The Adventures of Bill & Bonnie

Asaro Mudmen

2011-02-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

ASARO MUDMEN SIO SIO TOURS

Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea

Meet the famous Asaro Mudmen from the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Be entertained by the SioSio dancers.

Experience the fascinating re-enactment of a traditional cannibalistic ceremony.

Observe local men and women prepare a mumu for your lunch (Traditional food cooked on hot stones in the ground) with your choice of a:
* Dry Mumu (dry baked)

* Wet Mumu (steamed)

Participate in the preparation of:

* Bamboo cooking

* Traditional Pizza

Stay in a bush material hut at the Korekoreto Village Resort which is nestled on top of a ridge and enjoy the spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

(Huts perched on ridge)

(Spectacular views from huts)

(Enjoy your own private hut)

(Huts sleep maximum of three)

(Outhouse has raised toilet seat)

(Shower)

For prices, bookings, and further information contact:

Telephone: +675 525 1381

Mobile: +675 7357 9514

Email: mudmen.asaro@gmail.com

Transport to the village can be arranged from your accommodation in Goroka

A free guided tour is included in the above package allowing you the opportunity to:

Interact with the locals and experience village life.

Experience a 360 degree view of spectacular scenery from a high vantage point.

Discover World War II lookout points.

Explore under-ground caves, tunnels, and other traditional sites.

Hear exciting stories of tribal rituals and warfare from the past.

Guided tour only option - price on application.

HAPPY HOLIDAY’S

2010-12-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

I trust each one of you had a special Thanksgiving with family and friends and took time to reflect on God’s goodness to us. I know I often take my blessings for granted even when I am surrounded by poverty. I have so much for which to be thankful for! Holidays are one of the times we miss “home” and family the most. In the mission field your fellow missionaries become your new family. We celebrated a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with the wives creatively putting together a very traditional meal in spite of “missing ingredients.”

I confess that the longer I remain here the more difficult it becomes to blog. Mainly because life becomes routine and there seems nothing new or of interest to report on. At yet I am sure that there must be many things of interest that happen around me on a daily basis. It has just become too familiar.

Probably the biggest event going on in the past month has been the Union and Mission Sessions, which take place every 5 years. The week long Union Session was held here at Kabiufa so we had a lot of visitors on campus. We enjoyed hosting two delegates from Australia in our home and making new friends.

Now the Mission Sessions are all taking place and our pilots have been flat out busy flying delegates from here to there. Once the Sessions are over there will be the big job of flying mission personnel, pastors, teachers, and their families to their new assignments and homes.The year-end is always an extremely busy time for AAS.

Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the baptism of some friends from the Asaro village. (The mudman tribe) It was held down by the river – a beautiful location.

I have always loved the custom here of showering the baptismal candidates with flowers.

These children wanted a front seat view so they joined the candidates in the water.

This spot is obviously a favorite swimming hole of the children. I found it amusing that as soon as the baptism was over the children leaped in for a good swim and cooling off. It looked terribly inviting but I decided to refrain from making a spectacle of myself.

Roger and Carol Millist’s night watchman and wife were among those baptized.

This is the lovely little Asaro village SDA church where the baptism took place.

Recently Bill flew a Fly-and-Build team from Australia out to the village of Kamako to complete work on a clinic they had started before. They were also building a house for the clinic health worker. They received the traditional welcome dance upon arrival.

The villagers all eagerly helped carry supplies up to the clinic sight.

Even a small pharmacy and limited clinical skills can still make a huge difference in saving lives.

Briana and I returned to the states on December 13. Bill will follow in January after the heavy flying schedule is completed. On our last Sabbath in PNG Bill flew our team out to the village of Maimafu to spend Sabbath with our church members. This was a bit of a home coming for Briana and I. Almost 9 years ago, the girls and I spent some time living in this village in an attempt to learn the language. This was our first time back!

Maimafu is perched on the side of a mountain and has incredible views.

This little boy delighted in demonstrating to us his skill on stilts.

The humble little Maimafu church.

Dalena and Shelley had Sabbath School for the children.

Bennett bravely preached a sermon in Pidgin. After only being in PNG one year I was very impressed with his ability.

These church members rarely get outside visitors and were so excited to have us join them for the Sabbath.

After church we all had a potluck lunch together.

Briana and I enjoyed catching up with old friends. When we lived in this village they gave the girls and I new names. I think they found our English names difficult to pronounce and remember. We were touched that they all remembered us and greeted us by our PNG names. (Tiruba and Tenepone)

Daniel and his wife, Wemoni, were our host family years ago.

My friend Tiruba, whom they named me after.

It was a lovely Sabbath and fitting end to our second term in PNG.

I want to introduce you to our newest members at AAS. Kyle, Shelley, and their children Nova and Cameron, joined us in August. Kyle is our new A&P mechanic. We are really happy to have them on board.

Little Adella Grace joined the Spencer family and our AAS team on September 29, Bill's birthday! She is a little beauty and joyful new addition.

It is so good to be home again with my children, parents, and many good friends. I am eagerly counting the days until Bill can join me. We want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kabiufa Students

2010-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today is graduation at Kabiufa. A happy day for many young people. The past couple of weeks have seen all kinds of activities here at the school as the school year comes to a close. One such project as been the creation of a music DVD featuring various Kabiufa musical groups. The DVD will be sold as a fund raiser to help buy new sound equipment for the church. They asked Bill if he would be willing to help with the audio recording, which of course he agreed to do.

Several weeks ago the school held a competition with 23 groups participating. Bill was on a panel of judges who helped select the 12 winning finalist that will be featured on the DVD. Ever since then he as been busy holding recording sessions down in our basement. To say it has been a challenge is probably an understatement. But in the missionfield you quickly learn to make do with what you have. I think Bill has done a marvelous job producing some quality sound considering what he has had to work with. The school is thrilled with the results and that is what truly counts.

At the end of every school year a special banquet is held for the senior students. Last weekend we got an official invitation to “Host” a table at the banquet. Because the school runs on such a tight budget, they have come up with an innovative way to afford these banquets. All the staff and special guest are asked to host a table. As host you are required to provide a white tablecloth, the table place settings, table decorations, and certain foods. This year the hosts were asked to bring fried rice, a salad, a vegetable, and ice cream. The school provided the main dish. Each table hosted 3-4 students. It was an interesting and enjoyable evening for us.

(Bri helping set up)

(Our finished table)

(A gorgeous flower arrangement in the middle of the room)

(The students that we hosted)

(Banquet hall)

One of the senior students, Henry, has been part of Bill’s Praise Team. Right from the beginning Bill noticed that Henry had some unusual talent on the guitar. He is very bright and would watch Bill’s playing skills with an eagle eye, imitating every thing he saw. Over time we realized that Henry did not have his own personal guitar but was just borrowing a guitar from a friend. Bill and I talked it over and decided we would like to see Henry have his very own guitar. So we hired him to come and work in our garden and told him we would match every Kina he earned towards a guitar. While on mid-year break in Cairns, Bill spent hours researching every available guitar and ended up buying what he felt was the perfect guitar for Henry. Let me tell you, when Bill handed that guitar over to Henry for the very first time you have never witnessed such a huge grin! Every few minutes he would stop playing and just hug the guitar close to his chest in great joy. His joy was contagious and we found ourselves feeling as happy as he felt!

Hint: If you want to find happiness, look for ways to bless others. There is nothing that compares to it.

Mid Year Leave

2010-08-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago my brother, James, and his wife, Debbie, came to visit us in PNG. For 6 months we have been excitedly looking forward to their arrival and now, before we could hardly blink an eye, they have come and gone! But our time together was very special.

We spent a week together in PNG where both James and Debbie got to experience some extreme bush flying with Bill. On Sabbath we took them out to a remote village for church...

...and then an afternoon trek through the jungle to a gorgeous waterfall.

However, the highlight of their PNG experience was overnighting in an Asaro mudman village.

When James was a little boy he saw a National Geographic featuring the Asaro Mudmen of PNG. It made a huge impression on his young mind. How could he know that some day he would actually have the opportunity to visit a mudman village?

(James and I pretending to be mudmen!)

We spent the day hiking around the area, exploring a cave...

Enjoying two traditional dances performed in our behalf ...

And watching the different stages of a mumu being prepared for our supper. (A mumu is a hole dug in the ground and layered with rocks. A fire is built on top of these rocks to heat them up. Then the food is placed on the rocks and covered with leaves and dirt to bake)

We slept that night in a traditional hut. It was all great fun and I highly recommend it!

Our second week was spent at Mission Beach in Australia. This was our jump off point for our various activities. On Sunday we drove down South to Wallaman Falls. At nearly a thousand feet it is the highest waterfall in Australia. It was quiet impressive and definitely worth the 1 1/2 hour drive to get there.

Along the way we passed this extremely quaint post office that is still in use.

Monday was another high point of our trip as we made the 1 ½ hour trip by boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkeling.

We could not have asked for a more perfect day and the reef was absolutely fabulous. It is hard to describe the incredible beauty of the underwater world. The immense corals and bright colorful fish in the Barrier Reef are some of the best in the world.

(Eddy Reef where we snorkeled)

(James and Deb getting geared up)

(The girls and I getting ready to brave the cold water)

(Bill was delighted to have the opportunity to go scuba diving again after more then 25 years since his PADI certification!)

Unfortunately I do not have an underwater camera so was unable to capture some of the spectacular sites, but we were delighted when this sea turtle poked his snout up out of the water for some air.

The water was so clear that you could stand on the boat and look down and see the fish swimming by.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy days so were pretty much just spent reading books and exploring the stormy beach.

These beautiful designs on the beach are created by crabs that throw little balls of sand they have dug up outside their hole. Use your imagination and see what you can see. Kind of like gazing at clouds.

(This looks like an eagle landing on his nest to me)

(This looks like a flower)

Thursday was another perfect, sunshiny day, so we took a water taxi out to Dunk Island to spend the day on the beach.

Bill and I tried our hand at snorkeling once again.

After lunch we hiked to the top of Mt. Kootaloo where there use to be a radar station during World War II. The view was awesome.

Briana and Betsy enjoyed trying their hand at sea kayaking.

Friday we sent James and Deb up on the skyrail to Kuranda village where we met them for a picnic lunch.

After enjoying a river tour on an old WWII Army Duck - it can drive on land like a jeep and go on water like a boat - they headed back down the mountain by train.

Sabbath morning, as an early birthday celebration for Betsy, we went to a bird sanctuary where they offer “Breakfast with the Birds.” A huge enclosed canopy/screen forms an artificial rainforest environment where the birds can freely roam. It was really interesting.

My absolute favorite was the baby stork that had recently hatched. He was about 2 feet tall and as a baby was way larger then most any other bird around other then the emus and cassowaries.

