PNG Moments with the Myers

Teen Bible Quizzing - World Quiz or Bust!

2012-01-22T19:16:00.000+10:00

It has been many years since there has been a Nazarene Teen Bible Quiz team here at Kudjip, PNG. The last team was in 2001. At that time they traveld to the USA and competed at the World Quiz held during General Assembly in Indianapolis, Indiana. There they took 2nd place in the World!!
We are now embarking on a new era. The books to learn are Hebrews and 1st and 2nd Peter. The team is inexperienced but excited and determined to compete! Bill and Steve, both whom have personal experience with teen quizzing, are the coaches. The team is working hard! That means they have regular quiz practices, flash practices and practice competitions, in addition to studying on their own. Most the practices are held at Coach Bill's house. But "flash practice"? Ever hear of it? That means getting up and meeting at about 6:30 in the morning at various places around the compound and spending a bit of time in the Word. It doesn't last long but is great for raising the level of excitement and commitment to the team and the learning of God's word! Competitions? No, there is not another teen quiz team here but...there are some awesome aunties and uncles who are studying as well in order to give the kids some competition and experience, with jump seats and all!

There are a lot of details to work out in order to transport a team of quizzers to the USA from PNG for a quiz. Airline tickets, road transportation, accomodations, meals, team T-shirts, chaperones and more. Please pray for our kids as they "hide the word of God in their hearts"...and then find it again at a moments notice as the next question is being asked!! Pray also for all the details! A sale on airline tickets would be great!

Drugs for Jesus

2012-01-15T13:33:00.001+10:00

A day I will remember for the rest of my life, Saturday December 31, 2011. The missionaries Uncle Mike and Aunt Diane Chapmen came to our door at around 10:30, inviting us to go with them to visit a revival that has been taking place in the churches of the village up behind the mission station. By the time we reached the village, I knew this was no ordinary revival.

This was the day the drugbois* had chosen. It was today when they would publicly renounce their drugs. As we approached the village, men were constantly coming up to us saying that they had tried every way to stop the drug use that was so prevalent. They had tried heavy police involvement, to no avail. “Christ really is the only answer, there is no other explanation for what you are seeing today,” one elder in the village said.

Piling two trucks high with marijuana, and an additional eighty men each carrying a large bundle of marijuana plants, they commenced a three to four kilometer march from the village, through the rot bung* to a designated field where a platform had been constructed. During the march, one man started singing in the local language of Jiwaka. This soon caught on, and every person was yelling at the top of his lungs. “Jisas Chrais na wirosimba!” “Jesus Christ has called me!”

In talking with one of the men in the truck I was in, I found out this was the first time anything like this has ever taken place, this was completely unprecedented, for as far back as any histories went. The local market place was full, with hundreds of people witnessing the work of the Holy Spirit, moving among these men.

Coming to the final field, the men circled around and laid, in front of the platform, and a crowd of witnesses, the very thing they had been holding on to so fervently. There wasn’t a look of hesitation on anyone’s countenance. This was what they had said they were going to do, this is what God had told them to do, and there was no turning back now. God didn’t miss this opportunity to teach this missionary kid a lesson in the midst of all the happenings around him. What am I holding on to, what is God putting His finger on in my life, and saying, “This needs to go. Lay it down. It’s going to be ok, turn to me, and find all the comfort you will ever need.”

*drugbois: Tok Pisin = drug addict

*Rot bung: Tok Pisin = where the major roads of the area converge, usually containing some small shops and roadside stands.

Article by Quinton Schmelzenbach
Photos by Dr. Andy & Judy Bennett

What do you see at Christmas?

2011-12-25T11:51:00.002+10:00

You and I are a part of the Christmas story because it is for you and I that Jesus came to earth as a baby, as our Savior.

You – Does the Lord see someone who does more wrong than right – or as the special person He came to earth for as a baby, because He loves you? “For God so loved you (paraphrased) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This Baby, Jesus, born in a stable with a manger for His bed is the same Jesus who loves you today, He is Jesus who died on a cross and rose again so that we can have eternal life with Him one day in heaven. What is Christmas to you, a day when your Savior came to earth to free you from sin, if we ask or only a time of decorations and presents. How do you see Christmas? Even more important how do you see the baby Jesus, as your Lord and Savior or just another baby born a long time ago. This Christmas would be a great time for you to take the present of salvation that Jesus wants to give to you, now would be a good time for you to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life. The Lord might be asking you to do something that is hard or seems impossible for you to accomplish. You must remember the angel’s words to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) He was present to help Mary and Joseph He will be there to help you and give you the strength you need to do what He has asked you to do.

"So they hurried off and found ... the baby, who was lying in a manger." (Luke 2:16) I hope that you will find Jesus this Christmas in whatever way you need to experience Him. He is Immanuel, God with us! (Matthew 1:23)
Merry Christmas!

I call him Bo.

2011-12-24T22:39:00.003+10:00

This afternoon was our traditional time of “Caroling on the Wards.” Every Christmas Eve the mission family gets together and we go to each ward and sing Christmas Carols. This year we even had a mini Christmas Pageant and read from the Pidgin Children’s Bible, the Christmas story as our players came in and took their places. After we sang, read the Christmas story and prayed with the patients on the ward we handed out little Christmas presents to each of the patients. As we finished on the Medical ward and some were handing out gifts I was walking around wishing Merry Christmas to the patients and their families. I saw this young boy sitting up in his bed with a single tear running down his cheek. I walked over to his bed and sat down next to him. I started to talk with him and Dr. Erin, who has been seeing him on the ward, told me his name and I am sorry that I cannot remember it now. It was not a common name but it started with Bo, so I call him Bo, the Lord knows his full name. Dr. Erin said that Bo does not talk or respond much and as I talked with him I came to realize that it seems he is not able, because as I talked with him he seemed like he wanted to talk. I prayed for him and asked him if Jesus was in his heart and if not, did he want to know Jesus. The whole time I was with him tears were running down his cheeks. In laymen’s terms Bo came into the hospital with infection in the muscle of his leg and reactive arthritis in his knee. Bo is the reason we are here. Even more importantly Bo is the reason Jesus came as a baby at Christmas over two thousand years ago. Jesus came to bring hope, peace and salvation to a world that is aching, hurting and desiring the love and peace that only a loving Savior can give. Bo was not able to answer my question, although I believe he tried, of whether Jesus was in his heart or not, but I prayed a sinner’s prayer with him anyway and asked him to pray with me if he wanted Jesus to be his Savior. Pray that Jesus would bring healing to Bo, both physically and to his spirit also. Bo is one of the reasons Jesus came to earth as our Savior and He loves Bo very much!

Part 5, What do you see at Christmas?

2011-12-24T13:37:00.002+10:00

Today's character is possibly not as well know as some of the others we have looked at. But he still has a message that we need to see.

Simeon – Do you see just another old man – or do see a man who has longed all his life to see the Lord’s Messiah, and says, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people” (Luke 2:30-31). The Bible says that Simeon was righteous and devout. As I read these scriptures found in Luke 2 a thought came to my mind. First ,the scripture says the Holy Spirit promised that Simeon would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Verse 27 states that Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit to go into the temple courts. It is in the temple courts that Simeon sees the Lord’s Christ as his parents bring him in to do for him as the law requires. What if Simeon had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit, it is possible that he would not have seen the Lord’s Christ. We must, like Simeon, be obedient when we feel the Holy Spirit leading us.

Are you feeling the Holy Spirit's leading in your life? Is the Holy Spirit asking you to do something or maybe like Simeon, He is wanting to move you into a better position to see Him, to experience Him? Do you believe God's promises to be true, are you willing to do what the Holy Spirit would require of you to see the promise fulfilled?

What do you see at Christmas? Part 4

2011-12-23T10:36:00.002+10:00

We continue today with a look at the shepherds. I would say that they are one of my most favorites in the cast of Christmas characters.

The Shepherds – Do you see smelly men who spend all their time watching sheep – Or do you see the lowliest of people in Jewish time being honored by God with an angel choir, announcing the Savior’s birth. Shepherds at this time of the story were looked down upon by others. We must remember that ALL men and women are worthy of receiving Jesus and His salvation. No one is too big or too small, no one is to rich or too poor too come to Jesus. The shepherds are an example to me on how I must respond to seeing Jesus. After the angels announced Christ’s birth the shepherds said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord told us about” (Luke 2:15). The Bible goes on to say in verse 16, “They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby.” When we hear the Good News our response must be to hurry and find Him. After the shepherds had seen Jesus in the manger just as the angels had said the Bible tells us they told everyone. And everyone was amazed at what the shepherds said. When we find Jesus, just like the shepherds, there should be such joy that fills our hearts, that we become like the shepherds, we return, “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:19-20) Is your heart filled with joy this morning because you have seen Jesus?

Is the joy you had when you first saw Jesus and accepted Him still as bright today as it was then? If not, this Christmas season is the perfect time to rekindle that fire! During this Christmas season let's be like the Shepherds and "glorify and praise God" for all that we have heard and seen.

Part 3, What do you see at Christmas?

2011-12-22T08:13:00.001+10:00

Today we look to the very reason we celebrate Christmas. It is the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Jesus – do you see just another one of many babies born – or do you see the Savior of the world, Immanuel, God with us!” On that night in Bethlehem, I have to think that there were possibly other babies born. What made this one baby so special? Why did this baby get to have angels announce His birth? This baby was not only the “Son of Man” but was the very “Son of God.” This baby was the Savior of the world; He was born so that ALL men and women could know Him as their Lord and Savior. This is Immanuel – God with us, here and now! This is not a God somewhere out there but right here, with us. Right now He is here with you as you read this message At this moment, He is in your heart, if you have asked Him to be your Savior. This is why Jesus came as a baby, to save us from our sins. We no longer need a priest or someone in the middle between us and God, NO! Because of the birth of Jesus and ultimately His death and resurrection, we can now go directly to Him, confess our sins and He becomes our Savior. Hebrews 7:24-25 tells us, "But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." What a wonderful reminder today, "Jesus saves completely and lives to intercede for you and I." This is truly an amazing love! Is He your Savior today, if not He stands before you holding out the free gift of Salvation, waiting and wanting you to take and accept it! It would be the best gift you can receive this Christmas!

If you want to take that free gift of Salvation, do it. All you need to do is confess your sins and the need of Jesus in your life. He will meet you right where you are and change your life like you never thought possible. Trust Him and trust His great love for you and see if salvation is not the most wonderful gift you will ever receive!

What do you see at Christmas? Part 2

2011-12-21T07:36:00.003+10:00

Today we look at Joseph, a man who had much to work through and yet was obedient to God's leading!

Joseph – Do you see a confused man, not sure what to do about his wife to be, being pregnant – or do you see a righteous man who was obedient when the angel told him to take Mary as his wife? God knows who will do what He asks of them. It may not be easy, but God will give the strength. All God wants is for us to be obedient to Him. Joseph does not know what to do, he thinks Mary has been unfaithful to him. But being a righteous man he does not want to shame Mary anymore than she already is if indeed she has been unfaithful. Remember, the Lord knows what we need, so he sends Joseph an angel to clear his thinking and put him on track with what God wants to accomplish through Mary and Joseph. The angel says to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit… He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:24 tells us, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” Obedience is what God requires of us.

Is there something today that God is asking of you? Have you been dragging your feet in getting it accomplished? We all need to be more like Joseph. He did not ask a bunch of questions of the angel, but Verse 24 of Matthew chapter 1 says, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him." May it be the same for us, today!

What do you see at Christmas?

2011-12-20T07:23:00.002+10:00

What do you see at Christmas – the birth of a Savior – or just another holiday?

Mary – do you see a young girl who is pregnant and not married yet – or do you see a woman as Elizabeth saw her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear” (Luke 1:42) The angel said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” The angel continued, “Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.” WOW! Mary is a young woman the age of 12 to 16 and is not yet married and living with Joseph. If she is found to be pregnant, as was the custom of that day, she could be stoned to death for being unfaithful to Joseph since she was betrothed to him. I have to believe that as the angel is telling her this she is thinking about what this means. And yet, verse 38 says, “I am the Lord’s servant Mary answered, May it be to me as you have said.” That is strong belief in God! That is belief in God knowing he will work it all out according to His will. We can see why God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. What about you? Is there something you need to trust God about, something that you need to give him? God is mighty and able to help us in all that we do or that he asks of us. Trust Him!

This week, leading up to Christmas, I would like to look at the characters in the Christmas story. How do we see them, how do we see Christmas?

Yes, Virginia, there is a Snowman in PNG!

2011-12-19T18:57:00.001+10:00

This very nice Snowman was crafted and created by the Goossen family. The other evening I needed to go to the South end of the station and saw this and thought it was cute. It was dark at the time and I could not tell what it was made of as I drove by, but I did get a good look at it the next day. Randy Goossen went to the river and found these three stones. They are not attached in anyway but sit perfectly one on another. So yes Virginia there is a Snowman in PNG.

Christmas with our Chaplains

2011-12-19T13:58:00.002+10:00

Chaplain Regina and her kids.

Chaplain Lucy, Ishmael and her Husband Chaplain Moses
along with Chaplain Taima.

Christmas is about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is also the time for parties and sharing with friends and family. As Director of Medical Services, part of Susan’s work is overseeing the Chaplain’s Ministries of Nazarene Hospital. Our Chaplains play a big part in the ministry of Nazarene Hospital and in the lives of our patients. Each patient admitted is seen by one of our four chaplains. We have two ladies, Regina and Lucy and two men, Moses and Taima. As DMS Susan has worked to find ways in which to encourage and provide times of spiritual growth for our chaplains, times of refreshing for them. So this past week we had our chaplains over to the house for a little Christmas party. They came and those who still have family in their homes brought them as well. It was a great time. We do feel a sense of family with our chaplains. They are wonderful people! We had a meal; some put a puzzle together (and for some it was the first time), shared gifts and shared some special thoughts together. God has blessed our family with these wonderful people, they are family.

MNBC Graduation

2011-12-19T11:20:00.005+10:00

Graduating with Bachelors of Theology
L to R Hospital
Chaplain Moses & Pastor John

Three of those graduating with Masters Degrees,
L to R David Kina Tarp Goma &
Dir. Radio Ministries, Daniel Eka

Unlike in the States, here in PNG the school year ends in late November and starts again end of January, first of February. Being in the southern hemisphere this is our summertime. With the ending of the school year comes graduation. We were privileged to attend graduation this year and see many of the students that I have taken classes with, as I pursue my course of study, graduate. It has been a lot of fun taking classes with these men and women as they work to prepare for the ministry and to fulfill the call God has placed upon their lives. This year we had 52 graduates from Melanesia Nazarene Bible College, 44 of those with varying degrees that MNBC offers. Eight of those graduating were part of the first ever Masters of Ministries graduating class. We praise God for this and look forward to the future when more men and women of PNG will graduate with Masters Degrees. We also appreciate all of the professors and help that Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary has given in making this become a reality. Please pray for all of the graduates as the will be heading out into their new pastorate positions or to where God has called them to serve, pray that God would continue to give them wisdom and grace to lead the Nazarene Church here in PNG.

