Ukurumpa Life

Our time here in Papua New Guinea, although different from what we had anticipated has been full of blessings. The renovation project on the teen center has been coming along slow and steady. Which truly is encouraging to see. It is something tangible that is growing each day and we see the results of our labor. Also we have been blessed so much by the community here. Different families have gone out of their way to have us over for meals. So here is a big shout out to the Clements, Russells and the Banks. Thank you so much for opening your homes and tables to us and especially thank you for the friendship that you have shown to we three. Just recently the opportunity came up to go on a medical excursion to a small village. As we pulled up in our land cruiser all of the small children of the village ran behind the SUV yelling and waving with big smiles on their faces. In the village everyone was bare feet and lived in small grass huts. Playing with the kids and entertainment fell upon us as the nurses examined the babies and sick in the village. So we played games with the kids and mostly ran around laughing and chasing them. We also had the chance to put on a small concert for the village which was a fantastic sight. A whole village gathered around the three of us while we sang worship songs and praised our Lord. They kept shouting for more songs every time we tried to stop. But eventually one of the guitar strings gave out and it brought the music to an end. This past weekend we were honored to be asked to chaperone the grade 12 guys road trip to Lae, a small city on the coast. The weekend was an amazing time of swimming, playing full contact sports and having some amazing talks with the guys. It was such a privilege getting to know these young men who are about to be stepping into a new world of work, university and figuring out a new step in life. We got to share our stories about college and what we have experienced since leaving high school. We are hoping to see some of these guys in November when we get home attending FGBC, the college we all went to. Tomorrow is our last full day here in Ukurumpa and although we are excited to get back on the road we will also be sad to leave such good friends behind and the distinct land of PNG. This far corner of the world although remote and difficult to get to is an amazing place. It is a land of contrasts, people who can be ferocious warriors and also the most friendly loving people willing to walk an extra mile to help a person out. Because of the tribal living here it is still a country of different dialects, tribal warfare and close family bonds , but it lacks the unity as a whole nation because of these unique aspects. I do not think that we will find a place like it in the rest of the world. We have been blessed to be here, it has left a mark on all three of us in many distinct ways. Lehmann

Life on the Colony

A few months ago when booking plane tickets I thought to myself, If we fly into Bali Indonesia it's really close to Papua New Guinea so we should have no trouble finding transport into the country. Well we did find transport but I wouldn’t exactly say that it was easy. After 2 small domestic flights, 4 days stranded in a small town, 1 day sitting in a consulate office for visas, 5 hours in an extremely smelly cramped mini bus and 1 walk across a river we have arrived. I would like to say it is the hardest travel we have done so far but fortunate for us most people in this county actually speak English making finding information extremely. I must say that the people of PNG are the most friendly people we have met in the 12 countries so far. Everyone we meet goes out of their way to guide us around. We even had a fellow take us around the entire town of Vanimo. Vanimo is a small town on the border of PNG. We arrived to this town in hopes of catching a boat south seeing as how roads do not exist. We found out the boat comes once a week and just left the previous day. So we booked a flight hoping to leave the next day. After them filling the plane without us we had to wait out the weekend, then on Monday the plane didn’t show up and so Tuesday late afternoon we took the 2 hour 10 passenger plane to the city of Madang, city of flying foxes (gigantic bats filling the skies). With hearts of expectation we entered PNG and being stranded in Vanimo was one of those moments where you keep looking over your shoulder wondering what God had up His sleeve. Well, we were quickly introduced to the Mr. John Barry. John came to PNG as a lay missionary years ago and today runs a shipping company and grocery store. We were told he had a cheap guesthouse for us to stay in. What the town people don't know is that by cheap he means free! Vanimo is a peninsula beach town and in fact feels just like a small island. Every person we walked by said hello and most shook our hands. We quickly found ourselves on the beach with about 25 little black kids, throwing them through the air into the water and building sweet sand castles. We had a great time and yet again God was faithful to cross our paths with many people giving us multiple opportunities to share our faith. We eventually got to Madang and took the 5 hour van ride up to the mountains of PNG. The highway bridge was out so we walked across and transferred vans a very interesting experience. When we arrived to Ukarumpa it was like nothing was had expected or hoped. We are pretty much living on a missionary version of a Hutterite colony. This is a center for people translating the Bible into the surrounding tribal languages and so the missionaries all kind of conglomerate together. I am positive it is the biggest missionary center in the world. With over 1000 missionaries all living in one small gated community. So we found ourselves doing to prep to frame an addition on the youth building. We had high hopes of living and working in some foreign village in the heart of PNG and this place is sure foreign alright but in a whole different way. The people here are great and we know that God has things in store. The work that Wycliff does here is fascinating and we are pleased to be a part of it for this short time. Dan