There were some other residents as well such as the fearsome salt water crocodiles...

Cuddly Koalas...

And fuzzy little wallabys...

....as well as kangaroos.

In the afternoon we drove way up north to the Daintree rainforest which is a World Heritage site. To get there we had to cross a river the old fashioned way – by ferry boat.

I have always been a lover of the dense, green rainforest. The Daintree Discovery Center has an elevated aerial walkway and a 76 foot tower you can climb to get a canopy view of the rainforest. I really enjoyed this as it gives you different perspectives of the rainforest that you can’t get just from walking along the forest floor. It was pretty awesome.

Anyone else want to join us for our mid year break in Cairns?

Bonding

2010-07-26T22:05:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Bill and Briana flew to Tetebeti to take the Union President, Pastor Davai, to a campmeeting being held there. Unfortunately neither Bill nor Briana are photographers so I don’t have many pictures to share. It took about a half hour hike to get from the airstrip to the campground. Suddenly, as they were hiking along, several people covered in leaves and mud leaped up out of the bush and started wildly dancing and singing on the trail in front of them. This was their welcome committee. This campground has been permanently built by church members for their district meetings. Bill and Briana, along with Pastor Davai and his wife, were assigned their own little hut to stay in. Baths were taken at the local spring with all the women going at one time and then all the men at another time. Apparently Bill’s reputation as a guitar player has travelled far and wide because someone brought out an old battered guitar and begged Bill to play along for congregational singing. Bill obliged them even though playing on such an abused instrument was painful for him. It was a great father/daughter bonding weekend.

Meanwhile Betsy and I were doing our own mother/daughter bonding by both coming down with a miserable cold. In spite of this, we joined the AAS team for a two hour drive up to the town of Lufa on Sabbath, where another campmeeting was being held. Roger had been invited to preach and hold a baptism afterward. The town of Lufa sits at the base of Mt. Michael. At 12,303 feet it is the 2nd highest mountain in PNG.

(Mt. Michael in background)

The stage was decorated with sweet potatoes, taro, bananas, grass, etc. I found it a bit amusing as I don’t personally find roots very attractive.

The baptismal “tank” was a hole dug in the ground, lined with a tarp, and the water covered with flower pedals. Ingenious to be sure!

After the church service the pastor invited us to his home for lunch. As we were walking to his home this little old man took it upon himself to be Roger’s “bodyguard”, keeping everybody at bay with his stick and umbrella. If you got to close you got a good womping!

A feast was prepared for us.

There was no furniture in the house but we were graciously invited to sit on the floor to eat our lunch.

As we were leaving, the church members brought us more food to take home with us.

This old grandma just loved Betsy and kept kissing her hand.

Along the drive we passed many of these little “gas stations.” I guess it gives you enough fuel to make it to the next “gas station.”

Being the artistic person that I am, I always get great enjoyment out of seeing signs of creativity. I absolutely fell in love with this little hut with its heart shaped windows.

Thus ended a perfect Sabbath for all of us.

New Arrivals & Celebrations

2010-07-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

June 7 was a very happy day for Bill and I as our girls arrived home from college to spend the summer months with us. I look forward to this time together all year long!

Briana graduated May 9 with her degree in Graphic Arts. We are of course very proud of her.

On their way to PNG the girls stopped over in Brisbane to spend the weekend with their cousin Katrina.
Things felt a bit lonely around our house after Sheba died so we decided to add this new addition as a surprise for our girls. Mishy was an extremely wild cat that started hanging out in our yard. At first I couldn't get even remotely close to him without him hissing and running away to hide. But after much patience we actually have him coming inside to eat and hanging around us all day - although we still don't dare touch him unless we want to risk some serious wounds!

June 29 was another exciting day as we eagerly awaited the arrival of Roger and Linden who were ferrying our brand new airplane over from New Zealand. We hung a large welcome banner over the hanger doors and decorated with balloons and flowers.

Yes, the new airplane looks like an identical twin to our other PAC 750XL. In fact, shortly after its arrival a group of pastors was flown out in it. Upon landing they asked, "When is the new airplane arriving?" When they were told that they had just flown in it, they started whopping and hollering with delight and amazement.

Staff gathered around Roger for a prayer of thanksgiving for the safe arrival of our new aircraft.

A belated Happy 4th of July to all. Our girls and some of the AAS staff went to Madang for a weekend of fun and sun.

They all arrived back Sunday afternoon and gathered at our home for a good old American 4th of July celebration. Well, it was the best we could do in a foreign country! We had a traditional picnic with potato salad, baked beans, roasted corn on the cob, lemonade, and home made ice cream.

We built a fire and roasted marshmallows. A real treat as they cannot be purchased here but Dalena happened to have a bag stashed away and generously shared with us all!

We even had a brief fireworks show of sorts. The Millists brought over an emergency flare and lit it for a few moments of glory. Hey, you have to be innovative in the mission field. All in all, it was a wonderful evening together with family and friends.

Audits, Volcanoes, Women's Ministries, etc.

2010-05-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been extremely busy. The first week we got audited by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authorities). Legally they are required to give us a one month notice of the audit, but this being PNG, we only got a one week notice. Our team spent a frantic week cleaning, organizing, and ensuring all paperwork was in order. Carol and I even washed the walls which was almost as good as a new paint job! Our guys did an awesome job and our operating certificates have been renewed for another 2 years. PTL.

The weekend following the audit Bill had a flight to Rabaul and since there was room I decided to go along. Rabaul has a fascinating history. If you will look at a map you will see that the country of PNG is made up of not only the main island, but many outlaying islands as well, such as New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, and Manus just to name a few. The town of Rabaul is on the island of New Britain and sits at the base of two active volcanoes which means it is continually threatened by volcanic activity. There was an eruption back in 1878 before there was really a town established. Then, under the Australian administration, Rabaul developed into a regional base. In 1937 a volcanic eruption destroyed the town after the two volcanoes, Tavurvur and Vulcan, exploded killing over 500 people and causing widespread damage.

(The volcanoes today - still smoking!)

You have to ask the question why people have persisted in living in Rabaul due to the obvious danger! The best answer I can come up with is that Rabaul has a large, nearly perfect circular harbor - apparently one of the best in the South Pacific region for shipping.

During World War II Japan had its eye on Rabaul. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor it was apparent that Rabaul would also come under attack. In January 1942, Rabaul was heavily bombed, and on January 23 thousands of Japanese marines landed. It became the main base of Japanese military and naval activity in the South Pacific.

(WWII museum in Kokopo)

Here is a note of interest: On April 18, 1943, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the brains behind the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, was shot down and killed by United States aircraft over South Bougainville after taking off from Rabaul. Instead of capturing Rabaul, the Allied forces bypassed it by establishing a ring of airfields and naval bases on the islands around it. Cut off from re-supply and under continual air attacks the base became useless. The Japanese held Rabaul until they surrendered at the end of the war in August 1945.

In the meantime Rabaul grew in to a thriving town and became the provincial capital until 1994 when again Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted, destroying the airport and covering most of the town with heavy ash fall. Most of the buildings collapsed due to the weight of ash on their roofs. After the eruption the capital was moved to Kokopo, about 12 miles away. Nonetheless, Rabaul is slowly rebuilding in the danger zone. Some people just never learn! Vulcan has remained dormant since the eruption while Tavurvur continues to have occasional small eruptions.

(It was awesome to fly over the volcanoes and look down inside. The benefits of being a pilot's wife!)

(Looking out towards Rabaul from Kokopo)

The mission was hosting a large women’s retreat in Kokopo with women coming from all the surrounding islands for the event. The guest speakers were Heather-Dawn Small (General Conference Women’s Ministries director) Erna Johnson (South Pacific Division Women’s Ministries director), and Judy Ponduk (PNG Union Women’s Ministries director).

(Heather, Judy, & Erna)

Judy Ponduk is a long time friend of mine from the first time we served in PNG. At that time her husband was the principle of Kabiufa .

When we landed in Kokopo a large delegation of women were waiting to greet our visitors.

We were treated to a special desplay by this group of marching ladies from Bougainville.

The women had made Meri blouses (the traditional dress) which they ceremoniously placed over the heads of the visitors.

The retreat was like a good old fashioned campmeeting with all the ladies staying in tents.

The Sabbath meetings were held in the local highschool gymnasium. It was packed out. I am estimating about 800 women were present.

The overflow sat outside under the trees.

On Sunday we flew the guest speakers back to Lae. We picked up some more passengers and took off for the village of Menyamya. I love this village as it is in the most beautiful valley.

Typical to many airstrips here in PNG, you often feel like you are flying straight into the side of a mountain before the pilot turns in on final approach.

Banking over a picturesque river on base to short final...

...and here we are at Menyamya.

From Menyamya we took off for Kanabea, just down the valley a way. See that little green line? That is the airstrip cut out from the side of the mountain.

Coming in for a landing at Kanabea...

As you can see, it is built right on the very edge of the mountain with a beautiful view looking out over the valley.

We picked up a load of pastors who had been holding some evangelistic meetings in the village.

After dropping them off in Menyamya we to off for Komako to pick up a load of coffee. At 370 meters, Komako is one of the shorter airstrips our guys fly in to. (Can you find it in the picture?)

Ah, there it is! Note the 45 degree dogleg on the right at the end of the strip. The strip was so short the villagers ended extending it a bit, but it is terribly crooked and you actually have to turn a corner!

Five seconds to touchdown...

Coffee waiting for pick-up.

Ready for takeoff....Once again, notice the corner you have to turn (on the left) as you take off. Once airborn you make a sharp turn to the right (to avoid that mountain) and out in to the valley. Who needs amusement parks and roller coasters when you can do this every day?

Tuesday this past week I was invited to give a health lecture at a private school that Dalena Spencer teaches at. I had great fun making all kinds of visual aids to keep the children's attention. Bill thinks I have more fun being creative and making all my props then actually teaching. I'm afraid it's true. It fun to have an excuse to just draw...

On Wednesday our container arrived from Australia. Roger had packed it up while on his year end leave with much needed aviation parts, tools, and equipment.

Bill unloading the new engine for our Cessna 206.

It takes many hands to quickly unload the container and get everything organized and put away before nightfall.

(Sharon and Carol)

(Dalena)

The next big event that we are looking forward to is the arrival of our second PAC-750XL. It just completed flight testing at the factory last week and we are currently waiting for the paper work to be finalized to take delivery of it. Standby for updates....

