A Birds Eye View!

Hello Everyone,

Last Saturday the 11th of July we had a helicopter come to the station to deliver a patient. Her name is Marty and she and her husband have been missionaries in PNG for 47 1/2 years. She needed a doctor's attention for her knee that has been bothering her. I know that she would appreciate your prayers.

While the helicopter was on station Dr. Bill McCoy and Mike Chapman talked with the pilot about the possibility of going up to get aerial photos of the Mission Compound and especially the new hospital buildings. The pilot was agreeable to this so Mike Chapman and Josiah Radcliffe (an MK & aspiring pilot) had the opportunity to go up and take pictures of the compound and the area around. Actually, in the short time they were up Mike took around 430 pictures. A humorous story that came about from this opportunity, was that before they could go up to get their pictures Uncle Bill came by the basketball court where we were playing a game with CLTC (Christian Leadership Training College & if you could magnify the picture you would see all of us on the court playing) and asked about jumper cables. They needed to jump the helicopter to get it started again before they could go up for the photo shoot! I believe I heard someone say it had a bad alternator. Needless to say they had a very safe, sound and fun time. As you can see in the top photo I have labeled some of the points of interest so you know what you are looking at. The bottom picture is showing you on a big scale what is around us. The new hospital is in the center of the picture.

Photos by Mike Chapman

Article by Jeff

US Ambassador to PNG makes stop at Nazarene Hospital

Kudjip Nazarene Hospital was honored to host US Ambassador Leslie Rowe for a visit this past week. Ambassador Rowe has been in this position since 2006. Dr. James Radcliffe stated that "as far as he can remember Nazarene Hospital has not been visited by a US Ambassador before." Ambassador Rowe said, "that when traveling she tries to meet with the Americans in the area." She went on to say that she, "had heard of Nazarene Hospital and the wonderful work that goes on there long before they came." She was met at the hospital, upon arrival, by Mike Chapman (Project Manager of construction for new hospital), Scot Riggins (Field Finance and Admin.) and Dr. Susan Myers (Director of Medical Services for Nazarene Hospital). Ambassador Rowe and staff members were taken on a motor tour of the Mission Station followed by a tour of the old and new hospital buildings where they greeted and talked briefly to patients. This was followed by a time of refreshments and a Town Hall time of sharing with the US citizens at Nazarene Hospital. A great time was had sharing and listening to Ambassador Rowe share about her time as Ambassador in PNG.

During our town hall meeting Ambassador Rowe stated, that the US Embassy's first priority was the safety of US Citizens living and working within Papua New Guinea. She also shared that she has a heart for the battered women of PNG. She has a great interest in the HIV care of the people of Papua New Guinea and has worked hard to secure medicines that are used to help and treat HIV. Ambassador Rowe shared that one of the high points of her time here in PNG as Ambassador was this past August when the Mercy Hospital ship came into Port Moresby and provided medical care to Nationals in Port Moresby, Central and Oro provinces. The Mercy Hospital Ship was here almost 2 weeks and saw 25,000 patients and performed close to 400 surgeries.

It was a great visit and a privilege to have our US Ambassador come and see the work that goes on here at Nazarene Hospital. I believe that the children and adults alike had a wonderful time meeting and getting to know our Ambassador.

