do that in person when we visited a couple weeks earlier and had prayed much about it ahead of time. But for some reason the door was closed as she was waiting for her daughter to pick her up, and that was all that was on her mind. She didn’t even have an empty chair in the house for us to sit on—every chair had something in it– and she didn’t offer us a seat. She just kept us walking around until we finally left.) “R” didn’t know we were on our way to the airport, but she seemed glad she had called before we left the country. She called to say thank you for her birthday card. It was hard to hear her well in the car traveling down I-85, but I did catch most of her words. When we reached the airport, Bro. J helped us unload the luggage from the car, and we said good-bye and thank you to him. A worker then tried to help us check in at the curbside check-in, but for some reason things wouldn’t work. So he took us inside and helped us check in at the main check-in counter. Then he left us, and we waited for wheelchairs. We were thankful for that service as it was a long way to our departure gate. The wheelchair assistants left us there to wait for the plane. We thought we would have plenty of time to get a meal and relax before boarding the plane, but the time went very quickly. We thought we could get a good meal at the airport, too, but couldn’t find anything healthy and yet filling. Most of the shops just had pastries, sandwiches, and other bread-type items. There were some small cups of fruit or yogurt parfait, but no veggies to buy. Daddy bought a piece of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a biscuit from Bojangles. I guess I could have gotten just mashed potatoes, but didn’t think of that at the time. The meals we could have ordered for the plane were similar; but, not knowing that, we had opted to get something at the airport. I did finally choose a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, but ate less than half of it. We had just about enough time to finish what we wanted to eat, and then it was time to board the plane. By then I was quite tired as I hadn’t slept well the night before. I just wanted to sleep, but did you ever try to sleep sitting up in a box? 😊 No room to stretch the legs. I asked the Lord to help me relax and be as comfortable as possible. He did. The plane was ten+ minutes late leaving Charlotte which would shorten our time getting from the domestic area to the international area, and, according to our schedule, we only had an hour as it was. I prayed, Lord, please push the plane so it will get there on time. I knew the Lord was more powerful than the plane or the wind , and so I left the matter in His powerful hand. Praise God, He not only got us there on time, but He got us there early. How thankful we were! There was a lot of turbulence along the way from storms, especially in the central and mid-west parts of the country. The winds were so strong that the plane shook, jumped around, and rattled constantly. Being tossed around interrupted rest as well. Once again, in San Francisco, we were thankful for wheelchair assistance. We never would have made it without their help. It was a very long way to the international terminal to catch our flight on Fiji Air. We had to go outside and up and down elevators, across roadways, a couple treks on the airtran, and they were already boarding the plane when we arrived. The wheelchair assistants took us right down to the entrance to the airplane. This flight was the longest one—10 1/2 hours. By now I was quite hungry since I had had very little to eat since Thursday noon. I was thankful that a small meal was served on this flight, and early Saturday morning, breakfast was served. I was also very, very tired and desired sleep; but sleep was not to be had, no, not in a box. I believe I dozed now and then, and I prayed that the Lord would help me to relax. Had a lot of pain in my legs and feet. Was thankful for every little amount of dozing off. I watched the hours go slowly by, one by one. We were thankful for a safe arrival in Fiji. There was no wheelchair service waiting for us there. Somehow it did not get added onto that lap of our journey. Daddy was able to get someone to get a wheelchair for me, but there were not enough wheelchairs available for him. We could see that they really were short on wheelchairs and wheelchair assistants. So Daddy had to walk, but that was okay as there wasn’t as far to go in this small airport. It was raining when we arrived there, and they gave me an umbrella to hold while they took me to another entrance and Daddy went inside a small entrance and up a set of stairs. We needed to move our legs anyway, and I tried to get up and move mine whenever I could as they were getting quite weak. When we arrived inside the terminal, we discovered that we were supposed to have filled in customs declarations. They told people on the plane who were in transit to another country that they didn’t have to fill out a declaration. But when we got inside, we learned that everyone had to go through customs in Fiji. We were told by our travel agent, by American Airlines in Charlotte, and by Fiji Airways in San Francisco that our baggage would be check all the way through to Port Moresby, PNG. But that is not true. Everyone has to get their baggage and go through customs in Fiji, whether staying or going on. While Daddy was taking care of the paper work with the customs officials, I had a few minutes to talk with the young wheelchair assistant about her relationship with Jesus Christ. She opened the conversation by asking what we would be doing in PNG and asking if I were a Christian. She said that “everyone” in Fiji is a Christian. She is a Christian but doesn’t go to church. I told her that the answer to her needs