Papua New Guinea, Part 4

Week 3, Port Moresby

Returning to Port Moresby with the intention of staying for a week to do outreach, was to me a daunting but exciting prospect. Daunting because the city was still totally unfamiliar and because I felt like such a foreigner, exciting though because I knew that God was with us and would direct our path as Proverb’s 16: 9 states and that He would empower us for whatever experiences He had in store. He is faithful and we watched eagerly as He opened doors, made connections with locals, and gave each of us the boldness to step out in faith and meet people’s needs.

First things first though. We arrived on Monday and spent most of the day traveling and getting settled in to our new accommodation at the Boroko Baptist Church. What a great church facility and conveniently located near a market place, in a residential area but close enough to the city center to allow us to easily move around and do ministry. Also, our hosts were more than willing to help with transportation and included us in on some of their weekly ministry routines. In settling in and having some time to ourselves, it was evident that our team needed some alone time, by that I mean we needed time together to pray, worship, and get back into real unity. We found that though we experienced great blessing, hospitality, and ministry success in Hisiu and Gabagaba, all the activities and the general conflicts within the towns, especially the most recent one really served to buffet our team and there were some obvious strains coming to the surface. It’s clear to see why Jesus often took His disciples (or tried to take them) to remote areas to retreat, Mark 6: 30-31. We took time that evening and much of the next day to get back on-board with one another and with the mission, in time we were unified and ready to go. On Tuesday afternoon we were surprised to see Eksee and Dr. Peter arrive with an invitation to take out team for a tour around the city. We jumped in and enjoyed getting a much larger perspective of Port Moresby. Beginning in Boroko we circumnavigated the city by heading through various districts en route to Ela Beach, the waterfront area facing SE. From there we cut through the main downtown area of the city where many of the banks and embassies are located. Next, we headed down from the headland to the port which faces NW and followed the bay road to a highway that cut east over a steep hillside and back into the interior of the city, near the airport and main shopping district. From there we took the highway leading up to Hisiu and took a right onto a side road that led to the Police Academy and War Cemetery. We eventually stopped at the Pacific Adventist University, an immaculately maintained property that seemed like crossing a border into another country. After being shut-down in our attempt to use their internet, we returned to the Baptist Church and waved goodbye to our chauffeurs with the promise that we’d reconnect soon.

It was only half an hour or so later that I got the urgent news from our team leader, Krystal informing me that we were to arrange for transport to assist a couple of our DTS members from another team who had just been flown by helicopter to a local hospital and were in the process of being evacuated to Townsville due to extreme circumstances. Apparently, one student was being treated for, what the local doctors diagnosed as cerebral malaria (it turned out to be a false diagnosis) and his staff overseer came along making sure he was well looked after. It was our job to pick up their luggage and bring it home with us because of weight restrictions on the aircraft they were scheduled, within the hour, to take. Eksee and Dr. Peter agreed to come down to help us get there and were promptly at the church to pick us up. We entered the emergency room soon after and met with the exhausted staff member. She looked calm but still a bit frantic inside and ready to be done with this whole ordeal, it had been a really long couple of days for them. As the student rested quietly, it gave us time to meet all the individuals that were involved since they were all in the ER helping. We met the ER doctor, a friend of Eksee’s, also, the Governor of the Gulf Province along with some of his assistants all to make sure the YWAMers were doing well. It was an amazing and crazy scene having so many answers to prayer all in one place at one time under these baffling circumstances! You may remember from the beginning of this journal that we had been praying weeks before the trip about how we should approach the outreach and I mentioned four areas or spheres that we felt God had impressed on us, police, education, government, and hospitals…All of these came together here in the ER with Eksee, Dr. Peter, the Governor, and the location and ER doctor…Our God is mind blowing! And He wasn’t done yet. We packed the bags and left for the church leaving the two team members with prayers, assurances, and hugs. A quick side note as to not keep you in too much suspense, they got back fine and the student has almost fully recovered from the incident though he will not be completing the DTS.

Wednesday began with a quiet time and a yummy breakfast. In late morning, we had a couple of surprise visitors. First a van load of young people from Gabagaba entered the carpark and filed into the fellowship hall where we were staying. It was a joyful reunion as we were pretty convinced that we weren’t going to see any them again. Pastor Ikupu lets us know that he’d invited them to join our team to observe how we do ministry and that he’d be leading them in their own impromptu DTS while we were busy with other tasks. It was great to have them along but it also meant that we didn’t have personal team time, we were always on duty as it were. I was very thankful for the short time we had at the beginning of the week to retreat and get everyone on the same page. A few minutes later a second vehicle drove into the carpark with another large group of young people, this time though, they were white and obviously foreigners. It turned out that another YWAM team from the Byron Bay base had just arrived in the country and was scheduled to stay in the city for a few weeks for their DTS outreach. They had come to serve at the Baptist Church and soon got to work, once we had made their acquaintance and shared experiences. After lunch we began our tasks for the day. First on the list was to visit an internet café’ located near the grocery store. It had been over two weeks since any of us had contact with the rest of the world so it was really exciting to take a few minutes to catch up on news and send out some emails, though we really didn’t have enough time to say “Hi” to everyone that we wanted. Next, we decided to go across town to the Parliament building with hopes of praying around and inside the building. With our late arrival, we were not able to go inside (we weren’t really dressed for it anyway) but were excited to pray outside in the adjoining majestic park area. We prayed for quite a while for various spheres of influence, especially the government and the challenges that it faces as it manages a nation that is currently in a stage of growing prosperity. There are many citizens like Eksee and Dr. Peter who are passionately praying and working hard to see their nation and its government managed well, they are excited to work with organizations like YWAM to assist in realizing their dream. Our team slowly walked around, and finally stopped next to the expansive tranquil pond located in the center of the park. The sharply angular parliament building reflected in the Barramundi filled water as God clearly revealed specific areas for us to pray into. The evening was filled with food preparation, dining, and rich fellowship.