Following graduation, the people congradulating the Graduates.

Malang Church Dedication and Baptism

2011-12-08T11:05:00.000+10:00

Crossing the stream on our hike to Malang.

It was a wonderful and blessed time by God as we attended the Malang Nazarene Church baptism and new church building dedication. Susan and I had been to Malang before we came home for this last furlough, to speak and worship with the people at Malang. At that time they showed us the new church they were in the process of building and said that in a few months they wanted to have a dedication service for the new church and would we come. We told them it depended on when they had it since

Dr. Jim Radcliffe

we would be heading back to the States for Home Assignment soon. It took months for all to be ready and the dedication and baptism to take place and we did indeed happen to be back from HA so that we could take part in the service. Getting to Malang Nazarene Church is quite a little adventure. We drove about 20 to 30 minutes, parked the Land Cruiser and began the hike. This hike is about 30 minutes for us "White Skins" and it takes you across a stream, up and down some small hills, through gardens and some mud. But it was all worth the effort. When we arrived at Malang we did not have long to wait before the service started. A PNG service is a lively experience. The people are free in their worship

A little girl being baptized, one of the 25
baptized that Saturday.

and they sing and pray with a lot of heart and this service was no different. Dr. Jim and Kathy Radcliffe were a part of the missionary representation that went along. Dr. Jim was the preacher for the event and delivered the message, "Is Anything to Hard for God." It was a great challenge to all to trust more in God. Susan ministered through flute and did a great job of concentrating when the CD player that was playing her background music started cutting out every so often. After the service we walked down to the new church and Jeff was asked to pray the prayer of dedication. Before the prayer Jeff read from Acts 2:42-47 and encouraged the Malang

Four candidates at the baptism pool.

Church to be an Acts Church so that those people who live around the church would see Jesus Christ. After the church dedication we walked a few minutes down to the river. The people of the church had blocked the water to create a small pool of water that was probably about 3 feet deep. It was a very beautiful setting for the 25 people who were baptized that day including the pastor and his wife. People were seated and hanging on the banks surrounding the baptismal site. God was truly there that day and it was a wonderful time of His blessing.

Rolling Down the Highway!

2011-11-06T18:02:00.001+10:00

As some of you may know before we left for furlough this past May we were thinking about and praying about whether we should try and raise money for a vehicle. With the classes that I am taking as I work towards ordination, I often need a vehicle to get to class. Not knowing what may take place in the future once my classes are complete and other thoughts went into the debate as to own or not to own, this was the question. So when we left for our home assignment we left it in the Lord's hands as to what direction we would go. We knew that to purchase a vehicle we would need to raise a certain amount of money, which would be greater than we have raised in past home assignments. Saying that means only one thing, it was definitely up to the Lord if this was to happen. Since you see the pictures you know the Lord worked a miracle and a miracle is the only way to state what took place. God used 4 different people to raise the money needed to purchase this vehicle. When it was all said and done we had actually raised a bit more than what we had thought we would need to purchase a vehicle. God is good! Because of the way he worked in this situation, it does make me wonder what he has in store for this vehicle.

Now for the car guys, or ladies too, here are some details. This is a Nissan Patrol. It is a previously owned vehicle. Ithas a 4.2 liter diesel engine. It is a 5 speed 4X4. It seats 8 comfortably but in a pinch could go 10. So we have some room when parents, family and friends visit. Also more room in which to take friends with us to a bush church. It does have A/C and a CD player (with great sound I might add.) The Lord has been in this process the whole way and the guys at Boroko Motors that I have been dealing with have been very professional. A neat experience that I had was the first day I went to look at this vehicle. As I was leaving I asked Joe Unagi (My salesman) if I could pray with him, he said yes and so I did. When I said, "Amen," he said let me pray for you and he did. I knew by the way he prayed that he knew the Lord. So when he finished I asked him if he was a Christian and he said, "yes" and he is a part of the Wesleyan church that is near us. All along the way God has been involved in this adventure. God is good! Thanks so much to those who contributed both financially and in prayer!

Manus Island Church Plant

2011-10-05T18:49:00.005+10:00

As many may know I talked about DS Gabriel and the Manus Island church plant while we were home on furlough this past summer. Two weeks ago I had a chance to talk with him while I was in the city of Lae. I wanted to know the latest on the church plants taking place. Here are a few new facts for you. Instead of one there are actually two churches planted on Manus. The Melanesia Nazarene Bible College as part of their education and training has their ministerial students do an internship as church planters. So some of the students traveled to Manus to help start the Nazarene Church there. One of those students was Chaplain Moses, one of the Nazarene Hospitals chaplains. Another bit of exciting news that DS Gabriel shared was that eight women from the church plant were coming to the huge Nazarene Meri (women's) Conference. The Manus church is barely months old and eight women were making the trip, and it is quite a trip, to the Southern Highlands to be apart of their new churches women's conference. Praise the Lord! Our God is an amazing God! Check back for more on this great story.

DS Gabriel Kaulo and myself

Princess Romania

2011-09-24T17:10:00.001+10:00

Back in April I shared with you the story of a little Princess. At that time she hadn't yet been given a name but I chose to call her Princess. Since then she was given a name, Romania. The Lord has done great things in her little life, specifically in her heart. Romania was born with a heart defect. It appeared that if Romania didn't have surgery soon she might quickly become non-operable due to complications that were expected to come about. Well, God proved us all wrong! Wahoo! I had begun to gradually decrease Romania's oxygen giving her a limited amount of time off O2 several times throughout the day. While I had left to return to the US for our HA she pretty quickly was weaned from oxygen all together! When seen by the Australian heart team in late July it was determined that she does need surgery that she is stable and they would like for her to grow a bit more first. She will see the Australian team again next summer and hopefully will be ready for surgery at that time. Thanks for your prayers on her behalf. Please continue to pray for her!

Princess - A Heart that needs mending.

2011-04-25T20:14:00.000+10:00

As some of you are aware once a year a team of heart surgeons comes from Australia to Port Moresby, our capitol city, to perform heart surgery on mostly kids with congenital heart defects. This year they will come the last week of July. They usually stay about 10 days. There is a little girl on the pediatric ward right now who needs their help. Her parents have not yet given her a name so I have begun calling her "Princess". She has a little more complicated heart defect then some and it is not clear yet whether or not she will be a candidate for surgery. She has a hole between the ventricles and also an interrupted aortic arch, which basically means that the aorta stops and then restarts. There are some other vessels that allow blood to get to the lower extremities but it is a mixture of blood that has been oxygenated in the lungs and some blood that has not been oxygenated. Please pray with us for Princess as we continue to look after her here until she is able to see the Australian cardiologist in July to determine if she is a surgical candidate.

Christian Medical/Dental Conference, Thailand

2011-04-25T20:12:00.000+10:00

The Christian Medical/Dental Association sponsors a medical conference every year that caters to US medical professionals working oversees. They alternate the location between Africa and Asia. This year the conference was held in Chiangmai, Thailand and the Myers4 got to attend! Words cannot possibly express how awesome this conference is! There are lots of reasons why we think it was great!! Here are just a few; it allowed Susan to get 50 hours of Continuing Medical Education credits, wonderful times of worship and fellowship with other missionaries from various sending organizations, fun times with our family and the others that attended from Nazarene Hospital, a great youth program for our kids, new friends for us all and personal spiritual enrichment and growth! There are not a lot of opportunities for this kind of setting whether we are here on the field or on Home Assignment. We are very thankful to God and to our colleagues and leaders who allowed and helped to make it possible!
For fun...the kids were part of a skit that you will want to see! You can find it on YouTube. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0bmFH5t6lc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Pictures to come!

Rendezvous 2010

2011-01-20T19:32:00.001+10:00

Over New Year’s week, I, Jessica had the opportunity to travel to Rendezvous 2010, a youth retreat geared for the Asia-Pacific Region’s M.K.s. After traveling by myself for the first time, I arrived in Singapore where I spent the night with one of our families that work in the Singapore office. From there I journeyed with the others who would be participating in the retreat to Telunas Beach in Indonesia. We spent five days at Telunas Beach. Rendezvous’ primary goal is to help us third culture kids gain tools for re-entry into our home cultures.

Telunas Beach is a small resort type of place. All of the buildings are over the water on stilts joined by walkways. The beach itself is of white sand and stretches the extent of the resort property. Along the shore are beach chairs and little open-sided huts with hammocks. Close to ten yards from the waterline at high tide is a beach volleyball net set up, a beach soccer field, and a tether ball pole.

Sixteen teens joined this Rendezvous, six girls and ten guys, as well as five facilitators. Each day we had an activity, and small group devotions, a worship time together.

My favorite time of worship was the night when we discussed honesty. I’m sure we’ve all experiences those times where someone does something, serves a certain dish or gives a particular gift, and we don’t like it. However, we know that it’s rude to say so blatantly, but we can’t say that we love it since that would be lying. As MKs we are consistently bombarded by such situations as we move through many cultures. During this particular night after we sang several worship songs and prayed together, as a group, we worked towards a solution to this dilemma. Our conclusion was to start off with “I think this is an acquired taste” or “It’s not my favorite, but…” and then thank the person for the effort, the thought, their willingness, etc.

The small group devotion time that really benefited me the most was the on last day. Though our topic was Jonah, the part of our time together that left an impression on me the most was the time of sharing at the end. During this time we reflected on what we had learned while a Telunas. Also, we went around our circle complementing each other and telling each those features and personality traits that we admired in one another. It was a real and uplifting time that I cherish.

The activity that I had the most fun with was Telunas Beach’s own version of Amazing Race. The owners of Telunas run this version with the many groups that they have come through. Our Rendezvous leaders worked with the Telunas owners to tailor our Race to incorporate some of our themes. They split us up into three teams, but as some of you probably know, sixteen isn’t divisible by three. It just so happened that two teens happened to be at the island who were more than happy to join us and make the teams even. So our goal was to complete nine puzzles to solve at nine different way points along the beach and inland a little ways, but the target was to be the first to complete the race, of course however there were a few way points that carried time penalties and bonuses were also included through out the race. Overall, I had a lot of fun with my team. I enjoyed seeing our strengths at play and talents in use, and I loved noting the efficiency with which we worked together.

I grew so much through this retreat and I can’t wait till NYC when I can see many of them again, but I also look forward to the next Rendezvous which I can share with my brother. Even though quite a few of those who attended this one will no longer be eligible to come again, I rejoice over the fact that there will some that can come once more. I count it one of the greater spiritual milestones. Thank you God!

Christmas 2010 - Only the Beginning

2010-12-25T20:16:00.002+10:00

The Christmas Dinner Chicken!

Our Christmas Day here in PNG is more than half over. We have had a good day. Our tradition is home-made sticky buns for breakfast and the reading of the Christmas story followed by opening gifts. Then a little later comes dinner. We had a chicken for dinner this year. One of our national friends, Wapi, came to our house on the 23rd and brought us a live chicken for our Christmas Dinner! It was white with little beady grey eyes. Another national friend, Meti, who helps us out around the house a couple of days a week was here on that day. She offered to kill and clean the bird for us. Yippee! If it were up to Jeff and Susan, she would still be sitting by the back door clucking away! Ethan took advantage of the opportunity though and learned the tricks of the trade doing most of the work under Meti's supervision! It tasted quite good, even though we knew what she looked like before she made it to the table!

Jessica's gift to Mom & Dad a collection of her various writings.

God is so good to us! We have been blessed abundantly! Friends and family from the States often times comment about our sacrifice in being so far from home and family. It is true that the Holidays, more than any other time of the year, draws our thoughts to family back home and maybe brings a few tears but this has become our home and our colleagues here are our family...and this is where God has called us to be. It doesn't feel like a sacrifice. In fact, we often times wonder if we are giving enough.

Ethan's gift to Mom & Dad, handmade book markers.

Many of us look at Christmas as the end of the year. And it is according to the calendar. We look back over the year and marvel at how God has seen us through it. This, of course, is a great practice as we don't want to forget all that God has done! Along those same lines we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Again, very appropriate. But perhaps we should look at it as another beginning! We can begin, even on this day, Jesus' Birthday, to look ahead to the New Year and anticipate all that God has for us! Perhaps we will think about things we would like to improve on in the coming year, growth we would like to attain or goals we hope to meet! Maybe for some this day will be the beginning of a relationship with Him, maybe for the first time! How exciting! All is fresh and new, no mistakes, no regrets, no loss. We are going to be focusing on what we can do for God from this day forward. Whatever He has in store for us in the new year, we don't want to miss it! Will you join us in searching out what more God has for you to do for Him from this day forth?

Ethan & Jessica checking out a Christmas gift.

God Bless you all! May God's peace and love overwhelm you today!

Cheering on our Chaplains!

2010-11-19T13:34:00.000+10:00

One of my responsibilities at Nazarene Hospital is to oversee Chaplain Ministry. We have 4 Chaplains serving at Nazarene Hospital; 2 full-time and 2 part-time. Chaplain Taima has been here the longest and he was the very first National District Superintendent for the Nazarene Church in PNG. He has a real passion for winning the lost and for close follow-up after discharge. Because of this passion numerous new churches have been started. Chaplain Regina has been here since we came in 2001. She has a sweet spirit and a special love for the children. Our female patients, too, are vey open with Regina as she shares God word with them. Chaplains Moses and Lucy came in 2008. They make a great team as they both serve our many patients. Moses is also currently going to school at Melanesian Bible College part-time to earn his Bachelor's Degree.

Our chaplains relaxing during the retreat weekend.

Like all of you involved in some form of ministry, our Chaplains need times of Spiritual enrichment and encouragement. In an attempt to provide for them in this area, and for the first time ever, we had a Chaplain Retreat in May of this year. We shared a week-end together learning about God's calling on our lives as pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelists and apostles. We discussed how we may serve in different roles at different times in our hospital ministry and how some may be more gifted in one area than another. We also had the privilage of hearing God's voice through Rev. Harmon Schmelzenbach, our Field Strategy Co-ordinator. It was a wonderful week-end! We hope to continue to have at least yearly retreats in the future.

Our chaplains and families playing the ol' balloon toss game.

The retreat was not designed for the families of our Chaplains. So, when we decided to have another gathering we decided to include the whole family! We had 15 come and join the Myers 4 in the back yard for games, a brief devotional and a cook-out! It was alot of fun and gave us opportunity to get to know one another better!

Pray for our Chaplains as they look after the Spiritual needs of our patients. Every patient admitted to Nazarene hospital is visted by one of our Chaplains almost daily. We are thankful for these committed men and women of God who serve so faithfully!