Music

2010-05-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this school year the Kabiufa church asked Bill if he would be willing to be the music director. Well, I can't say he was overly enthusiastic. As many of you know, music is Bill's passion, and he has a hard time accepting anything less then perfection. First of all, the church piano is in terrible condition! When we first arrived Bill spent hours tuning the piano and trying to fix many broken parts. In spite of his hard work, it is still in very poor condition with many keys not working. 2nd of all, the sound system in the church was a total mess and the church itself has a very high ceiling which contributes to very poor acoustics. 3rd - the congregation had absolutely no concept of music theory. Their sense of rhythm was appalling and made it almost impossible to accompany on the piano.

Approximately 700 high school students attend Kabiufa church. Young people are the same the world over and music speaks to their hearts in different ways then it does us older folks. We had been hearing "rumors" that the students were very dissatisfied with the music program at the church. After a bit of agonizing Bill finally agreed to take on the task of being the music director and hopefully bringing about some positive changes.

The very first thing he did was organize a praise team of 7 students. 3 of them play the guitar and one plays the keyboard along with Bill on his keyboard. We have them over to our home every Friday night for a practice session. Right from the beginning Bill started teaching the team some basic music theory, rhythm, and how to read music. The kids were so enthusiastic and just took off. They were then challenged to teach their classmates. Often, at the beginning, when the congregation was singing a song all wrong, Bill would just make them stop, teach them the correct way, and start over again. It caused a few laughs, but they are quick learners and the change has been amazing.

The second thing Bill did was to improve the sound system with some new equipment and several microphones that Roger Millist helped the church to acquire. Now the congregation can actually hear the praise team instead of totally drowning them out (The people of PNG sing VERY loud and very enthusiastically!) and this allows them to follow the song leaders lead and sing with the proper rhythm. Believe me, it makes a huge difference.

The 3rd change Bill made was incorporating choruses that the students enjoy singing, instead of just hymns. He also changed the order of service so that the music leads up to a very worshipful spirit by the time the pastor is ready to preach.

It has taken some time and patience but the worship service at Kabiufa has been totally revitalized. The kids are loving it and you should hear them sing! We have had staff come and tell us that between Sabbath School and Church they have always had to be outside rounding up the students and herding them inside. Now, the minute the students hear the music starting they come running from all directions because they don't want to miss out on anything. Village students that aren't required to come to Kabiufa church are making sure they are there every Sabbath. The church is usually packed out.

Never underestimate the power of music. (-:

Man's Best Friend

2010-04-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

How can I best describe Sheba? From what I have been told, She was a mixture of Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Doberman Pincher, and Great Dane! She certainly wouldn't win a beauty contest. With those genes you think she would be an incredibly fierce watchdog. On the contrary, she was nothing but a big, gentle, teddy bear. However, because of her size the nationals were terrified of her. The children loved to hear her big, deep, "Woof" and would purposely call out to her trying their best to get her to bark.

When we arrived in PNG we inherited her from some other missionaries that had gone home. She very quickly wormed her way into our hearts and home. At first she wasn't allowed into the house but in only a matter of weeks she had managed to soften our hearts and find her place in a corner of the kitchen on a red blanket. She always expected to be part of the family.

She was my constant shadow and companion. No matter where I went or what I did she was right on my heels. If I was in the laundry room she would come and sit by the washing machine as I loaded it. When hanging up the clothes she would sit under the clothesline. If I was weeding the flowerbeds or garden, she would lay beside me as I worked. She would joyfully welcome us home at the end of the day, desperately trying to wag a tail she didn't have, running around to both doors of the car to make sure that both Bill and I had come home.

She loved food and would have eaten non-stop all day if allowed. If we were sitting at the table eating, she would moan and groan loudly, as if in pain, letting us know that she sure would like to share in the meal with us. She loved to eat mulberry's from our mulberry tree and would guilt us into feeding her some.

Being a typical dog, she loved to dig. We had holes all over the yard and it would vex Bill to no end. As fast as we would cover up the holes, she would dig them again. It was a never-ending battle.

Wednesday evening I was working in the kitchen fixing dinner and Sheba was lying on her blanket by the front door. She had been fine all day. We had worked in the garden together that morning and she had been her usual self running around barking at birds, sniffing out every corner for the yard, rolling in the grass, etc. Bill came home and Sheba stood up to great him. Then as she lay back down, she sort of just flopped and her head hit a kitchen chair with a loud thunk. Bill laughed and said, "Sheba you silly dog!" He thought she was just being lazy and couldn't lay back down quick enough to go back to sleep. But after a few seconds he said, "Hey, something is wrong. She is breathing funny."

I went over to investigate and sure enough, she was in obvious respiratory distress and appeared to be semi-comatose. After about 15 minutes she sort of came to and seemed to want to go outside so I opened the door for her. She walked to the top of the stairs as if she wanted to go down and then promptly collapsed. Bill carried her back inside to her blanket where she promptly lost all bowel control. I cleaned her up and just sat with her for about an hour, stroking her head, telling her I loved her, and crying my eyes out. We finally went to bed fully expecting to find her dead in the morning.

But to our amazement she was still alive the next morning and seemed much improved! When I opened the door she promptly got up, went down the stairs, relieved her self, came back up, ate some food, drank some water and seemed for the most part to be back to her normal self! She appeared a little bit wobbly on the legs still, but not bad.

I needed to go in to work with Bill on Thursday so we left her alone all day presuming she was doing better. However, when we got home that evening we immediately saw that she had relapsed. While her breathing wasn't as distressed as the evening before she still had very rapid respirations and became extremely short of breath with any movement. Other then taking a few bites of food that morning, she had not touched her food. This is a dog that LIVED for food. I tried to offer her some bread, her favorite treat, and she just turned her head away. While alert, she was extremely lethargic and weak, not moving at all except to struggle to her feet occasionally to get a drink of water and then she would collapse back on to her blanket. It was so sad. While I was fixing dinner Bill lay in the hammock next to her singing her little songs and stroking her head so she would feel loved.

Friday morning it was evident she wasn't going to recover. She still hadn't touched her food and she couldn't make it down the stairs to relieve herself. For the most part she just lay limp and unresponsive, her breathing still stressed. There is one thing I can't stand, and that is watch an animal suffer. It is more then my heart can bear. We had no idea how long she would hang on like this, so we arranged for Dr. Boone, an Adventist Doctor in town, to come and put her down. (We have no Vets in Goroka)

Friday afternoon he came, and she just quietly went to "sleep" with Bill and I stroking her and telling her what a good dog she was and how much we loved her. We buried her in her beloved red blanket right in the middle of our flower garden under the mulberry tree -crying our eyes out.

I believe God created animals for us to love and cherish because He knew they fill a special place in our hearts that nothing else can. Sheba died on Easter Weekend. As I spent Sabbath nursing my wounded heart I reflected on the death and resurrection of Jesus. It struck me as never before that this is a time to celebrate the victory Jesus had over death. Our time on this earth is but short and soon we will never ever again have to experience the pain and sorrow of death! Because of Jesus it will be banished forever. And that is something to truly rejoice about.

A Day in the Life of a Missionary Husband

2010-03-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I shared how missionary wives often just carry a supportive role. It is good for us to actually get out into the field once in a while and be reminded why we are here. This last weekend I had the opportunity to go out flying with Bill and it was a wonderful and encouraging experience for me.

Bill had a heavy day of flying scheduled for Friday, so we left home at 6am so we could be wheels up by 7am. Our first destination was the coastal town of Madang where we took a plane load of staff from Pacific Helicopters for some R&R at a resort there.

From Madang we flew down to Lae where our Union headquarters are located. We picked up a load of Bibles, school supplies, and a church elder.

(Lake by Lae)

Our next destination was the town of Popendetta which is our mission headquarters for the North East Papua Mission. For you WWII buffs the Japanese had several bases around the Popendetta region and it was the site of some of the most desperate fighting of the war. From the air you can clearly see several horseshoe mounds scattered around the airstrip that are apparently the remains of gun emplacements. At the airstrip itself there is an old wrecked B25 on display.

(School Children helping unload school supplies)

We dropped off the school supplies and church elder and continued on our journey down to Alotau, a little town built on the shores of Milne Bay – another significant WWII historical site. The Japanese were attempting to reach Port Moresby (the only remaining Australian stronghold in PNG) via the famous Kokoda track. In a flanking move, the Japanese landed at Milne Bay but were repulsed after a bloody 10-day battle with Australian troops. I have been told that this was the very first battle of the war that Japan lost. The coastal towns and little islands of PNG are full of WWII relics. It is really quiet interesting.

(Milne bay airport)

We dropped off the Bibles for the mission and met up with the director of the Provincial Government Health Department. He had a load of medicines and health workers that needed to be delivered to the remote village of Agaun up in the mountains. He was so grateful that the plane was available to deliver the medicines and thanked us over and over again for the service. He said it normally takes about two weeks to hike in any supplies to this region.

The flight out to Agaun had spectacular scenery with sharp, razorback mountains, deep gorges with rivers rushing through, and half a dozen waterfalls feeding these rivers. You will never find a more beautiful country to fly in then PNG!

(Aguan airstrip)

The entire village came running out to meet the airplane. I was sitting in the open cockpit and I gave a casual wave to the villagers that had gathered. I was greeted with a great roar of enthusiasm.

(Health workers unloading medical supplies in Alotau)

After making our delivery we returned to Alotau to refuel the airplane for the remainder of the trip. There is no fuel available at the airport so Bill had to special order 7 drums of fuel earlier in the week to be delivered to the airport where we found it laying in the grass.

The fuel of course has to be hand pumped into the airplane.

The week before, Bill had taken out several teams of pastors and their wives to some of these remote islands in order to nurture our church members there. Now we were heading back to pick up all the team members. We decided to spend Sabbath with our church group at Misima. Leaving Alotau, we flew off across the ocean for an hour, passing dozens of little islands in route before arriving at Misima around 5pm.

Misima is an absolutely spectacular mountainous island. Unfortunately my camera could not do it justice. It was extremely rugged with little gorges, inlets and waterfalls everywhere. The crystal clear water was intense colors of turquoise, greens, and dark blues. It was just so beautiful I could hardly take it all in.

There were dozens of little fishing villages along the shoreline.

The end of the island tapers off to flatlands, and this is where the main town and airstrip are located.

(Misima airstrip)

The church members were so excited that “their airplane and pilot” were coming to spend Sabbath with them. It had been 8 years since they had any kind of visitation from pastors or missionaries! They gave us the royal welcome showering us with flowers and joyfully escorting us to the little church where they had a feast waiting for us.

(Misima SDA church)

Several years ago, when funds were being raised around the world to purchase the new airplane the people of PNG gave what they could to help. While the amount may seem a pittance according to our American standards, to these people it was true sacrificial giving and because of it they have a strong sense of ownership and proudly embrace the airplane as theirs. This particular group made a goal for every member to give 10 kina. They dubbed the airplane “Our 10 kina airplane.” This was their first opportunity to see the new airplane that they had “bought” and they were just so proud of it. They would excitedly tell everybody they met that this was “their” airplane. It truly was a humbling and touching experience.

