PNG trip update.

This is a picture of a typical village house at Yehebi.

Tuesday afternoon Dale flew out of Yehebi, and I unexpectantly got a call from him on Skype. He flew out a little earlier than thought because of the plane's schedule. It worked out okay because he had several things he needed to try and arrange for Yehebi before leaving the country.

When Dale arrived in the country and flew into the hospital station, Rumginae, Pastor Sefasui was waiting on him. He had flown out to get supplies for the store and waited there for Dale and David to arrive. Since it'd been nine years since we visited, he said, "Pastor Sefasui kept looking at me trying to see if it was really me." I guess nine years of age, no mustache, and becoming a little fatter and balder made him wonder if it was really Dale!

The two of them sat talking for awhile, and then Dale pulled out several pages of pictures of the family I had photocopied. Sefasui looked slowly at them and said, "Can I keep this?" I had written little notes in Gobasi language on them so they could figure out who everyone was. I'm sure that was passed all around the village.

Just a little background on Pastor Sefasui - he was the very first Gobasi christian. In 1987, when he was only a teenager, after one of the church services he said, "I want to take hold of this Jesus talk." At the time, he was really going against cultural tradition. The village makes decisions together, so to make a decision like that alone was going against the clan. As I see how he's been faithful all these years in serving God, he showed way back then that he was willing to stand alone and follow God. He has not had it easy alone at Yehebi. I am sure that this visit from Dale and David was a huge boost of encouragement to him; he was a little discouraged because some of the Christians had fallen away. Pray that he will continue to stand strong in his faith.

The next day, the three of them flew out to Yehebi together with the store supplies and luggage.

The living was "rough." There was no running water because all the tanks were damaged in some way. The water container we sent (a fold-up camping one)had a hole in it, too. Someone had to walk each day to a stream at the end of the airstrip to get water for them. Even the gas primus bought to cook on didn't work right! They bathed in the river and washed clothes by hand. David told me he did most of the cooking. (How come he doesn't do that at home here?)Sleeping was lousy on the air mattresses, and then the heat didn't help any either. He said if I'd have come, I would NOT have liked the squat toilet!

They held four services each week for everyone, and David held services for the youth two nights each week. He said he feels that the Lord was really in them going for a visit.

Dale wrote each evening in a journal while he was at Yehebi. I am anxious to hear how everything went. He wouldn't tell me many stories because of lack of time. When he returns, I will start posting stories, pictures, and videos of the trip for you to read.