A quick intro to me:  I am retired Navy, 25 years of service to our country, and have called Crosspoint my home Church since 2008. Yvette and I have been involved with HYPE, Small (community) groups, and I have been your bookkeeper for a few years.

Having the opportunity to participate in the Ethnos360 Central Conference this past Sep/Oct was something I did not have on my life ‘bucket list’ so to speak. I would not have taken a trip to Papua New Guinea on my own volition.  I was working in Japan at the time of the request to form a team to provide support for an annual conference for missionaries who have been in the ‘bush’ and will be coming together as a group to be rejuvenated in the spirit and to enjoy gathering with each other to rekindle friendships with the other missionaries around the region.

Yvette reminds me that I need to listen for God speaking/guiding me in direction for my life.  I tend to just go my own way in life, and then struggle when it doesn’t go my way.  So, as I looked through my calendar, the trip was ‘perfectly aligned with dates that had already been planned.  So, with no idea what this would entail, I volunteered my name to be part of the team of 8, if there was a need for me to go. 

A lot of prayer for direction on what I would/could contribute to the team, as I am not a preacher or teacher of the word, not a VBS coordinator.  I have skills and gifts, yes, just not sure how those would be used to make this mission trip better.

The travel from Eureka to Papua New Guinea seemed pretty smooth for the most part to me.

We arrived in Sobega and as we were driving towards our base, I was looking out the car window at the local people walking. I could see nothing in their eyes. It seemed to me that they were just surviving with no purpose or Hope. The eyes seemed lifeless. It was weird to me, as I have not seen that before. I have traveled a lot, most people have some sort of purpose in their eyes, not these people.

We made it to the Central base camp and began to meet some of the families that have been living in PNG, It felt like we had been friends for much longer than a day or two.  I met some of the teens studying for their midterm finals, and was able to listen to how they talked to each other in positive / uplifting ways.  I was more involved with assisting Anna, Becky & Jess with VBS than I was with the tribal briefings and teaching sessions.  I did provide a short topic during a session on the topic of God’s authority in relation to the creation story.  During VBS, I was able to interact with both groups of children, as well as get to know the teens that volunteered to help with VBS.  Watching the teens interact with the little kids was also amazing.   They were kind, patient and helpful with the children as well as the adult leaders .

During our breakout time with just the teenagers made me feel like I was back in my ‘HYPE’ days, a decade ago, We dove into topics meant to challenge and provoke thought with the teens.  We also played many games, waterslide, sat by the bon fire, ate candy and drank new sodas.  We prayed together, played together, talked about pasts and futures together, and built friendships together.

All that happened in 4 days! 

THEN, we went to Kuyu to see where the Kuyu team lives, and to meet the Kuyu people.  The Kuyu ‘tribe’  welcomed us to their village with arms waving and smiles on every face as we flew to the landing pad. Handshakes from every age as we walked through the people.  I could see something in their eyes, it seemed an expectant look of something positive. Not sure what they wanted from us, and I was excited to interact with these people.  Being me and with my personality, it was like meeting my next best friends for the first time, lol.  We unpacked our bags, and immediately went out to begin work on a new learning center building/structure.  It had just rained a bit, so the clay was soooooo slick, many of us fell while walking to the site.  This allowed the locals to just laugh at us and begin to develop that male humor necessary to accomplish any task we set out to accomplish.  I was able to bond with many of the men as I shared a photo album/book of my family members describing each of my family to them with the assistance of Michael LeBlanc as my translator.  Not sure my ‘Submarine life’ was actually understood, but they did really appreciate my son’s 25 lb Salmon picture.

We worked hard the first and second day completing the structure, ready for the men to put the roofing and siding on after we would depart.  Even though there was zero language connection, I feel there was some real emotional connection with some of the men I met.  Some of the men seem to have ‘hope’ in their eyes for the future of knowing Truth when it is finally taught to them.

Being able to spend time in the homes of the Ames, LeBlanc and Devalve families was a great opportunity to really meet and get to know them personally was truly a blessing. As we financially and prayerfully support these missionaries, it is now more personal.  Now, I have a mild understanding of what they experience on a daily routine.  I have a renewed desire to support these families as they pursue teaching Truth to the Kuyu people. Spending a couple days with the Ames family back at base camp was sweet. Their whole family cared and gave so much to us as we were there, just an abundance of love was shown by them at every turn.  We toured base camp to see the entire operation to support missionaries in the bush. From the high school, medical & dental clinics, grocery store, housing, bush shipping dept, printing office, admin, etc.  We also went into town for a souvenir excursion, the Ames’ translated for us each time we wanted to buy something.

One thing that caught my attention;  The missionary kids do not really know the language of the tribes they live with.  Only the adults really know the languages.  Maybe because the high school kids typically spend much of their time at base camp in school, and the little kids are still learning english.  Just a note of thought for me.

As I now reflect on what my purpose was in this trip to PNG.  I feel that God wanted to show me more of His family that I had not even considered. I take away the amount of resources to support the field missionary. In many ways it is similar to a military operation, supported from base camp, providing resources to the field by people that are most often unseen.  As I pray for His guidance and direction for our lives, I feel drawn to be more involved in the supporting aspect of mission work. Not sure what that means yet, and I will continue to listen.

Things still running around in my head:

6 flights to Kuyu, Cassowary, Izzy the CousCous, Slippery clay hillsides, dried bananas & potatoes, carrying trees to building site, sharing life with the guys, burrito thing, cappuccino’s with Morgan, the market in Sobega, VBS, waterslide, 9-square, fireside chats, bunkbeds with Phil, 24 hr flu, teenagers, Phoebe’s playroom, vastness of untouched wilderness in PNG as we flew to Kuyu, pilots, aviation fuel guys, Roy (outcast young man with mental challenges)