nursery

 

Gary, Lori, and I each took a day in the nursery, and there were three teenagers in there all three days.  Oddly enough, I could not locate a picture of Shiloh working in here, but she was there.  I admired these teens so much, because these kids needed the most hands-on work and were the most varied of any age group.  They ranged from not sitting up yet to almost four, which covers quite a bit of abilities, interests, and emotional situations.  Some of the children were not used to being away from their parents at all, since they live in the bush.  I especially admired the teen boy pictured above, who volunteered for the nursery because he suspected his younger sister would have a difficult time being apart from her "mum" (they are English), and he wanted to be there for her.  Even with her brother with her, his sister did indeed express her displeasure at being away from her parents.  He held her and tried plenty of distraction techniques until she was able to settle down (until she suddenly remembered she was unhappy).  He never expressed any frustration with her at all, just understanding that she had never been away from her parents and was upset.  His patience and empathy was beyond his years.

VBS begins!

 

We planned a three day VBS to go alongside the adults' conference schedule.  Kevin and Kris were in charge of the beginning and closing sessions, and they did a fabulous job creating energy and making sure the kids remained excited about VBS while maintaining control and helping them learn. 

 

After the beginning session each morning, the kids had three stations: WOW zone (lesson area), craft cove (crafts), and Midway games (games). We had plenty of help from teens to make the stations a success as well as make sure the younger ones were happy and settled in the nursery.

 

Malalo

This was my favorite day at Madang, and it will be easy to see why when you get to the pictures.  Every year, everyone at the conference spends the first full day at Malalo, a hotel close to the conference center.  Why?  To have some relaxed time together and for friends to catch up with one another in a beautiful spot with no other responsibilities.  I am sure that this day is healing for some, as their lives in the bush take a lot of effort and some are without co-workers right now.

Swimmers could choose between the pool or the ocean.  The beach was beautiful dark sand, with interesting driftwood around, and we could spot a volcano in the distance.

Check out the transportation to get there; everyone just piles in the back of the truck. 

 

the first few days in Madang

 

 One of the many markets we visited.  We arrived in Madang on Monday, and spent most of our time in one market or another: souvenir shopping, grocery shopping, just about any kind of shopping you can think of.  It was a leisurely sort of trip; there is no sense in rushing since no one else does. 

 

 The sunrise from our house, vantage point: glorious hammock on the back porch.

Joseph, who was one of our hosts during the week, makes a produce delivery to the kitchen.  There were two amazing women who hosted the kitchen, with different families assigned to do most of the actual prep for specific lunches and dinners.  We were responsible for our own breakfasts, which Joey promptly took on (more on that later!)

 Kris and Lori, who dedicated their entire afternoon to roll pretzels for the VBS snacks.  Since our VBS had an amusement park theme, we tried to incorporate that theme into all aspects of the week, including snacks. 

 

 

 Dennis preps for his sessions (or emails home, not sure which).  At first, we planned to have the entire team in the guest house, which would have been cozy but certainly fine.  However, Geoff and Shannon unexpectedly had room in house they were staying in, so Kris and Gary got to have extra family time by moving into their house instead.  That made for only six people in our three bedroom house, which worked out well. 

Moving on to Madang

The next part of the trip takes part in Madang.  We flew there via helicopter and small plane, and stayed at New Tribes housing together.  We came to help with the annual regional conference for New Tribes; Dennis taught the adults in the morning while Kevin, Kris, Gary, Lori, Shiloh, and I helped with the VBS and nursery.  Joey filled in the gaps and did a lot of running around for both New Tribes and the rest of the team.  The afternoons were spent either in recovery, preparing for the next day, or doing activities with the teenagers, who helped us in the mornings.

(Great) Expectations

Most of the posts thus far have been a recounting of events, with perhaps a bit of commentary. This one is mainly processing. 

For me, this hike was one of the most challenging times of the entire trip.  Definitely the most demanding physically, and one of the most demanding spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.  On the way down to Beng, I was able to process as I went, and came up with a lot of spiritual parallels.  It was amazing to me how my helper was ready and more than able to guide me through the difficult areas of the journey.  And there were a couple of times when he had his eye on me even when I did not think that it was a difficult situation.  He was ready to save me from danger, even danger I was unaware of.  And, as I mentioned before, we fell into rhythm, so that all I had to do was reach back with my hand and he would take it.  Once we made it to Beng and I thought the trip was nearly over, I referred to my helper as "my Jesus," because I didn't think I would have made it without him. 

However, as it turns out, I did have to make it without him, all the way back to Geoff and Shannon's house.  And, really, at times it was misery. 