Story and Photos by Jeff Myers
group photo taken by Kim of Embassy staff

Through Jesus Film, 16 Surrender Their Lives to Christ Easter Weekend

Easter, a time when we celebrate what our Savior did for us. A time when we look and try to understand the horrors of the cross and see the great love Jesus has for each one of us. A love that took Him to the cross and kept Him there. It is also a time to look at the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to realize that because of His resurrection we too can have power over hell and the grave, because He lives! It was with these thoughts and the knowledge that many still need to hear and know Jesus, which prompted Dr. Susan, Director of Medical Services for Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in PNG, to request and organize the showing of the Jesus Film in the hospital over the Easter weekend. Easter is about the hope that only Jesus can give and many patients at the hospital need to know that hope. Thousands of people are in-patients throughout the year at Nazarene Hospital and many of them still need to know Jesus. On Saturday evening before Easter the Jesus Film was shown to over 100 people. These people are patients and the friends and family who came to stay and take care of the needs of the patients while they are in the hospital. The Jesus Film was shown on the surgical ward the first night but was open to all who wanted to come and watch. Some were sitting or lying in their beds and others came and sat on the floor or stood in the door way to watch the film. At the conclusion Dr. Susan spoke briefly to those present and prayed with them. She also asked if there were any present who prayed the sinner’s prayer that was spoken at the end of the Jesus Film and had accepted Jesus into their lives. Hands went up saying, yes, I accepted Jesus into my heart! Several of the missionary family were on hand to pray with each of these people and to also pray with those who said that they were Christians but just wanted someone to pray with them. That first night 13 people said that they had accepted the Lord as their personal Savior!

Easter Sunday evening we set up and showed the Jesus Film again, only this time we set up on the medical ward of the hospital. Like the evening before we opened up the showing of the Jesus Film to all present in all 4 wards. On Sunday night around 75 people came to see the Jesus Film. Dr. Susan greeted the people and we showed the film. At the conclusion Chaplain Moses, Chaplain for Kudjip Nazarene Hospital shared a few closing thoughts and asked if anyone had given their hearts to Jesus that night. There were 3 more people who said that they had asked Jesus to be Lord of their lives and like the night before several others wanted someone to come and pray with them.

I ask you to pray for these 16 people who gave their hearts and lives to Jesus over the Easter weekend. Pray that God will strengthen them and help them to walk a holy life with Him. Thank you to Jesus Film for the Pidgin version of the film that they have created. Our Papua New Guinea Nationals were able to hear about God’s love in their own language and know that He died for them because He loves them. Thanks also to our missionary family that helped with set up and take down and who were there to help pray with those who wanted prayer. But most importantly thank you to our Heavenly Father for the victory of those 16 souls who now know His love.

Across the Ocean, the Final Chapter!

Leaving the Continental US we start the final leg of our journey home. Before we arrive in PNG we have one last stop to make, destination, Hawaii. Let me say right here that our visit to Hawaii was far better than we could have ever imagined! As our LINKS district they went out of their way to make us feel at home and make sure that we had a wonderful time. We spoke at Honolulu First Church and had a great time with the people there. They welcomed us warmly with greetings and smiles and the traditional Hawaiian Lea. We felt their love and support for missions. Sunday night we spoke again at Honolulu First but this time many of the 14 churches on Oahu were represented. Again it was a wonderful time of sharing, meeting new friends and seeing an old friend, Dr. Birchard, who has been a volunteer here at Kudjip Hospital. We thank the Lord for these wonderful people and the time that we could share with them what God is doing in Papua New Guinea. We really appreciate Pastor Rick and Vicki Power for going above and beyond the call of duty to help us have a great time in Hawaii and in opening their home to us! While in Hawaii we took in the sites and experienced a lot of firsts. For Jeff and the kids this was there very first time in Hawaii, Susan visited once on her way to PNG as a senior in college.

A special thanks goes out to Toby, from Honolulu First Church, who made Jeff's Hawaiian visit complete by knowing right where they used to film "Magnum PI". Maybe not so much for Susan and the kids, but for Jeff, he was excited. We saw the site of "Robin's Nest" the "Magnum Guest House" and the "Tidal Pool" the was used in the show. We even got to see where TC had his Island Hoppers office and where he landed his helicopter, cool! We also hiked up Diamond Head Crater to look around. What a fantastic view! We had a super view of Diamond Head Lighthouse and of Downtown Honolulu. We also visited Makapu'u Lighthouse. We made sure we had time for the sand and sea and had a blast with the crew of the outrigger canoe, as we rode the waves. The emotional high point was of course our visit to the Arizona Memorial. I believe that all of us left there with a sense of the sacrifice made by our men in the armed forces during the attack on Pearl Harbor. To all of our Service Men and Women, through the years to present, thank you for all that you are doing or have done to make our country the great country that it is!! We were also blessed to enjoy a 2 night stay at Waikiki Beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was beautiful and it was very cool to be able to walk out right onto the beach. We could go on and on because it was a wonderful time, a time to relax following the furlough trail and before we hopped on our next plane to continue our trip across the Pacific Ocean.

