"Bush Church" on Easter Sunday.

Mt. Hagen

Yesterday we went into town to do a bit of shopping. The girls had went down last monday, but ben and I hadn't had a chance to go yet because we have been working in the hospital. Hagen, as the natives call it (pronounced like Haagen Daz(?) ice cream), was such a neat place. We started off at bestbuy as sarah had previously posted about, and then went to the open air market. Everything was so cheap and fresh. We ended the morning there with lunch at the highlander hotel, a nice place with a pool and salad that's safe to eat!

When we came back to the house yesterday afternoon we heard lots of shouting and singing in the distance. We are pretty close to a local market/intersection for the area. The hospital is situated historically between two different tribal lands, and it just so happens that these tribes have a long history of not getting along. When we first heard the shouting and whistles and such we assumed it was a wedding or someone naming a bride-price (which is a common occurence here). But then we heard the gunshots and we started to have our doubts. Apparently these two tribes, whose names elude me at the moment, were rioting and fighting with one another. Keep in mind this is probably a few hundred yards from where we're staying (we have been told we are safe on the hospital station compound, as there is a fence up and they have security). The rioters (who are young, drunk, men for the most part) aren't really representing their tribal leadership and the missionaries here were telling us that they will be in trouble for starting a mess. And for your peace of mind know that it wasn't the rioters shooting guns- the police were trying to disperse the crowds- the rioters were just throwing rocks and wielding the occassional bush-knife. One of the tribal leaders told a missionary doctor if any of his young men came into the hospital hurt to not treat them for a while and let them suffer a bit so that they'll remember next time.

We were up early for a wonderful easter sunrise service with the missionaries here. Best time i've had in a while as these truly are people who've left their families, homes and lives to come and bring the gospel and health care to such a needy place. Sarah and I are off to a bush church this morning with a missionary and his family where he will be preaching. Take care and know we love you all very much and cherish your prayers. We are doing well and are safe!! Pictures will be posted soon.

BAD IDEA

Today I learned a very important lesson: DON'T BUY CLEARANCE FOOD IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES! When we were shopping yesterday I saw some delicious looking Tim Tam cookies in the clearance rack. For those who know me well, you know that I cannot resist a bargain. After dinner tonight I was anticipating a scrumptious treat but was shocked to find a bubbly mouldy mutant chocolate cookie! GROSS! Ben was the only one brave enough to try it. Please remember him in your prayers as we fear that the mouldy mutant cookie will come back to haunt him!

Sik haus (hospital in Pidgin)

So, today was my second day at Kudjip Hospital. It is such a different world of medicine. For one thing most standard treatments and work-ups are just not possible due to lack of resources and equipment, but it is very cool how resourceful the doctors here are with such a wide variety of diseases. I have been spending much of my time trying to pick up just enough pidgin to make it in the hospital, but still have to have a great deal of help. For instance, to ask someone to take a deep breath you would say, "tak 'em wind down below". Much of Pidgin is actual english words, but there are so many that aren't it's hard to follow.

Yesterday a man came into the "ER". I was in clinic with one of the doctors and a nurse came and asked us to help, the missionary doctor told me to go and evaluate the man. His name is Kanua Dua, and he is the leader of a tribe here, he is apparently responsible for taking care of a large number of people. He was climbing a tree for some unknown reason and fell out of the tree about 30 feet up, landing directly on his buttocks. He could not move either of his legs and he had large, tender, deformity on his lumbar spine, probably indicating broken vertebrae. In the U.S. this would be a shock trauma with a team of doctors and nurses working on him, neurosurgery would be consulted and medical students would maybe be doing a few things to help out. In PNG this is a different situation, I was the person responsible for managing him, I did the evaluation, neuro exam, ordered x-rays, read the x-rays, ordered medications and developed the plan. I'll tell you this was a very daunting task for me, but it was definitely a learning/growing experience. He did indeed have a broken L2 vertebrae, but i think he was fortunate enough to be below his spinal cord and was spared a more significant injury. Later in the day Kanua Dua regained the use of his legs, and though he is still bed bound, I am hopeful for a very good outcome for him. Today I saw him on inpatient rounds and had the opportunity to talk to him about how fortunate he was to be alive, to have feeling and sensation in his legs and the hope of getting up and walking. We prayed together and thanked God for his wonderful grace and healing powers that were so evident in this situation. Praise God that this hospital is here to help those in need, but to also proclaim the gospel and bring hope to lives for eternity.

Shopping Trip To Mt. Hagen

Yesterday, one the missionaries named Judy took the new ladies shopping. This was no regular trip to the grocery store! Before we left the mission compound we picked up our security man, Simon, who came to watch the van as we went shopping. That in itself is not unusual but our friend Simon carried what appeared to be a small sword! Don't worry, mom, it was for intimidation purposes only... I think :)

Seeing men carrying large knives is not an unusual thing in Papua New Guinea. Driving into town we saw dozens of men standing at the side of the road holding machetes in their hands. They claim that they are for cutting trees and working in their garden, but I've been told many carry them for protection. PNG's machete is the primative version of USA's hand gun, but in PNG it is very clear who is carrying a weapon.

Anyway, back to the shopping trip. We bought most of our groceries at a shop called Best Buy (sorry, no electronics here)! If I could describe the store in two words I would say, dirty and hot! Air conditioning does not exist in PNG. Most of the cans and boxes on the self were rusty and dusty. My hands were black with dirt by the end of the trip.

Shopping in Mt. Hagen was fun, but a little overwhelming at times. Familiar foods and brands were difficult to find. When we did see something familiar it was very, very expensive. A can of Ole El Paso refried beans was $5 (we pay less than $1 in the U.S.)!!! A box of Kellog's Rice Krispies was $7. Thankfully there was food at a resonable price so we were able to put something in our carts.

My favorite part of the trip was going to the open air market. I have never seen anything like it before. There were people everywhere and hundreds of fruit and veggie stands. The produce was incredibly fresh looking and it was so cheap compared to prices in N. America! Fresh tomatoes were 15cents each, pineapples were 75cents each, green peppers were 25cents each... it was amazing (and much more encouraging than $5 refried beans)!

We've arrived!!!

Hey there everyone. Sarah will be posting a longer blog later today, but i'm up early with the new time zone and everything and so I thought I would include a little update on our trip. We got in yesterday around noon papua new guinea time, i think around 3 am CST with a day differnce. We had a 28 hour trip and praise God, no serious bumps in the road for us. PNG is absolutely beautiful, sarah will include some pictures later on. We're staying in an old missionary house with our friends with the Kumor's. It was really a surpize how nice these houses and the whole compound is in general. The hospital is definitely a third world hospital, but many, many people receive health care here and hear the gospel, so God's kingdom is moving forward. Please pray for us for continued health, for strong steadfast hearts as we are in a new land with new challenges- and pray that God would reveal His heart of love for the poor, broken and down-trodden to us and his wonderful grace and healing power to the people of PNG. I promise in future posts I'll have funny stories to tell and great things that are happening here. Take care.

Visa's done... priceless

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Mastercard commercials that have the "Priceless" punch-line. Many of you have been praying that these visas that will allow us to go to Papua New Guinea would come through, well those prayers have been answered. They are now up at the Huebner's household in Bourbonnais, IL. Due to flights within PNG itself it looks like our departure date will be the 14th of March. We're heading up to the chicago area on thursday of this week and split a couple of days up in Canada with sarah's parents and at Barry and Gayle's house. We really appreciate the prayers that many of you have been throwing up on our behalf. Look here for future posts about our time in PNG. Take care.