is not “going to church” but having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “I am trying to learn how to do that,” she said. I was sorry that there our conversation ended as Daddy had finished the paper work, and we had to hasten on. After going through customs, we were quite a while at the baggage check-in because, for some reason, they didn’t have Daddy’s bookings recorded in their computer. We were thankful that we had our e-tickets showing that he was booked, and they were finally able to straighten it out. We finally made it to the departure lounge, praise the Lord! There wasn’t much time left before the plane left for Honiara. It was still raining when we left, and we had to go out in the rain just a short distance before being under the covered walkway. It was to be another three-hours of sitting, now on Air Niugini. On this lap, the “boxes” were the smallest yet. It was all but impossible to get in and out of the seat. But the plane wasn’t full so, once we were in the air, we were able to move to other seats and not be so cramped. Another small breakfast was served on this flight. There was to be no sleep, just the shutting of the eyes and relaxing as much as possible. We did not disembark at Honiara. And we had to return to our original seat assignments as forty more people boarded the plane and filled it up. Then we were off for Port Moresby on the same plane. This lap was just about an hour. They did have wheelchair assistance for me there too. At first I thought maybe I wouldn’t need it, but by the time we had picked up our baggage and gone through customs and through the international terminal, unsuccessfully looked for and then made a claim for lost luggage (yes, one of our suitcases did not show up in Moresby), exchanged dollars for kina at the currency exchange window, and gone outside and down the walk to the domestic terminal, rechecked baggage and got boarding tickets, gone through another security check, and entered the domestic lounge, a great deal of time had gone by. It would have been very difficult to have been on my feet all that time. Praise: In answer to prayer, the airlines did find the suitcase and had it returned to Dad and Mom. We had several hours to kill in Port Moresby. Having had very little to eat over the past 24 hours, I was ready for something tasty and nutritious. There were several food stands in the domestic lounge, but they all had only bread and pastry foods. I thought maybe if I went back out into the baggage check area, one of the food places there would have some kaukau (sweet potato, similar to the boniato). So Daddy gave me K20 (20 kina), and I started that direction. I hadn’t gotten out of the waiting area yet, and a worker from the food stand near the exit asked me if I were looking for something. I told her I was hungry and was hoping to buy some kaukau. She asked what was wrong with the food at the food stands. I told her I couldn’t eat it. She said that none of the food places in the baggage check area had anything different. However, she herself was on her way to the food court outside the terminal, and they have kaukau there. They have a meal with kaukau, kumu (greens), and chicken. I told her I didn’t want the chicken, but the kaukau and kumu would be nice. So I gave her the money and waited for her to come back. It didn’t take her long to return with a container of food, but it was kaukau and bananas with a wee bit of kumu and onion on top. She said they were all out of kumu so she got bananas. I said that was fine. I was just happy to have some real food. The food wasn’t very warm so she went and warmed it up for me in the microwave at her food stand. Real food! How good it tasted! Thank you, Lord. There were two pieces of kaukau and two bananas. A little less than half was enough for me, and Daddy ate another portion of it. I was sad to have to throw the rest away, but we just couldn’t eat it all. While waiting in Moresby, we had a little time to talk with another Fijian. He, too, said that all Fijians are Christians, although he seemed to have a bit better understanding of Christianity. I believe he said he was from a Brethren church. He said the Fijians used to practice cannibalism before the early missionaries came; and he told how, when the missionaries came, they knew they might die, and many of them did. He also said they have a King James Bible translated into Fijian. We didn’t get a chance to ask him about his salvation before he was up and gone. At last the time came for our flight to Goroka, the last leg of our long journey. This time we were on a very small plane, an old Dash-8. There was more leg room on this plane than on any of the others we had flown on. A little over an hour and we were on the ground in Goroka—tired, hungry, and in need of a shower. Brad and Michelle arrived shortly to pick us up. It was good to see them. We waited for our luggage and then headed out to the car. With the new airport, they can’t park inside the fence without paying a yearly fee so the Ventor’s vehicle was parked outside across the street. For our first week in town, we are staying at MAF guest house. We are grateful to Michelle for doing a little grocery shopping for us ahead of time. She also had made a nice chicken noodle soup with veggies for our supper. It was the perfect comfort food for weary bodies. After we ate, we had to do some unpacking to find things we would need for the night and for the next morning. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37 Another reminder and confirmation of God’s omnipotence. January 2. Up earlier this morning—6:00. Had to wash hair and do a few other things before we headed for C&C’s house. On the way there, a call came through from Beth and she and I cried through a brief farewell conversation.