Bill had brought his guitar and how they loved singing with him.

Then they begged him to share some aviation stories. So he obliged, giving them a lesson on how an airplane flies (they loved that!) and sharing some of his flying experiences over the years. He tried to sit down once but they asked him to keep telling stories. Later in the afternoon they complained that he hadn’t told enough stories!

After the church service we all trouped down to the beach for the baptism of 18 new members.

Ok all you head elders - we have discovered a new duty for you. Just before the baptism you must don your snorkelling gear and swim around the beach area making sure there are no dangerous creatures underfoot for the pastors and baptismal candidates to step on.

The church members had the beach all decorated up pretty with flowers for the baptism. Throughout the baptism they would throw handfuls of flowers out onto the water.

After lunch we were taken on a tour of the little town and then attempted to take a nap before the evening meetings began. But the heat was so unbearable it was almost impossible to rest. The evening meetings lasted until 10pm and everybody sat with rapt attention throughout the whole thing – even the children. The children were all sitting on the concrete floor at the front of the church. One by one they gave way to sleep. By the end of the service the floor was covered with sleeping children sprawled all over the place. It was so cute! At the end of the service they called our team to the front and showered us with gifts, thanking us over and over again for visiting them. It truly was a spiritually uplifting Sabbath and I don’t know who was more blessed - them or us.

(A sampling of some of the gifts we received)

Sunday we left at 6am because Bill had another heavy day of flying. The entire church showed up at the airstrip to see us off. Some of them had been there since 5:30am just to make sure they didn’t miss watching “their” plane take off. It was an emotional goodbye.

(The Misima team of pastors and wives)

Now it was time to go pick up the rest of the team members. We flew back to Alotau where we left off our group that had been in Misima with us. After refueling, we then flew out to the extremely remote island of Woodlark to pick up the next team. Wow! Who needs Hawaii when you have this? The sand was so white it almost blinded you and there was no one crowding the beach. Bill only allowed me enough time to run down to the beach and take a picture. I didn’t even get to put my toes in the water! Now how sad is that? This is definitely a place that is begging for a revisit.

(Woodlark airstrip runs right next to the beach)

From Woodlark we flew to the island of Kiriwina to pick up the last team members. Kiriwina is part of the Trobriand Islands group. Yams are a very important part of Trobriand culture. They are more than just a food staple – they are a sign of prestige and a tie between villages and clans. The quality and size of a yam is very important. As part of a good will gesture our team was given this huge yam as a gift. (The yam is packaged up in these leaves that Bill is holding) It was probably 4 feet long – I kid you not! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it.

(One very large yam inside this package)

(Looking inside the leaf package at the huge yam)

From Kiriwina we returned to Alotau to refuel and pick up the rest of the team we had dropped off earlier and then headed back to Popendetta, dropping off all but two of our team members. We picked up a couple of students and flew them to their home village of Kira on our way back to Lae, then dropped off our remaining team members in Lae.

(Group photo of all the team members)

We picked up a load of building supplies for Kabiufa and found Terry McHugh (our Union Accountant) waiting to see if he could hitch a ride back to Goroka with us. We arrived back in Goroka around 5pm tired but happy after an eventful weekend. While the trip was fun and exciting for me, it was just work as usual for Bill. This is typical of what our pilots do on a daily basis, bringing encouragement and hope into the lives of so many people.

A Day In The Life Of A Missionary Wife

2010-02-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

While on furlough I was asked multiple times, “So, what do you do?” Bill’s job description is very clear cut but there seems to be some curiosity about what a missionary wife does with herself all day long. After giving it some consideration, I have come up with a list of job descriptions that I carry here in PNG.

1) Housewife – My job of primary importance is keeping up my home so that after a hard day of flying Bill has a place to come home to that is clean and restful, with a good meal waiting to fill the hole in his stomach. Cooking generally takes longer then in the States as most everything must be cooked from scratch. Here I am getting ready to make guacamole from the abundance of avocados off our tree.

2) Baker – Bread is a food staple for us. I bake a loaf of bread at least every other day. Bill’s favorite Friday night supper is Banana bread topped with Papaya and soaked in milk. Really!

3) Laundress – Laundry is always waiting for a day of sunshine so that it can dry. After years of having to wash clothes by hand in Africa, I am most grateful for a washing machine here in PNG. However, dryers are still a novelty. There is nothing wrong with using good old sunshine except when it wants to rain buckets every day.

4) Shopper - Shopping is probably my least favorite activity. Battling the masses of people that hang out in the very hot, muddy, filthy market is just not my idea of fun.

The produce, spread out on the ground in the mud, is lugged around in bags that quickly become VERY heavy to carry.

After arriving home, all that produce must be carefully cleaned in order to avoid such nasties as hepatitis, dysentery, and cholera. Not only do I shop for myself, but for others as well. For example, while Carol Millist has been on medical leave to Australia, I have done all the shopping for her family. I also shop for missionaries that live in remote areas if our pilots are making a flight out their way. Just this past week I shopped for some AFM missionaries as well as some SIL missionaries.

5) Farmer - Well, farmer is a pretty grandiose title, but I like the way it sounds. (grin) I bravely try to fight a winning war against the weeds, bugs, and disease so that I can produce a little of my own produce and maybe not have to visit the market as often. (So far I cannot claim any great success!)

6) Grounds Keeper – With the amount of rain we get it takes constant work to keep the yard from turning into wild bush. One of my weekly duties is mowing the lawn and weeding the flower beds.

7) Animal Keeper – As you can see here, I have this big, fiercesome, guard dog that takes her job very seriously. Not only must I cook for Bill, but I must cook for her as well. She gets a big bowl full of brown rice, sweet potatoes, and tuna fish every day. Some how she seems to thinks she earns her keep!

The sweet potatoes come freshly dug up from the gardens. They are covered in dirt so must first be scrubbed clean.

8) Inventory Controller – It is my job to receive in and log out the aircraft parts inventory. This includes counting and batch filing the parts when they arrive, entering them in to the accounting system, converting their prices from foreign currency into local currency, etc.

9) Accounts Clerk – I share this title with Carol Millist, coming in several times a week to help with the accounts receivable and payable.

10) Banker – I do the weekly banking for AAS. I count up all the money that has come in through our commercial aviation business, match it with the receipts, enter it into the accounts system, and deliver it safely to the bank. (At least that is my goal. This past week a woman was robbed as she attempted to enter the bank. She was attacked by a gang of men who cut her bag right off her arm with a machete and took off in a get-a-way car. Such is life here in PNG)

11) Hostess – There are always an assortment of visitors coming to PNG that have to be provided for by the missionary wives. “Fly and Build” teams, Division personnel, Union personnel, friends and relatives coming for a visit, etc. For example, just this past week, I had Terry McHugh, our Union Accountant, in my home for the week, when he came up to review our accounts. This afternoon I have a film crew arriving from Australia that I will be putting up for several days.

12) Airplane Mechanic Assistant – Any time the airplane goes down for routine inspections, Bill has several little non-skilled jobs for me to do to help with the maintenance. One of my favorite jobs is doing paint touch-up on all the hundreds of little spots where the paint has worn off. Maybe it somehow appeals to the artistic side of me.

Someone recently made the comment that the work I do does not impact any lives. This is true. I am not a frontline missionary. However, what he failed to realize is that for every frontline missionary there has to be the support people that enable the frontline missionary to be able to do what they do. Every day our pilots impact not just one person’s life, but entire village’s lives. They are often the lifeline to these remote villages - flying in store goods, building supplies, medicines, and medical teams. They fly out their sick, bring home their deceased, fly out their produce to sell so they can have money to pay school fees...etc. I cannot fly an airplane into some of the most challenging airstrips in the world, but I CAN do all the little mundane “behind the scenes” jobs that are just part of daily living, and in the process I free up my husband to do what he does best. Impact lives!

Changes

2010-01-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

We had an uneventful trip back to PNG. The highlight of the trip was having a 24 hour layover in Brisbane where we got to spend some time with our niece and her husband of one year whom we hadn't had the privilege of meeting yet. Thank you Katrina and Jerrod for showing us such a lovey time.

The new year has brought many changes to our program. We are delighted that Bennett Spencer, along with his wife Dalena and daughter Annah, has joined AAS as our new pilot. Bennett is a highly experienced and skilled pilot and we just feel so blessed to have him join our team. Dalena already comes with a missionary background as she grew up in Taiwan. We enjoy her fun spirit and she has been quick to adapt to the culture.

As for little Annah... she is doing her part to try to understand the culture as well. (-:

While we were gaining new team members, we were also loosing some. Brooks Payne, our airplane mechanic, and his wife Susan have returned to the States. They will be greatly missed in PNG.

Another sad loss to our team is Willie. Willie was a young national who always had a sparkle in his eyes and a great big smile. I never saw Willie when he didn't look like he was just enjoying life to the fullest. He was a carpenter who for many years (dating back to our first term here) did odd jobs for AAS. While we were home on furlough we received the shocking news that Willie had died from Hepatitis. He left behind a lovey wife and 6 month old baby girl.

This past week Carol, Dalena, and I went to visit Willie's widow, Diane, and baby Carol.

Here is Carol Millist holding her namesake, baby Carol.

Annah brought several of her toys and clothes to share with the baby.

Baby Carol enjoying her new stuffed kitty.

Willie's grandmother, parents, wife and daughter with Carol Millist. Willie will be missed by all.

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

Bill and I have been home on furlough for the holidays and it has been a wonderful time spent with family and friends.

I came home early so I could spend Thanksgiving with my parents and our girls. I met Bri and Betsy at Union College and was delighted to find out that some of the “little girl” still remains in my grown up college daughters.

Right after Thanksgiving my two sisters were able to come and spend a week with my parents and me. We really missed having our brother there to make the reunion complete. But we truly enjoyed our sister time together.

Shortly after their departure Bill returned home from PNG and his family all gathered at our home for a family reunion. It was a special time of laughing and crying as we shared memories of Bob and found our hearts really missing him during this Holiday season. We really look forward to the big family reunion in Heaven where we will ALL be together again forever and ever. Bob, Neiba, Dad…all of us!

We enjoyed showing off some of the beauty of New Mexico to Bill’s family. We took them hiking on top of Sandia Mountain and to the unique formations of Tent Rocks.

I loved playing the part of “grandma” and helping my adopted grandkids make some Christmas cookies.

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Grammy and Poppy.

What do you think? Where we good enough this year to receive something in our stockings?

Thank you to Dave and Bev Spencer for inviting us to spend some time in their beautiful little cabin up in the Colorado mountains.

Linden Millist was visiting us from Australia and we wanted him to experience some real snow!