Gearing up For Home Assignment

2010-11-11T09:03:00.001+10:00

Hello,

To all of you who support us in various ways, greetings. God has been faithful throughout this term and we thank Him for his hand upon us. With about six months to go before our next Home Assignment we are now working to fill our schedule with services, wanting to share with you how God is working in PNG. So this is the time for you to contact us if you would like for us to come and share at your church. Our H/A dates are officially June 1st - August 31st 2011.

We would like for you to partner with us in prayer as we prepare and begin thinking about our upcoming H/A. We have 3 prayer points.
1) That God would, even now, begin to lay upon our hearts what He would have us share with all of you while we are home.
2) That we would fill all our dates that we have remaining for sharing.
3) This H/A we will be working to raise money for a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Thank you, to each one, for partnering with us in prayer over these requests. We serve a mighty God!

If you would like to contact us you can reach us at, JSMyers@Reachone.com

Nazarene Radio Expands Across PNG

2010-11-10T18:13:00.007+10:00

God has a great plan for Nazarene Radio Ministry in Papua New Guinea. God is helping us to get on new radio stations each year. This August, 2010, God helped us air our three programs with a radio station owned and run by the Baptist Union of Papua New Guinea. The station manager called me on the telephone and requested the three programs, KILOP, KBOM and KGS (Krais i Laikim Olgeta Pikinini, Krai Bilong Ol Meri & Kirapim Gutpela Sindaun). She said they broadcast to between sixty and seventy thousand listeners. Currently KILOP is broadcasting on eight radio stations while KGS and KBOM are airing on 12 radio stations across PNG.

Rev. Daniel Eka introducing KGS, KBOM and KILOP on

NBC/Muruk FM to its listeners while the station manager looks on.

The newly elected DS for the Southern Highlands District, Rev. Joseph Yapasi made a special arrangement with recently upgraded 90.7 Muruk FM, Station Manager, to air KILOP, KGS and KBOM on their station. I made a special trip by PMV to the station in Mendi and gave 500 KGS, 200 KBOM and 150 KILOP programs to the station manager.
He also had me, (Daniel) record an introduce to the three programs that will be airing on the station. After that the station manager asked the DS to bless the programs with a word of pray. After 8 years of traveling around Papua New Guinea and talking with different radio station Managers I have never come across such a person of Jacob Mambi’s caliber, the station Manager of Muruk FM. I would describe him as, “The pastor of the radio station." He is not just a manager, he is very strong Christian. When he was a child he was adopted by one of the PNG Bible Church Missionaries to the US, while in the US, he completed his communication degree and them came back to PNG. Mr. Mambi stated, "I know all the hard work you have put in to come up with the finish product. I don’t have money to pay for your hard work." Daniel responded, “I am doing it for the soul of someone like me who was lost in sin on streets of Papua New Guinea and those out there in the villages.” The station manager said he will ensure that all the three programs air Monday to Friday and even during the weekends.

Photo & Story written by Pastoe daniel Eka
Edited by Jeff

On the Ordination Trail!

2010-10-11T12:53:00.000+10:00

My O.T. Exegesis Classmates

As some of you may know I am working on a Course Of Study towards the ultimate goal of ordination. It has been fun and interesting. I feel this is the path the Lord would have me to take at this time and I appreciate all those who have helped me get started on this new adventure. Dr. Silvernail, the principle of MNBC, (Melanesia Nazarene Bible College) has done a great job of helping me get all my courses planned out and started. I received from my home district (East Ohio) the list of courses needed to complete a course of study and Dr. Silvernail was able to match them to various courses that the Bible college offers and through some extension classes also. I have taken a couple Masters level courses, an On-Line class from NBC in Colorado and two of three so far from MNBC. With those classes and credit I received from undergraduate classes and a couple of seminary classes taken in pre-field training I am almost to the half way point in completing my course work. My family has been a great support through these classes, because at times they keep me very busy. It has been quite an adventure and there is still plenty to go! It has been a wonderful privilege being in class and working together with my PNG brothers and sisters here. All of us learning from each other. All of us working together to be better prepared for serving our Great and Awesome Lord. Last week (Oct. 8th) I finished my second of three classes in a row, Old Testament Exegesis. It was a good class and my teacher, Dorthy Anda, was a graduate from our Seminary in Brisbane, Australia. Dorthy, in the picture below, is in pink sitting on the right side of the photo. The group photo minus myself is my Old Testament Exegesis class. This week I start my third class, Incarnational Leadership. Areas that I would ask you to help us lift to the Lord in prayer are, for all the students of MNBC and for the teachers who are instructing our future pastors here in Papua New Guinea. For me, please, as I work through these classes and learn all that I need to know to be a more effective preacher for the Lord's work. For the family as they support me in my studies. Finally, for the various expenses involved in continuing education including class fees and travel to and from the Bible College each day. Our God is great and greatly to be praised!

A Great Experience!

2010-08-23T08:42:00.011+10:00

As we stated in the previous article, our family trip to Port Moresby (POM) was great and a lot of fun, but something else took place that was not expected. The Lord sometimes works in ways that we never anticipated! A few weeks ago Wantok (One-talk) Radio Light was supposed to visit here in the Highlands to talk about putting up an FM repeater antenna so that the Waghi Valley could receive their radio signal. They wanted to possibly put it on the hospital compound or the Bible College compound. We never heard from them. So, I talked with Pastor Daniel and got a phone number for Pawa Warena, station manger for Radio Light. While we were in POM I wanted to see if I could drop by and talk with him and see how serious they are about putting up an antenna. I gave him a call the first part of the week and set up a time for Friday morning since our plane to the Highlands was an afternoon flight. Pastor David Gham drove us out to Radio Light's studios to meet with Pawa. As we walked in the main door to the offices and studios there are large photos of the radio announcers for Radio Light. One of the pictures was of Pastor Jack who Pastor David tells us is a Nazarene, interesting! Pawa came out and talked with us and I was able to ask my burning question, are they serious about an antenna in the Highlands? Pawa took us around and showed us their new studio and offices because the last time I visited Pawa they were in a different location. Pawa took us to the FM studio, where Pastor Jack was on air. We were introduced to Pastor Jack and before we left him we were informed that he would like to do a live on-air interview of Susan and I about Nazarene Radio Ministry. So it was scheduled for just a little bit later in the morning. On we go with Pawa to talk with engineer Bob, who I did find out had been in the Highlands and did talk with someone from the hospital but I had not heard of it. They are serious about an antenna here and think that if Digicel (a cell phone company here in PNG, who by the way already has a tower on the hospital compound) will give them permission they could use the existing tower to attach their FM antenna. So things are looking good! They say it will take several months to get everything in order but, hey, when you have not had a radio station for nine years a few more months is not that long.
So, I ask you to pray with us that this will work out and it will take place. Things keep getting better! Pastor Daniel, Nazarene Radio Ministry Director, had told me that in his previous talk with Radio Light that they would provide a small radio studio so that for 2 hours a day we could broadcast our own programming then return to Radio Lights broadcast. This could be a great tool of ministry, both for teaching and for ministry's sake in reaching the lost of the Waghi Valley. Pray for God's will to be accomplished. After Pawa and Bob confirmed to me their desire for this it was about the time we were told to come back to the studio for the interview with Pastor Jack. What took place next can only be described as amazing and a wonderful opportunity. We have established a relationship with Radio Light over the years because they air 2 of our Radio Ministry programs, KBOM, (Krai Bilong Ol Merri, The cry of the Women) and KGS (Kirapim Gutpela Sindaun, To Start a New or Good Life). While we waited a few moments to go on air Pawa told me that while he was in Rabaul and man told him that he listens to the station and to the program KBOM and that it has ministered to him. That makes 2 men that I know of who have been impacted by our women's program KBOM, it is neat to see God using this program! It was neat to be able to talk and answer Pastor Jack's questions about Nazarene radio Ministry and especially his questions about KBOM and how the program came about, some of the history of the program. But the greatest reward was being able to quote John 3:16 and lead any listeners that wanted to know Christ in a sinner's prayer on the air. I pray that some who were listening gave their hearts to the Lord that morning. We were able to give Nazarene Radio Ministry contact information, address and phone number, so be assured that if we hear from anyone there will be a follow-up article show up. We have a truly amazing God and if we are willing to follow we have no idea what avenues of ministry He may open up!
Pic 1- Pastor Jack sitting at the controls of Radio Light broadcast studio.
Pic 2- Susan, Engineer Bob, Station Manager Pawa and Jeff at Radio Light.

The Last Hurrah of Summer!

2010-08-22T10:48:00.005+10:00

It has been a fun-filled summer for our kids. Of course, in PNG the temperature is always summer-like with only two seasons, wet and dry. For us , we use "summer" to mean the time of year when our kids are not in school, just like back in Ohio. This summer we had a lot of visiting young people with various activities and events for them, along with our MKs, to enjoy. The Lord has really blessed our kids through these opportunities.

As our summer here for the kids was winding up (they start school tomorrow, Aug. 23rd), we decided to have one last hurrah. Susan and I have talked many times about learning to scuba dive and in the past our conversations basically were, "Who can we take along to watch the kids while we learn to scuba?" Well, time has passed and the kids are now both old enough to learn and become certified themselves, so we decided to do it as a family. We took the last week of summer as a family vacation and headed to Port Moresby (POM) to learn to scuba. The final event before school.

We did go to learn to scuba but the Lord blessed us with some other fun too, it was a fun packed 5 days in PNG's capitol city. We arrived Sunday and Sunday evening attended the Nazarene church that is a part of the Bible College Campus. It was a nice time worshipping with our POM Nazarene brothers and sisters.

Monday morning saw us up and out the door at 8:20 and headed to the Aviat. The Aviat is a sports club where our scuba diving instructor is based out of. The first two days are spent in video and classroom instruction along with times in the swimming pool to go over and learn the various techniques used in open water diving. Our instructor was an Aussie who lives in PNG. Joselyn was great! We could not have asked for a nicer person. She was very helpful and was willing to do all that was needed to help us succeed. In fact, each person we encountered from "The Dive Centre" was super nice and willing to do all they could to make this a fantastic time. Tuesday night the Radcliffes were in POM on their way home to the US for Home Assignment. We joined them for dinner, a special treat! It also was our chance to say a final goodbye to Cilla Radcliffe as she is heading home to start college. On Wednesday and Thursday we hit the open water of the Coral Sea. For you history buffs, the Coral Sea was the site of a major battle during WW II, between the US and Japan. We were out just past the islands that are around the coast of PNG. On our way out the Lord blessed us with a pod of dolphins (10 to 15) that came up and swam with our boat for several minutes on our way out to the first dive site. The first site was a mound of coral and was basically to initiate us in diving while we practiced some procedures in the open water. Our second dive was on a sunken sail boat. It was neat to swim around, up and over and you could even swim down onto the deck. Our second day out and our 4th day of instruction, was I believe, aside from the dolphins, the families favorite. Even though it most benefited Daddy everyone enjoyed it. Our third dive was on a WW II Aussie, twin prop, two seater bomber. It was in incredible condition for being in the sea for 65 or so years. Even the tail section would still move with the currents of the water. The Lord truly blessed us on this dive because when we came topside again and were on the boat, Joselyn and Richard, a second Dive Master, both said that is the clearest they have ever seen it. We could see the entire plane and they said there have been times when they could barely see wingtip to fuselage. So I do thank the Lord, it was cool to see. Our final dive was on a sunken tug boat. It was sunk to help create reef around Lyon Island. This was our final dive and even though we spent a few minutes around the tug our main objective was to finish our checking out on the techniques needed to be certified. It was a great time and a great family memory. I also thank the Lord for allowing us opportunity to pray with some of those we met from The Dive Centre.

On Wednesday night we had Pastor David Gham and his family, (wife, Wendy, and 2 girls Sissy and Patti) over for supper. We are very grateful for Pastor David's work and service in helping us with the various government offices that we need to work with in POM. Then on Thursday night Dr. Becky Morsch was traveling through POM on her way to the Solomon Islands with CBHC (Community Based Health Care) and so we enjoyed dinner out with her! It is great to be a part of the family of God!!

Pic 1- Joselyn our Dive master and Instructor and her eager pupils.

Pic 2- The eager pupils at about 8 feet under the surface of the sea. (Jessica, Ethan, Susan & Jeff)

Pic 3- Our pod of dolphins we were blessed to see twice.

Pic 4- Us and the Radcliffe family at supper (Ela Beach Hotel)

The Bitter and the Sweet!

2010-08-10T11:33:00.007+10:00

Missionary life is filled with happy times and times that are not so happy. Hence the title "The Bitter and the Sweet." This past weekend (Aug. 7-8) was filled with with three events. You must realize that we take any and every opportunity to get together and party. So, on Saturday (we start with the sweet) we loaded up just about everyone in the 3 Land Cruisers and headed to Hagen and the Highlander Hotel to celebrate Dr. Tom Staton. Tom and Lois, affectionately known has Uncle Tom and Aunt Lois, have been coming to Nazarene hospital here in PNG for 10 straight years and yes, they are family. They are loved and appreciated by both the missionaries and the nationals that they serve and work with. So, this year they planned a big birthday bash at the Highlander to celebrate Tom's 70th birthday. The Highlander provided a very nice and delicious buffet for all of us to partake of. It was a lot of fun! The kids and some adults took advantage of the Highlander's pool and spent time splashing and playing in the water. We appreciate all Uncle Tom and Aunt Lois do for us and the people of PNG.

Next up, the MK's were asked by Pastor Phillip to sing in church Sunday. So, Rachel and Jordan Thompson worked with the kids on a song. Rachel is the High School teacher for the MKs. The sang the song "Amazing Love" and Jordan played the guitar for the group. They did a very nice job singing for the congregation and for the Lord. We got some really great MKs here!

Now comes the bitter. Although we like to get together we prefer to do it over happy times. One aspect of mission life that I will never get use to is missionaries (family) leaving. You are sure glad to know and have spent time with them (sweet), but it is sad to see them go (bitter). So, this weekend we spent time at a Carnival in honor of the Riggins family. The Hospitality team organized the event in order to have fun and spend time with the Riggins; Scot, Jill, Aden, Wiley and little Noah. They will be heading home in a few weeks and we will all be sad to see them go but we know that they will go with the Lord and that He will be leading them. The Carnival was a fun time with all kinds of games. There was face painting, lawn bowling, a bubble gum blowing contest and all sorts of other games. We had a fire and roasted wieners. Also on the menu was popcorn and funnel cakes with powdered sugar and strawberries. The funnel cakes were very good. It has been very dry here in the Highlands of PNG and for the first time in nine years I am witnessing the grass turning brown. So, as the clouds began to gather Saturday afternoon we didn't complain but just moved the party to the McCoy's porch which is very close by and enjoyed the rain under cover. We took time to share stories and memories of the Riggins. It was a good time but not without a few tears. We thank the Lord for His love, good friends and family. We will miss Scot, Jill and the boys, but we know that God will lead them into the next adventure He has for them!