Went to the girls’ house this morning to wash a load of clothes. After the wash, the whole load went into the dryer today, even shirts and trousers, blouses and jumper, so we could fold and pack everything later on. While clothes were washing and drying I had time to send updates via e-mail to the rest of our supporters. Daddy, in the mean time, went off to WalMart to purchase a few small items; and then had to go to the bank and the post office. He had a little hassle trying to buy stamps so was late getting back. I had the clothes all folded and ready to go when he arrived. Ellen was also on her way to see us so we waited there until after her visit. A little visit and some hugs and tears were shared before Ellen left and we headed back to the apartment. There was lots to do here—packing and cleaning. We only had about an hour until lunch time to work on that. Shortened our nap a bit today so we could get right back to work in the afternoon. There is still a little bit to do in the morning, but the bulk of the task is finished. Packed up the car with the office chairs, card table, and a number of boxes of things for the girls, and headed back to the girls house late afternoon. Put away a number of kitchen items that belonged to the girls; put away a few things in the utility room; Daddy put a few things in the shed; other things are left for the girls to decide what to do with them. Had supper and washed dishes so I would be ready for Steve’s call at 6:30, but he got “tied up” so wasn’t able to call then. Wrote a couple e-mails and then started listening to our church service online. Steve called about 7:45, however, and I was thankful for the opportunity to converse with him for a while. “15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature…. 20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” Mark 16:15,20 Jesus said “Go”, and they went. Immediate obedience is what God desires, and attendance to the most important task and highest calling in the world.
December 31. When I went to sit down for prayer this morning, I discovered that I must have left my prayer notebook at C&C’s house. So I opened up the notebook in the computer file and used that as my guide this morning. Had eggs with deli meat and cheese for breakfast, something different as I am pretty much out of veggies. Later, I started cleaning out the cupboards and deciding what goes to the girls, what goes in the trash, what can go with us, etc. I was thankful to get all the updates acknowledged that will need to be printed and mailed. Hope to print those in the morning and get them out in the mail. Before we left for Ruby Tuesday, I got a good start on organizing journal notes for Connie. Met a pastor friend at noon for lunch at Ruby Tuesday. Enjoyed a good meal and a good hour or so of fellowship with him. When we got back to the apartment, we got ready for nap. After nap, I finished organizing the journal notes, then transferred and edited pictures, and finally sent notes and pictures off to Connie. Spent more time weeding out things and packing after that until supper time and also after supper. Had Lewis take a couple pictures of me with the green hat on, then transferred and edited those and sent them off to Connie too. Shortly after supper, I washed the dishes. After a while, Cilla called and we talked for just a short time for the last time before Daddy and I leave. After that we listened to a message by Adrian Rogers on grace from Romans chapter 4. Adam’s sin was put on me (imputed) (Romans 5); my sin was put on (imputed to) Jesus (II Corinthians 5:21); Jesus righteousness was imputed to me. God will never again impute sin to the account of a man whose sin is forgiven. Also worked a bit on crocheting this evening. January 1, 2019. The beginning of a new year. Praise the Lord for all His blessings and goodness and mercy throughout the year 2018! The first important matter of business after arriving at our daughters’ house was to check the ink levels in the printer because it had been doing uneven and striped printing. All the colors were low, so I filled up all the ink wells. Then I did a check on the print nozzle, and it needed cleaning. Took care of that job and then checked the alignment. Everything seemed to be fine after the cleaning. At last, I was ready to print out the updates and get them ready to mail. (Of course, the mail wouldn’t go out until tomorrow because today was a holiday, but I needed to get them all ready because tomorrow will be busy doing other work.) Printed those and then got out eleven envelopes and addressed them. Turned the letters over