What an experience it is to buy a vehicle in Papua New Guinea!

I looked at a Voltz (2 actually, but they sat so low to the ground that they bottomed out on the potholes) and I looked at a RAV4. I thought I was going to get to purchase that one, but it was way over my budget. I told the salesman, George what my budget was and asked if they could/would reduce the price for me. He said he would send a note to Port Moresby and ask if they could. The following Monday… nothing happens in what an American mind would think is timely; ha-ha… I went back to talk to him. He was sorry but they couldn’t reduce the cost of the RAV. Bummer.  But he had a vehicle that he could bring from Lae. They were leaving in 2 days and would return on Friday. Ok, cool! I knew that I wouldn’t make it back into town by the time they closed at noon on Saturday but I could go on Monday to see it. Back Monday, no car; it wasn’t ready so they came back without it. Ok, they were leaving the next day to get it. But! I have a week of meetings scheduled the following week, so I could try to look at it during our lunch hour.

Sooo… this is only a few days into looking for a new car… it goes on and on, lots of phone calls and trips to the dealership and test drives. The car that finally arrived Madang for me is a 2001 Toyota Kluger. In America it would be known as a Highlander. It is bigger than a RAV4 and yet smaller than the truck. Cool; works for me! It was right in my budget range! But! One of the things noticed was that the radio doesn’t work. That’s ok… it’s just me and I don’t really need one. The other thing was a lot more important; it needed new tires pretty desperately.  Somebody mentioned if they couldn’t bring the price down that I could ask them to put new tires on it. So, even though the price is in my range, I need to be able to pay for tires, licensing, insurance and registration. So I asked George if they could drop the price so I could pay for all of these things and still be in my budgeted price range. Guess what? Another email to Port Moresby, ha-ha… so a couple of days later I went back to talk to him. He was working on a purchase order, so I said hi and sat quietly while he finished typing. I sat there and prayed, “Lord, will You please make this crystal clear if it is the car for me?” When he had finished, he turned his attention me.

Me “George, did you have a chance to write an email and hear back from Moresby yet?”

George “yes, I did. We cannot adjust the price, but if we leave it as is, we can put new tires on it.”

Me internally – what?!? OK, I hear You Lord!” You set this up… I didn’t even have to ask.

Me audibly to George “SOLD!”

I didn’t even have a chance to ask him if they could put tires. God was all over it! I love to watch Him move ~ absolutely LOVE IT!

Of course there’s more to the story… it’s PNG for Pete Sake… nothing goes as an American would expect, ha! But this is what I’ll share here.

It has brand new tires now ~ and when I stopped in today to see when I could go get the new light bulb in my taillight George said “you can bring it here any day next week and we will take it and get the new radio in it” WHAT?! I didn’t think that could happen ~ God must have been all over that too. George said they didn’t have a radio to replace it with, but they would take it out of another car and send THAT car for repairs! I love it!! I really look forward to being able to listen to the Tok Pisin radio station!

Here are some pictures (HUGE smile!)

I went over my budget by $2,400 so I am still a little short… Would you please pray about giving ~ and send a check to Ali Hooper (my forwarding agent)? It would be GREATLY appreciated! Sharon Kozar PO Box 281 Dublin, Ohio 43017

Thank you to those who’ve helped me financially ~ you know who you are! I am incredibly grateful! This car is so much more wonderful than I expected to get … I’m SOOOOO grateful!

This was written a few days ago, sorry for the delay … I had trouble with my Word Press and needed my ever-helpful Alicia to help me! I’m SO grateful for you A!!