Mt. Wilhelm Conquered!

2010-08-02T11:18:00.018+10:00

This past weekend (July 30-Aug. 1) 12 missionaries and 2 Nationals took off on the Mt Wilhelm expedition, our youngest member being 12 and our oldest member at 55 years of age. We left Kudjip at 9 am on Friday, drove an hour to Kundiawa where we turned off the main highway in the Highlands and began a 3 hour drive in off-road conditions to reach the place where we would park our 2 vehicles and begin the ascent to base camp and ultimately reach the peak of Mt. Wilhelm. We crossed some very rough stretches of road and one very scary bridge, which was one of 15 bridges crossed in reaching our goal. Dr. Bill McCoy, a man among men, drove both vehicles across the scary bridge, which consisted of tire width planking running the length of the bridge, one for each side of the vehicle. Once past we continued on our way to the car park where we would leave our Land Cruisers for the weekend.

Shortly after our arrival it began to rain. Hiking for 3 hours to base camp in the rain is absolutely not our idea of fun! We tried to wait it out and it finally slowed down to a sprinkle. That was when we decided to get on with it and start the hike to base camp. The entourage of guides, packers and hikers put on their rain jackets and ponchos and strapped on back packs and gear. For those that draped their ponchos over their packs, they looked like a version of the hunchback of Notre Dame as we started down the trail! Keeping our backpacks and food dry was essential! In single file we entered the jungle trail that would eventually, 3 hours later, take us to base camp, some for the first time, not knowing what to expect and others who had been down this path before, literally, knowing full well, what was coming. When the goal is the top of the mountain everything before you, is uphill. So, for over an hour we hiked up cut-in steps before we reached a significantly level area that made walking easier, but only for a short time. After about another 1 1/2 hours, just a little ways before reaching base camp you come to a small water fall and a rather steep up hill climb before base camp comes into view. When you first see base camp, it is a most wonderful sight to behold. After three hours of hiking in the rain with the temperature slowly getting cooler you are more than ready to get the pack off, get into dry clothes and get a hot drink inside your belly. The evening's meal was the PNG version of Ramen Noodles with a PNG version of Spam mixed in for protein and crackers with more hot drink.

We went to bed around 8 pm and the morning wake-up call came shortly after 3 am. After a morning breakfast of oats along with raisins, crackers and peanut butter and yes, more hot drink we set off on the trail to the summit of Mt Wilhelm. Before we started up the mountain we had prayer and were divided into 3 groups of 4. So at around 4:30 am the assault on Mt. Wilhelm commenced! For Jeff, this was his shot at redemption, having failed on 2 previous attempts because at 45 he is not getting any younger; for Ethan, an opportunity to do something his daddy had not yet done and at 12 years of age no less! Jessica, the youngest female of our group at 15 yrs, came to complete what she started 2 years before when her daddy pulled her off the hike because he was ready to go back down the mountain, and Susan, the veteran of the Myers' family having made it to the top 8 years before, could she do it one more time at the age of ?? Each Myers' member having a form of motivation, and yet each unified in the final goal of getting a family photo on top of Mt Wilhelm!

So, in the dark we set off for the summit. The first couple of hours you are working your way through alpine type growth until it is gone and nothing is around you but rocks and cliffs. (I do need to say here, that I had prayed for 2 or so weeks that the Lord would make it overcast, warm and dry. Our 2 previous times it had either been very wet or very cold and I wanted the conditions to be ideal. So you can imagine my frustration when the adventure started out in the rain and then it rained all evening and into the night before quitting. I am glad we serve a loving and gracious God, who loves us even when we doubt and are frustrated because what we prayed for is not what is happening. Just being honest here! God does know what we need and He does know the desires of our hearts!) Because we were dressed to stay warm and were working hard in climbing very steep slopes we were working up a good sweat of exertion. By the time we cleared the alpine growth and started through the rocks the wind was picking up and we were freezing! One of the reasons I, Jeff, did not make it before is because when you're freezing, it just ain't no fun! At an elevation of 10,000 feet it starts to cool down pretty good. Susan took along her alarm clock, not because she planned a nap along the way but because it has a thermometer on it and at one point it read 40 degrees.

Now it is a mighty pretty sight to see the sun rise at that altitude. It mainly is streaks in the sky and on this day they were a pale blue and orange. That high up the sun rising does not take long. As the sun comes up, even if only imagined, it begins to feel warmer. It is a neat feeling as you get higher and higher to look back and see all that is now below you. The view was absolutely amazing! Now that we have reveled in God's majestic mountains, there is a summit to reach and it requires the next step. As much as you rejoice in each decline you walk down after having just covered a tough incline, in the back of your mind is the cold hard fact that what comes down must go back up! That is if your plan and goal is still the summit. Now, if you have not by this time, lost the hustle in your bustle, it can be a fun trail to follow, with cool rocks you have to cross, climb and scurry across. Rocks that are hanging on the edge with toe holds and lips that you put your feet on as the guides help to get you across. The first time I failed on my assault on the summit, was 8 years ago, it was my imagination working in perfect harmony with my fear of heights that got the best of me. But this time, and I thank the Lord, I did not feel any of that as we crossed these places that probably are better suited for Big Horn sheep. But onward we go, remember we need a family photo at the summit. As we continued it did not rain but the clouds were all around us and you could see the wind at times moving them around. One moment it would be cloudy and literally moments later a mountain would rise up right before your eyes, truly a fascinating thing to behold. It was also kind of funny when our guides would point at this curtain of white and tell us Mt Wilhelm is right over there...sure it is! But after one of our guides told us he had been to the summit 30 times, I'll take his word for it. I am not ashamed to say that I was ready a couple of times to say enough and head back down the mountain but then my kids would say come on dad you can do it and Susan would give me a snack and I would plod on. Jessica and I's motto was "baby steps, keep moving, baby steps." Susan and I are proud of the kids for staying at it and seeing it through. When we stopped to take a breather and the clouds blew past and Ben, our lead guide, pointed to a pinnacle of rock in front of us and said, it was Wilhelm, I am going to tell you I got down right emotional and shed some tears. What had eluded me on 2 previous occasions was now in front of me. After a hard climb up to that point and to see Mt Wilhelm before me, I was excited. As a family we had made it and we were going to get our family photo on top of ol' Mt. Wilhelm. Like a bloodhound on the scent I was not to be denied. To get to the summit we had to crawl through a small short tunnel (cave) and up and over some very large stones to get to the top, but it was absolutely worth every moment. To do it as a family was very sweet indeed. The sweetest part of all, and Susan would echo these sentiments, is now that we have done it as a family we don't need to do it ever again! I am also happy to report that everyone of our group who started out to reach Mt. Wilhelm summit was successful in reaching the goal. It took 5 hours to reach the summit from base camp and 4 hours to get back down the mountain. The temperature at the summit was 42 degrees and the elevation was 14,810 feet, the highest point in all of PNG. Bottom line is, it may not be what we have in mind, but the Lord knows what we need to get to the top, not only Mt Wilhelm but in our walk with Him. Uncle (Dr.) Bill quoted this verse and Scot Riggins had it on a note card that his wife had given him before he left for the trip, "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights" (Hab. 3:19). Thank you Lord for deer feet!

Pic 1 - The team before leaving Kudjip

Pic 2 - The Scary Bridge

Pic 3 - A rest stop on the hike up to base camp

Pic 4 - Getting set-up for supper

Pic 5 - Sunrise in the mountains

Pic 6 - Part of the mountain trail

Pic 7 - The goal in view "Mt. Wilhelm"

Pic 8 - The prize! Family photo on top of Wilhelm

Pic 9 - Guides and my helpers, l to r, Jerry, Me, Willie & Ben (lead guide)

Tweens & Twenties, plus a few older ones!

2010-07-28T09:50:00.005+10:00

Time to celebreate the summer months. The kids have had a lot of fun this summer doing many things. They have gone several times tubing down the river, there has been hikes to various places, caves explored, waterfalls seen, movies watched and a whole bunch of neat things going on. Our station kids and kids of volunteers have all taken part in these events. Last night was our turn to host a summer event for the kids. It was for school age and college age young people with three people from the older generation tossed in. We also had some medical volunteers take part and that was nice also. We had a bonfire outside where we roasted weiners and later had S'Mores and we had an Air Hockey tournament that was a lot of fun. We randomly chose people from a hat to pair everyone up and we ended up with eight parings in our brackets. We had a winners bracket and a losers bracket with the winner from each of these 2 brackets playing for the championship. Jordan, husband of our school teacher and maintenance man, was

the winner's bracket respresentative and Jeff was the loser's bracket representative. They played for the championship and it was a rematch of an earlier game that sent Jeff to the loser's bracket. Jeff had Jordan against the ropes with a lead of 9 to 7 but Jordan held on and came back to take the game beating Jeff 10 to 9. It was a great game and hard fought but Jordan is the Air Hockey Champion of this night. Maybe Jeff will beat him next time.

Top picture: Nancy Pyle, wife of volunteer surgeon, standing & Rachel Thompson, High School Teacher.

Bottom picture: Jeff taking on Maggie, PNG doctor in the rural medicine training tract, rotating through.

New Life!

2010-07-02T14:02:00.005+10:00

Are these little girls cute or what?! Their names are Naomi Yuani (with her Dad) and Rose Andrew. They are both 4 years old and have heart defects.

Naomi has two holes in the septum that divides the right side of the heart from the left. One hole is at the level of the atria (the upper chambers) and the other is at the level of the ventricles (the lower chambers).

Rose has a Patent Ductus Arteriosus. When a baby is in mom's belly the baby isn't breathing in order to get oxygen. Instead the oxygen is coming from mom's blood supply. Because of this not all the baby's blood needs to go to the lungs and so there is a little "by-pass" called the ductus arteriosus that shunts blood directly into the aorta. Once the baby is born and takes those first breaths everything changes! Baby is now using those little lungs to get oxygen and all the blood needs to get to the lungs. That "by-pass" road normally closes shortly after baby is born. Rose's did not. She has a Patent, or open, Ductus Arteriosus.

A third child, Able Isaac, (not pictured) has a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. This defect is a little more complicated. As the name eludes to, it has four components to it.

All three of these children are now in Pt. Moresby for heart surgery! Once a year an Australian team of heart surgeons come to PNG. They stay for 10 days or so and perform heart surgery for free. There is a screening process held across the country to determine which of the children who have heart defects are good surgical candidates. Five of the Nazarene Hospital patients referred for the initial screening made the list for the final screening which took place early this week. Three of those five were referred on; Rose, Naomi and Able.

Please pray for them, their families, their surgeons and the rest of the heart team that will be caring for these little ones! Without this special gift of surgery, these kids would develop heart failure at a young age.

Thank you, God, for providing new life for Rose, Naomi and Able!!

God has increased my awe for Him, and my faith in Him

2010-04-03T18:12:00.006+10:00

To start with, our planning stages for the trip had a good many problematic obstacles: we didn’t have Priscilla’s (aka Cilla) passport; one of our main teammates, Susie Shellenberger, wasn’t able to acquire the funds in order to make the trip from the US to here; we were unsure where we would get our funds; to name a few, but God always provided what we needed. Then at Brisbane Airport we met with another problem: my passport had less than six months to its expiration date. The five of us had gone up to the desk to check-in. The lady took our passports and papers, but after a few moments said she had to go check on something related to our stuff. After a bit, Aunt Becky decided that she would go see what the issue was. A couple minutes later she returned and said that it was what we had surmised: it was my passport. Mom, Aunt Becky, and I went to the counter where our check-in lady had gone. They told us that it was Vanuatu who had the strict policies on the expiration date. We asked if there was anything we could do and at first they said no; then they said that we could apply for an emergency passport, but we would have to fly to Sydney to do that. That was definitely out of the question since our flight to Port Vila was scheduled to leave in less than two hours. Aunt Becky took my passport and then headed to a phone to try and contact someone who could help, like the Potters (missionaries in Vanuatu) or someone back at Kudjip. Mom soon followed to lend a hand (or two). That left Cilla, Aunt Steph, and me to watch the bags that we had pulled from the scale to a place close to but still removed a bit from the counters. As soon as we three got situated, I asked if we could pray. Before I was a little nervous, and the full reality hadn’t sunk in that I might not go; after we prayed, I had no qualms and was smiling and even laughing a bit. We decided to go ahead and get breakfast and eat. Before long, we were praying again. A couple guys at the counter came and asked questions, which gave us the feeling that they were trying to come up with some alternative. When Mom and Aunt Becky came back they said that they hadn’t accomplished anything. They returned to the counter to see if there was anything else that could be done. Mom, Cilla, and I went to get breakfast for Mom and Aunt Becky. When we got back, Aunt Becky and Aunt Steph had put our bags on the scale and were checking-in. They said that the people at the desk had got a hold of Vanuatu and were given the OK. That is where my faith grew.

My increased awe for God came on Thursday night. We had a church service at our small Nazarene Church there in the village of Ikaokua on Aniwa, Vanuatu. Pastor Peter Isaac (He and his wife are PNG Missionaries to Vanuatu) preached. Just before he stood up to preach we sang a song with a lot of action to it: running, jumping, and dancing. It really awakened my spirit and readied me for Pastor Peter’s message, like I have never felt before any other message. It was on Noah and his building the Ark. Pastor said that Noah’s family and friends probably gave him a hand, but they didn’t really believe in his reason until it was too late. Pastor paralleled that with us and how we are willing to help build the church building and doing good things for people, but we have to believe in the Reason and not wait until it’s too late and expect that all the good we’ve done will pay our way to Heaven. I loved this message and the fact that I was able to understand it almost completely despite the fact that he spoke in Bislama (even though it is similar to Pidgin here in PNG) made it even more special. Afterwards, Pastor asked for those who wanted to commit their lives to God to come forward so that they could be prayed for. Then he asked if those apart of the mission team would stand and put hands on those who came to the front and pray for them. I hesitated only a moment and glanced over my shoulder at my friend, Cilla, before I stood and began to pour out my heart to God on behalf of those believers. It felt so natural, but at churches here in PNG I have never stood to pray before. After praying we sang a song as we left, shaking hands with each other. That act too felt wonderful. It was the most amazing experience in my life.

These are the two areas that I grew in on my trip to Aniwa and I hope to return there some day.

article by Jessica Myers photos by Sylvia Potter and Susan

The 5 FOBS go to Aniwa

2010-04-02T13:55:00.007+10:00

If you haven't read the last blog below, written by Dr. Jim Radcliffe, you should take a moment to do that now in order to get a little background for this entry.