to Connie after that to fold, stuff, put return address labels on, stamp, and seal. We were short a few stamps, but Daddy plans to get them tomorrow. When that task was done, I got a wee start on a letter to our daughters. But it was soon lunch time, so had a bite (well, maybe a few bites) to eat. After nap, I continued working on the letter to our daughters. In the evening, I did the dishes; and later we enjoyed a nice Skype conversation with Martha. After we got back to the apartment, I finished the letter to C&C, Daddy proofread it, and I e-mailed that off to them. It was already going on 11:00, but I knew tomorrow would have enough worries of its own. “14Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. 15And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.” Mark 15:14,15 Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, but he feared the people more than he feared God. So sad! Note: This is the last set of journal notes I have written by Mom while she was still in the States. They are now in Papua New Guinea. Their computers are not yet set up to send and receive email; but as soon as I do get more journal notes from them I will make more posts. Looking forward to updating everyone soon! Thank you for your continued prayers. December 30. This morning we were up early and off before 8:00 for our daughters’ house. Daddy and Christy were going to the 8:45 service as Pastor Ogle had asked Lewis to give a testimony since it would be our last Sunday at EBC before we head out to PNG. Connie stayed home today as she has had a sinus infection and has not been feeling well.
After Daddy and Christy left, I made a smoothie as I hadn’t had time to eat much for breakfast. Then Connie took a couple pictures of me with the Firestone Cowl that I had finished crocheting the other day. By then it was time for the meeting to start. In pastor’s first message, he used I Corinthians 1:31 as his text and as a summary of the life of the Apostle Paul. He talked about how Paul clearly understood that God must get the glory. As we finish this year, we must realize that life is not about self, but all about the Savior. He talked about how Paul was a bondslave of Jesus Christ because he knew that Christ was his Redeemer. He shared how Paul understood that his work was finished because he knew that he had done everything that God had asked him to do. He mentioned how Paul recognized that God was His Lord and Master. Colossians 1:18, I Timothy 6:15,16. And he talked about how Paul rejoiced in all circumstances. Rejoicing has everything to do with our attitude and nothing to do with our circumstances. Paul fully exalted the Savior. What about you? Do you exalt self or the Saviour? You can’t exalt both. In between meetings, I spent some time praying. Then I had another little something to eat and did some crocheting. Pastor preached from II Peter 3:9-14 in the second meeting, bringing out how God is a longsuffering God. Part of the reason He has not come back is that He is not willing that any should perish. We see God’s perfect timing. We see His trustworthiness—He is going to keep His promise. God is also tender—He is slow to anger toward us and toward the lost. In this passage, we also see that Christ’s coming will not be announced ahead of time. It comes as a thief. When He comes, He will carry out His judgment, and it will be complete and final. We also see that, because of the coming judgment, our daily lifestyle ought to change, and our attitude toward God should also change. We should be watching for Christ’s return. We should be ready and waiting. The second meeting was shortened as a memorial service was planned for 2:00 p.m. for Barry N. I had lunch, crocheted a little more, and painted in the words on Christy’s plaque that she had made at her work’s Christmas party. After Daddy and Christy got home, I also painted in some dots on the flower while she and Daddy had lunch. Then we packed up and headed back to the apartment. We tried to listen to the memorial service online, but it was hard to hear it all, and we don’t have external speakers here. When it was over, I had a snack and then a short nap. After nap, I wrote journal notes (like I’m doing now) and then I got a monthly update written so, Lord willing, we can get that update out this week before we go. When that was done, it was supper time. I cooked up the last of the carrots, but forgot to bring home the frozen peas to go with them so just added some kale powder and moringa leaf powder. While I was waiting for the carrots to cook, though, I ate a piece of havarti cheese with a piece of