Ramblings on Arrival in PNG

We have made it to Papua New Guinea, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to blog right away, but I had several requests, and I do want to write things down when they’re fresh, so here goes. Warning: It really is going to ramblings.

*Traveling from the USA to PNG is not fun, especially when kids are included (yes, the 1 year old AND the one in the belly made it much less easy). Sophie did really great, but she had to be on one of our laps most of the time, and she needs to be tended to. We had to bring lots of toys and snacks… literally, most of our carry-on was for her. Also, because you can’t go through security with water, we had to constantly find more water as soon as we went through security. In our Shanghai layover it was interesting because the only water that was available was HOT water… I could barely hold the cup when I poured it in (and then immediately dumped it out when I realized it wash hot), but the Chinese people would take a sip of it right away! The baby in the belly caused puking on one of the flights (well, the Chinese food probably didn’t help either), swollen ankles (I tried to walk as much as I could, but with the sick feeling in the stomach, it wasn’t always something I wanted to do), and uncomfortable kicking and movement. We were SO glad when we finally arrived.

* We flew from Chicago to Los Angeles to Shanghai (China) to Cairns (Australia) to Port Moresby (PNG) to Madang to Wewak. A LOT of flying. Next time we’re booking a flight right to Australia. Total air time: 31 hours. This doesn’t include layover time, check-in time, etc. Did I mention that I don’t like flying?

·      *When we landed in Wewak, we were welcomed by obnoxious crying/wailing/moaning. Since we’ve seen NTM videos, we knew this was known as the “death wail.” As Evie puts it, it’s very important to PNG people to show their emotion so that people know they care, and so the death wail is very loud and over-done. We were confused why we were greeted by this until a casket was brought out from our plane! Oh yeah, and did I mention that this last airport was pretty much a barn? You collect your bags outside. Yupp, we’re in the middle of nowhere.

·      *While it would be easier to come this far without kids (all things are easier in life without kids, right?), it’s such a joy to watch Sophie experiencing things. She loves the big guard dogs here and enjoyed cooling off in the little tubs of water that are on the hang-out porch. She noticed that the screen doors to all of the apartments open easily, so she’s tried to let herself into the apartments with other little kids. She saw the one little boy carrying a woven bag around, so when he dropped it, while at the NTM base store, she picked it up and began picking up her own items to put in the bag. Of course, we’ve also had a number of breakdowns as she still recovers from jet lag, new surroundings, and the heat.

·      *Everything is so expensive here! We knew that, but now we have a better understanding why. Pretty much everything has to be imported. Which, after taking all the planes ourselves to get here, we understand what a process that is. It’s also expensive to drive, so you don’t want to drive to town unless you know what you want/need, and the guys are trying to put together their last minute needs list for going into the tribe on Monday, so pray that they’ll remember everything! 

·     *While flying on our last flight to Wewak, I was looking out the window at the beautiful, mountainous, PNG landscape, and God put the song, “Bless the Lord, O’ My Soul (worship his holy name)” in my head, and I realized that we certainly do not choose to come to this land because we love the people or we love the land or we love adventure. We come because we love the Lord and he loves these people. After being so tired and sick from flying and being reminded of how far away we were from those we love so much, it was good to remember that there are so many people left that have NEVER had the opportunity to hear the gospel in their heart language, and God loves them and sent his son to die for them. And that is a reason worthy enough of giving up comfort and living near loved ones. And it’s the only reason.

Enough ramblings for now… just a couple of other things. Ben heads into the tribe on Monday (your Sunday night) with a group of guys to begin building homes for the missionaries moving into the Pei tribe (Chris and Evie Jones, Justin and Lauren Rees, and Candace Swift). It’ll be a great opportunity for him to see what that is like as well as to help. It includes taking a Cessna plane (“puddle hopper” with 7 seats that can hold up to 800 lbs of cargo … including people) and then a 2 hour boat ride. Sophie and I will stay in Wewak and will hopefully go in at the end of the month

(photos taken by Evelyn Jones)