Our journey really began months ago when Dr. Becky Morsch wrote to Jessica asking if she would be interested in joining her on a special CBHC (Community Based Health Care) mission trip along with Susie Shellenberger, creator of Susie magazine. I, of course, pretty quickly had a great idea! I could go with them!! Becky agreed and guarenteed that if I went she would put me to work! Well, it ended up that Susie would not be able to go. Becky, though, was still interested in us going if we were willing. And we were!

Ever have one of those experiences where there are so many roadblocks in your preparations for something big that you begin to think you should change your plans? This was one of those times for us. Susie needing to decline, problems with scheduling at work, planes being full, passports needing renewed, finding finances enough to cover costs and being turned away at the check-in counter at the airport in Brisbane were among the roadblocks!! But, in every situation, God made a way!!! It has been awesome to see Him at work!

After 3 days of travel and 4 flights we made it to Aniwa! Aniwa is a small coral island and is part of Vanuatu (years ago known as the New Hebrides Islands). There are about 500 inhabitants amongst 8 villages (according to Wikipedia there are only 5, but we were told by some of Jessica's new friends that there are 8). We rented the only vehicle, a small pick-up truck, that is on the island to transfer us and our supplies to Ikaokao, the largest village, about a 15 minute drive down the dirt road.

Jessica, Cilla, Sylvia Potter, Dr.Steph and I stayed in a hut together. It was very clean and nice. It has a cement floor which was covered with woven matting. The walls are of woven bush material and were covered with pieces of colorful cloth. I did not see even one cockroach (Steph reported one was in her suitcase, on at least two different days! Sorry Steph!) and did not hear or see any little furry creatures!! The flies, however, were ridiculous! Not in our hut but outside. During meals you had to balance you plate on your lap and eat with one hand while constantly shooing flies with the other. They were the worst at lunch time. Evening was fine, guess they all went to bed early! Actually, we did too as there is no electricity on the island and when the sun goes down it is as pitch black as it can possibly get!

For the three full days that we were on Aniwa Steph and I did health teaching, about 6 hours each day. We gathered in an Apostolic church that was a bit better equipped for this than the small new Nazarene church. I don't know for certain how many total participants there were but during one of the afternoon sessions I counted around 28. We covered health topics for children and men in the mornings and women's topics in the afternoon. There was a lot of participation which made it fun. We started each new day asking what topics the participants wanted us to cover and then tried to get a good feel for what has been done in the past. This allowed us to learn about traditional beliefs on the island and when appropriate we praised and re-enforced them before presenting some new ideas. The people seemed very receptive and so we are trusting that at least some of what they heard will translate into better overall health. It was especially neat when we shared about HIV/AIDS. It lends itself very well to teaching about sexual purity and God's intent for sexual relationships being shared only within the context of marriage.

For me personally, I felt most challenged in seeing every lost soul through the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's real easy being here at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital, where we are very busy caring for the sick, to lose sight of the most important aspect of our ministry, which is not healing the body. I am praying for a renewed, burning passion for God's lost children. Pray for me and our team in this regard.

Pray for the people of Aniwa. There is a cargo cult there called the John Frum cult. More than half the island are followers of John Frum. They are so convinced that John Frum is going to come back and bring them earthly treasures that they discourage their children from going to school since it won't be necessary and Christianity. The pastor of the new Nazarene church, Pastor Keithly, was a part of this cult as was his father, one of the chiefs. A few years ago shortly before his death this chief gave his heart to God as did his son Keithly. He needs your prayers as well as he leads others out of darkness and into the Light! He also needs a good Christian wife!!

On the lighter side, pretty early in the trip to Aniwa we became the 5 Fabulous FOBS! Dr. Steph gets the credit for initiating this designation! FOB stands for "Fresh Out of the Bush"! We have to laugh at ourselves at the things that really get us excited. Things like clean bathrooms..with toilet paper... running water...and paper towels! (In PNG if you are going most anywhere in-country it is best to have your own supplies with you!) We are thrilled too with clean places to eat, sit and sleep. Being able to get around a city after dark is great too! (This is a no-no in PNG for safety reasons.) Clean restaurants and stores with lots of variety are a special treat! We were so excited about our meals out that we took pictures of the food! That is soooooooo FOB!!

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us during this very special opportunity to witness and be a part of what He is doing in Aniwa! God blessed! Please keep remembering the people of Aniwa!

Aniwa here they come!

2010-03-21T22:53:00.002+10:00

Dear Friends,

The picture below was taken this am as three of our lady doctors and two MK teens left for a one week mission trip to the island of Aniwa which is part of the Vanuatu islands. We have a new church there and they have started community based health care too. Dr. Becky Morsch will be teaching the community health volunteers preventative medicine, Dr. Susan Myers will be teaching about child health, and Dr. Stephanie Doenges will be teaching about safe childbirth. Jessica Myers and Priscilla Radcliffe will be assisting with children's meetings and doing friendship evangelism with the teens. They will be joined by missionaries from Vanuatu, Sylvia Potter, and Peter and Jenny Isaac who have been sent as missionaries from PNG to Vanuatu. Also joining the team are a pastor couple from Fiji who are also learning to do the community health outreach. Please pray for this outreach into this relatively new area. Pray for their travel and safety and especially for their fruitfulness. They will be holding revival services each evening as well. We had a nice time of prayer to send them off this Sunday am at our circle in front of the hospital as well as at missionary prayer meeting this week. Also our district missionary president who is also our OR supervisor, Margaret Mugang came to the house and prayed a beautiful prayer for Priscilla trusting the Lord to work through them and to use them to build His kingdom there. There have been a number of prayer praises already in the travel arrangements and with Priscilla getting her new passport and visa just today on their way out of PNG headed to Aniwa (an - e - wha).

article & photo by Dr. Jim Radcliffe

Update on Jessica.

2010-03-20T13:21:00.004+10:00

A couple of weeks back I requested prayer for Jessica. Jessica, as you may recall, was admitted to the hospital unable to talk, walk or even eat on her own. We had been hoping that her CNS symptoms were a result of TB because that is an infection that we can treat. The other possibilities include disease processes that we are very unlikely to cure.

Last week Jessica's parents requested to take her home so that family and church friends could gather and pray for her. She was gone from the afternoon on the 11th through till the morning of the 13th. On Monday, the 15th, Jessica walked and talked for the first time since before her admission!! On Monday she could say a few single words when prompted...she even knew and said my name when asked! She now is speaking in complete sentences! Wow!!!

Jessica still has a ways to go but God has shown us incredible changes during this week alone! She finished the induction phase of TB treatment which includes 60 days of 4 meds, one of which is an injection, on Monday. She will continue taking 2 of the 4 drugs for another 6 -7 months. Because she is now eating better and able to take her medicines by mouth (without the feeding tube) she was discharged home yesterday (Friday)! Continue to pray for Jessica. Her speech is improving but is not normal yet. Also, she tends to get angry and frustrated which according to her parents is not normal for her. I believe she will continue to improve with God's help and blessings! Thanks to all who have been remembering Jessica!

Dr. Susan

Update on Lonah

2010-03-06T22:06:00.003+10:00

Wow! What a difference a day makes...along with your prayers and the knowledge and provision of medicines that God has afforded us!! As you can see by Lonah and her mother, Daisy's smiles, she is doing much better!!
Asthma is such a common disease that we often times forget how serious it can be and that it can kill. Lonah's condition yesterday is the worst exacerbation of asthma that I have seen in a child. I was not sure she would leave our ER alive.
Over the years I have, on many occassions of near death situations, wondered how much is the medicine and how much is the power of God that has permitted healing. I do believe God has the power to heal. I do believe He has given us the ability to learn and develop new medicines and modes of treatment and that God uses that, too. I also believe that God called me here in order to use the skills that He has given me to assist in the healing of His children.
So, where did Lonah's healing come from? God! He heard our cries for mercy and He allowed me, my doctor colleagues, our nursing staff, and the medicines he has supplied us with to be a part of His work!
God, thank you for allowing each one of us, although unworthy, to partner with You!!

Dr. Susan

Pray for Lonah

2010-03-05T14:41:00.002+10:00

I can't explain to you why some children touch your heart in such a way that you feel as if they belong to you. How a child you have only known a short while can reach right down to your innermost being and draw you to them. How you can share the anguish experienced by their true parents as they desperately cry out for God's mercy in sparing their child's life.
Lonah was admitted to our Pediatric ward a week or two ago. She has asthma and had a bit of a flare up. She only stayed in the hospital two nights and was then well enough to go home. Late last night she began to experience some shortness of breath and wheezing that developed into a severe exacerbation. I was on my way to the ward for morning rounds when I looked and saw Lonah's mother cutting across the lawn towards me. She quickly shared that Lonah was very sick, that she could hardly get her breath and was looking blue. Lonah's family lives at the Christian Leadership Training College not too far from here. They are students there. CLTC has a clinic and so Lonah was seen there through the night and given breathing treatments but they were not really helping.
When we arrived in the emergency room this Lonah was so very different from the little girl I had taken care just a couple of weeks ago. She was not able to speak because she was so short of breath. After giving multiple breathing treatments, injectable meds (hydrocortisone, aminophylline, epinephrine), IV fluids and oxygen Lonah had improved only a little when I left her.
Throughout the time I was in the ER with Lonah this morning her parents were so very attentive. Her Dad knelt down by the bed holding his daughter's hand pleading out loud his request for God's touch on Lonah, all the while lifting up the precious name of God in reverent faith and trust in Him. Oh, how my heart was touched by this Dad's expression of love for his precious little girl and her Creator.
Pray with me now that God will continue to touch Lonah. I have the rest of today off but had shared the details of Lonah's condition and treatment with Drs. Bill and Erin in order that they could keep a close eye on her this afternoon. Bill called just few minutes ago to let me know that she is improving!!

Thanks!
Susan

Jessica

2010-03-05T12:18:00.004+10:00

Nazarene Hospital helps a huge number of patients every year. Some are seen in the outpatient department and are sent home with medications. Some are admitted and go home after just a few days. Then there are those like Jessica, age 5 years, who has been in our hospital now for nearly 2 months. When Jessica came to us she was comatose. After some lab work and a spinal tap it seemed the most likely diagnosis is TB meningitis. Her parents are desparately hoping, along with us, that this truly is TB since with proper treatment complete recovery is possible. We did see some improvement in the first few weeks but progress has slowed. Jessica is not able to sit up on her own, is not talking even though she does make good eye contact and follows simple commands at times. She is often times agitated and moves her arms and legs about without purpose, all but her right arm, where she has paralysis. She eats a little by mouth but gets most of her nutrition through a tube that goes from her nose, down her throat and into her stomach.

Please pray for Jessica and her family. Her Dad obviously loves her dearly and takes very good care of her. Pictured is Jessica, her mom, her Dad (on the left) and an uncle.

Thank you all for taking an interest in Jessica's young life!

MNBC Masters Program

2010-02-15T09:48:00.004+10:00

James chapter 4 verse 2b says, "... yet ye have not, because ye ask not." KJV. The Melanesia Nazarene Bible College under the direction of Dr. Geneva Silvernail, has started a Masters Program at MNBC. This program is for our Nazarene Nationals, who are in full time ministry who have an undergraduate degree. This is a wonderful opportunity for our Nationals to further their education. Some of the 18 candidates are full time pastors, some of them are MNBC Faculty. Pastor Daniel, our Director of Radio Ministry, is also a part of this program. Our Nationals are very hungry for further education and for the opportunity to build upon their education so that they may better serve their church and become better leaders. Several of our Nazarene Universities and Seminaries are helping by offering course work and by providing instructors. The professors involved all hold doctorates. They have also helped us by reducing the cost of this education greatly. For this 2 year modular program the cost for each participant will be $847 not including graduation fee and the cost of books. Although this is a great price for our Nationals to receive a Masters degree, by PNG standards it is still reaching for the moon to come up with this tuition. That is why MNBC and Dr. Silvernail have started a scholarship program to help our Graduate students receive this education.

I am bringing this need before you. James says "Ye have not, because ye ask not." The NIV says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." Our God is great and we do lay this need before Him. Should the Lord want to bless your life by asking you to be a part of the Masters Program for our PNG National brothers and sisters, we and they want you to know that your sacrifice will be greatly appreciated. If the Lord leads you to give, you can send your gift to:

General Treasurer

17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa KS. 66220

you can mark it, Myers Work Of Funds; MNBC Masters Scholarship Program.

Whether you are able to give or not, please lift us and this program up before the Lord in prayer, that He will lead, guide and direct this great endeavor! Thank you!

Photo is of Pastor Daniel, Director of Radio Ministry

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:57:00.002+10:00

Wanted to take a moment on this Christmas day to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Here in PNG our Christmas is winding down, but it has been a wonderful time and we have felt the Lord's presence. It has been nice having Susan's parents here with us this Christmas. We hope that you have a wonderful and a very Merry Christmas and may you see anew the "Babe born in the manger"!

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

I pray that you also will "glorify and praise God" for all the things He has done! And that this Christmas you will have opportunity to share the "Baby in the manger" with someone who needs to know the hope that only He can give!

May the Lord bless you
Merry Christmas
The Myers

40 are baptized!

2009-12-08T15:41:00.004+10:00

"People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." Matt. 14:35b-36

Wow!! All they had to do was touch his cloak! What awesome power! Certainly none of us claim to have such power. But we do see God's healing power at work in our hospital! And it is not just physical healing. No, Nazarene Hospital does not exist for the sole purpose of meeting physical needs! Our main goal is to get as many as we can ready to meet Jesus whenever their time on this earth is through.

Hospital Evangelism is a vital part of our ministry. We have four chaplains, two full-time and two part-time. Their job is to minister to every patient that is admitted to the hospital as well as those that they are linked with through various outpatient services. Chaplain Taime has been here the longest and has had a tremendous ministry. His passion is follow-up. He has started many churched over the years by first introducing Jesus Christ to one of the patients and then linking them with a Nazarene church near their home. Where there is no church, he has began new ones!

This past week-end I had opportunity to go to a baptism. The events leading up to this baptism spanned a two year period. A boy by the name of Opeye was admitted to the hospital in the early part of 2007. He was introduced to Jesus. His parents, a brother and two sisters also made a commitment to Jesus. God then involved a young layman, Moses, by calling him to serve as a pastor to this family and their community, a community known to be feared by others. Moses moved his family to the area and began ministering. They built a church which they have now outgrown! Now two years after that young boy's admission to our hospital there is a church at Kerowil and 42 people were baptized! How awesome is that! Pray for the Kerowil church that it will continue to grow and reach out to others nearby!

The First!

2009-11-08T18:38:00.006+10:00

There have been a lot of firsts over the past few days as we have moved all our patients and medical supplies over into the new hospital. We have remained closed to all outpatient visits and emergencies except to stabilize patients as needed. That also has included pregnant moms in early labor.

