John and Hilda (Chapter 2)

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s hard to believe we have been here two weeks.

This week Susan and I have been getting ready for the annual Christmas dinner here in PNG. The planning committee each had to decorate a table to the theme of a Christmas Carol. Susan and I did our table to “Angels We Have Heard on High.” A good time was had by all.

The PNG Beauty Salon was open again this week. I enjoy meeting each one that sits in my chair. Clientele this week included Sam Bennett, Karen Comstock and here is Ethan getting his hair cut.

We have been busy preparing for Jeffrey and Susan’s Christmas Eve party. Susan is currently baking cookies, angels and circles, for the kids to decorate with the supplies we brought with us for the occasion. We have been making candy for several days. Jessica has been a great help. Here she is filling candy cups.

John and Jeffrey have been hard at work on their project. It is coming along. This week they went to town to do food shopping and to buy supplies for the project. The framing in is done and they were able to get 2 of the 3 outside walls covered and the roof on the part that was extended out.

We went to the Emmanuel church this morning. In taking the offering they start at the back and come forward. Even though we couldn’t understand the words during the congregational singing we recognized the tune and sang along in English. The little ones stayed in the service. As I looked over the congregation the little ones looked like they were listening and were very well behaved. I saw one little fellow with tears in his eyes. These people shed tears as we do…they laugh, cry and hurt as we do. They are God’s children Jesus died for each one of them.

Until next week …have a blessed Christmas!

John & Hilda

The PNG Adventures of John and Hilda (chapter 1)

It’s been a busy week adjusting to the time difference, unloading 273 pounds of luggage, attending the Christmas Lotu here on the compound, making freezer strawberry jam with the children, celebrating Jessica‘s thirteenth birthday, opening the Hilda Myers PNG Beauty Salon and seeing John and Jeffrey getting under way with their Mud Room building project.

We had a good time with our flights but crossing the International Date Line never ceases to be a wondrous sight. Again we wondered what would take place. As dusk approaches the sun rises up in the South….yes the South…I ask John about this several times but he said it was because we were so far North that the sun Was below the curve of the earth and when we started South toward Tokyo we watched the sun came up. We totally by pass night. Again the words of Dr. Bresee came to me “the sun never sets on Nazarene work”. How could anyone doubt the existence of God or God’s creation when you behold the beauty and wonder of his work!
We arrived last Sunday and have felt the Lord’s leading the whole way. One of the biggest blessings is that five pieces of luggage was put through the whole way to Mt. Hagen And John did not have to wrestle with it. Jeffrey said this was a miracle of God. This just doesn‘t happen..
We left Cleveland with 273 pounds of luggage. This included Christmas and birthday gifts and equipment for Jeff’s radio ministry. We prayed that all would arrive intact. It did! We could not say the same for our carry on bags after they were gone through at each point of entry…they were very untidy.

Upon our arrival, around 10:40 AM, we were told they had postponed the English Lotu (worship) service for a week for us to attend since the family had a prominent part in it. What a joy to see them all take part. They performed “Voices of Christmas”. Susan was in a flute trio…Jeffrey, Jessica and Ethan were Christmas characters from the Christmas story talking to the crowd about the events at that time…Jeffrey and Jessica also had a solo. Before service all of Kathy Radcliffe’s piano students gave us 15 minutes of prelude music. It was a joy just to watch them all. We then met afterwards for a time of fellowship with everyone bringing dessert. By night fall we were two tired cookies. Everyone said to keep us up till night. We made it to bed that night about 9:00PM.

Three years ago we made strawberry jam for the kids when we were here and they wanted us to do it again. The Kids even had the strawberries cleaned and frozen and ready to go. John and I this time around involved Jessica and Ethan. Ethan was our stirring man and Jessica helped out through all the stages of making the Jam. It went well and we had fun. We’ll be making some more before we leave.

Friday we celebrated Jessica’s 13th birthday with pizza, cake and ice cream. Her friend, Cilla Radcliffe, came and spent the night. After a breakfast of pancakes and fruit, we finished the morning by giving the girls a manicure.

The PNG Beauty Salon opened this week. In the picture is Marsha McCoy getting a hair cut. I enjoy spending this time with our missionaries. It will be opened again this coming week as I have had people making appointments.

John and Jeffrey started the “Mud Room” project this week. The first day or two they talked out the plan and what they needed to get started. They bought rough lumber and began framing out the room and in this week coming they will head to Mt. Hagen to buy the remaining supplies for the job. Saturday’s adventure was putting on the roof to the Carport or in this case the Land Cruiser Port. Jeffrey and Susan look out for the Mission Cruiser and with the addition of the “Mud Room” they wanted to find a new home for the Carport, rather than in front of their home. So the last piece to that puzzle was the installation of the roof and many of the missionary men came to help put the roof in place. And thank the Lord it was done successfully and no one was injured in the process!

Blessings, John and Hilda

The Arrival!

