The Last in a Long Line of Visitors!

After a steady stream of visitors, our last guest of the year, Keith Bruning returned home to WA a few days ago. He was the ninth person who stayed in Andrew and Natalie's unit since they went on furlough!

Keith was one of the Australian delegates who attended the Conference in Port Moresby with us. He then spent about 10 days here. He has a special connection to the Reformed mission work in PNG, as his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Bruning did some short-term work here many years ago. It was a moving experience for Keith to visit some of the churches in the Port Moresby area that his parents were involved with over 25 years ago. A reminder of God's faithfulness. And then he could see how the work has branched out into the Lae area, also thanks to the Lord.

Saying a few words of thanks and encouragement at church.

We enjoyed Keith's company and having him experience the work with us, and especially appreciated that he was game to drive all over town doing errands for us! Not to mention the delicious croquettes he cooked for us twice! We're sure his family is glad to have him home again though, also just in time to celebrate his and Brenda's 25th anniversary! May the Lord give them many more years together.

Port Moresby and Home Again

We've been back from our conference in Port Moresby for over a week now, but still here's a bit of an update. In attendance were the 5 missionary couples on the field right now as well as 3 delegates from Australia, 3 from New Zealand and 2 from Canada. We had good discussions on the 10-Year Strategic Plan, reports on the 8 church groups, reports on the Bible College and also developed policies, Etc, Etc. The result was an 86-page document containing the minutes as well as many appendices with the various reports and policies! We pray that the Lord will help us to follow through on all that was discussed and planned, and we completely depend on Him for His blessing.

This is the classroom where the meetings were held.

Our kids had a blast with Sjaan, Bryce, Cameron and Joseph Vanderheide. In fact, there was much talk of them staying in Moresby and becoming Vanderheide's themselves:).

On the weekend, we took the kids to this Wildlife Sanctuary

that was recently built close to the Bible College .

Their babysitters (students from the Bible College) kept them busy with all sorts of activities.

Caleb and Dorothy

Best Mates Caleb and Joseph

While we were at the conference, we also got the news that our co-workers, Andrew and Natalie Vanderheide, will not be returning to work with us as was originally planned. This did not come as a complete surprise because we knew that they were struggling with what to do, especially since Natalie has dealt with recurring miscarriages--an even more difficult experience when living in PNG. We deeply respect their decision and understand that it was not an easy one for them to make. Still, they will be greatly missed here--by us, but also by the church community. We look forward to spending some time with them when they come in December to pack up and say goodbye.

A few days after we got back from Moresby, we also received the shocking news that a young man who had attended our church for many months this year had been killed. His name was Jackson Willy and he was a young man that we were worried about--for he had stopped coming to church suddenly and after that we saw him drunk a few times. He was also drunk the night he was killed.

It seems a fight broke out between two groups of drunken young men and Jackson's cousin ended up being cut in the stomach with a knife. For some reason, Jackson stayed behind when his friends went to avenge the cousin's injury, but then later decided to go on his own and was met on the path by about 5 young men armed with bush knives and iron pipes. They attacked him and then left him there on the path where he bled to death. His family members in Biwat community are in shock and deeply grieved. When Ian went there a few hours after his death, his mom was of course beside herself with grief. She was wailing and throwing herself on the ground and could not help but return to the site of his death where his blood still stained the ground.

His death deeply saddens us and also frustrates and angers us. What a senseless and most violent death. And yet, the last few months we have also been saddened and frustrated by the making and drinking of 'homebrew' among the young people, and the parent's seeming apathy to this. Our prayer right now is that the Lord will use Jackson's death to open people's eyes and turn them to Him. Ian had the opportunity to preach the other night at the home of Jackson's family, and there were many young people there, as well as parents and children. We sang songs of worship for a long time and then Ian preached a powerful message of comfort and challenge. Not that he had planned to preach because we thought we were just going to see Jackson's parents, but when we got there they had set things up for him to preach, and more and more people just kept coming! The Spirit was at work that night and I saw on the faces of a few of the young men that they were really listening and being impacted. Please pray that they will completely commit their lives to Christ.

Please also pray that Jackson's family will not avenge his death, but leave it in the hands of the police. We pray for no more bloodshed.