I was on-call today and received a phone call at about 11:10 a.m. informing me about a woman, Anna, that came into the hospital in labor. The staff evaluated the patient and determined that this was her third pregnancy and that her cervix was already dilated to 6 cm and she was having strong contractions. Knowing that she could deliver fairly quickly we admitted her. About 25 minutes later I received a second call stating that this lady was about to deliver! I grabbed my camera and bag and headed to the labor ward. I got there just in time to see a new baby girl enter the world! The miracle of life never ceases to amaze me no matter how many times I see it!! This precious little girl will join two older brothers. She weighs 3.525 kg (7lb 12oz). Below, Dr. Bill is presenting Anna and her new baby a special certificate stating that she is the first baby to be born at the new Kudjip Nazarene Hospital.

Please continue to be in prayer for us tomorrow, Monday 11/9, we will be open and seeing lots of patients for sure!! Some will come just to check out the new facility. Pray that as we continue to provide medical services here in PNG that we do it in such a way as to glorify our Lord!

Movin' Day!

2009-11-04T18:33:00.008+10:00

Wow!! What a day! Wish you could have been here!

We remain amazed at how well everything went on this the first day of the "big move"!! It was definitely orchestrated by God! All the patients were moved from the old to the new hospital in just a little over 3 hours! We had lots of workers who gave their all.

Now, the day is done and patients are being cared for in the new hospital wards, the ER is ready to handle patients and other areas are very close to being ready. We have anticipated that we would need 3 days to get everything settled and have posted public notices that we would be closed Nov. 4-6. However, due to the efficiency of the staff and helpers we may begin seeing patients in the outpatient department as soon as Friday the 6th!

Included here is just a sampling of what you would have seen had you been here!

Photos by Cilla Radcliffe, Quintin Shmelzenbach & Jeff Myers

2009-11-03T20:00:00.004+10:00

Have you ever had one of those really busy Sundays with added services in the afternoon such that the idea of going out yet again seems totally uninviting? We felt like that this past Sunday. We had our Harvest party on Saturday night after which we had one of our new missionary families, the Kerrs, over for the night, which we thoroughly enjoyed! (They live at the Bible College and since we don't travel after dark needed a place to lay their heads!). We went to church on Sunday morning and then had a nice dinner with our guests and then had our monthly English service at 2pm and then...we were ready for a little rest!

It seems often times when you do what you know you should and show up for the evening service or next special event...God moves in a mighty way and realize you certainly wouldn't have wanted to miss it!! That too is how we felt!!

We had a Prayer Walk through the new hospital buildings. This was organized by Kathy Radcliffe and Dr. Stephanie Doenges and it was very moving and special for all present! We started out in the outpatient area and after sharing a bit of scripture and song we went through the doctor and nurse exam rooms and the treatment room praying God's blessing on it all. We then went through pharmacy, all 4 hospital wards , then operating theater and central supply and finally ended with the ER and orthopedic rooms. There were missoinaries and national workers, all of us coming together with the common goal of comitting all of our work to our Lord God, the Creator of all things who is all-powerful and all-knowing and all-loving and has provided this tremendous ministry that we get to be a part of !!! We wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time in the great history of Nazarene Hospital!!

In just 12 hours we begin our move into the new hospital! Pray with us that all will go according to God's plan.

Harvest Party Fun

2009-11-02T14:29:00.007+10:00

Here at Kudjip Compound we don't need much of an occasion to have a party. We enjoy any reason for getting together as a mission family and having some fun. But it just so happens we had a reason this time, it was Halloween, ... ah, err, I mean it was Harvest Party Time. And so we got together and had a lot of fun. Some of us, as you can see, came in costumes and some didn't. Jeff came in a costume because his wife came up with a good idea (the part Jeff hates the most, that, and collecting all the pieces and parts to make a costume), aren't we a cute pair of dominos?! Jessica created a robot for her costume and Ethan came as an Elven Warrior (from the Lord of the Rings) as seen in the picture below left.

Aunt Becky and Aunt Erin had some games that we played, like water balloon toss, a scavenger

hunt and a good ol' fashion 3

legged race! And no hobo dinner time at the park would be complete without Uncle Scott leading the kids in a good game of flashlight freeze tag, of course in the dark. There was some wonderful home made treats as well. When the fire was ready we all placed our hobo dinners (a meal wrapped in foil) in the coals and waited for them to cook. It was a beautiful night at the park Uncle Bill created for outdoor enjoyment. Since the park is elevated, you can look across the open spaces to the mountains that surround us, and they are fun to gaze upon. And the moon was a brilliant ball of light hanging in a clear sky. A wonderful time to celebrate and a beautiful evening created by our Heavenly Father!

Time for you to "Engage"

2009-10-31T21:17:00.002+10:00

Well time is drawing near, very quickly, actually, for the official Kudjip Nazarene Hospital move. Next week November 4th KNH will start the transition from the old hospital building to the new buildings. Gina Pottenger, Managing Editor, Engage Magazine asked if Susan would be willing to do a phone interview about the new hospital and upcoming move. That took place this past Friday and you can hear the interview at www.engagemagazine.com sometime this next week, along with an article that was written by Dr. Bill McCoy on the new hospital. Susan needed to go to the Melanesia Field Office to have access to an outside line for the international phone call. As they were doing some testing before the actual interview they were having a hard time hearing Susan. Options for getting the interview were discussed and it came to mind to try our Digicel cell phones. Thank the Lord again for this blessing. After Gina in Kansas City tried a couple of times to get in and was unable, Susan made the call and the interview was completed, with good sound quality! Please be in prayer as this coming week, November the 4th through the 6th, we will be very busy people here at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital, making the move from the old to the new!

NEVER say NEVER!

2009-10-20T09:10:00.003+10:00

The Lord sends blessings each day! Sometimes it may seem harder to see them than at other times. Then there are times when blessings are out there and you don't even know it and of course sometimes the opposite takes place. You know the blessing is out there but it doesn't show up, ... until the right time. Such was the case with the Easter box from our friends and former neighbors the Gaudings. They mailed it March 14, 2007 and it arrived October 2009. It took about 2 and half years to get here, so never say never. PNG customs was keeping it safe for us, it arrived to them on the 30th of March 2007 as the picture below shows. We appreciate the Gaudings
thoughtfulness and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of all who have sent cards, gifts and prayers these past 8 plus years, they do mean a lot to us! Each of you who think of us and say a pray when the Lord lays us on your mind, bless us with God's love and care. We had a church a few years back whose box was a few days short of a year in arriving, but the Gaudings are now the official, no doubt about it winners of the longest time it took a box to arrive to Papua New Guinea. So I guess no time is to long to arrive and to the best of our knowledge only one box is still out there somewhere in package land. So maybe the Gaudings hold on the "Longest Package to Arrive" title could be in jeopardy?! Thank you everyone for blessing our family, may the Lord bless each of you richly!

Jeff, Susan, Jessica and Ethan

Goroka Weekend!

2009-09-21T09:20:00.011+10:00

This past weekend we took a little family time along with 3 of our friends here at Kudjip and headed East 134 Kilometers which took us 2 hours and 53 minutes down the road to Goroka (Gore-row-ka). It was time for a little R & R. Mike Chapman, our hospital project manager, his wife Diane, our MK school teacher and a friend of theirs, Gary, who is here for 6 weeks helping with the electrical work for the new hospital, went with us. We stayed at the CRMF (Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship) guest flat. We did some shopping because prices are a little better closer to the coast and sometimes you find some items that we may not see or have not seen for a while in Hagen, also, I believe, because you are closer to the coast.

Some of the worst road between Kudjip and the North Coast is actually between Kudjip and Goroka which is kind of in the middle.

We had fun eating at the Mandarin, a Chinese restaurant. It is kind of an unwritten rule that

when we go to Goroka we plan to eat at least twice while we are there. One day we got adventuresome and went exploring. While on our adventure we came across the University of Goroka and drove around the campus area and actually stopped at one of the buildings to ask if anyone knew where a certain resort/restaurant was that we were looking for. We finally found it and Susan and I realized that we had actually been there before but didn't realize it from the directions. It is a beautiful place and you can see Susan pointing out the directions in the picture, above right. (Susan was specifically pointing to Syndey in hopes that this may be helpful to her parents who will be visiting us in Dec/Jan followed by a few days in Sydney!!) We had a very nice lunch at "Pacific Gardens". Of course the Kids had their opportunity to swim both days, at the Bird of Paradise Hotel, a high point for them, of course anytime they get to splash and play in the water is a good time for them. We played some great games of domino's at night and even watched Mike's Brisbane Broncos (He's also a Denver Broncos fan ... boo hiss) play Rugby on Saturday night and they won defeating the Dragons. Now they will continue on in the playoffs.

Sunday was a very special time for us. While on furlough we spoke at the Collville Nazarene Church in Washington and had the privilege to meet Pete and Janet Breuer. They are a wonderful couple who are following where the Lord leads them and for this time it is here in PNG. They are serving at New Tribes Mission in Goroka. NTM works in translation and aviation. Janet is a nurse and gave Susan, Ethan and Diane a tour of the clinic on the compound. Susan also had a chance to meet the 2 doctors that work at the clinic. Pete works in maintenance doing all kinds of things which is what usually happens on the mission field. He is currently building the metal work for a concrete ramp that is being built into the clinic area. Before we left Kudjip we contacted them by email to say that we would be in Goroka and wanted to see them. They were gracious to invite us for breakfast Sunday morning and then we all went to the Sunday service at NTM. It was a wonderful breakfast of Cinnamon rolls, coffee cake and of course there was PNG fruit.

We felt the Lord's presence during the service and appreciated the message brought by Dave Taylor. One of the hymns sung was the "Love of God", I do like this hymn very much and I can't help singing it and not think of my Pop as he and I have sung this song together many times, one of those sweet memories. It was just a great Sabbath Morning.

After we left NTM we headed for our final time at the Mandarin (for this trip) for lunch then packed up and headed back down the highway for our return trip to Kudjip. It was a great weekend with friends, seeing friends again and meeting new friends and of course just getting away for a few days. As you can see in the picture we met some new little friends. Near and around Daulo (Dow-Low) Pass (which is the highest point on the road between Kudjip and Goroka at 8128 ft) you will often see these little ones trying to make a few coins selling these flower wreaths and necklaces to people passing by on the road. We stopped to get a few photos and bought wreaths and took some pictures of the little ones. Then continued our journey home.

Tree Days!

2009-09-12T10:42:00.006+10:00

We own a book called, "You Know You're an MK When ... " by Andy and Deborah Kerr, for

instance you know you're an MK when ... 'You watch National Geographic specials and recognize someone'. Well here in PNG you know you are an MK when ... you get 3 days off from school because they are cutting down a tree close to the school house

and you want to be sure the children are safe from a tree or limb coming through the school house. And such was the case this past week here at Kudjip. Cutting down the tree was quite a feat.

In Ohio, as kids growing up, every winter we would look forward, with great hope and anticipation, to "Snow days." Well, when you live in a tropical climate snow days just don't happen! So you get the monthly "Teacher Shopping Day." No school because the teacher must go once a month to shop so they don't starve to death. And then every great once in a while you get something like "Tree Days!"

The story behind the taking down of this beautiful and majestic tree is a sad one. My guess (and only a guess) is that this tree was probably close to 80 years old, it was big. It was close to 80 feet long, the stump at it's widest was 50 inches and one of the limbs measured about 15 inches in diameter. About 3 years ago our maintenance crew was taking down another tree close to this one, it was smaller but deadly. One of our maintenance guys was in the tree (that was just taken down) when this other tree or a limb came down and knock him out of the tree. He lived for about 5 / 6 hours and passed away. Months later the College of Nursing girls dorm was being dismantled and was going to be rebuilt. The construction crew that was hired to come in and build the new dorm ringed the tree. That is they stripped the bark off of the tree all the away around it about 6 to 8 feet in height, in order to kill the tree. They did this for two reasons. First to limit the amount of leaves and debris from building up in the gutters. We rely on the rain from the roof to fill our water tanks. This water is then pumped into our homes and the college of nursing dorms.

But the sad part of this story is the second reason. They felt that Jakaba's spirit (the man who fell out of the tree and died) was in the tree. Initially, there was a great attempt to save the tree as we are very protective of our trees on the compound. But when a large limb, still with leaves fell out of the tree 3 weeks ago it was felt that the tree was not going to make it and in fact was dieing slowly. As Paul Harvey was famous for saying, "And now the rest of the story." The limb that fell out of the tree came down just 5 minutes after our school kids had been in that area playing and getting in line to reenter the school. Had it fallen and struck a child it is highly possible it would have killed them. We serve a mighty God who looks out for us and our kids and we thank Him for His hand of protection on our kids and teachers!

It was quite a site to see the tree coming down limb by limb. There are some things that you almost always see a Papua New Guinean with, a Bush Knife/Tomahawk or a spade. And they can work wonders with any of them. There was a team of 4 who came in to take down the tree. One guy named David was the tree climber and chopper. That 15 inch limb I mentioned earlier, he chopped off with his axe! In fact the only time he used a chainsaw was at the base of the 50 inch trunk when it was time to cut it down. These guys didn't use bucket truck or anything else fancy. David just climbed from limb to limb cutting each one off and moving to the next. He was in the tree for 5 to 6 hours straight. Aside from 2 limbs that we needed to use a rope on to drop them in a better location, he dropped the limbs right where he wanted.

There were a couple of things that I thought were cute or on the interesting side. At one point David was in the tree and wanting to go up higher. I am assuming that he didn't like his options for going higher, so he tied a short piece of a small limb to a rope, sat

on it like a swing, while the 4 of us down below pulled him up to the next spot he wanted to be at. It still brings a chuckle when I think about it. One of the last limbs to come down, if chopped off as is would come down on the MK School, so we got a rope and 15 guys and tied the rope to the limb and we went to our pulling position. After the limb came down I decided that we should have had 17 guys because a small limb coming off of the big limb just caught the edge of the MK School porch roof and grazed the spouting enough to put a slight dent in. We also had one limb that we roped and pulled, however, should of had another 3 or 4 guys instead of the 4 we did have. This limb came down and clipped the overhang/eves of the MK School and sheared it off along with the electrical box, which by the way was disconnected. The actual school structure was not damaged. We thank the Lord for only these minor damages!

The second morning I showed up and they were cleaning up a little getting ready for another day of cutting. I had thought that I would pray with them before we got started but as I was coming back towards the tree they were on the other side praying for Gods hand of protection upon them before David started up the tree for another day's cutting. I was told that 3 of the 4 tree choppers were Christians but that David the man in the most dangerous position was not. Please remember him in your prayers that God would get a hold on his life.

