Sorry that it has taken me so long to get this blog up- as you an imagine it has been a crazy last couple of weeks as we prepared for graduation and good byes! But I wanted to share with all of you a bit more about our time in PNG.
Port Moresby and Hisiu
As soon as we landed in PNG I knew that I was exactly where I was meant to be. The first few days we lived in a house in the main city- Port Moresby. During this time we basically prepared for our next four weeks in the villages- stocked up on food, caught up on sleep and spent some time in prayer and worship. The first village we went to was called Hisiu- we arrived there around 6pm and quickly set up our mosquito nets as we got to know our translator and the people we were living with. We instantly found ourselves being stared at, and entertaining beautiful little children! During our time there we made relationships with the people of the village. We did one school program where we each got to teach our own class and then did a program in front of the whole school. We also hosted many night programs- these consisted of introductions, skits, testimonies and teaching. I was in many of our skits and I also shared my personal testimony of God's faithfulness in my life zoning in on John 10:10 and how true that verse is. Our time in Hisiu was awesome and definitely a time of adjustment to living in a culture so much different from our own.
 |
| Blessed to be on this AMAZING team. |
 |
| This is Port Moresby: view from the house we stayed at! |
 |
| They call me the baby whisperer... and this one loved me! Here I'm having a village spa day...head and face massage in coconut milk... so amazing! And this is Puni...our village momma in Hisiu! |
 |
| What can I say? We're a good looking team :) |
 |
| Lessons on how to use the PNG potty. |
 |
| Our FULL room of mosquito nets! It's definitely as bad as it looks haha |
 |
| This is me teaching my class at the school! |
 |
| We love and adored this boy! |
 |
| This is a sign the church hung up for us- welcoming us to Hisiu! |
 |
| One of the places we passed while driving to Hisiu |
 |
| Here is our first night in Hisiu playing with kids! |
 |
| This is basically what our lives looked like for our whole time in Hisiu and we loved every second of it! |
Waima
As we left Hisiu to travel three hours to Waima we were warned by many people to be careful in this dangerous village. Going into it we felt quite a bit of fear and were not sure what to expect. Apparently days before our arrival a convict had escaped prison and was shot and killed by the police in the place we were going to. As we drove into the village we could feel a spiritual heaviness and were surprised by the intensity of the interest in us and staring as we drove in at sundown. We soon learned that the last time white people had been there was fifteen years ago and that most kids have never seen white people- it began to make sense why they stared so much. As they days went on we realized that there were great people in the village and that it wasn't as dangerous as we had initially been warned of. In this village we were able to do health teachings- where we would use flip charts to teach on things like antenatal health or how to notice the signs of a sick child. We also ran many night programs as well as spent time in two different schools. School programs were generally my favorite- they always laughed about our skits and we just had a really good time being around the kids. I got really close to a girl named Alice and just looked forward to seeing her everyday. The English in this village was pretty limited so it was hard to communicate sometimes- but we def loved the people. One of my favorite experiences we had here is when a couple of the mommas took me, Emily, Amelie and Beth fishing with the nets. It was so fun to get to bring the nets in and pull out all the little shrimps and fish- then eat them for dinner! When we left this village we were told that after years of attempting to get a youth group started- one started as a result of us being there. God is so good to be able to use 12 normal people to show people who He is and how much He values them!
 |
| In one of our school programs we are doing a skit and here I am pretending to be a dinosaur that is dying. So funny! |
 |
| This is us in the mud during our fishing adventure! |
 |
| This picture demonstrates the "splash zone". I'm the one sitting down in the blue and I'm sick as...and they are all standing just outside the "splash zone". AKA where they will get splashed if I happen to throw up! |
 |
| This baby hated us! It was hilarious. |
 |
| Children! |
 |
| more skits! here we are being frogs! |
 |
| yay for team photos! |
 |
| Fishing with the mommas! |
 |
| Just walking to our next adventure... |
 |
| This is Alice! She's a wonderful young girl! |
Delena
This village was probably the most incredible week of outreach. First of all, it's in a beautiful location on the coast, so despite the poverty the land itself is absolutely gorgeous, and the people were awesome. We had our best and worst moments in this village- but through it all we had our eyes focused on God and He was so faithful to us. When we arrived in Delena we were actually meant to get on a boat and head to a place called Yule Island but because of safety concerns it was cancelled at the last moment. Our team was devastated and frustrated but we decided to walk in the opposite spirit and have a good attitude. We chose to dive into all that God had for us and trust that keeping us in Delena was part of His perfect plan- and clearly it was. One the first day there, we went around the village and prayed for the sick- the next day we found out that people had been healed. This set the tone for the rest of the week as people got to see God's goodness in the physical they began to come to us for prayer. One big struggle we had during our week here is everyone got sick at one point or the other- we would plan programs and than have to switch things around at the last minute because someone else was sick... some nights our programs absolutely sucked, but God's faithfulness was so apparent as people were greatly moved by programs that we knew lacked a good execution. In our willingness God used us, even though our preformance was sometimes week. Every time we did a program we got to pray for people. We saw many people- young and old give their lives to God. It was a blessing to be a part of everything God was doing in these people. We also spent a lot of time investing with the young poeple of this village- holding sports days and youth programs. I got to share a testimony about the importance of having good friends in your life and the people who have really encouraged me in my walk with God(aka Bianca and Erica!). In this village, I also got the chance to get really close to a family- a mother and her four kids! It's hard to sum up everything about this week and a half- but overall it was amazing and we saw God's faithfulness in our good attitudes work in huge ways. The most evident thing that showed us all that God had used us to do was the fact that the first week we were there...the church was about a quarter full, and the sunday before we left it was overflowing. God is good, and many people came back to His love while we were there! Glory to God!
 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers! |
 |
| One of our school programs- so fun! |
 |
| We got lobster for dinner! They caught it fresh for us and we met it when it was still alive, then we ate it dead! |
 |
| See it's a live lobster! |
 |
| And crab! So cool! |
 |
| This is when the kids chased after us when we left...such a sad moment for us! |
 |
| PMV rides! |
 |
| Sickies! |
 |
| The shore of the village |
 |
| Our team with the village leaders right after we did village assessments to determine the needs of Delena and how YWAM can help in the future! |
 |
| Baby Teresa! |
 |
| Water days! |
 |
| Team photo right before we left Delena! |
 |
| This is when I first met baby Teresa and her mother. |
 |
| This is the family that hosted us in Delena! Such wonderful people! |
 |
| I loved the kids climbing all over me in the water! |
 |
| Most gorgeous sunsets ever! |
 |
| Love these PNG kids! |
 |
| Baby Teresa again.. |
 |
woohoo for PNG!
|
And that's all folks! Outreach summed up! Love you all! See you in a couple of weeks!