deli meat and some tortilla chips with hummus dip. After my supper, I washed the dishes. Then we listened to a message by Adrian Rogers entitled “What Will You Do with Jesus?”, a very clear salvation message. Also worked on crocheting and finished the hat I was making and started on another. “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24 December 28. What a busy morning! Had several things to do before we left the apartment, and we had to be ready to leave early so Daddy could drop me off at the girls’ house and then go get the van inspected. He was supposed to be there before 9:00, and it was already going on 8:30 before we left our place. Once we got to C&C’s house and got the car unloaded, I put food away in the fridge and then put a load of clothes in to wash. While they were washing, I made a smoothie to drink and then set up my computer. The wash was soon done, and I put a few things into the dryer and a few things into the clothes basket so they could be hung around the house. About that time, Daddy arrived back from getting the car inspected, and he started hanging up clothes to dry while I put the second load of clothes into the dryer. Then I hung up a few clothes also. Daddy and Christy got ready to go out to look at computers and see about adding overseas calling to Christy’s phone. Then I took the first load of clothes out of the dryer, except for my slippers which weren’t quite dry; and when the second load of clothes was done washing, I put some of those into the dryer and hung the rest around the house to dry. A little after 11:00, I went to the kitchen to start preparing veggies for stew for Daddy’s dinner. Then I put the meat on to brown, and by the time I added the veggies, it was already 11:45; and Daddy and Christy had arrived home. Daddy had to go out again this afternoon to meet David B at the bank and take care of getting the van transferred to his name. Praise the Lord, they were able to get title and registration with new plates and insurance all put in David’s name. We are also thankful that David is allowing us to continue using the car until we leave. I went ahead and had nap by myself. After nap, I worked on the music file for Aleluya 1. This evening, I finished crocheting the cowl I had started on Wednesday. It took a lot of yarn, but it is so soft and ruffly and pretty. After several attempts, Daddy was able to get in touch with someone in Owena, and talked a bit with Matthew. He hasn’t been able to get contact with anyone there for a couple weeks. Following a time of Bible reading and prayer, we loaded up the car and came home. We were saddened this morning by the news of Barry N’s passing away, but thankful that he is no longer suffering. We weep with his family who are grieving at this time. “….This is my beloved Son: hear him.” Mark 9:7 How important it is that we hear the words of God and the words of God’s Son who speaks the words of His Father! We must be sure that the words we hear men speak are the words of God. Search the Scriptures to see if what you hear is so. December 29. Slept in until after 6:30 this morning. Was awake for a while during the night. The Lord gave us a nice warm winter day. After breakfast and quiet time, Daddy and I checked the last chapter of I Timothy. Praise the Lord for His help in completing that. Now the books have been packed away until we get to PNG. Have been trying to pack as much as I can today, and spent the rest of the morning working on that. After nap, I went through some small items and some papers, threw away things I won’t need, packed a number of things, and left out a few things that I’ll need until Wednesday or Thursday. Later in the afternoon, Daddy and I enjoyed a nice walk together on this spring-like day. It felt so good to get out. Then we turned down the heat and opened the door for a while to get fresh air into the apartment. Ahhh, how we delighted in that! Before supper, I washed the dishes so I would have a clean bowl for supper, and also so I wouldn’t be rushed after supper. Then I strained and refreshed the kefir. After that, I cooked a small pot of oatmeal which I enjoyed with bananas, blueberries, and almond milk . Also cooked the two sweet potatoes that we had so they will be ready for my breakfast. Daddy, in the mean time, was out in the car where he could get good reception and talk with Amos. This evening, we went over to C&C’s house and played a game of Bible Baffle. “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23 “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27 |
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