It is currently 12pm Sunday we are on our way from PNG to Manila. Just want to tell you about yesterday. Being Saturday there were no schools to do, but Pastor Holmes and the church folk wanted to do some thing very special for us. We were planning on first going to parlament, but they were closed. We saw the place that Bro Brooks was mugged, we then went to a craft type market that sold PNG souvenirs at a much better price that the stores.
One thing I don't understand about PNG is the price of everything from gas to food to vehicles to everyday items. It is so high. Anyways we were able to buy some gifts and then we headed over to the church where they had a special surprise for us. They bought a live pig that they were going to cook us for supper. They found out that I did not eat pork so they also bought a live chicken (which I told them not to - but that is always a futile cause according to Bro Brooks) They had the boys kill the pig and then they bled and gutted it. Then they dug a pit and put wood in it and covered the wood with stones. They then wrapped the pig in tinfoil and cut up some potatoes and threw them on the pig. After the stones were hot the removed them and put the pig in the pit on some of the stones, put stones over top and then covered the stones with banana leaves and a tarp and left it to cook for 1/2hour. The boys played volleyball put side and hung out.
Unfortunately Ob was not feeling well, had heat stroke symptoms. After the meat was cooked they put together a spread of meat, vegetables, salad, bottled water and Coke. Finishing with watermelon and ice cream bars.
We then played some more volleyball after supper when it had cooled down. I am guessing that their were about 50 of their church people present. These people are so generous, they did anything they could to take care of us. Many did not eat or had the treats we had. You could sense a sacrificial love. These people have so little compared to us yet they were willing to give all. We learned alot about sacrifice. In the end we had to say goodbye, it was very hard, some had tears, and very touching words of how we were a blessing to them and a great encouragement to them. But to me they were the encouragement. I saw that when we were trying to buy souvenirs Mrs Holmes was making sure that we were getting a good deal and I even seen her take a 5 Kina of her own money to make sure one of our guys got an item that he wanted and the seller would not go down to the desired price. She gave gifts to us to give to our families that I seen prices of 40-50 Kina each. It touched my heart to see what is important to them. This trip has made an impact on my life. I was able to spend time talking to Bro and Mrs Holmes and hearing their stories. They have been through the fire and came out as gold, they are truly hero's of the faith and have invested their lives into others who faithfully follow their leadership.
One of their men (Nicky) who was with us at many of the schools is a faithful man of the church, he was taught by the missionary and has been teaching in their Bible college for over 30 years and also helped teach Bro Holmes. Also there was another man who drove with us whose name was Akso. He is a great servant. He used to be a carpenter and had his own business, but he gave it up to be a servant of the church. At one point the church's pastor left and the new building was only half completed Bro Akso took on the completion of the building, he runs the church van to help transport people, also looks after the maintenance for the buildings and vehicles. And the list could go on. Although they have a fairly large church they have minimal material goals, their focus is on the souls of men.
I am thankful to have the privilege of meeting these great people, part of my heart will remain there. Thank you for helping make this trip possible it has been a great experience and touched our lives.
We do look forward to being home again, we all miss you guys and look forward to fellowshiping again with you.
God bless
Bro Wiebe
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