A gorgeous Sabbath afternoon hike.

Playing in the snow.

All good things must come to an end! Yesterday the girls returned to college and Linden to PNG. Bill and I will be following shortly on January 12.

Happy New Year to each one of you. May this next year be a time of growing closer to Jesus and one year closer to heaven.

A clinic is built

2009-11-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

In my last blog I told you about the Australian team that came to build a clinic in the village of Mengino. Here is the rest of the story… The village of Mengino from a bird’s eye view.

I want you to notice in this photo that the airstrip (on the right) is not actually in the village (to the left). This is very common here in the Highlands. The villages are often built on a mountain ridge and the airstrip has to be built wherever the closest semi flat area is available.

It is approximately a 45-minute hike from the airstrip up to the village of Mengino.

At last…destination reached!

Over the past several weeks the building supplies and equipment were flown into the village in readiness for the building team’s arrival. Now it all had to be carried from the airstrip up to the village.

The team didn’t waste any time getting started and before nightfall of their first day (after flying in from Goroka and hiking up to the village) they had the foundation put in.

From that point on it was steady progress.

Everybody had their area of expertise and pitched in to help...

…well, almost everybody!

The children enjoyed playing “blocks” with the left over pieces of lumber.

These huts were provided for accommodation.

There was a bit of rat activity going on during the nights. The cat came to the rescue.

After that feast he thinks he deserves a rest – even though the trap caught the rat for him!

The cooking was done over an open fire inside this cook shack.

The women did an amazing job keeping the crew fed.

The men thought they would try their hand at it too.

Cold shower anyone?!

The “Washing Machine” busy at work.

Technology has a way of following us even to the most remote parts of the earth.

The village women enjoyed braiding straight hair.

The team held meetings every night. They hung a sheet on the side of the clinic to make a large screen.

Nimson is the village healthcare worker.

Before the clinic could even be finished the first patient arrived. This unfortunate fellow is the husband of two fighting wives. He tried to intervene and the result was a machete slash to the shoulder.

Nimson set up shop on a bench outside the unfinished clinic and proceeded to stitch up the wound.

In less then 2 weeks time the new clinic is finished! Wow, I think that is impressive.

They say, “Many hands make light work” and it is so true.

Large crowds gathered for the official opening of the clinic - not only from Mengino, but also from the neighboring village on the other side of the mountain.

Good work team!

The happy but tired group on their way back to Goroka and hot showers!

Adopt-a-Clinic

2009-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

The South Pacific Division is a challenging Division because not only does it encompass Australia and New Zealand but all the South Pacific Islands such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, the Samoas, French Polynesian Islands, (and yes Pitcairn) just to name a few!

Several years ago the SDP started up a really awesome program called “Adopt-a-Clinic” where different churches in Australia actually adopt a clinic project for a needy village or region and fund raise to help build and support these clinics, which are run by national health care workers.

One such project is the Mengino clinic. Over the past month Bill has been flying out building supplies to the village in readiness for a “Fly & Build” team to come out and actually build the clinic. Come take a flight with us into Mengino. First we have to load all this timber into the airplane. The PAC is a perfect airplane for carrying building supplies. It can easily haul cement, roofing sheets, plywood, timber, piping, etc.

Here we are approaching the Mengino airstrip.

No, we are not going to run into the mountain. It just seems like it to jittery passengers. Bill is carefully checking out the wind on the surrounding ridge lines before committing to an approach.

Coming in on final…

…and we are about to touchdown. No worries getting stopped, this is a “long” runway as airstrips in PNG go and it has an 8% slope.

The whole village eagerly comes out to help unload the timber.

Not only do the adults all help...

...but so do the children.

Whoops! This little one is loosing his britches.

In order to provide village support, Bill will fly out their coffee, which will be sold and the money used to provide the villagers with basic supplies such as kerosene, soap, rice, medicines, etc.

After several weeks of doing this, the building team from Australia arrives. What an exciting day for the villagers. They are all gathered to greet the team in style.

No, these folks are not attacking the visitors with their bow & arrows. It is just part of the welcoming committee.

In order to show their appreciation, the villagers have carefully made flower leis to honor their guests. They ask the visitors to stand in a line…

...then in a solemn ceremony they march up and place the leis over the visitor’s heads.

Admittedly, we westerners are softies. These mattresses will help provide some restful sleep to the building team over the next couple of weeks before eventually ending up in the clinic.

In a few weeks, check back in to see what this team was able to accomplish.

Thank you “Adopt-a-Clinic” for providing Mengino with a much needed Health Care Center.

Kabiufa

2009-10-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

I belong to a ladies craft group that meets once a week in town for a time of socializing and working on various crafts. Many of these ladies have never been out of town my direction and so I invited the whole group to meet here at my house at Kabiufa this past week. I thought maybe you would enjoy a tour of where we live as well.

Kabiufa is approximately 6 miles out of town. Our SDA boarding Academy is located here and we live right in the middle of the school campus.

Here you can see the Kabiufa school campus from the air. It is in a beautiful country setting.

When you walk on campus you are met by this block of classrooms.

To the right is this large green lawn which is often the site of many happy games of rugby or baseball. (In the background you will notice a little white house in the middle of the photo. This is our home)

A closeup of our humble abode.

The administration building has a pretty little garden courtyard in the back.

(Front of Admin building)

(Back of Admin building)

To the left of our home is the cafeteria. It also serves as the “gymnasium” on Saturday nights. The tables are all stacked against the walls and the games begin. It can get quiet noisy sometimes. (In the background you will again see our home)

The view from our front porch, looking out onto the cafeteria.

Next to the Cafeteria is the Church.

It dominates the campus as it is quite an imposing building with its tall, steep roof.

Here you see one of the dormitories. Kabiufa has approximately 700 students, but not all of them are boarding students. Many are local kids from town and the surrounding villages.

Some of the staff housing that is on campus.

Believe it or not, there is even a swimming pool!

Recently we had a baptism for some of the students. The candidates, dressed in white, are all lined up waiting for the service to begin.

Believe me, the water is cold! At our high elevation a swim is not necessarily refreshing.

Roger Millist, the director of AAS, is also a pastor so he had the privilege of helping with the baptism.

As for Bill and I, we were just happy spectators.

The Many Faces Of PNG

2009-09-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Everybody loves a good 4th of July parade, right? Well, here in PNG the big event is the Goroka Show, held every year to celebrate their Independence Day. (While September 16 is actually Independence Day, the show is always held on a weekend so occurred this past Sunday.) Multiple tribes from all over the island gather here in Goroka to show off their traditional dance, music, and culture.

This festival was first started in the mid 1950’s by Australian patrol officers in an effort to curb tribal warfare. The idea was that the various tribes would come together and get acquainted in a non-threatening, friendly atmosphere. It has since evolved into a national cultural event.
So sit back and enjoy a “parade” to beat all parades. Guaranteed!

The parade started with this long black “snake” that was slithering and swaying back and forth. It was actually very effective. The head was made up of men...

... and by the time you reached the tail, they were just small boys. I think this was Bill’s favorite!

From that point on, it was just one dance group after another.

The music consisted mainly of singing (If you can call it that - a wailing chant is more like it.) and various crude instruments ranging from wooden drums to bamboo pipes that were thumped on the ground.

I wouldn’t want to run into these men in the dark!

The backside can be just as entertaining as the front.

Even the children get involved.

We found it amusing to see the “modern” mixed in with the “traditional.” Here you see a man proudly sporting sunglasses.

And here you have a woman who apparently did not have a wooden drum so she improvised - using a plastic bottle to beat on instead.

This dancer just can’t resist pulling out the video camera and catching some of the action.

After the parade, the masses of dancers all congregate in a large field and simultaneously continue their traditional dances.

There are hundreds of dancers and the noise can be overwhelming at times! There is a large monetary reward for the best dance group so the competition can be fierce.

Next year why don’t you really come and join us for the Goroka show. It is an experience you will never forget!

Inspection time

2009-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Since most of my aviation friends have had to suffer through many long blogs of a variety of topics, I thought this time we could share a bit more of aircraft specific information.The PAC 750XL with a PT6-34 engine of 750 SHP is proving to be a simple and reliable workhorse in the utility role. The factory maintenance program is set up on 150 hour intervals. It generally makes it through between inspections without any major squawks. In this environment (operating from wet and muddy airstrips) we keep it washed on a daily basis, and compressor rinse weekly or on return from a coastal operation. The aircraft is approaching 2,000 hours since new.

A few latches and four camlock fasteners at the firewall and the top cowling comes off. A half dozen screws on each side at the firewall and a couple of hook latches on turnbuckles and the entire lower cowling comes off easily in a single piece. This gives great access for working on the engine.

As you can see, it’s a pretty clean and straightforward installation. That’s the battery box at top center of firewall, generator control box, electrical relay box, then main fuel inlet and filter along with EPA can at the bottom LH side.

And on the right hand side you have the brake master reservoir, oil cooler, and bleed air conduit for cabin heat.

This time it was due a fuel nozzle inspection.

Pacific Helicopters next door have a nice overhaul facility where they can do our nozzle flow checks, inspection, and testing for us.

Here Linden Millist is helping with the borescope inspection on the hot section.

Not much under the cabin floor other than a couple of fuel line interconnections and the flap motor. The flap system uses a torque tube interconnecting both sides driven with a single motor.Notice the nice flat floor with brown line track and large rubber bumper along the door sill. If you look close you can also see the brown line track running down each cabin side. This makes it easy to load and use tie down straps almost anywhere to secure cargo. The passenger seats also fold to stow either in the aft cargo area beyond the door or in the belly pod.

Here I’m inspecting and lubricating the electric elevator trim system. I’ll let you guess what the boxes are mounted on fuselage side?

I’m a lucky guy to have a wife who is not only willing to live halfway around the world with me, but also lends a hand to help out wherever needed. Here Bonnie is doing some paint touchup work.

And a final cleaning of the cockpit and windshields at the end of the inspection.
So what does the beast fly like? Stay tuned for a future episode.

Empty Nest

2009-08-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

On August 4 our girls boarded the Air Niugini flight for their trip back to the USA and Union college.

Dad was stoic while Mom shed bitter tears! For me, one of the greatest sacrifices of being a missionary is the separation from those you love. It never gets easier. But I thank God for providing the means and ability to bring them home this summer. While the time passed way to quickly, it was a summer packed full of wonderful memories.

(Our last night together)

(Betsy saying "goodbye" to a best friend.)

All was not fun and games. Their cheerful willingness to help wherever needed (from chemically cleaning steel beams to designing a Web site) made them a blessing to the AAS team as well.

(Cleaning the cockpit of the PAC750)

Thank you girls. You are sorely missed!

