A Blast from the Past!

Not long ago, Dale came across this picture, our first prayer card. Here we are, me with my shirt tied in a bow and in a knit vest and Dale with his big glasses! We had all the excitement of a young couple about to embark on a great adventure – the jungles of Papua New Guinea. We knew God had called us, and we were ready!

Or at least I thought I was! I soon discovered there were many unexpected twists along the way.

After the support was raised, the suitcases packed and the tickets purchased, we embarked on our grand journey on April 4, l982. What no one told me was HOW LONG it took to fly to Papua New Guinea. It took nearly two days. We arrived exhausted, and the moment we stepped out of the air conditioned plane a giant heat wave slapped us in the face. (Man, why didn’t someone tell me it was this hot?) We walked on the tarmac of the Port Moresby airport to go through customs.

Finally we retrieved our luggage and stepped into the terminal to wait for who would pick us up and take us to the missionary guest house.

No one came to meet us!

We stood around for several minutes looking like lost souls when an Australian woman came up to us and said, “Do you need some help?”

“Uh, yes, someone was supposed to pick us up, but they must have forgotten.”

Somehow this lady managed to get us and our four suitcases into her car. She drove us to her house while we tried to figure out where we needed to go. At this point all I wanted to do was take a shower and crawl in a bed somewhere. Finally, Dale made a few contacts, and we were headed in the right direction thanks to this kind stranger.

Then it was onto Tari in the Southern Highlands Province. I was really looking forward to living in our own house again after staying over 3 months in others’ homes. I couldn’t wait to settle down, get unpacked and be on our own again. That afternoon we met with the field director. As we sat down to talk with him, we were told we would be going to Kiunga to live with an older couple (in their 60s) for at least nine months.

What? You’ve got to be kidding!

Not only did we not want to go to Kiunga, we didn’t want to live with anyone either. My heart dropped in disappointment. We would be living with others for at least a year. There was nothing we could do. Another twist I didn’t expect.

After a few days there, we flew on a small Cessna plane into the small mining town of Kiunga. It was an overcast day and white poufy piles of cloud were everywhere. As we flew through the billowy stuff, we couldn’t see the ground below. But I was confident in the hands of our MAF pilot. I sat back enjoying the ride.

Finally, the pilot broke the silence, “Do you see an airstrip anywhere? I can’t seem to find it.”

Okay, if the pilot can’t find where he’s going, then we were in trouble! My sense of calm was suddenly jarred when I realized the pilot was having difficulty seeing through the cloud cover. We flew around in circles for awhile until he finally found an opening to see where to land. I breathed a sigh of relief when my feet were on the ground again. I learned quickly the difficulties of flying in the treacherous terrain and unpredictable weather of PNG.

Thus were the beginnings of a challenging adventure, not only as a young missionary wife but of an even greater adventure with God.