Alas, that time came, and as we winged our way from Hawaii to Australia our thoughts turned to PNG and our next term of service. We flew to Sydney, Australia and then on up to Brisbane where we spent the night before boarding the next flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. We arrived in Port Moresby, made it through customs alright and passed through the inspection of our luggage with minimal questions and moved along to the domestic terminal for the final flight home to Kagamuga airport, Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Provence. We checked in with no problems and sat down to wait for our flight to the Highlands, which took a little bit of time. Finally we are able to board our plane and we take off for Kagamuga. Normally this flight is about an hour long but when storms are brewing and doing their thing in the Highlands it can make landing an option, not a forgone conclusion. So when our hour was about up the pilot came on and said we are getting close and as we got closer he began to circle around the airport area. You see when there are storms in and around Kagamuga the clouds can obscure the airport to the point that the pilots cannot see well enough to land. The pilot came back on the PA system and informed us of this. Well, I would like to say that after you have been traveling for the final month of your furlough and living out of a suite case and in the last 24 hours have been in the air many hours the last thing you want to do is fly back one more hour to Port Moresby to overnight just to try it again the next day! So, I prayed earnestly "Lord, I don't want to go back, I want to land! Could you part the clouds just like you did for Moses and the Red Sea?!" We flew in circles and finally the pilot came on over the PA system and said basically, "We will make one more go 'round, if we can't land we will head back to Port Moresby." Some where in all of this I am thinking to myself, "I can't believe this, this is the second time this has happened to us returning to Mt. Hagen!" But just like the last time it took place, the Lord parted the clouds and we were able to land! Thank you Lord! We were greeted by Mike and Dianne Chapman. It was good to see familiar faces! We loaded up the Land Cruiser and headed out for our 30 minute drive back to our home on the compound of Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in the Western Highland of Papua New Guinea, where we will serve another 2 year term.

Wrapping Up the Furlough Trail

I know that it has been a while since we last updated you on the happenings of the Myers clan, so the time has come to do just that. Since our last article much has taken place and many miles have been covered. As we started out the new year our first district tour of 2009 took us to Central California where we made some wonderful friends and had a great time sharing in the churches what God is doing in PNG. We spent a week with Luella and Damon Ashford at their home as we toured around Central California. Luella has served in the past as District NMI President and took excellant care of us!! We visited and had a great time sharing with kids and adults alike at 10 different churches across the district. We had a super day taking in the awesome sights of Sequoia National Park with Pastor Ron Fleming and his family! It is truly hard to believe that a tree could grow so large and be so incredibly old!! Only our Heavenly Creator could make something so fantastic! It was also neat to see all of the varous kinds of orchards hat grow in Central California. The Monday morning that we had planned to go the the coast and visit a beach with Jim and Christine Thompson, lovely folk of Pixley Nazarene, Susan received a phone call that her Dad needed to have immediate open heart surgery . Our hosts graciously loaded us up and made a trip to LAX so that Susan could fly home to be with her Dad and family during this time. Thanks! On that note, Susan's Father is doing very well and is currently (the last we heard) walking up to a mile and a half several days a week! We thank the Lord for His blessings!


Following our time in California we had 2 weekend trips to churches that we had special ties with because of special friends who attend and pastor there. First up was Denton Maryland where we were able to spend some time with Pastor Hal and Joyce Parry. Pastor Hal was our pastor at East Liberty CON on the East Ohio District while Susan was in residency at Akron Children's Hospital. It was great to see them again and to be able to watch the Superbowl together even though the Cardinals lost to the despicable Steelers. (Sorry Steelers fans but I am a loyal BROWNS fan) Next up we traveled to Roxana, Illinois where we met up with, after many years, Doug and Jan Krasow. Doug was our district Impact Team Director when I was in high school and did a great job working with us. He was the right man to work with a bunch of angelic (OK sometimes ornery) high school kids. We were sad when the Lord moved him on to his next assignment. With both families it felt as if years had never passed and such it is with the family of God!