Back to Work

2009-07-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

Glancing back over the last several blogs, I have noted that we have been sharing some of the “extra” fun and different things we have been up to. Perhaps this is a natural result of the daily work settling into such a routine that it doesn’t stand out so much. But lest you get the idea that we are simply on holiday over here, let me share some of the “work” that I’ve been up to these last couple of weeks.

The Western Highlands Mission has many building projects going on right now. So how to get the needed supplies to the work site? A quick run to Home Depot maybe? Nope, that’s some other land far, far away. Over here the only way is to fly it all in to the nearest airstrip. I’ve been hauling all kinds of stuff – sheets of roofing iron, plywood, hardwood boards, plastic pipe, water tanks, bags of cement, nails…you name it, I’ve been hauling it. A couple thousands pounds at a time.

You will notice that there is a large back door on the belly pod which facilitates carrying long items.

Sometimes coming in for a landing is more of a “splash down” than a touch down, with everything being so wet with the constant rains. We generally wash the plane at the end of every day, and often there is mud top and bottom of both wings, all over the aft fuselage and clear up the tail.

Most of the flying is just plain hard work. Lots of sweat getting things loaded and unloaded, and the flying enroute can make one sweat as well.

So it’s extra nice when there is something “special” that happens to remind me of why I’m doing this. I had two such cases this last week. The first was a flight back to Wuvulu island.

Remember the comatose villagers I flew out? I now had the satisfaction of taking the recovered patients back home.You should have seen the greetings and hugs they were met with as they climbed off the plane.

The second happened on a recent flight down to the North East side of the island and up into the mountains not far from Popendetta to the little village of Tedebeti. Often there are lots of people crowding around the airstrip to “gawk”, but as I landed I noticed that these folk were in a very festive spirit. They had decorated the entire airstrip with small bunches of flowers and branches stuck in the ground along both sides, and all around the parking area. As I shut down they came marching out all around waving flags and tree branches.

Why all the excitement? Well, these villagers know and understand what it means to have aviation service. Three years ago when funds were being raised all over the world to purchase a new aircraft for AAS, these villagers did everything they could, giving 10 kina here, 20 kina there, selling some produce and donating the proceeds, etc. From a strictly financial standpoint, their contributions may have seemed like a drop in the bucket compared to the 1.2 million needed, but they willingly gave all they could. Now after several years they were actually getting to see the new aircraft for the first time! They were so excited! After all the marching and speeches came to an end, they draped fancy leis around our necks.

Then they climbed aboard the airplane and decorated all the seats with flowers. It was indeed one of those “special” moments.

Life comes to each of us just one day at a time. Make today count!

Asaro Mudmen

2009-07-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Last Sabbath we visited a little church that Roger had been asked to preach at. This is the original church building.

Now they have this beautiful little church to worship in.

They love getting visitors. The children surrounded us.

In the afternoon we visited the village where the Asaro mudmen come from. As the story goes, back in the days of tribal warfare and cannibalism the Asaro’s were a weaker tribe, always being preyed upon by their enemies. In desperation they came up with a brilliant tactic. They made hideous masks out of white clay and covered their bodies in white clay as well.

The next time the enemy attacked the Asaro men came sneaking out in their new disguises and to their great delight the enemy fled in terror, believing them to be ghosts! Today the masks are used mainly for traditional dances.

(Betsy wearing a mudmask.)

ADRA has recently helped the Asaro tribe start up a tourist business as a way to help the villagers generate some income. They have built several little guest huts where for approximately $10.00 a night you can stay in a hut, eat a traditional meal cooked by the village women, and experience a mudman dance performed by the men. Anybody want to come for a visit?

The tourist compound resides at the top of a very steep road going straight up the side of a mountain.

The cars can only go so far, then you have to hike the remainder of the way.

It is a gorgeous hike and definitely worth the effort. Along the hike you come upon a fairly large cave where we were told the women and children would hide when the enemy tribes attacked. Here you see Betsy crawling out of the cave entrance.

When you reach the very top you have an incredible 360-degree view.

Apparently during WWll American soldiers use to hide out up here because they had a clear view of every mountain pass and could observe and report on any enemy action taking place.

The little tourist huts are built with the traditional thatch roofs, matting for walls, and dirt floors.

Inside the huts there are three sleeping platforms. Two along the sides and one going across the back. There is not much room for walking around.

Outhouses are provided...

....as are shower stalls. These are communal – to be shared by all. There are no doors or shower curtains. You simply take a bucket of cold water and enjoy your bath looking out the door at the marvelous view. (And hoping nobody comes walking by.)

I LOVED it. I can’t wait to go back and actually spend the night next time. If you are truly seeking an adventure I highly recommend the Asaro Mudman Village.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW TO VISIT THIS ASARO VILLAGE CHECK OUT MY BLOG SPOT DATED FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Madang

2009-07-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

We spent a wonderful 4th of July weekend at the beach with our AAS team and some friends. (Of course as Australian’s they don’t celebrate the 4th but we had fun nonetheless.) We flew to the coastal town of Madang on Friday. The young people all left in the morning in the Cessna 206 and we oldies came in the afternoon in the PAC 750 when all the work was done. (-:

(Lt to Rt : Lawrence, Nicole, Linden, Bri)

(Lt to Rt: Andrew, Linden, Betsy, Bonnie, Bill, Bri, Roger, Carol, Trevor)

We stayed in this cabin on the beach.

Right outside our cabin were these large trees. Can you guess what these objects are in the treetops?

That’s right. Bats! These flying foxes are some of the world’s largest bats and boy are they noisy. There is no sleeping in under a tree full of these creatures. At dawn they all coming flying “home” to roost and they screech madly at each other as they try to find the perfect resting place.

I enjoyed early morning walks on the beach and watching the villagers pass by in their canoes.

Sabbath morning we had a singing and sharing time together.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride out to a tiny little Island were we enjoyed some snorkeling and just soaking in the incredibly warm water.

That evening we enjoyed some games of Frisbee and Dutch Blitz.

Our friends, Lawrence and Nicole, keep a boat in Madang.

Sunday morning Bill couldn’t wait to try his hand at waterskiing again. It has been like 20 years since he last had the opportunity to ski and he was pleased to discover that he had not lost his skills. He even managed to get up on the wakeboard.

While the girls weren’t brave enough to try their hand at waterskiing, they did have fun on the donuts.

As for Carol and I, we were content to stay dry and just observe all the fun.

Bill observed the local children jumping out of this tree into the water and decided he just had to try it for himself.

Betsy learning to dive.

Bill and Roger getting a well deserved rest.

Sunday afternoon we flew back to Goroka. This time the two planes took off together and it was great fun flying next to each other for a few minutes before the PAC left the slower 206 behind.

Hope your 4th of July was as fun as mine.

Cairns Vacation

2009-06-24T21:54:00.000-07:00

On June 4 Bill and I flew to Cairns, Australia to meet up with our girls who were coming home for their summer break. We spent a wonderful week vacationing together before heading back to PNG.

We started off at Mission Beach were we rented this lovely little cabin for 5 days.

It has been six months since we last saw our girls and so we enjoyed just spending time together catching up more then anything else.

Coconuts littered the beach so we decided to have a go at cracking some open.

Bill found the job exceedingly challenging with just a kitchen knife!

The fibrous husk had to be removed before finally revealing the inner shell which then had to be cracked open.

Hurrah! Success at last. (We threw the rest of the coconuts away. Too much hard work!)

I found two things unique to Mission beach that I have never encountered before. One was live sand dollars. I have often found dead white ones on the beach while shell hunting, but never have I seen a live one before. There were hundreds of them burrowed down under the sand leaving little round lumps as a clue where they were hiding.

The second were these crazy little crabs that apparently eat something nutritious in the sand (don’t ask me what!) and then spit out the remainder of the sand as little balls. Even God’s creatures can be artists. These little crabs made gorgeous designs all over the beach. It was absolutely fascinating.

I bet you’ve never seen a sign like this in the states! Mission Beach is a sanctuary for the endangered Cassowary.

We took a side trip to beautiful Murray falls.

Another great side trip was to Paronella Park built in the 1800’s by a wealthy Spaniard for his wife.

This is in the rainforest and over time the buildings have been destroyed by floods and cyclones. It now resembles some kind of ancient ruins. It was actually very enchanting in its ruined state.

Part of his estate included this beautiful waterfall.

He planted over 7000 trees in his park!

Paronella Park at night adds an entirely different dimension.

The second half of our vacation was spent at Ellis Beach.

Briana celebrated her 21^st birthday on June 10. Unfortunately she was getting sick, so instead of giving her the traditional birthday cake we opted for passion fruit instead. (She absolutely adores passion fruit before you feel too sorry for her.)

As part of Briana’s birthday celebration we took a sailboat trip out to the Low Isles.

To Bill’s delight he got to sit up next to the skipper and help out on occasion.

The girls and I just enjoyed the ride.

Low Isles is home to this lighthouse. It is a tiny little island. Just to give you perspective you can walk around the entire island in less then 10 minutes.

The snorkeling was not as spectacular as you would find out on the outer Great Barrier Reef but it did have some very nice soft corals. However, what it did have going for it were the sea turtles that came to feed on the corals. They were huge and totally awesome. They are just so graceful and nothing can compare to swimming with a turtle.

Okay, for all you snorkel savvy people out there, what do these signs mean? (Hint: From left to right- “Help! Help!” “I need some assistance.” “Shark!!!” “Are you OK?”)

Poor Betsy got caught by a dreaded salt-water crocodile.

Briana on the other hand was smart enough to read the “manual”.

Sabbath we visited the Cairns botanical gardens. They are fabulous. Besides having an abundance of exotic flowers, they seemed to specialize in “large”…

Here you see Bill with a very large “pinecone”.

The girls seeking cover under a leaf large enough to serve as an umbrella.

Hiding behind a giant fern.

Now this is what bamboo should look like!

And so ended our vacation. It was a small taste of what heaven will be like; beautiful beyond description.

Medical Emergencies

2009-06-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sabbath afternoon Roger received a phone call from the Minister of Disaster stating there was a medical emergency out on the remote little island of Wuvalu, which is about 130 miles off the coast from Wewak. Apparently it had all started on the previous Tuesday when a group of villagers had been out fishing and had caught a very large fish. That evening about a dozen of them feasted on their catch – the only problem is that the fish apparently ended up being toxic and before the night was over 6 of them were in a coma! There are only two little villages on this island with no phone service, no scheduled air service, not even regular boat service, but they do have a nurse who runs a small clinic. How was she to get word out that she needed help? Thankfully the very next day someone just by chance happened by in a boat, turned right around, and traveled back to a place where he could send out a call for help.

