January 23. Although we’ve been praying for dry weather, the Lord has been giving us rain. I’m inclined to think that it rained all night long, as it was raining whenever I woke up, and Daddy said it was raining whenever he was awake to. So we thank the Lord for the rain, and we continue to wait and pray. Matthew said it didn’t rain much in Owena last night, however, and the weather was good this morning; but the weather has remained cloudy and cool here all day, and there have been more periods of rain. Did MAF get to make the fuel flight into Owena? We don’t know. Will they be able to get us in tomorrow? We don’t know. This morning, I worked on the World Missions course for MTP and have that perfected as much as possible until our book Operation World arrives in PNG with our shipped goods. About mid-morning, when we thought the rain had stopped, Daddy and I walked to Papindo in West Goroka to get something else to eat. It was a nice walk, but just before we got there, I felt a couple drops of rain on my arms; and when we came out of Papindo to head back to CRMF, there was a light rain falling. I was able to walk briskly for about half the distance, but my legs began to weaken so that I had to slow down a bit. So we got a little wet on the way home, but not too bad. We were thankful that it wasn’t raining hard. (Maybe we should have waited at the store until the rain let up.) I was rudely awakened from my nap when Daddy got a phone call from Ben saying that the fuel flight went into Owena today so we need to be ready to go at 10:00 in the morning. However, we need to get all the rest of our cargo ready now (except 16kg each) and get it over to the hangar to be weighed up. So we got up and got busy packing all that we won’t need this evening or first thing in the morning. As soon as we had everything ready, Brad came and helped Daddy take things over to the hangar. The rest of the afternoon and early evening, I worked on the MTP courses, getting some notes into better order, looking for the flash drive I came across the other day with notes on A Missionary Helpmeet, and starting to translate those notes into Pidgin for a course for the missionary wives. This evening, after I read hymn stories and sang a while, I washed up the day’s dishes. January 24. Thursday, but we didn’t get a chance to get the computers set up last night so I am writing these notes on Friday, attempting to force this tired brain to remember Thursday’s events. Thursday was a special day. We were up at 6:00 to get ready for our flight at 10:00. Or maybe earlier if the first flight planned wasn’t able to take place because of weather. By 8:30, we pretty much had everything else packed up, dishes done, beds stripped, etc. We would pack up the freezer/fridge box and get a couple last minute things put into travel bags as soon as MAF should call to let us know when they would pick us up and take us to the hangar. We already figured it wouldn’t be the first flight since it was past the time point for that flight to take place. The next thing we knew, there was the MAF truck outside the gate. They had come to take us to the hangar. The driver said he had tried to call first, but couldn’t get an answer for some reason. But Daddy’s phone never rang. We had to ask him to wait a few minutes while we packed up the freezer and fridge box and finished getting ourselves ready. It was around 9:00 when we headed for the hangar. The plane was already at its first destination, trying to get to another airstrip about five minutes away, but the weather had closed in. They waited for some time, but that airstrip never opened up so they off-loaded the cargo for that village and left it at the airstrip they were at to hopefully pick up tomorrow. Our cargo was all weighed up and loaded onto a cargo trolley, waiting to be loaded onto the plane as soon as it came back from its first round. The morning was moving on, and we were both getting hungry. All I had had for breakfast was a small dish of leftover potatoes. I had intended to have carrots too, but the carrots were spoiled. I finally opened one of the boxes that was on the trolley, found some peanut butter and some plain cookies, spread the peanut butter on with my fingers, and made a couple peanut butter cookie sandwiches. Then I had to get out the packing tape and scissors and tape the box back up. The plane finally arrived back around 11:15. Weather was good in Owena. Praise the Lord! They refueled and loaded up the plane as quickly as possible. It was close to 11:50 when we took off for Owena, Captains Greg and Glennis flying the twin otter. There was quite a crowd waiting when we arrived. After they had unloaded all the cargo, the welcome program began. The three churches—Liberty Independent Baptist (formerly Owena Baptist), Emmanuel Baptist, and Glory Independent Baptist) had worked together to plan a grand welcome home for us. Some of the youth arrived bearing the PNG flag, the Eastern Highlands flag, and the GIBC welcome sign that we had used when Nathan C came in 2013. They wanted the pilots to be a part of the beginning of the program too, to which request they willingly complied stating that they felt it was much more important than being in a hurry to get back to work. First of all the youth laid a path of laplap (a certain type of cloth) and leaves along which they had us walk, then turn around and face the MC, Matthew. He gave a brief welcome and thanked the pilots for bringing us back to Owena. We and the pilots were each decorated with a lei. The youth sang a couple songs. What a joy to hear them sing again! Their voices blend so nicely. I think it must have been a little taste of heaven. I spied Philemon standing a little ways off to my right and motioned to him to come get my camera and take some pictures with it. While the pilots were preparing to leave and afterward, individuals were given opportunity to welcome us. Many tears of joy were shed. At the same time, the cargo was given to various individuals to carry down to the house, and the youth were down inside the back gate preparing for the next part of the welcome. The early afternoon sun was hot, and I got a little sunburned. As soon as Dallas gave the signal, we followed the leaders down to the house. The pathway across from the airstrip to the house was strewn with leaves. The gateway was decorated with leaves, and a path of leaves led to the house. We were stopped just inside the gate and decorated with bilums. The youth were lined up along the pathway, and they sang a couple songs before we walked the pathway to the house. We were ushered through the house and into the meeting room, while everyone else went around to the church door entrance. The meeting room was packed full with adults and children. My, so many children! Bible reading and speeches were given by Pastor Amos of GIBC, Pastor Ben of LIBC (Pastor Nuanda was still in town), and Pastor Andru of EBC, as well as LIBC’s youth leader, Nehemaia, the son Naomi and Wamara (Nehemaia is currently receiving Bible school training somewhere) and GIBC’s youth leader, Dallas. Last of all, Daddy was asked to say a few words, and then Mike closed with prayer. Afterward there were more hugs and greeting of individuals, particularly my former school students and other youth, well, the girls anyway. The boys came later on to give a hug and a welcome. It was around 2:30 when the grand welcome ended yesterday. We were given much honor, yet, who are we but vessels the Lord has used to bring the good news to the village of Owena? We still had not had a meal since breakfast, which hadn’t been much of a meal. We were thankful we thought to bring a jugful of filtered water with us from town so we had clean water to drink. One of the first things Daddy did after everyone was gone (well, most everyone) was to find the Pur water pitcher and filter that he had left here a couple years ago. We could not find any water filtration units to buy in town so we pray that this little filter will last until a unit arrives from the US. (We have asked C&C to purchase one for us and send it to JAARS to be shipped with our other cargo.) If not, we will have to boil water for a while. Tania stayed around after the meeting and scrubbed the toilet and tub which were really filthy. Some of the men helped set up the stove, freezer, and washing machine, and cut plywood to widen the bed which was too narrow for our two single mattresses. A couple men chopped firewood. I did some unpacking; and as soon as I found the rice, a tin of tuna, and a clean saucepan, I put some rice on to cook. By now it was 4:00 or so, and it was close to 5:00 before a small pot of rice and tuna was ready for us to eat. I think, by this time, our stomachs had shrunk a bit as it was all each of us could do to eat a small bowlful of supper. While supper was cooking, and on into the evening, we unpacked suitcases and a few other things. Found sheets, pillows, pillow cases, and blankets so we could get the bed made and ready for sleeping. Found soap, towels, and washcloths so we could wash our very sweaty bodies. It had been a hot day. Rains came late afternoon and continued into the evening.
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