Thursday morning was eventful with the short visit of our friends from the School of Music in Missions (SOMM) team from YWAM, Townsville. It was good to catch up and hear their many stories of God’s faithfulness and open doors of ministry blessings. Our time together was short as we had a hospital visit to make. Having spent many hours in preparing meals for the patients, our local guides, Peter and his wife from the Baptist Church, lead the way. All that food loaded onto a mobile cart along with our team including the large group of Gabagaba youth, all crammed into the Church’s flatbed truck and motored down the crowded busy streets to the sprawling General Hospital building. Peter pushed the cart ahead of us splitting the crowds of people through the entrance and up three or four very dirty and crowded floors to our first area of ministry, the HIV/AIDS ward. I tried to prepare Ryan on the way to cushion the blow of what he’d be witnessing once inside the building. Nonetheless, what we saw on this visit and the next will be imprinted on our minds for the rest of our lives. The vast HIV/AIDS ward was filled with patients of various ages and genders all in differing stages of the disease. Some looked fairly normal while others were obviously thinner and in some discomfort, others still were extremely thin and very near death. Most had family or friends assisting them during this period of time, all seemed to be accepting of our presence and many were even truly overjoyed to have us there. We began by playing some of the local praise songs and then led into a few of our more western songs. Next, Pastor Ikupu boldly stepped forward and began preaching a message of faith and God’s heart of compassion for them and then our group proceeded to meet with every patient and many family members to pray and offer words of encouragement. All the while Ben, Jordan, (two of the students) and I played worship music and sung as loud as possible to reach every ear and heart. In time I gave my guitar to Ben and walked through the ward on my own praying for people and sharing whatever God would put on my heart for them.

One patient, a young mother who was in early stages of the disease and didn’t seem too debilitated sat upright on her bed with a young boy nearby and another older woman (I assumed was her mother) sitting on a chair by her side. Previous to this meeting I had rushed to prepare a message to preach had the opportunity presented itself, but Pastor Ikupu jumped in instead, so I felt that God still had someone that needed to hear what God had put on my heart. As I talked with this young woman, I felt God prompting me to share. I turned to Acts 16 and she did likewise as she located her Bible from a stack of books on her nightstand. I shared the story of Paul and Silas, how they had been unjustly beaten and placed in prison in Philippi. I related how they had not deserved their treatment and had found themselves in a dark, dingy, depressing place with wounds on their backs and chains connecting them to the floor. I expressed how they could have rightly questioned God in their circumstance and become bitter and hopeless. Yet, they did not…they chose to worship. They chose to praise God and draw near to Him in prayer and through that miraculous events occurred and doors of ministry opened up for them. They shared faith in Christ with their distraught jailor who asked pleadingly, “What must I do to be saved?” Their reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” With compassion and conviction I encouraged this woman to live like Paul and Silas, to not fall into despair and hopelessness but to see this as an opportunity to serve God even in the darkest place and most physically difficult condition. To see her fellow patients and hospital staff as her mission field in the remaining days of her life and to follow hard after God until the end. Everyone has an end, some just know that their end is sooner than others. How important it is for us to be “knowing God and making Him known” as faithful servants so that when we see our Lord face to face, He will say with all joy, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”(Matt. 25: 21). She smiled weakly acknowledging my words and shook my hand with acceptance, her mother also thanked me for my time and prayers and I moved on to my next patient. We visited with many and completed our time in the Post Op. ward. Our method was similar except this time a preacher from another church was presenting a message independent of our team. Once he finished we made our way throughout the ward ministering to the needy. I could tell Ryan was feeling a little overwhelmed and tired from all of the activities of the day and so we concluded our time and made our way back to the church transport. That evening we were invited to a BBQ at our friend Dr. Peter’s home near the University of PNG. Also, in attendance was Eksee. We drove through the bustling shopping district of Port Moresby on the way to Dr. Peter’s home and had many smiling faces waving greetings to us along the way. Our time with our friends was truly special and quite filling as they had prepared a feast of chicken, sausages, and rolls with all the condiments you’d expect in N. America, also, watermelon, and ice cold Cokes! The fellowship was rich and jokes and jesting as abundant as the mozzies who’re also looking for a feast. At the end of the evening, once the last watermelon seed was spit at its unsuspecting target, Dr. Peter and Eksee gave a short speech sharing their heart’s desire to see the society of PNG elevated, to see an end to poverty and corruption, to see better healthcare, better education for children and young adults alike, to see the economy continue to grow at a healthy rate and for PNG as a whole to manage well the opportunities that it provides. Both men have a heart for seeing the Christian churches work together to rally their support and action in tackling some of these areas and affirmed their support for YWAM and organizations like it who share and are active in bringing the vision to pass. We piled back into our transport with full tummies and inspired hearts as it was very encouraging to know that there are PNG citizens of great significance who are passionate about the transformation of this country and who are enthusiastically working to see things change.