Well as you can see Mom and Dad Myers did indeed arrive safely to PNG, for this we thank the Lord! After a couple days of travel and many hours in the air they arrived our Sunday morning (our time) only about 15 minutes late, not bad at all! We came back to the house and they freshened up, we had lunch and then we headed to the Chapel where we had our English Lotu (worship) Service. It is usually the first Sunday of the month but because mom and dad were coming and their grand kids were in the Christmas program we postponed it one week. After the service we went for our annual, traditional post Christmas English Lotu desert social. A very taste time I might add. After that we came back to the house where we all just kicked back and relaxed. Mom and Dad started the process of catching up on their sleep and getting their bodies regulated to PNG time. Make sure to check back this weekend for the first installment of Mom's weekly articles on their trip here to PNG.

Melanesia Nazarene Bible College Graduates 32 Students

Graduation started Friday night the 23rd of November with a commissioning service where Asia Pacific Regional Director Rev. Verne Ward shared the word of God with the graduating class. The theme of his message was "God is Able." It was both powerful and challenging.

The weekends festivities continued on Saturday with the graduation ceremonies. The 39th graduating class of MNBC commenced with a procession at 10 am lead by the student body president carrying the Bible College flag, followed by Rev. Bill Swesy, principal of MNBC. Next in line was Asia Pacific Regional Director, Rev. Verne Ward, Field Strategy Coordinator for Melanesia and South Pacific Fields, Rev. James Johnson, College Board Chairman Rev. Andrew Akus, MNBC staff and the graduating students. Greetings were given and three of the local community leaders gave brief speeches. Rev. David Kina lead the gathering in the singing of the PNG National Anthem followed by the guest speaker for the graduation Rev. Mike Piecell from Ohio. Pastor Mike challenged the graduating class to look after their lives, to live a Christ-like life and to make Christ-like disciples. A total of 32 students graduated, 8 with diplomas in ministry, 16 with certificates of ministry and 8 with certificates of literacy.

written by Pastor Daniel edited by Jeff \Photos by Natalie Ward

Radio Ministry blessed twice!

To air our 15 minute program "Krai Bilong Ol Meri" (Cry of the Women) once a week on NBC Western Highlands, it cost us K60, roughly $20. A while back those funds ran out and our program was taken off the air in Mt. Hagen. One day Pastor Daniel was in a store buying radios for the ministry and started talking with the owner of the store about Radio Ministry. By the time they were done talking the Lord had touched the heart of this Chinese business man and he promised to sponsor KBOM for one year. We thank the Lord for this and pray that at the end of one year this business man will want to continue his sponsorship.
Another blessing came when our studio recording computer decided to break down on us. So we took the computer to The Computer Shop, a computer store here in town that does repairs. They worked on the computer correcting the problems it had. The price should have been several hundred Kina but again when Pastor Daniel got to talking with them, explaining what the computer was used for and about Radio Ministry, they said "We have a lot of evil things happening in this country. You guys (Radio Ministry) are praying and preaching the Gospel of Christ to the people of this country. You are doing a great job to minimize evil therefore we will charge you only 72 Kina and 50 toea."
God is good all the time. He alone deserves the credit. God works in His own ways to keep His ministry moving, I praise God for that.
written by Pastor Daniel, edited by Jeff

2nd Annual Kudjip 1/2 Marathon

Well for the second year in a row I completed the Half Marathon (13.1 miles)! It felt too much like work today!! I was really tired and several times even walked a short distance. However, my personal goal was to finish under 2hrs. and 10 min…I finished in 2hrs., 9 minutes and 31 seconds a pace of 9:53:2 per mile!!! Jeff stayed with me till the very end when I wasn’t sure that I would make our goal and told him to please go ahead. He finished in 2 hrs, 8min. and 7 seconds a pace of 9:46:8 per mile. We had 28 PNGers sign up before Saturday and then I think 4 more that signed up Saturday morning, however only 9 actually ran. There were four girls that were done after the first couple of miles. Another guy dropped out around the 4th or 5th mile and yet another at around the 7-8 mile mark. There were only 3 nationals that finished! One collapsed on the road heading from the highway to the main gate. He hadn’t eaten anything in the morning or drank anything the whole race! He ended up in the ER getting re-hydrated with IV fluids. ( He was in church Sunday morning and was doing fine) He, I guess, did make it to the finish line but I don’t know if he was carried or walked across on his own! He was second after Dave Oviatt, a volunteer docotor, who won with 2 hrs and 3 min and 24 seconds a pace of 9:25:2. Jeff was third then Johnson a national guy who was the best trained for the race of the PNG guys and who was in first place for most the way till he ran out of steam. I was next and then one more national guy came probably 3-5 minutes behind. Some of them were running in bare feet, flip flops and the guy who ended up in the ER was running with what looked like a slip on dress shoe. We also have a special group of people we call the "Road Crew", while we are on the road running, they look out for the runners. The road crew is made up of our missionary colleagues and kids, they lead in front and follow behind dispensing drinks and making sure we stay safe and assist should anyone need any help along the way. They do a great job! As Dave Oviatt would say after many of our training runs together over the past 7 weeks or so, "A good time was had by all!" (Except maybe the guy in the ER!!!)