The Minister of Disaster is responsible for organizing responses to such situations. However, protocol states that the Defense Force be the first try. There was only one problem. The Defense Force doesn’t have any aircraft capable of landing on this island except for a helicopter which didn’t have the necessary fuel range. After messing around for several days and never ending up with any action, the Minister of Disaster finally called AAS in desperation to see if we could be of any help. It was too late in the day to head out but early Sunday morning Bill and Roger were on their way to Wuvalu.

One hour later they landed in Wewak just long enough to pick up a doctor and medical attendant then continued on for another hour across the ocean to the little island of Wuvalu.

While there were many villagers on hand to welcome them, they had to wait for another hour for all the patients to get rounded up and carried to the airplane. It was an extremely hot day and the villagers eagerly sought refuge from the sun under the airplane wings.

By this point (almost a week after the event) two of the patients were making a reasonable recovery, one more had just “woken up” from his coma but was still very much neurologically impaired, while the other three were still in a deep coma. The villagers were very creative and made this elaborate stretcher out of boards which they perched on top of 6 bicycles.

They then placed the patients on top of mattresses placed on the boards and ceremoniously wheeled them from the village to the airstrip. I have seen many improvised stretchers over the years but this was a first.

You can see two of the patients laying on their mattresses being carefully protected from the hot sun by umbrellas.

Unfortunately we do not have a beautifully set up air ambulance airplane like Bill is accustomed to flying in the States. This airplane is multifunctional, from hauling cargo, to transporting mission workers, to serving as an ambulance. So you just make the best with what you have. The patients were placed on their mattresses directly on the floor with IV’s hanging from cargo hooks. Primitive to be sure, but life saving nonetheless.

Here you see the Doctor attending to her patients and making sure they are ready for the flight.

Soon Bill and Roger were on their way back to Wewak. You see the patients with the Doctor and health workers in the back of the airplane. The young girl you see sitting at the front is the first victim to come out of her coma and appeared to be almost fully recovered.

Arriving back in Wewak.

The guys had asked flight service to arrange for an ambulance and miracle of miracles, it was actually waiting on the ramp.

Now you must understand that the ambulance was nothing more than a Toyota Landcruiser with the word “ambulance” painted on the outside. No equipment, nothing of any kind on the inside, just an empty floor in back to place the patients.

The patients were unloaded from the airplane cocooned inside their mattresses and placed on the floor of the ambulance. (Notice the IV left lying beside the patient instead of being hung up where it can gravity feed. Hmmm…)

Surprise! Somebody finally managed to come up with a proper stretcher. The last report we received is that two of the three who are still in a coma seem to be coming out of their coma. They were starting to respond to painful stimuli. However, one woman still remains in a deep coma. We are praying for a good outcome for all of them.

Unfortunately you win some and you loose some. The very next day AAS received another medical emergency call asking for one of our SDA school teachers to be flown out who was critically ill. Before AAS could arrange the flight a call came back saying the man had passed away. So instead of experiencing the joy of possibly saving another life, we had the sad task of flying the coffin and family back to his home village for a funeral. However, the important thing is that we are here to minister through the good and the bad - to share in their laughter and in their tears.

Riots

2009-05-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

These past couple of weeks have been filled with riots and unease. It started two weeks ago with the Kabiufa students. (Kabiufa is the SDA boarding school where we live.) They get fed only two meals a day - sweet potatoes and boiled cabbage at both meals. Before you think this is terrible let me assure you that this is actually the norm for this culture. They probably wouldn't find things much different at home in the village. However, for whatever reasons, the students decided to hold a “strike” about the food situation. Our house is right next door to the cafeteria. One day I heard this loud roar coming from the cafeteria. The students were all yelling and I heard this terrible crashing and banging. I went to the door to have a look and saw students come pouring out of the cafeteria doors. I heard later that there had been a big fight with the students throwing food, tables, dishes, etc at the staff and that there was actually a knife fight with a guard and several students getting hurt. A large delegation of students marched into town to make a complaint to the Department of Education. It took a couple of days before things calmed down. I never was really clear on what the actual complaint was. Kabiufa grows all its own food so in the afternoons the students are required to go work in the gardens. Some of the staff told me the complaint wasn’t so much about the food, as that they didn’t want to have to work in the gardens anymore. Anyway, I haven’t seen any students looking like they are starving yet…

Later that week, four missionaries – a doctor and three women - were walking to the Goroka Market. It was the middle of the day in the middle of down town. You would think it would be safe, right? Wrong! They were attacked by a gang of young men (called Rascals) armed with a gun and machetes. One man swung his machete at the doctor and sliced him across the neck. Thankfully he did not hit the jugular vein or worse yet, decapitate him! Another man attacked one of the women, attempting to cut her bilum (a local bag that all locals carry) off her arm. In the process she got cut up pretty badly. Thankfully the crowds standing by came to the rescue. They chased off the Rascals, caught them, beat them up pretty badly, than hauled them off to the police station.

The final “exciting” event to occur was rioting in town this past week. Many of the stores and little shops here in PNG are run by Asians. A mixture of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Indonesian. Apparently some accusations were made that they were running their businesses in such a way that was not benefiting the country or its people. I am not sure if there was any truth to the accusations. However, the nationals decided to “get revenge” for this supposed injustice. All over the country, including here in Goroka, there was huge rioting. The mobs broke into many of the stores and literally stripped them bare. The entire town was put in lock down with everything closed. Several people were killed here in Goroka during skirmishes between the mob and the police. Things quieted down midweek but there were rumors that there would be another uprising this weekend. Thankfully we don’t live in town but out in the country. I haven’t heard any more news so I hope it was just a rumor and that our excitement is over for now. Boring can be good!

Food

2009-05-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

Most of us take food for granted. When we get hungry, (and often we aren't truly hungry) we just visit the refrigerator, grocery store, or a restaurant and don't give it any more thought. Unfortunately that is not true for many people in PNG. We are blessed to live in the Highlands where food grows abundantly in the rich volcanic soil. However, the same is not true for the swampy Lowlands where food is much more difficult to come by. Below you see a picture of a typical market day for me. However, I have to admit that going to the market is not my favorite activity. You would have to experience it to believe it! I would love to have taken some pictures to share, but it is not worth the risk of loosing my camera to the thieves that hang out at the market. How can I describe the Goroka market to you? Mud, mud, and more mud. Mixed generously in the mud is spittle and thick red betel nut juice. Masses of humanity are trampling through the mud, so thick you can hardly walk through the crowds at times. But oh the fruits and veggies are lovely ... laying on the ground in the midst of all the mud. (-:

I, who have never been a successful gardener in my life, bravely decided to plant a garden in the hopes of cutting down on the amount of trips I would have to make to the market. It is a battle of the wits between me, the bugs and the weeds. I am valiantly trying to win the war. Here you see green beans and okra growing. (Yes, okra! Bill and I have a little southern blood in us.)

Here you see the squash taking over the garden...and not producing anything but leaves to date.

Lettuce seems to thrive here.

I have a small pineapple patch. This is for those of you who have never seen a pineapple growing. You plant pineapple by just cutting off the top and replanting it. So every time we eat a pineapple I go and plant the top so I can expand my little patch.

And yes, we do have a small banana patch as well.

Here you see Bill attacking the ever pervasive bush trying to take over the garden.

Below is a typical PNG garden plot. You can see sweet potatoes, cabbage and bananas growing. That is about the extent of most local gardens. Sweet potatoes and greens are the staple of the Highlands diet. The greens can be any edible green leaf. For example, did you know that you can eat squash leaves? They are a bit furry but I eat them all the time in an attempt to keep them from taking over my garden.

This is a sweet potato patch growing on a hillside. This is a very common sight as PNG is very mountainous and you will see some very steep garden plots. Speaking of food, following is a letter Bill wrote...

...Seems there hasn’t been time for anything beyond eating and a bit of sleep. I’ve spent a good deal of time flying for the Western Highlands Mission (as well as three other missions, the Union, and ADRA). The WHM covers a territory starting about a 15 minute flight West of Goroka all the way out to the boarder with Indonesia. In fact, one of the airstrips out there is actually in both countries as the boarder goes right across the middle of it. One stop you’re down at 250 feet in hot humid conditions along some big river letting off 4 or 5 pastors, the next stop 15 minutes later you’re three valleys over and landing at 6,400 feet on the side of some mountain range which goes up well over 12,000 feet. A half hour later and you’re dropping off another group of 9 people for meetings down in the lowland swamps. Forty minutes after that and you’re back up in the mountains dropping off iron roofing sheets for a church building and over 2,000 lbs of food supplies. And so it goes. To say it’s a challenge is a huge understatement. But I’m really thankful to be flying a turbine-powered bird this go-around with good performance. It’s a simple machine that does a good job in this environment.

Looking back over the last four weeks, I’ve flown nearly 100 hours which have taken me all over the country. The challenges are immense, only eclipsed by the greater needs. I’m in a prime position to see a lot of it first hand. There are many stories I could tell, but allow me to share one.

Thursday last week was a very heavy schedule. I was out in the Western highlands clear out at the boarder, up to the rivers on the North side, as well as clear down to lake Murray in the Southern swamps. Late afternoon I was tired and headed for home. But the weather wasn’t looking too encouraging for getting back up across the mountain ranges into the highlands. And it would also be right at dark by the time I reached Goroka. Now I have a rule about these things when flying VFR over here. There are three main variables to battle – weather, fuel, and daylight. I will never take on more than one of these at the same time. So instead of returning to Goroka, I changed course for Kikori, which is headquarters for the Southwest Papua Mission. The weather was clear in that direction and the mission property is adjacent to the airstrip. So as the sun was casting long shadows out over the ocean, I gently touched down on the landing mat strip at Kikori and got the bird “put to bed” for the night. Then I walked over to the mission.

Now Pastor Soga was down in Daru and I was actually scheduled to pick him up and bring him back home on Friday, the next day. But his family was very gracious and welcoming. They had a guest room I could sleep in for the night. They are struggling valiantly against a lot of odds at this mission. Most of the buildings are in a sad state of disrepair and only recently Roger had taken initiative to get some new roofing sheets on some of the structures. They also had a new plastic water tank hooked up to collect rain water, as all of the old metal tanks have corroded in the humid salty air. But there is still no plumbing working to get water into the house so everything is carried up by bucket. The bucket shower with cold rain water was refreshing nonetheless. The mission generator has long since quit working and all the phone lines are messed up. (No end of projects to keep someone busy here…)

I migrated into the kitchen and found Mrs. Soga and the girls cooking on a little 2 burner gas unit by flashlight. I didn’t have the heart to ask what was being cooked for supper because I already knew that in spite of all my efforts to communicate to the contrary, they would be fixing the very best of whatever they had. Sure enough, a half hour later I was being served gluten steaks and the very last grains from a sack of rice. You see, they really have a hard time getting food there in Kikori, especially any fresh produce. All the store goods come on ships from Port Moresby and are thus limited and very expensive. And since the “town” (village would be more appropriate) has no bank, the Union is generally way behind time trying to ever get salary money sent along to any mission staff in that area. They have tried to grow gardens and other crops over the years, but everything gets stolen by the villagers before it is even ripe enough to eat! Bananas – stolen, pineapples – stolen, papayas – stolen, coconuts – stolen, taro – stolen, sweet potatoes – stolen, …you get the idea. They need fencing to protect a garden area, but there are no funds or materials available. Often it comes down to fishing in the river for food to eat, but mission presidents are supposed to spend most of their time out in the field working rather than sitting on the river trying to catch fish for the family….

