These shoes show the difference it made when I was not able to wear one of them for about 2 months. It didn’t take long for the right one to look as grungy as the left, after I put it on, ha!
Pacific Orientation Course (POC) was a time in my life that I will never forget. I had no idea what I was really headed for; before I got to Papua New Guinea. There is no way to really be prepared for what we do in the POC. Both Pioneer Bible Translators and POC gave us plenty of information before arriving, but until I actually got here… well, I had no idea what it would be like. I am so glad that I have had this opportunity. It has been amazing! Thank you for helping me to be here!! I missed most of the scheduled hikes and the first 3 weeks of swimming due to my fall. But, other than those two things ~ I did everything that everyone else did. It was hard ~ but incredibly rewarding in the end.
I am now (semi) settled in Madang. I’ve had my orientation regarding my responsibilities and how the Finance office runs, and this week I’ve begun working. I love it! It might seem like an ordinary job from the outside; but it isn’t. I had an amazing opportunity to go to the Bible study that we hold with our National Translators every week. They come in from their villages ~ some traveling 2-3 days to get here via PMV (public motor vehicle), boat and tractor. It was amazing to sit among men and women who are actively translating God’s Word into their mother tongue so that their people can learn about Him. I will say more about that in a post later… but I will leave you with a mental picture of sitting in a circle with about a dozen men and women representing 4 different language groups ~ they have a copy of the Bible in their own language in their hands ~ they each take turns to read a particular chapter in Luke in their mother tongue… it was amazing. It kinda gives you chills huh? I will attach photos when I write about it later… so stay tuned!
The following is Part 1 from my journal ~ sharing my life at POC. I have so much to share that my notes got really long! I’ve broken it up into 5 parts, and will post the remaining entries soon!
Pacific Orientation Course: Part 1 | Jan. 22 – March 2014
Wasmama
Can’t I just STAY on my feet and WALK?! And my unexpected “field trip”…
Talk about being discouraged! The day before POC began we (Jim, Joni, Coralie and I) decided that we would do some conditioning hikes to get into shape before the “real” hikes began. Read here for the rest of that story…
It would be nice, but it didn’t end with only one fall… or one injury. On our overnight hike, I was still in the big black boot but I got to go on the hike. It had rained the night before (just like normal) … I had just watched another lady fall really hard and was praying “Lord please let me make it there and back without falling” when out went my feet. I was SO not impressed!! It would have been OK if I hadn’t tried to catch myself because most of me fell on my bedroll that was attached to the bottom of my backpack. But I reached out with my left hand and caught myself. It “didn’t hurt that bad” so I kept walking. We made it to the bottom of that hill and through the river when I decided that it “looked funny” and that I had better let the medic look at it. She wrapped it and insisted on calling the nurse. I was so incredibly mad at myself for falling (I gave no thought that it didn’t catch God off guard and He might have something in it for me to learn… no! I was ticked!!!). So she called Verna and Verna and Mark came to look and insisted that I go into Madang to get it x-rayed. Ugh. I just wanted to go with my team and spend the night in a village … SAD face!! Long story short ~ it wasn’t broken (thank You Lord!) and I pleaded with the director to let me go to the village and I got to spend the night. The family was wonderful! I loved every minute of it; even trekking down to the liklik haus (“outhouse”) at dusk. They helped us every step of the way; so loving and kind. They take the responsibility of caring for us very seriously. I get the idea that it is an honor to host students. We walked to the main road and took a PMV (public motor vehicle) to the bottom of Nob Nob Mountain. We thought that a PMV would come to pick us up… but we found out after hanging in the market there that it was working in town and wouldn’t come at all. So we began the ascent to POC at the top of the mountain. We made it a good portion of the way when a Toyota pickup carrying another team came barreling by… my heart sank… it was full… and it wasn’t stopping (SAD face!). The team saw our faces… and asked the driver to stop. Boy were we GLAD!! We crammed way more people and gear into the back of that truck than we should have. My waspapa was even hanging off the back ~ standing on the bumper. A friend was holding onto him for dear life as the driver (who apparently thought we were buckled in safely, ha!!) sped wildly up the mountain… it was quite the ride!!! I told Alessandro “Yu no ken lusim Papa bilong mi!!” (Don’t let go of my papa!!). We laughed all the way up the hill. It was incredibly wonderful to have a ride. We were beat. On a side note; it was really cool to go on a “field trip” to the doctor’s office and go to the hospital to get x-rayed. I got to go into the maternity ward. Wow, it is like nothing I’ve seen in America. All of the mamas were in one big open room with a bunch of beds in rows. Some had IV’s, some didn’t; most if not all had their baby laying on the bed with them. I think that all of them I looked at smiled at me. I couldn’t help but compare it to the sterile room I stood in while my grandson Robbie was born. Wow, what a difference! We visited the wasmama of another student. Her daughter had just had a baby boy. He was adorable! The wasmama told us that she was going home with a boy and a girl. A relative had given them a baby girl that had been born that day. Things are incredibly different here… as you will observe in my updates. There is obviously more to that story. I can tell you in person sometime if you would like. I am just looking at the differences from home.
If you would like to read parts 2-5 of my POC journal, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the “subscribe” button under my photo at the top-right of this page. The remaining journal entries will be posted soon!
AND… Please “friend” me on Face Book because oftentimes I put updates and fun photos there too!
Thank you SO MUCH for helping me to get here with your precious prayers, emotional and financial support. It is an honor to be here in Madang, Papua New Guinea; helping National Translators and missionaries alike, to continue their work for the people here who cannot read the Bible in their own language.