On February the 10th we said our goodbyes to family and friends back home in the "Great State" of Ohio and headed out to the West Coast again. We flew out to LAX where we were met by Gordon and Pat Johnston, former missionaries to PNG. They were a tremendous help as they stored 5 pieces of our return luggage, fed us and helped us find a place to stay over night. It was all fun and we had a great time visiting with them and spending the night at Casa Robles Guest House.

The next day we headed to the Northwest District, Washington. We had never been to this part of the country before so we were looking forward to it. It was beautiful! Come to think of it, I don't know if we have ever visited an ugly part of the country, if such a place even exists! We have a beautiful Nation to live in! I will say this, people from Washington and Idaho kept telling us there were Moose around, how they see them all the time. Well, let me tell you, we hunted high and low, spent extra hours getting from one church to another trying to find a Moose and never did! We believe that no Moose live in Washington and Idaho and who knows, maybe those who live there just tell visitors that so they can watch us drive all over the place looking for one little Moose! Or maybe it just wasn't our visit to see one, but it wasn't from a lack of trying! We did have a super time touring on the district. It was a gorgeous place to spend a couple of weeks.
We had fun visiting the various churches and making new friends.
It was an awesome privilege to visit Quest Aircraft Co. with Chris Grant, the NMI President at Sandpoint Nazarene, who is an engineer with Quest. We had our picture taken with the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) airplane that will arrive in PNG in the near future! MAF is importatnt to us here in PNG. They help make it possible to reach very remote places in PNG.
One of the greatest things about missionary life is all the great people we get to meet. When we get to visit and rekindle those friendships, that's icing on the cake! We got to have our "icing" as we had the privilege of spending time with our former Regional Director and his wife. It was wonderful catching up with Brent and Marty Cobb at their home and church in Lewiston, Idaho. Our next taste of the "icing" was when we shared lunch and the wonderful company of Brad and Nikolai Ballin and their daughter Cherith. Brad is a pilot and engineer for MAF and Nikolai taught our MKs here at Kudjip for 2 years, which is how she and Brad met. It is really neat how the Lord brings everything together. It was also great to see and spend time with soon to be arriving missionaries to PNG, the Kerrs. Dave and Rosie Kerr and their 2 daughters, Grace and Anna, will be arriving sometime within the next few months. They will live at Melanesia Nazarene Bible College here in the Highlands of PNG. Dave will be working at the Bible College and Rosie will be working part time as a Medical Doctor. We look forward to their arrival...and more "icing"!!
Last but not least before leaving the Continental US we traveled to Medford, Oregon to spend time with the Winter family and share at their church. We had a wonderful time together eating, talking, laughing, shopping, and playing! Jeff got to help pack a 20ft. shipping container with all kinds of stuff for Nazarene Hospital, too! Speaking at their church was special as they have had several W&W teams come to PNG and so there were familiar faces and good memories represented!
Next episode...the final journey...via the Hawaii District!

We Continue the Deputating Trail!

In November we posted an article about our deputation trail. It is now time to update you again! From November through the 1st weekend of January we have spent a little more time on the East Ohio District and the West Texas District. Harvest Church of the Nazarene is a new church on the East Ohio District. They are currently meeting in an Inn in Sugarcreek. The Spirit was good in our time of worship and fellowship. We were able to spend time with some old friends as well as make new ones!

A few days after our experience in Sugarcreek we were flying the friendly skies and on our way to Texas. This was the only District tour (not counting services on our own/home district) for which we pulled the kids out of school to join us. We had a great time!! Some of the churches we visited included Wedgwood, Euless, Denton 1st, Christ City and Arlington 1st! The people were great and we thoroughly enjoyed our services and times of sharing. We had the pleasure of meeting the father and sister of our Field Strategy Coordinator, James Johnson and were ecstatic to be able to visit with Debi, Megan and John Berk in Ada, OK!! We also got to visit some of the toursity type places including; The Chester Nimitz WW II museum in Fredericksburg, the Stockyards of Ft. Worth, the Dallas World Aquarium, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum and a Dinosaur Park where we got to see real dinosaur footprints! It was way cool!