Although our kids don't get "Snow Days" here in PNG, "Tree Days" work just as good, especially if your a kid looking for a day off from school!

In the first picture on the right you can see the MK School porch, roof and water tank and in the picture on the left you can see the College of Nursing girls dorm.

2009-08-19T18:49:00.003+10:00

I was seeing patients in the clinic yesterday and noticed a lady on the line with a piece of green and white striped cloth tied around the lower half of her face. She sat with her head bent down a bit as if this would help to hide the reason for which she came to the clinic. As it happened I was the one who got to see Maria. After entering the exam room she began to untie the green and white striped cloth. As she brought the cloth down I could see only slightly soiled gauze. After she removed it I was impressed with the size of this growth extending out from her chin and neck. She could only open her mouth part way because of the tumor making a complete exam inside her mouth difficult.

Maria first noticed the start of this tumor only 4 months ago. Wow. She had been seen at another hospital several times but they reportedly had some problems with their equipment and had rescheduled the visit repeatedly. Thus, she traveled several hours to see if anyone here could help her. Surgery is out of the question due to the size and extent of the tumor. I discussed her case with Dr. Bill McCoy and we decided that although we couldn't confirm a diagnosis quickly, we would do a biopsy and tried some chemotherapy. We are hoping this is a Burkitt's Lymphoma as these generally respond well to chemo.

Pray with me for Maria. We explained that we are not sure the medicine will help. I am sure she is scared. But God is BIG!

The Hagen Cultural Show

2009-08-17T12:48:00.006+10:00

The Hagen Cultural Show is probably as close as you can get to what we in the States would call a fair. The Cultural Show is a 2 day affair where people from all the surrounding provinces come and show off their traditional dress and dance. They are judged as they parade through the Rugby Oval (stadium) in front of the grand stand and at the conclusion of the event a prize is awarded. The Hagen Cultural Show took place this past Saturday the 15th. We decided to go because I wanted some new pictures of the cultural dress and I wanted to look at the artifacts that I was pretty sure would be there. We had a Land Cruiser load of people who wanted to go so we got together and headed out to the festivities. We had with us Dr.'s Becky Wallace and Stephanie Doenges along with Dr Tom and Lois Staton our family and a PNG friend Johnathon.

We all had a good time. We saw some painting each others faces and finishing their preparations. In fact, some were doing face painting on non-participants!!! So our Dr.'s Becky and Steph joined in the fun and got their faces painted! Becky had a blue butterfly and Steph a Hibiscus flower.

It was a beautiful warm sunny day great for taking pictures. PNG is a truly beautiful place with majestic mountains, gorgeous clouds and on clear nights brilliant stars! The people of PNG are just as colorful as the country and on this day the colors were dazzling!

4-Wheelin' It to Church on Sunday Morning!

2009-07-20T21:33:00.012+10:00

In our family we often times talk about how everything is relative. We are very rich when compared to many of our national friends here in PNG but not by US standards. Our hospital here is very technologically advanced compared to the many health centers not far away but we are decades behind a typical small town hospital in the US. The variety of goods available at the big grocery store in Mt. Hagen is amazing compared to the trade stores in the nearby small town of Banz but they are nothing compared to a Super Wal-mart in the States. It is all RELATIVE! This past Sunday, going to morning service was an adventure by any one's standards! The trek to Tumbang made Disney Land's Indiana Jones ride seem like a stroll in the park!
But first, let me share with you a little history leading up to the current event. Pastor Robert is in his third year at MNBC (Melanesia Nazarene Bible College). Robert was born with a problem in his right eye and has very little if any vision in that eye. In his "good" eye he developed a cataract and so has struggled for some time to carry on life's daily tasks. He felt called to the ministry but could hardly make out the words on the pages of his Bible. His wife, Kauantz, has never been to school and therefore never learned to read and write. She is committed to Robert and he to her and so he taught her to read. Now she can read the Bible to him! Between the love and help of his wife and his Bible College classmates he is able to proceed with his studies.

Pastor Robert has been assigned to Tumbang Nazarene Church for the past two years. Robert and his wife leave the Bible College campus every Friday or Sat and travel about 30-40 minutes on a PMV (public motorized vehicle) and then hike about 2 1/2 hours, mostly uphill, to Tumbang in order to be there for the Sunday morning service. After the morning service they make the return trek.

Some months back Dr. Steph, our newest full time medical missionary doctor here at Nazarene Hospital, saw Kauantz in the clinic. In so doing, she became aware of Pastor Robert and Kauantz's story, specifically his near blindness. Thanks to Dr. Steph's sensitive spirit and willingness to be used by God, Pastor Robert got some desperately needed help from an eye specialist in Goroka, about 3 1/2 hours away. Pastor Robert doesn't have anything close to normal vision but is much more easily making his way through life!

Pastor Robert and the Tumbang church invited Dr. Steph to come speak at their church. (Steph mentioned to us that she would need the vehicle, which we look after, for that Sunday and we in turn volunteered to go with her.) They had food prepared and had done some amazing decorating with flowers, fruits and vegetables! They even had a small pool with two large gold fish in it (which Robert would later take home to cook and eat...Steph had politely declined along with the rest of us!!) There was a printed program and plans for a baby/children's dedication as well. This Sunday was to be a really big deal for this church. No Nazarene Missionaries had ever gone out that far on that road to visit a church! Although we didn't know all the details of the decorating we knew enough to know that Dr. Steph not being there would be a huge disappointment and you can imagine our dilemma when we were advised not to go! The road was not in good condition. Some of our Swiss missionary friends have a mission close to there and advised not going stating that they had not been sending any vehicles out there for some weeks due to poor road conditions. We prayed about it, pondered it, weighed the risks and benefits and...ultimately decided we would head that direction and if it got too bad we would turn back.

The bottom line is that God made a way!!! It was, in fact, the worst road we have traveled on in the whole 8 years we have been serving in PNG! We only got stuck once! The service was great! The people were thrilled! Dr. Steph was wonderful! We enjoyed the lunch prepared for us! The Lord blessed us, we were blessed by the people and we were able to be a blessing to the Tumbang church! Thank you Lord for a great time 4-Wheelin' in PNG on Sunday Morning!!

A Birds Eye View!

2009-07-13T12:00:00.010+10:00

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

2009-06-14T19:14:00.009+10:00

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

2009-04-17T14:54:00.008+10:00

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!

2009-04-15T07:53:00.013+10:00

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

2009-04-01T10:56:00.019+10:00

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!

2009-01-14T05:28:00.010+10:00

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!

2008-12-25T14:09:00.003+10:00

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!

2008-11-15T13:39:00.010+10:00

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

2008-11-02T05:29:00.006+10:00

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!

2008-09-25T03:32:00.005+10:00

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!!!

Follow up on "Heart Help"!

2008-07-02T18:52:00.004+10:00

It is done!!! Melisa Chris had surgery to repair a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) on June 18th!!! The Ductus Arteriosus is a pathway for blood to flow through while a baby is still in mama's belly. This pathway diverts the blood from going to the lungs since it does not need to go there to pick up oxygen. Once the baby is born the pathway normally closes. When it does not close, as was the case with Melisa, the heart is required to work harder to compensate for the abnormality and if left unrepaired the child can develop heart failure. Thanks to the Australian Heart team this will not be the case for Melisa!!! I don't have a picture of Melisa but when I have opportunity to get one I will pass it along to you all!! She is a cutey!

Klara Marang has a more complicated heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. She had surgery in 2006 but needs a second procedure. The Australian Team confirmed that she definitely needs surgery but that it will have to be done in Australia. She has been put on a waiting list. We have no idea when her surgery will take place but we are expecting that it will be some time in the next 12 months. We are currently working on getting her a birth certificate (Most of the population here do not have a birth certificates. In fact many were born at home and don't know the exact birth date!) and a passport. She will need a special medical visa that is only good for 3 months and therefore we will have to wait till we hear an exact date of the surgery before we can process the visa. Pray for me as I try to coordinate getting all the paper work in order. Also pray for God's timing. Klara's mom is expecting a baby! She is only in the first trimester. She would very much like to travel with Klara to Australia but if it is too near the time of her delivery she will have to have someone else go in her place.

Kondo Walep was mentioned in my previous article on Heart Help. (The one in the picture.) He was found to have another problem in addition to the ASD. He has a coarctation of the aorta, which means he has a narrowing of the aorta. The heart has to work harder to push the blood through the narrowed section of the aorta. However, over all he is not well enough for surgery now. He is being treated currently for pulmonary tuberculosis. He has been instructed to follow up with the heart team next year.

Thank you so much to all of you who contributed funds to help with air travel for these kids! God provided a free ticket for Melisa Chris and her mother through Airlines PNG!!! A portion of the monies donated will be used to fly Klara and her mother to POM when the time comes for them to go to Australia. Any remaining funds will be set aside to be used next year for any children who are referred for surgery.

Thanks again to you who contributed! I felt confidant that there would be some who God would lead to give us some help, heart help!!!
Dr. Susan

It's Been Awhile!

2008-07-02T09:34:00.007+10:00

Hello To all,

It has been quite awhile since our last article on the Blog Site, sorry! But things are going well and we are getting ready for our furlough that will take place in a little over 4 weeks now. So we have been busy cleaning, inside and outside the house, packing, sorting and finishing up work that needs to be accomplished before we head out for the States soon. We will be headed home by way of Australia on our way to South Africa to take the kids on a once in a life time safari at Kruger National Park. Should be a great time and I really hope to see a Rhino!! After we get back to the States we will be busy getting the kids into public school and we will be busy helping my sister and husband finalize plans for my parents 50th wedding anniversary! I thank the Lord that He has blessed us with wonderful parents and that He has blessed them with 5o wonderful years. Susan and I have been blessed with great parents who have given us tremendous support through the years and especially these last 7 and 1/2 years that we have been missionaries for the Lord and the Church of the Nazarene. To our home church, home district, family, friends and LINKS districts thank you for your love, prayers and support, we really do need each other!

The poem down below was part of our writing assignment from the Literature workshop that took place this last May. We had to pick a Literature tool (pencil, printer machine, pen, sheet of paper, book) and write about it. It was written by Ken Karpal, Business Manager for Victory Books here in PNG. Ken also works heavily with Literature in PNG. This came to me this week in an email from Geneva Silvernail our Regional Literature Director, who facilitate the workshop.

Switch Me On

Switch me on.
I am a printing machine,
Purposely designed by God.

Switch me on.
Press the buttons
That instruct my ways to print.

I can do a single copy
Or I can do a thousand—and even more.
Run as many as you wish.

Press the buttons—
I print in colour.

Press the buttons—
I print in black and white.

Switch me on.
Use me to print encouraging words,
Words to help you share God’s true love.

Switch me on.
Use me to print inspirational books,
Books to help you understand God’s Word.

Switch me on.
I am a printing machine,
Purposely designed by God.
—Ken Karpal

article by Jeff Myers

poem by Ken Karpal

Photo by Karen (Medford Or. W&W Team)

A Vision For The Future!

2008-05-26T09:00:00.014+10:00

Motivated, challenged and encouraged, three words that described those who attended the Literature Workshop held in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea May 21-23 2008. The workshop, "Raitim Toktok - Kamapim Disaipel" (Writing Speech - Making Disciples) was well attended with 27 people present. The group was made up of DS's, pastors, laymen and members of the Media and Publication Board of PNG. This workshop was a much needed shot in the arm for the Literature Ministry of PNG. It helped to refocus the ministry and helped to re-evaluate goals and priorities. It served to create new vision for how literature can be used in PNG to help reach the lost, build disciple and strengthen the church.

Each day was started with devotions lead by Ken Kapal, Director of Victory Books, Kathy Radcliffe, Missionary to PNG and Pastor Daniel Eka, Director of Radio Ministries. Each giving a challenge and setting the tone for the days events. The workshop was lead by Dr. Geneva Silvernail, Regional Literature Coordinator for the Asia Pacific Region. It was a blessing having Dr. Silvernail to facilitate this workshop. Throughout the 3 day event, there was much discussion on literature and its importance to the church and its growth. One participant, Tarp Goma, stated, "God's word is written so it must be read." Another participant, Pastor Rower, said, "When we read it (God's word), it helps get our culture in line with God's culture." To this end, is what the Literature Ministry of PNG is working towards. The workshop included times of discussion, group projects, writing assignments and the final session was spent laying down a strategy for the advancement of literature within PNG. The times of discussion dealt with topics like, translation, writing, copyright issues, evaluating current and new literature projects. Pastor Daniel Eka commented, "Before the Literature Workshop I had done some translation work. But the workshop helped me to see how to do translation work better." Kathy Radcliffe summarized it best when she said, "I was glad that they got down to making plans and focusing on the future. I was inspired by the enthusiasm of the participants."

A challenge given a vision seen, pray that God will bless the hard work that came about through this literature workshop. That literature will be a powerful tool used to build the Kingdom in Papua New Guinea.

Pictures on the right at top:

1) The participants of the Lit. Workshop

2) Dr. Geneva Silvernail, facilitator of the workshop, blessed and used by God!

Pictures on the left:

1) Ken Kapal, Director of Victory Books & Publications here in PNG.

2) Kathy Radcliffe Missionary in PNG

Article and Pictures by Jeff Myers

Need Help - Heart Help!!!!!

2008-05-20T19:33:00.008+10:00

Patric Wilgal, Bekwin Kos, Freeda Greg, Nancy Mike, Clara Marang and Joan Charles. What do these kids have in common? They have all had surgery to correct heart defects here in PNG!! Each year an Australian group of heart surgeons through an organization called Operation Heart comes together in the capitol city of Pt. Morseby (POM) to perform surgery on children who were born with heart defects. The aforementioned children all had surgery in POM!!! These children had all been seen at Nazarene hospital and referred to a national pediatrician by the name of Dr. Tefuarani. He screened these children and deterimined that they had heart defects that could be corrected in POM by the Australian heart team.
We are now nearing the time for Operation Heart to come to PNG again. On the 19th and 2oth of this week Dr. Tefuarani was again in Mt. Hagen screening children with evidence of heart disease and making a list of those who are possible candidates for surgery. Nazarene hospital has referred 10 or so children. So far, we know of two children, Clara Marang and Kondo Walep, who have been directed to the next step of the screenig process and are expected to be in Lae, a port city on the North coast, on the 23rd of June. At that time, if they are put on the surgery list, they will need to fly directly to Pt. Moresby for surgery.

