Samaritan's Land

We are back in the States now and are trying to get caught up on everything while recovering from jet lag. The next few posts will have a lot of pictures so you can see what we were writing about during the trip.

The last day we had in PNG was spent in meetings with two members of parlament. The main reason for these meetings is to get a government title for our land in Wewak. The Pasa Clan gave Samaritan Aviation about five acres that sits on a green hill above the airport and looks over the bay and out to the Bismark Sea.

We plan to build our base of operation on this land and and have been working on a government title for three years. This trip was very successful in part because we were able to make significant progress towards a land title.

One picture is of our land and the other is of us standing with the Minister of Lands...Dr. Temu.

The lady on the right is Mobata Gamoga who works on behalf of Samaritan in Port Moresby, PNG's Capital

Health Outpost

This picture is of one of the three health outpsts that we gave meds to during this trip. It is the only medical post available for five villages.

Pictures

This picture is of us fixing the six wheeler for our missionary friends, the Greenlaws.

On The Way Home.

Today we are in Brisbane, Australia and will be flying home in the morning. It has been a very good trip and much has been accomplished.

We have not had an Internet service that was fast enough to post pictures till now so we are going to get caught up over the next several days.

The first one is of us when we landed at the small airstrip way back in the Sepik.

Big Meetings

Yesterday we went to a very lively church and Mark taught them a new song in English. Later we went to have dinner with Pastor Joe and the Pasa Clan who gave us the land. We got home late in the evening and packed up for an early morning flight to Moresby.

This morning we left Wewak before dawn and were picked up at the airport in Moresby by Mobata who is our assistant. We went directly to two separate meetings with members of Parliament. We met with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Lands and had two very good meetings. They both promised their assistance and the Minister for Lands said we should be done with everything on our land by July. We are cautiously optimistic.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Australia early in the morning and should be able to post a lot of pictures when we arrive.

Island Time

We had a full day of meetings with the hospital and government officials in Wewak yesterday and then left for Muschu, an island about twenty-five miles away. We arrived on the island just before dark and spent the night with our friend, George, who runs a small lodge that consists of grass huts with mats on the floor and mosquito nets. The island is spectacular with white sandy beaches, coral reefs, and turquoise water. We got to see spinner dolphins up close during the boat ride.

Last year we delivered a CURE kit to George’s village and showed the Jesus Film so they remembered us and met us at the beach with tropical flowers and a greeting song. We then put dinner on and played a quick game of water tag with the kids. After dark we sat around a fire on the beach and Mark played the guitar while we sang songs with several of the villagers. They have beautiful voices and enjoyed teaching us some of their songs.

The next morning we packed up the boats and headed to another village where we delivered a CURE kit and inspected a health outpost that we gave money towards during our visit last year. There was another greeting ceremony and Mark and Gary did a hop scotch dance thing with the villagers as part of the ritual. After several rounds of speeches we went through the medical supplies with the local nurse and then headed off for yet another village on a neighboring island.

We inspected a health post on Kiruru, the island, to see what they need and then headed back to Wewak after we had a quick lunch of noodles back at George’s place. On the way home we saw several small, blue flying fish that are able to fly about fifty yards. It was fun to watch them fly right beside the boat.

Tomorrow we will be going to church where Mark is going to sing and then will head up to our land for a quick tour and dinner with the Pasa Clan. Thanks for your prayers. We have been able to accomplish a lot this past week.

(We are having a hard time posting pictures with the slow internet connection here in Wewak but have we several good ones and will post them as soon as we are able.)

Jungle Adventure

We returned from the remote village yesterday but had quite an adventure while we were out there.

We met our pilot early in the morning and headed way back into the Sepik. We buzzed over the mission station to let them know we were landing and then descended into a valley and landed on the closest grass strip which is an hour and a half away by foot. The strip is alongside a river and is cut out of the jungle at the end of a long valley.

After landing we were met by our missionary friend, Greg Greenlaw, who had made the trek through the rainforest from the mission station to meet us. Greg is an amazing guy and has been living with a tribe that is eleven days walk from civilization for over ten years. He is translating the Bible into their native language and is also the only health care provider for miles and miles around. Although he has not had any formal medical training Greg and his wife have to treat the cases that are brought to them because they are the only option.

Since the mission station is down river from the airstrip we were able to jump in the river with inner tubes and float for an hour and half rather than trek. The locals were paid to carry our bags and we would catch an occasional glimpse of them when the trail and the river came together. It was funny to see a CURE kit carried on a pole the same way they carry a dead pig. The float was amazing and allowed us to visit with Greg and catch up on the latest news.

Their “car” as the call it, is a Polaris, six wheeler that has been broken down for the past six months. We brought the part they needed from the States and got to work right after a quick lunch. The “car” is very important to them and allows them to make the trip to the airstrip in only 20 minutes. We worked on it for several hours and finally got it fixed. People started yelling and running towards us when they heard it start. One native man dressed in only a tattered pair of shorts said, “thanks for fixing our missionary’s car.”

We also delivered the CURE kit full of medical supplies for their little clinic and took a tour of the village before going to the river with a bar of soap for our evening baths. Later that night we had dinner together and then climbed into bed for a much needed night of rest. Their house has a grass roof and is mostly made of “bush” materials.

We were supposed to leave the next morning early on the trek to the airstrip but woke up to a steady rain. After most of the day had passed we heard the short wave radio crackle with the voice of the pilot. He had found a way around the rain storm and would be landing in 45 minutes. This meant we were already late so we took off through the jungle and drizzle and sloshed through the mud for an hour and a half until we popped out of the jungle and on to the airstrip.

We finally made it back to Wewak and had several meetings the next day. The experience gave us a new found respect for the Greenlaws and the work they do.

Tomorrow we will have more meetings with the Hospital and local government officials before we head off in boats to some small islands off the north coast. We will be delivering more CURE kits to remote health outposts and will be checking out the needs on an island we have not visited before. Thanks for your prayers. We are all doing quite well.