Hitting the Ground Running

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Wednesday May 8, 2013
I made it. After two more short flights, we touched down in Mt. Hagen, PNG and were picked up at the airport by 4 of the missionaries from Kudjip station. The best part of the whole day was having Kumi, a native guy with whom I worked construction last year, call me out by name and give me a hug after seeing me come out of the airport.
The 45 minute drive from the airport to the mission station was beautiful. It hasn't rained in the past 6 days and so many villagers were burning the grass off of their fields to prepare them for planting. We past trucks carrying loads of coffee cherries and there were natives selling fruits and vegetables along the entire stretch of the road. I rode in a Highlander that was carrying the luggage and got to know Adam Peterson, who is a new missionary to Kudjip (as of three weeks ago) along with his wife and 4 daughters.
We arrived at the Barnabas House (the housing for work and witness teams), and were greeted by many of the other missionaries and their kids. It was great to see them again. The ONU team dined with Mike and Diane Chapman, the work and witness team coordinators, and I ate with Nathan, one of the nurses from the hospital (and the chef behind the night's wonderful meal) and learned about his family back home on one of the eastern islands of PNG. I became the dishwasher for the evening, which is quite a task when you're cleaning up for more than 20 people. Before retiring, I made plans to travel to the market in the morning with Adam and Stephanie Peterson.
The evening winded down with me taking a much-needed shower and then unpacking and taking inventory. All of my food made it through customs, praise the Lord! Though it did suffer some abuse from airline baggage handlers, it was all there. I will be staying in my own room in the Barnabas House until Sunday, when I will be moving to one of the doctor guest flats. There I will have my own cooking facilities and won't be in the way of the Olivet team. I went to bed around 10 because I was just exhausted, and woke up at 6 because of these lovely shrieking beetles and a cacophony of native birds, but for some reason, I didn't mind.

Thursday May 9, 2013
I spent the day shopping in Mt Hagen with Adam and Stephanie Peterson and Tim and Karla Deuel. On the way to Hagen, we stopped at the Nazarene Bible College and picked up Peni and his family. Peni is a man from Samoa who is teaching Wesleyan theology at the Bible College. I talked with him for the rest of the drive and learned a good deal about Samoa.
Missionary shopping consists of hopping from store to store, realizing that you need to buy something in a store that you've already been to, and returning to that store before moving on. Needless to say it was a lengthy excursion. At Best Buy (not what you're thinking) I bought enough groceries to get me through several weeks. My souvenier collection also expanded from the works of street vendors. I bought a nutritious lunch consisting of a meat pie and an ice cream cone.
The last stop in Hagen was the market, which is quite an interesting place. Hundreds of people are trying to sell their goods (mainly fruits and vegetables, but also clothing and live chickens) to every person who walks by. And I, being white, attracted quite a bit of attention. I ended up buying some green peppers and 2 pineapples. PNG pineapple is literally one of the greatest foods ever. My dinner was an entire pineapple.

Friday May 10, 2013
My workday consisted of bouncing back and forth around the station and seeing where I could prove useful. They have a project lined up for me, but that won't start until Monday. So I helped the Olivet team with painting three houses. One of the native men working on the houses does woodburning, so I contracted him to burn the handle of a knife I bought yesterday. I watched the entire process which took well over an hour. Lostman (that is his name) would stick shards of a coconut shell into a small bed of coals until the tips of the shards glowed red, then he would draw the design on the knife handle using the red hot coconut, blowing all the while to ensure that the tip of the shard stayed red hot. This art lesson only cost me 10 kina (less than 5 US dollars).
Several more hours of the afternoon were spent with some of the missionary kids, who were using ropes and harnesses (and the assistance of Dr. Scott Dooley) to scale about 50 feet up a tree. I aided in using a rope to hoist the climber up, which is tortune on one's hands after a while.

Saturday May 11, 2013
I got my first day in thee hospital today and spent the morning making rounds in the surgical ward with Dr. Pyle, and then in the maternity, medical, paediatric, and ER wards with Dr. Mel (one of the native PNG doctors). After 6 hours, I took a break and ate a quick lunch before returning to the ER. In the ER, I helped Dr. Mike, a visiting doctor from Tennessee, suture a 8cm wound on a man's head. Dr. Mike refered to this wound as a "filet" because it was very deep, but thankfully missed the man's skull by millimeters. In the ER, there were 3 different people with wounds sustained from bushknives (what we call machetes). It's really sad to see, especially since many of these attacks occur within the family. I finally got internet and thus I am finally updating. Please keep me and the Olivet team in your prayers that we would be able to efffectively serve the people of PNG!

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Comments

[Larry Ferren]

Great Report
I hope Brian sees these comments. If so, I want you to know that you write great reports. I am reading them all to keep up on your progress. Keep them coming. L. Ferren

[Samantha]

Meat Pie.
Thankful you are eating healthy meat pies & ice cream. I was worried about your nutrition. I also don't know if I can keep reading if you're going to keep posting details about the ER & cuts & such. BUT. I am praying for you often. Proud of you. Thankful you are there & doing what God wants you to do & using the gifts He's given you.