Jack and Ina in Lae

We've been blessed to have Jack and Ina deVos here with us for the past couple weeks. Jack's been the chairman of our Mission Board for many years, but it's been about 12 years since he last visited. They both quickly settled into life here! They've been a great help to us too, especially since I've been sick and not able to do much besides lie on the couch the past 5 days. We've appreciated their help around the house and with the kids.

Here they are at a gathering at church on the weekend.

Chatting with Br. Damien, who is fluent in English.

Everyone was supposed to bring a 'little bit' of food,

but the table was full of delicious choices!

Playmates Louisa and Caleb....(who apparently needed help from his

big sis to make sure he was looking somewhere close to the camera!).

With Auntie Viviana.

And already the deVos' time here in Lae is over; although their time in PNG hasn't come to an end yet. Tomorrow we all travel together to Port Moresby for a week-long conference with our colleagues and other delegates from the Mission Boards. We pray for fruitful discussions and good fellowship.

We're Independent and We're Free...?

Thirty-five years ago yesterday, PNG gained its independence from Australia. There was a celebration at Jonathan's school, with traditional costumes and dances from the different provinces. With over 800 different tribes with their own language and traditions, PNG is very culturally diverse and this was evident in the variety of dances and costumes.

Karlyn's preschool also had their own Independence celebration. Here she is singing and dancing!
...and enjoying it!
Jonathan and a few of his friends after the presentations.
Since both kids have been learning PNG's national anthem at school, we've been singing it quite a bit at home too. It's really a beautiful anthem. We also sang it in church last week and Jonathan's loud singing made him sound like the most patriotic of all.

The last two verses go like this:

"O give thanks to the good Lord above,

For His kindness, His wisdom and love,

For this land of our fathers so free,

Papua New Guinea.

Shout again for the whole world to hear

Papua New Guinea

We're independent and we're free

Papua New Guinea"

It is sung with such pride and yet when we hear of ongoing violence and murders; when stores are looted and all order is lost; when we see the inadequate medical care; when we drive on the unmaintained roads; when we hear of the corruption in the government; and see evidence of the poor education system...we have a hard time believing that PNG is better off being independent. And this is why many people still speak of the "good ol' days" when Australia was running the country.

And as for being free, it is ironic that we see so many who are not free at all. Instead they are enslaved to sin--lives full of violence, sexual immorality, alcoholism, animism, and gambling. Take, for example, what happened during the Independence "celebration" in the settlement by our church. Drunken raskols (young criminals) were holding up cars along the road in front of our church, and one of them made the mistake of throwing a rock at a vehicle full of high-ranking army officers (who were also drunk because they had just attended a dinner party hosted by our governor). So these officers decided to turn back and enter the road by our church and began beating up three young men who had nothing to do with the crime and destroying their house. They then threatened to return today and burn everything down--our church included. This is not happening, but it shows just how ridiculous these situations can get, when even those who are supposed to be upholding the law are breaking it and causing more destruction.

When Ian preached in the settlement the other night, he talked about these things and urged them to embrace the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and truly be free! They could then have Christ's JOY, Christ's PEACE, Christ's HOPE and be eternally "independent" from the slavery of sin. That's something to celebrate!

The Effects of Homebrew

We were short one musician in church today. One of our guitarists was out of commission due to injuries on both of his arms. Last week he was attacked by some young men with bush knives. They cut both his arms and his head; on one of his arms they cut so deep and with such force that they broke the bone. We're not sure if there was a reason for the attack--at least no one's telling us yet. But we do know that the attackers were under the influence of 'homebrew'--a homemade alcoholic drink also known as 'steam'. From what we gather they boil sugar, yeast and some other ingredients in some sort of enclosed canister with a pipe attached to another container. They say it is about 60% alcohol and those who drink it, and many young people do, lose complete control of themselves and often become violent.

A couple weeks ago when we were in the settlement, we saw 3 young guys walk by and judging by the 'supplies' they were carrying, we were told they were going to make steam. Ian went to talk to them, because it seemed no other adult there was going to say anything, but they quickly hid the equipment as he approached. Ian still challenged them to stay clear of it.

It aggravates us and grieves us all at the same time to see young people caught up in this. Though it is probably most infuriating that the parents seem to be standing by and watching their children make it and drink it. Of course, they are not always sober themselves.

We continue to pray for the community of Biwat and when we can we challenge and teach and try to model another way.