Friday arrived with another opportunity to visit the General Hospital and then possibly do some open air market outreach in the afternoon. This time we came to one of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) wards and began visiting patients to bless them with prayer, music, and words of encouragement. The very first room that Ryan and I visited was one containing four beds. Only two were occupied with patients, a young man and another probably in his fifties. Of the other two beds, one was vacant while the other provided a lounge for some friends of the younger patient who were passing the time watching a movie on their computer. The younger patient was reclining in his bed with a troubled look on his face, I assumed both from pain and a general uneasiness of being laid-up in the hospital with a broken right leg. The newly hardened white cast below his knee was clearly seen along with some scribbled lettering no doubt penned there by his friends across the aisle. These guys were in their mid to low twenties and looked curiously at Ryan and me as we introduced ourselves and proceeded to speak to them about the Lord. At first I began by asking the patient his name, a native name something like “Poami” and then asked whether he had a relationship with Jesus. He looked hesitant and said that he was more of a Sunday Christian and not really living closely with the Lord. This was made plain by his story of how he was injured. Apparently, he had a conflict with another young man and was chasing after him and tripped over a fallen tree resulting in the break. Knowing that God was more than able to heal this man, I felt it a good idea to stir his faith by sharing a story of Jesus performing a healing miracle. As I read the story I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me to share another more specific story. So, I shared from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5 beginning in verse 16 which describes how Jesus was impressed by the faith of a paralyzed man’s friends who brought him to the Lord by lowering him through the roof of the house where Jesus was staying since the crowds made it impossible for them to enter any other way. What was important in this story was that Jesus did not immediately heal the afflicted man. First, He addressed his relationship with God, “Your sins are forgiven you” stated Jesus, to the shock and disdain of the religious leaders who were observing His every move to catch Him in a trap. Jesus obviously knew that this troubled man was in greater need of forgiveness than healing but in order to bless him and his friends, and to prove His identity as Christ and God, He healed the newly forgiven man and sent him on his way with a new lease on life and commitment to God. As I finished the story, I saw that the face of Poami was in deep thought and reflection. He was really processing the importance of what was being shared; his friends too, were listening intently. I asked him if he would like to turn from his sins and recommit his life to God, to start fresh in his relationship with Jesus and he heartily agreed. I prayed for him and then listened as he prayed a quiet but sincere prayer of repentance and recommitment to God. I then prayed for healing for his leg with no obvious signs of immediate repair but I was thoroughly encouraged by his recommitment and confident that God might still heal him but in His timing. We ministered to quite a few patients that day and saw many encouraged by our words and prayers. I was really blessed as we made our way out, to see one of our DTS students leading a patient and companion in the “sinner’s prayer”. Apparently, through their conversation, they had been moved to commit their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior, how wonderful!

We headed back once again to the Baptist Church where we intended to prepare a good meal and make plans for the rest of the afternoon’s events. The plans that had been made to visit another village close by fell through so we decided to do some outreach in the local marketplace just down the road as an alternative. After our meal we began by developing a new skit and prayed for direction regarding the order of service and who would lead out. As we did this the skies grew dark and very wet weather moved in turning what would have been Ryan and my grand finale into a night of peaceful fellowship with our friends in the church. Not a glorious way to complete our adventure but it aided in our transition back home the following day. We were up early with Krystal, Pastor Ikupu, Philip, our driver Peter, and a couple of others though I don’t recall who else exactly. We drove through the back roads of an already bustling Port Moresby with mixed emotions as we had grown to really love and appreciate the people and country of Papua New Guinea with all its beauties and faults. We sadly said our “goodbyes” but were also very much anticipating being reunited with our family and friends in Townsville. Getting on-board the jet was not a problem even though we had two extra bags to check from our friends who had to be flown out earlier. Soon after, we were on the ground in tropical Cairns processing our way through customs. We made our way to the lobby and Ryan and I considered our next steps in making our way back down to Townsville. It’s a long story but suffice to say, not long afterward we were met with Cameron and the kids driving up to the terminal to meet us in person, what an unexpected surprise! After such a long time away, we were ecstatic to be met by family and to spend the five hour drive home telling of all of our adventures and what God had done.

Checkout these Recap Videos! http://www.youtube.com/user/krystalinmissions#p/a/u/1/kkiP1qkoFAA

http://animoto.com/play/TC2pEVwPRqCjFqyo11Vxkw