When I think back, I realize that part of the issue is what I expected versus what really happened.  I expected to come back to the house after church and lunch in Mibu.  Instead we left before nine and returned after five.  I expected a challenging hike that lasted a max of 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back.  And then I expected that once I got to Beng, we would be home soon.

Expectations came into play again later in the trip when we were about to leave PNG for a couple of days in Australia.  As is often the case (we found out), the flight out of Madang was delayed, which made us miss the connecting flight to Brisbane in Port Moresby.  So, instead of a night in the Rendevous Hotel in Brisbane, Australia, Kris, Gary, Kevin, Lori, and I ended up in a hotel in Port Moresby.  Now, if that had been the expectation from the beginning, great.  The hotel was nice, and we got to spend some time together, which was the plan for Brisbane.  We did experience a few more snafus, which included Lori and I experiencing three different rooms in the space of 18 hours. 

But I think our response and our reactions aren't so much to the circumstances, but to the expectations we have for those circumstances.  It wasn't so much that the team spent a night in Port Moresby, but that we expected to be in Brisbane instead.  It wasn't even so much that we were on a difficult hike, but that that was nowhere on our radar, and as we continued on the hike, more seemed to be added to our plate.  No more helpers, rain, no water (unless you count said rain), a skirt to impede progress, and the climbing...the constant climbing up those inclines. 

At the end of the hike, I was exhausted, mentally and physically.  But a great deal of that was due to my expectations, not to the circumstances. 

Sometimes as Christians, I think we expect God to make our life one of ease and fun.  Nowhere is that mentioned in the Bible, and actually, the NT shows clearly that the early church experience was nowhere near that.  When our expectations do not line up with reality, we often blame God for our circumstances, when the main issue is with our expectations. 

on the edge of death

I could spend the remainder of this post just spilling out alternate titles for this experience.  We were in Mibu when Joey broached the possibility of hiking to Beng, which is a village close to Mibu.  The way I understood it, the trip would be "a little longer" than going directly back to the Husas' house.  I also understood it to be a basic triangle: we had already completed one of the sides by hiking to Mibu, so then once we got to Beng, there would be a simple walk back, and then our journey for the day would be complete.  Lori tells it much better than I do, so perhaps when I see her tomorrow, I will get her to quote Joey and include it. 

From Mibu, we backtracked a bit until we got to the trail to Beng.  Looking down the trail, I just about backed out of my choice.  The trail was narrow, and had quite the decline. 

Let me remind everyone that we had not set out in the morning planning to do a long hike.  We just planned to do the one to Mibu, which is challenging in itself.  Plus we had spent the last few hours socializing and the last few minutes experiencing beetle nut.  We did not have extra water or protein sources. 

But, regardless, there we were following Joey's lead. 

By the grace of God, two residents of Beng came down the trail behind Lori and me.  Kevin was fine on his own, because he is, well, Kevin.  Dennis had Joey as his hiking buddy, as had been the case hiking to Mibu.  Lori and I were thrilled with the help of these new best friends.  Lori made hers nervous, so the two of them ended up holding hands for the majority of the time.  My helper and I worked out a system whereby I would simply reach back with my hand if I thought I needed help.  He would grab my hand and help me over that section, and we would continue as before. 

Some of you know I have a certain amount of experience hiking, backpacking, and portaging with canoes over trails.  My body has gotten older since then, and I have added more than a few pounds, but this trail was similar to some I had done in Canada, with the addition of a huge drop on one side. 

Thankfully, we all arrived safely (and jubilantly) in Beng.  This village is beautiful, and we spent a few moments there soaking it in.  Soon after, we planned to leave.  Imagine our surprise when we started retracing our steps.  The track was not an exact triangle at all, so we would have to backtrack quite a ways before being able to head toward the Husa house.

Disheartened does not begin to cover it.  It was late afternoon, I did not have any water (which is a HUGE deal to me, as many of you know), Lori and I had been hiking in skirts all day, it rained a good deal of the way back (Have I mentioned I don't like being wet?), and all of the mainly downhill trail had turned into mainly uphill trails with the same terrain but with no helpers. 

We took a few breaks, Kevin shared his Jolly Ranchers to help with energy, and I had a couple of emotional moments where I dissolved into tears after turning a corner and seeing only the face of yet one more uphill climb.  I was reduced to taking off my skirt (I had leggings on underneath), and climbing on my hands and knees on some of the sections.

Finally we made it back, well after five, but also before dark, which had started to become a concern.  Joey kindly brought water out, and then we all needed showers before enjoying dinner. 

We all survived, obviously. Lori was clearly dehydrated, and had some issues later that evening. Most of us were exhausted, and we all slept well that evening before heading out for Madang in the morning.