So huddled there in the dark around the meager table by the light of a Chinese flashlight which kept springing apart and going off, we gave thanks over this last bit of food and ate it. As I lay on my mattress that night listening to all the frogs start their evening chorus and watching the moon rise over the palm trees, I thought about how easy I have it. After all, no matter how much rice there was in the bag or not, all I needed was just enough energy to drag my bones up into the cockpit at 5:30 the next morning and 40 minutes later I would be back home – in the land of stores and abundant veggies in the local market. But for these people, it was sort of like that widow story in the Bible where they had fed the visitor the last of everything they had. What would the next day bring for them?

Right at sunrise I let 750 horse power loose, pointed the nose up at the sky, and was soon sitting up at 13,000 feet in bright sunshine effortlessly winging my way home. While I did two local charter flights (a whole bunch of teachers going back to crater mountain area with school supplies, and another load of mothers and babies headed back to Karimui) I sent one of our hangar workers to the local market with all the personal money I had in my pocket, about 160 kina, with instructions to buy all kinds of fresh veggies and basic food staples. I then loaded all the food stuff in the front belly pod section along with a drum of JetA1 fuel in the back, and headed out for Daru. It was going to be a long stretch to get the Union and ADRA people picked back up and taken to Lae, so I climbed right up to 14,000 feet and powered back into “long range” profile. I had good tailwinds up there which helped as well. I landed in Daru and pumped in the drum of fuel I had brought along, then loaded the health team along with Pastor Soga to take back to Kikori. About an hour later we landed at Kikori and there standing along the parking bay was his wife and daughter waiting to meet him. But there was a special surprise in store. As Pastor Soga hopped out the back door and was joyfully greeting his family, I opened up the belly pod and started hauling out all this food. Sacks and sacks of potatoes, rice, cabbage, tomatoes, green beans, vegetables of every kind... about 200 pounds worth. Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads! Pastor Soga gave a yell, grabbed me and hugged me tight. I wish you could have been there to see them dancing around in the shock of unbelief and joy. Unless you have lived out in the jungle, you have no idea what this meant to them. It made both of our day!

Five minutes later I was off and headed for Lae to drop off the Union people, then back to Goroka in time for Sabbath. Yes, it is a busy schedule with mostly just a lot of hard work. But it’s not every day you get to bring someone’s Daddy home and drop a couple hundred pounds of food on them at the same time. It is truly more blessed to give, than to receive.

Remembering the Heros

2009-05-03T03:28:00.000-07:00

Today is the 7th anniversary of the tragic death of Les Anderson. I spent the day thinking about the "Fallen Heros". While there are many, three hold a special place in my heart. The first is Bill's dad who lost his life as a mission pilot in Mexico. While I never had the opportunity of meeting Dad, I know from the many stories I have heard that he was a very special person and I can't wait to meet him heaven!

My next hero of course is Les Anderson. I only had the opportunity of knowing Les for three months, but in those three months I quickly learned to love and admire him. It was evident that Les had a real love for the people of PNG and for serving God.

My third hero is brother Bob. He was a little but mighty guy who always had a sparkle in his eyes and a quiet sense of humor that I just loved. Bob LOVED flowers. Photography was his hobby and everywhere he went, he had his camera in hand. His passion was photographing flowers. He truly took time to "stop and smell the flowers" In memory of Bob, we took some pictures of several flowers that grow around our home here. This is just a small sampling of the abundance of beauty that surrounds us.

But my greatest hero of all is Bill, because in spite of all the pain and sorrow he chooses to keep climbing into that airplane every day in order to serve others. Someday all my heros will be reunited together in heaven and what a fabulous day that will be!

A Fun Weekend

2009-04-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

After a busy week of just the usual we had a fun weekend. Bill has found a new friend! Sasa and his wife Sara are staff members here at Kabiufa. Sasa is very musical and loves to play the guitar and write music, so you can just imagine how he and Bill instantly hit it off. Sabbath we invited the family over and Bill and Sasa spent all afternoon happily strumming away on their guitars while the entire family lustily sang along! Sasa has 6 children ranging in age from around 4 to 18 years old and they sing beautifully together in 4 part harmony. They remind me of the Von Trapp singers in "The Sound of Music".

Sunday Bill took me flying with him. This is a special treat as we wives usually have to sit at home for lack of room in the airplane. He was moving a new mission secretary, Pastor Robinson, and his family down to the coastal village of Kikori. While I have often had the opportunity to fly in the Highlands this was my first time down to the coast, so I was excited. Here you see the pilot...

...and the copilot!

I will let you guess from the following photo who was actually doing the flying. (-:

I NEVER tire of the beautiful PNG scenery. The rugged, steep mountains of the Highlands dropping sharply down into deep, narrow gorges with rushing rivers are in sharp contrast to the flat jungle of the coastal regions, crisscrossed with huge, lazy rivers.

This area reminds me so much of Peru, South America were Bill flew as a mission pilot when we first got married. It made me feel a bit homesick. Every where you looked there was another river!

Here you see a little section of hills looking very out of place in an otherwise flat landscape of solid jungle. You can actually see the ocean on the horizon where all these rivers empty out in to.

Coming in for the landing to the village of Kikori. The airstrip is straight ahead. Can you see it?

For all you World War II buffs, this airstrip is left over from the war when they use to just lay down this metal mesh and presto, you had an instant airstrip! Even after all these years it still works pretty good.

Here is Pastor Bill Robinson with his wife and son. That little pile of luggage you see in the back ground are their entire worldly possessions. Don't you wish you could move this easily?

See that big smile on my face? You would be smiling too if you could have joined us on this flight. It was great fun.

Fixing Things

2009-04-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

We spent this past week fixing things. First we decided our house was in bad need of a face lift. It has probably been 10 years at least since its last paint job. It was definitely time for the alternating purple, pink and yellow doors to go!

Bill is creatively using the double roller method to give our walls that special touch.

Trying to eat lunch in the middle of the mess. While the house is not yet finished, I can assure you that it is looking lovely. (After all, anything is an improvement over pink, purple, & yellow, right?)

Then this Sunday Bill took it upon himself to fix the church piano. (sorry, no photo) He just couldn't take the sad, discordant sounds any more. None of the pedals were working, the keys were sticking and several would not play. It was filthy dirty and badly out of tune. So...he took it all apart, (literally - the action taken out and disassembled, the keys all removed, etc.) cleaned everything, fixed the pedal mechanisms, repaired broken action pieces, sanded all the keys, put it all back together and tuned it! How's that for a days work?

Last month while landing at Kapi Roger "kissed" some tree limbs with the left wing - ouch.

The guys opted to simply get an entire replacement outer wing section and new aileron from the factory in New Zealand instead of spending months attempting a repair job. The crates finally arrived Tuesday night.

It was better than Christmas!

That is one, big, fat wing section.

Brooks and Bill supervise getting it into the correct position.

Three bolts...and it's on.

It's as simple as that.

See, I don't just take pictures. I help too. (That's me in the far dark right!)

Back in service again. A very happy day!

Why Fly?

2009-04-05T02:25:00.000-07:00

Come along with me on a typical mornings worth of flying, and perhaps you'll discover why aviation is so vital in this country.

After an hour flight from Goroka we're getting ready to land at Kerema on the Southern coast.

It is truly beautiful as we circle over the bay on approach. After landing we pick up Pastor Soga and his wife, along with some cargo. Then we're off again.

Now we head along the coast for 50 minutes to Kikori, where the local mission headquarters is located.

After dropping the passengers off, it's time to head back up into the central highlands to the town of Karimui where 5 sick people are waiting to be flown out to the hospital.

Karimui is lucky to be in a relatively flat valley which allows room to have a nice long airstrip. But one must still watch out for the ever present "potholes" and soft spots.

From Karimui it is only a 25 minute flight up the Tua river valley back into Goroka.

But now you can see why roads are almost impossible to build throughout most of PNG. How many airstrips can you find in the picture? (Hint: There are three.)

After passing over the Nomani ridge we come across the Wagi river.

Here, and in the picture below, you can see that most "villages" are built right on top of the ridge lines. As you can see, it is so narrow that is is only one hut wide!

This gives you a little glimpse of how steep the terrain is. Often runways are built along the spines of ridges because that is the only place to find a small amount of somewhat "level" ground.

Now we are within 5 minutes of Goroka, and there are a few dirt roads that venture out and around from there. Would be a whole lot more enjoyable on a good dirt bike than a car...

We're flying along at almost 8,000 feet, and yet the Elimbari cliffs are higher than we are.

Around the corner from Elimbari is the Kawkaw gap. This is the last ridge line to cross before we descend into the Goroka valley and "home".

Goroka sits in a large valley at just over 5,000 feet. That's it up ahead and just left of the nose. We actually have two parallel paved runways! And one of the only highways (2 lane road with no shoulders and lots of potholes) in the country that comes up from Lae on the Eastern coast. It's always good to be back home.

Introducing The Team

2009-03-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

Bill left for Port Morosby last Sunday for a 5 day Safety and Lead Auditor course presented by Southpac Aerospace. It was extremely beneficial with a lot of good information and he is very glad he attended. Meanwhile, at the home front, I spent the week taking a crash course on accounting and Peachtree software. The Millists just boarded the jet a few minutes ago to leave on their year end furlough. I have been delegated to do the accounting while they are gone. Carol Millist usually does the job. Wow, talk about trying to ingest a LOT of information in a very short amount of time! I feel like my brain is in overload. Wish me luck! But a least I had a week. Bill on the other hand has had only a few hours with Roger this morning (since he was gone all last week) to review everything he has to do as acting director in Roger's absence. It was a bit frantic to say the least.

I thought I would introduce you to the team today so that you can put faces with names.
Above is Roger Millist with his wife Carol. Roger is the director of our Aviation Program.

And here you see Brooks and Susan Payne. Brooks is our maintenance director. And that is our team for now. We have another pilot family, Bennett and Dalena Spencer with their baby daughter Annah, waiting to come as soon as they have work permits in hand. We are eagerly awaiting their arrival.