From the top of a Mountain runway to the South Pacific

May 22, 2012 -tues

I had to write to you today to tell you about one of the most amazing days of my life! It started with getting up 5:15 am this morning ( a feat in itself),  and going to the small airport in Ukarumpa with Dave and Jean  for our flight to Madang! It was chilly and misty with a pretty low-lying fog. The SIL pilot of our 6 seater plane said we could not take off until we could see the end of the runway … and then the hill beyond that we had to clear…so around 8:00 am we all prayed together and headed out.  We took off seamlessly and headed thru the thick white clouds up into the beautiful blue skies.  Pretty soon we saw amazing tree covered mountains, rivers and even a waterfall. We had to stop and pick up 2 people on the way. The pilot told us the village was on top of the mountain top and we had a really short grass runway and then it dropped off! Yikes….. when we circled around we saw grass huts sprinkling  the top  of the mountain which was plateau like. He landed perfectly and all the villagers were standing around waiting to get a look at us. They looked like something out of National Geographic, holding their handmade bows and arrows! I went over to them and asked them if I could take their pictures! They were so excited and then I showed them their pics. There must have been 40 or 50 people and me-the only white-skin!! I showed them pics of Adriane  and mike and Hunter that I had on my camera too! hee-hee! They all chew something call buai, which makes their teeth and gums all red! I had to get over that! Ewww. Most places that say no drinking, no smoking and no buai…so I think it gets them high! And I won’t even get started about the lack of deodorant!  I will save that for another time. Then we picked up a pregnant village woman and her little girl because she was in labor and took her into Madang.  It is amazing to see all these village people. This is why the bible translators are working so hard to get Gods word in their language. So they might be saved! There are many PNG natives that are believers! But many more that are not! The plane ride was breathtaking with the mountains and the beautiful blue and green waters along the coast. This was the SOUTH PACIFIC!  I cannot wait to be able to upload pictures for you!!! I took a zillion, But it will probably not be until Thurs nite or Friday. After we landed they took us to the missionary guest house ...which is on the water! My flat is 2 bedrooms with a big front porch on stilts. I am surrounded by palm trees and tropical trees. God is so great! I never would have imagined this day and that He would send me here!  Our air conditioned office overlooks the water…but outside it is also about 90 degrees and high humidity! Everyone goes snorkeling here and if I work fast I might be able to do that tomorrow. The SIL Regional Manager for the province lives here and his wife invited me to a kids club for locals tomorrow, so I would love to go. Our compound is fenced and gated and we are not allowed out at nite. So I am working tonite here in my lovely flat, sitting on the porch writing to you and  I will be  auditing here for 3 days by myself and then back to Ukarumpa! It is a tough job but someone’s got to do it!!!  Glad the Lord called me this time! I am so relaxed and enjoying the pace of life, even though we are working hard.  So I just wanted to thank you for praying!! God has blessed me beyond anything I could have imagined and I am so thankful! It makes being away from home for so long worth it! I do miss you all and can’t wait to share more. I hope all is well at home and would love to know what you all are up too!

Lots of Love, Anne

Ps ok things have changed a bit….now that the sun has gone down. The biggest bug I have ever seen just snuck up on my kitchen table to let me know he’s in town… and scared me to death.  I jumped around for a bit and tried to get him outside, but I am not sure if this is futile or not!I forgot for a moment there are huge bugs in the tropics! Ewwwwwwww! This could be a long nite!!!