Thanks to all of our Nazarene family on the West Texas District for your many kindnesses shown and your prayer and support of us and radio and hospital ministries in PNG!

We returned to Ohio a few days before Thanksgiving and were feeling very thankful an began anticipating and preparing ourselves for the Holidays with family... the first time since 2000!! However, deputating wasn't over yet! We spoke at Susan's parents church, Shepherd's Hill CON in Louisville, Ohio. It is always special to be with family. Susan's older brother and sister and their families were able to be there and then we all enjoyed a meal together, including Susan's younger brother and family who joined us for dinner. God is good! Thanks guys!

We experienced a respite during the remaining weeks of December but stayed busy with all the activities of school and Christmas and, of course, corresponding with churches for the remainder of our Home Assignment and speaking tours! The first Sunday in the New Year found us at the Stratton, Irondale and Shadyside Nazarene churches. We always enjoy our time with Pastor Steve Jonhson and his family and this time was no exception. Always good to be with friends!

Merry Christmas!

We wanted to take a moment of your time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. It has been wonderful to be home this Christmas with our family and friends. We wish our mission family and our world wide Church family a wonderful Christmas! As we think of Christmas may we never forget that it is because of Jesus birth that we have this season to celebrate. I hope that Jesus lives in your heart and that you know the Joy that only a personal relationship with Him can bring. If you don't know Jesus personally He is only a pray away. All that Jesus asks is that we be honest before Him. If you want Jesus in your heart all you need to do is say, "Jesus, I'm sorry for the sin in my life, please forgive me and come into my heart, I want you as my Lord and Savior."

Luke 2:15-17 "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." (16) "So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." (17) "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. . ."

My prayer for you would be, that this Christmas you would be like the shepherds. That you would find the Baby in the manger and that your life would never be the same. And like the shepherds, after you find Him, you would go out to a hurting and lost world and share what you have seen and heard.

Luke 2:20 "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

So this Christmas take a moment to worship Jesus, it is because of His birth and ultimate death and resurrection that we have a hope of one day being with Him in heaven!

Our last article focused on church related activities and prior to that our, experiences in South Africa. Now, we want to share some of the fun times we've had with family and friends. August brought the Williamson/Light family reunion on Jeff's side of the family. We played games, ate more than we should've and had fun doing it!! August also took us to a Cleveland Indians game, which sadly they lost but again we had a good time anyway! Those who enjoyed the evening events with us were Susan's brother Phill and his family, Jef'f's sister, Gay, and her family, and both sets of grandparents!

On Labor Day Jeff, Jessica, Ethan and Grandpa Myers went to the Cleveland Airshow where they got a little too much sun watching all kinds of excitement in the skies above. They enjoyed themselves immensely! Susan opted for a quiet day at the house getting caught up on paper work and correspondance.

September 6th we celebrated Jeff's parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary, the whole reason we opted to do a 3 year term instead of 2 yr. We enjoyed sharing old photos and memories with many friends and family members from over the years.

In October the kids finished their first quarter of school and both made the Honor Roll! School has gone very well!! The end of the month brought Trick or Treating and lots of candy as well as a school party and games. We were amazed at just how much people are decorating for Halloween these days! Also during the month of October we celebrated Jeff's Grandfather's 96th birthday, he might just make 100 yet, always said that he was going to live to see 100. Go get 'em Gramps!

This month, November, Jessica was selected as Student of the Month for the Louisville City Schools! We are very proud of her! Jeff, Grandpa Myers, Uncle Tim, Ethan , Anthony, Isaac and Ross (a friend of Anthony's) went to a Cleveland Browns game! Ethan is now a Browns fan! They all had a good time and it was unseasonably warm! Jessica and Susan headed for Grandma Myers' for a "girls only" night!! We also got to see the kid's cousin, Anthony as the lead role in the play "Altar Ego". He did a great job!

We have very much enjoyed being in the States and have been able to enjoy time with friends and family beyond what we have included above, this is just a portion! God has been good and provided much for us through the making of great memories!

5 States and Counting

Hello Everyone,

It is hard to believe that we have been in the US for 11 weeks! My how time flies!! In this article you will see pictures of some of the old friends and new friends we have made in our travels. One of the blessings of being home on HA (home assignment) is meeting wonderful Nazarenes across the country. We have been in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In each of these states and on various districts where we have had the privilage of visiting and speaking we have met and enjoyed a lot of wonderful people. They have shown these traveling missionaries God's love and their incredible hospitality! It's been great fun!
After arriving in the US on the 16th of August it wasn't but 1 week till we hit the road! First it was to Stuarts Draft, Virginia followed by Teays Valley, WV. God gave safety as we traveled and we very much enjoyed our new friends in the Virginias! God even provided a special gift of a new watch by one of His own!! Thanks again!
The next three Sundays we enjoyed several of our East Ohio churches one of which was our home church, New Philly! We love them so much and enjoyed being with them. On the 14th we made it down to West Chester just north of Cincinatti where we re-united with Dr. Bob Arrom and his wife Carol who have given much to Nazarene hospital through the giving of their time, skills and resources! Thanks guys!
We continued the Ohio theme with a tour of the Northwest Ohio district. We very much enjoyed visting old friends in the Toledo area which is where Susan went to Med school. We also got to go to the Regional W&W retreat at Shepherd CON on the north side of Columbus. Wow! I never knew that "Northwest" Ohio included Mt. Sterling, which is actually southwest of Columbus! A great church it is, too!! We even got to enjoy a little R&R at the Northwest Ohio Distict Camp Center.
October 1st brought us back to our beloved East Ohio District where we always enjoy our district family! We spent 12 days traveling around the district. Thanks to all of you for making us feel loved and a part! The rest of the month we found ourselves in Lafayette, Indiana with our kids in tow where we took prat in a Faith Promise emphasis. Then it was off to Michigan. In MI we not only have thoroughly enjoyed the people (even if many of them are die-hard Michigan fans!!) but have found time to find a few lighthouses and enjoy the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. It was great! Thanks Richard and Carolyn! We also were again able to get acquainted with old friends and make new ones!
God is good!! He has reminded us over and over through so many ways and so many people that He is our provider and caretaker! Thanks to everyone who has touched our lives over these 11 weeks! God bless!!

The lighthouse at Marine City in Michigan.

Jeff and Carolyn and Richard Dilts at Greenfield Village on the Carousel in Michigan.

The Journey Home!

Our parents have always told us that being in the center of God's will is an adventure...and we believe it! On that adventure God has always provided for our needs and even many of our wants!

For some years we had hoped that we could some day go on a once-in-a-life-time trip to South Africa and visit Kruger National Park. through a variety of sources, some expected and some unexpected, God provided what we needed to travel the US for our Home assignment on a Round The World ticket!!

We began our joiurney with a short flight from Mt. Hagen to Pt. Moresby where we stayed at theh Lutheran Guest flat and while there met Dr. Ian, who had done some work with us at Nazarene Hospital.

Next, we headed "down under" to Cairns, Australia. We had the pleasure of being entertained in the home of our Strategy Field Coordinator, James and Joy Johnson. However, they weren't there, they were on HA in the US! Instead, we got to spend time with Mike and Martha Parsons of Mt. Vernon, Ohio!! We had a great time with them and Jessica got her first pair of glasses while there! Now, not only could she go to South Africa but she would actually be able to see the animals!!

Next stop, Johannesburg, South Africa!! God is sooooo good and sooooo creative! It is amazing that there is so much variety in the animals of South Africa. We saw lions, elephants, cape buffalo, rhinos, giraffe, zebra, a cheetah, warthogs, a variety of birds, a few lizards, and lots of impala and their relatives! We also saw and enjoyed Blyde River Canyon and sites surrounding it. Below is the picture of the 3 rondavels. Rondavels is the South African name for their round houses, they were neat to see!

Upon arriving back in the US it was with tears and great joy that we were greeted by our families at long last!! It was a great reunion and we have been enjoying them ever since!!!