Most of the people in the area of Nazarene Hospital are very poor and so traveling to Lae by road and then to Pt. Moresby by plane seems like an impossibility. In most instances, these children have been cared for through Nazarene Hospital. As a further outreach of Nazarene Hospital, it is my hope that we can assist these families in their travel expenses. God has opened the doors in the past via individual donors and the assistance of Air Nuigini and Airlines PNG to provide free air travel for these families (the patient and one adult). This year I would like to bring before you, our family, this need and ask that you prayerfully consider giving a little something towards this life changing opportunity! If you would like to be a part please send any donation you may have to the General Church attention "Global Treasury Services" in Kansas City (6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131). Checks can be made out to "Global Treasury Services" and should be marked for "Work of Susan Myers - PNG - Heart Help". I expect the cost per person traveling to be around K1000 or about $380.00. Due to time constraints and the need to book flights in advance, if the Lord is prompting you please notify me of the amount you are donating and send funds to KC by June 15th. If there would happen to be more money donated this year than we need to transport these children the money will be left in an account to be used in future years for kids with heart defects so that they too may have the opportunity for a long and healthy life!

Thanks so much!! We love these kids and are eager to see them grow up big and strong!
Dr. Susan

The little guy in the picture is Kondo Walep. He has been diagnosed with an atrial septal defect, which is a hole in the septum that divides the right and left atria of the heart.

Kudjip Search & Rescue Assists Stranded Rock Climber

2008-05-13T09:43:00.009+10:00

It is now Sunday evening--Mother's day. Judy got a great Mother's Day gift, and I get to share it. The end of the story is that Sam is safe and unharmed, except for scrapes and bruises. Yesterday Sam went with missionary Scott Dooley and volunteer medical student Ben Kumor to explore a cave that Scott has been talking about doing for several years. Scott loves caves, and has done quite a bit of spelunking (the term for exploring caves). Sam and Scott have explored several caves in the area here, but this particular one has fascinated them. The problem is that the entrance to this one is a 150' vertical shaft, and they just didn't have the equipment to safely get into and out of it! On his last furlough, Scott acquired the equipment he needed, a longer climbing rope, and ascenders, devices that make it possible to climb up a rope. Ever since the Dooleys got back, they have been planning the day. They have been training in trees so that Sam could learn to rappel and ascend with the rope. So yesterday they drove to Konduk, then hiked the 2-plus hours to the cave, along with John Opa, a local friend. They rappelled into the cave without incident, looked around, annoyed thousands of bats, and began to climb back up the rope. But they experienced trouble with the ascending equipment, and ended up with Ben and Scott out, and Sam hanging on the rope part-way up, unable to either go up or down. Scott, Ben and John tried to pull Sam up, but the rope lay over several angles of rock which added so much friction that they could not move him more than a few inches. We got cell phone service in the Highlands almost a year ago, which turned out to be a tremendous blessing in this situation. Scott was able to phone us. I brought Jeff Myers and a group of young men from our college of nursing, and drove to Konduk. The young men ran to the cave, and along with some people from Konduk were able to pull Sam up. Although I tried to get there, I did not make it to the cave by the time they got him out, so I waited for him along the

trail. We got home about 10 pm, exhausted but thankful to God for His help, and for the wonderful, selfless people who got involved. Today we went ahead with a previously made plan, and drove into Mt. Hagen for church and a mother's day lunch at a restaurant. We know that many of you pray for us frequently, and we thank you all for those prayers. Happy Mother's Day to you all, mothers or not!

Andy, Judy, and Sam

It was a very adventurous experience. From Konduk to the cave took the 4 College of Nursing students and myself about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The boys were kind enough to not kill me going up the mountain because I'm sure without me they would have made it in a shorter time. We got to the cave entrance where all we could see of Samo (Uncle Jeff's name for Sam) was the rope that he was tied to. By the time we arrived to help pull him out Samo had been hanging around for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. It took six of us to pull him out while 2 more people worked the locking system so that as we pulled we didn't loose what we had gained. I would guess that it took us about 15 minutes to get Samo out. Although it was the first time, and hopefully the only time, our quickly gathered Search and Rescue Team worked like a well oiled machine!

Jeff

The top picture is what Samo saw while he was hanging around. The light at the top was where he needed to be to get out.
The next picture: all the white dots are bats eyes. The original picture is much better at seeing them, sorry.
Third picture down is members of the Kudjip Search & Rescue Team.
Fourth picture is Samo reassuring his Mama by Digicel (Thank the Lord for Digicel!) that he was out and OK! (Thank the Lord for that too!)
Final picture is me with my Digicel and headlamp after we had extracted Samo from the cave. (As always GO Browns!)

The above article was written by Andy Bennett

Photos by Sam Bennett & the other Rock Climbers

The latest on the Landslip

2008-05-07T19:22:00.008+10:00

We have been asked if the Mudslide that took place a few weeks back has affected us. Yes this has definitely affected us! It cuts us off from the coast, which means no trucks cars or anything, which means no food, diesel and medical supplies. We had all done shopping with the thoughts that it might be months before this is fixed. There is a real possibility that it won’t be completely fixed even before we leave for furlough. This landslip is massive it broke off from a limestone section of the mountain and it took out everything in it’s path. Mike Chapman went to the sight with a National and he said that it took him about 25 minutes to walk across it. It took place just past Kundiawa on the way to Garoka. We are not driving anymore than we absolutely have to. Deisel is out in Hagen for the most part although I did hear rumor that they were able to get some diesel from the Southern Highlands. It has caused the PMV (PNG Taxi) fares to go up considerably so it is harder for our Nationals to get around. So you can remember us in prayer.

Now the latest on the Mudslide.

It has been several weeks since the Mudslide took place and things are getting back to normal. The spot in the road that was taken out is still not fixed and who knows how long that may take to complete. But pressure was applied by the Prime Minister to get a by pass road in and that has taken place. I heard that a 2 week time period was given to get the by pass road in because that was about all the diesel that was left to the Gold mines that are in the Highlands and who depend on the Highlands Highway, the same highway we depend on. The day the opened the by pass road was kind of a time of celebration along the highway. Here is an email that Mike Chapman sent to us when the by pass road was opened,

"If you have not heard the trucks going by like gang busters then you should know that the road was opened last night to all traffic and today I watched fuel trucks and all kinds of trucks going by the station for Hagen. Praise the Lord! Thanks all for your patience during this time."

I did notice the last time I was in town that Best Buy looked to be out of rice and bread flour, 2 important food items here in PNG. But with the raod opened enough to get trucks through things will be getting back to normal. Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray that the main road will be fixed and opened again soon and that other slides that have or will take place will not be as devastating.

These pictures were taken by Mike Chapman just a couple of days after the Mudslide took place.

Devotional Brings Salvation to a Lost Soul

2008-04-08T09:45:00.004+10:00

We have a victory today for the kingdom! We had a man come forward to ask for Christ to come into his life. This man has been working as an electrician on the project site, we have asked different people do the devotions each day before starting work. (Silas is in the picture to the left, top and former DS and Chaplian at the hospital Tiame Diyre bottom left)Today was Sailas Wutsik talking to the workers and he asked if anyone would like to pray and ask God into their heart to come up and we would pray. This man came forward.The amazing thing is that we have been doing this for 4 weeks now and we feel that we are starting to make the mustard seed grow! Only by the grace of God we can change mens hearts. We make sure that they hear from local pastors, Previous D.S. Pastors, Hospital Chaplin's, assistant D.S. Pastors, Project managers, lay pastors, hospital staff departments and others. We also have some of the Christian men give testimony to them so they here from their piers. It has been 8 weeks since our last situations on site from upset men.

(It has been almost 5 weeks since the workers of the new hospital buildings asked for devotions to start off their work day, we praise God for what He is doing. JM)

Written by Mike Chapman on the 1st of April

Easter Sunday

2008-03-25T13:23:00.011+10:00

Well, Easter has come and gone again for another year. But we had a wonderful Easter Sunday here in Papua New Guinea. Our Lord can be worshipped and His resurrection praised anywhere, even half way around the world in the Highlands of PNG. I will say that our Easter Sunday started a wee bit early for me as Susan's alarm went off around 5:30 (yes AM). But that was the time to rise if we wanted to be on time for the Sunrise service that had been planned. We had a joyful time as we sang the Easter hymns, read scripture, some gave testimonies and Dr. Jim played his trumpet out over the hills. Makes me wonder what people across the valley were thinking who may have heard the trumpet sound. We had a wonderful time together as a mission family worshipping our Savior and celebrating His triumph over the grave! Thanks to God, it is the reason we have the hope of salvation and the forgiveness of sins. If you have never asked the Lord Jesus into your life you can't truly experience the fullness of Easter. But the great thing about what Jesus did for us on the cross and in His resurrection from the grave, is that we can ask Him into our hearts at anytime, even today, right now, and He will hear and He will save, right here and right now!

Our Easter Sunday didn't stop there, no sirree, we still had a full morning ahead. After the Sunrise Service we had about an hour before we needed to head out to the tiny little village of Kume (Koo May) where Pastor Dixon has a preaching point, just past Tuning (for those of you who followed along with Mom and Dad's adventures while they were here). It is just a tiny church and is only a year and a half old, actually here, it is considered a preaching point because it is not yet organized. Pastor Dixon had asked if I would come and Autim Tok (preach) at Kume when I Preached at Tuning in January. For this adventure we took along 4 single ladies and a volunteer couple and Micheal the security guard for the compound because he knew where we were going and we did not! So all 11 of us started off on our adventure. It took us about 50 minutes to get there and it was back in country a little bit, but half the fun is getting there!

We finally came to an Aid Station and was told to park because it was just a little ways up the road. Now the first lesson is when a National tells you it is only a little ways ahead you know that it is at least twice that far. But I am happy to say it really was just a very short ways ahead and then we headed up a steep bank. When we got to the top the church was right there. (You can see the inside of the church 2 pictures up, above is the outside with the trail coming up to the left of the church, and to the left is Pastor Dixon in the foreground and John who attends the church in the background) We were a little early and since the pastor had not yet arrived we all stood around and visited with the people that had already shown up for service. It wasn't too long and Pastor Dixon came and within a few minutes we moved into the church to start the service.

We moved in and as is typical with a PNG church service, we sang lots and there was a time for testimonies and scripture verses and the offering (every good Nazarene Church has one) and specials. Susan had a special, she played "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name" It was very nice, she used her flute and piccolo that she had received as a Christmas gift this past Christmas. Soon it was my turn to be apart of the morning service.

I felt impressed to shared about Peter and his part in the Easter story. There are times when I feel I can identify with Peter a good bit. I wanted to show how a man who had been with Jesus for around 3 years, could still deny Jesus and yet have the Lord reinstate Peter and as we see in Acts 4:8 "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit ..." This is an exciting story. We all know that not one of us is perfect and we will have our moments along the way where we must ask the Lord's forgiveness. But because of Easter we have the assurance that He is always willing to forgive and reinstate any of us who are willing to ask, so that we too, like Peter, can be "... filled with the Holy Spirit ..." The Lord told Peter ahead of time that he would deny Him and when they were in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus said to them, after He found them asleep, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Mat 26:41 Three times Jesus went and prayed and came back only to find the 3 disciples still sleeping and how many times, I wonder, does the Lord look down and find us sleeping when we should be watching and praying, lest we fall into temptation! We looked at Peter's 3 denials of Jesus, the same man who in the upper room said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." Mat 26:35 We all have great intentions but sometimes they fall apart even when we did not mean for them to. But the beauty of this story is found in John 21:15-19. Jesus 3 times asks Peter, "Do you love me!" and reinstates him by telling him to take care of His sheep, feed His sheep! Jesus knows that we are weak but we MUST know that He is STRONG!! The power in the story is seen when we look at Peter in Acts. Look at chapter 4:13, I really like this verse, it says, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Look at those words, UNSCHOOLED, ORDINARY, our God can use anyone who is willing to be used. But the best part is "... THEY TOOK NOTE THAT THESE MEN HAD BEEN WITH JESUS." Oh, how I pray that my life will reflect that, "this man has been with Jesus!" This should be the desire of each of our hearts. Each of us, if we but only ask, can be forgiven just like Peter and we can have the same power that Peter displays in the book of Acts if we allow control of our lives to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is not Lord of your life today, He can be if you will just ask Him into your life! I pray that you will!

This is the hill that we had to climb and then descend to get to and from the church!!

Pray for Jonah!

2008-03-15T12:05:00.007+10:00

Jonah needs your prayers! Jonah is about 8 years old and came to us the beginning of January with complaints of vomiting, headaches and some difficulty walking. It was obvious after my exam that Jonah has some sort of intracranial disease which is most likely to be a brain tumor or perhaps TB. When I suggested to the family to try to go to Pt. Moresby, the capitol city, where they could get a CT scan of his brain, they expressed that they would not have the means to get there. So, we started TB meds in the hopes that this was in fact TB. He was also started on Decadron, a corticosteroid, to help reducing the swelling. I expected at least some of the symptoms would be reduced if not by the TB medicines then by the steroids. Jonah did begin to feel better!! However, when the time came to begin reducing the steroids the symptoms got worse. He again developed head pain and vomiting. In my mind that pretty much sealed the diagnosis, he has a brain tumor and there would be nothing more that we could do.

By this time we were about 5-6 weeks into his treatment. We typically treat TB with an initial daily regiman of 4 drugs (we call this A regiman) and then reduce the treatment. We use the A regiman for 60 days. We, therefore, had only another 2+ weeks to go and so we decided to continue in the hopes that we might still see some favorable response.

The Lord answered our prayers and Jonah did begin to feel better again...even with reducing his steroids further!!!! On the 14th of this month (March) Jonah received the last doses of a 10 week course of A regiman ( I opted to treat a little longer with A regiman since he was slow to respond)and I allowed him to go home on B regiman ( a modified course).

I am having to rebuke Satan often as he tries hard to cast doubt in my mind as to whether what I have seen represents the beginning of complete healing for Jonah. Satan doesn't want us to believe that God has the power to heal but you and I know otherwise! Please pray with me that God will see fit to heal Jonah completely and that He will receive all the glory!!

Jonah is scheduled to follow up with me in the clinic on Wed. the 26th of this month.

Thank You,

Susan

Photo taken by Dr. Erin Meier

Hospital Construction Update

2008-03-12T07:26:00.004+10:00

Hello All from PNG!

Well it has been a busy time since the last update from PNG Hospital. First we give God all the praise for work that has taken place to this point especially in the last 3 weeks!

God has given the patience and wisdom for all that is happening at the Hospital construction site! We have had 3 weeks of no interruption work! Wow!, things are turning and going at a fast pace. As you will see in the pictures you will understand the impact of God's work in PNG.

Dr. Bill McCoy has talked about the team concept and the huge meaning that the people here embrace. Well, keeping that in mind we have worked hard, to maintain this concept here, to accomplish God's work. The results are overwhelming we are making huge leaps to finish construction on the Hospital. For the past 2 weeks we have had a 10 minute devotion at 8:00 am Monday thru Friday. I have done 5 devotions and we are now bringing different people in to do the devotional. Pastor Tiame (PNG's first D.S.) Pastor Tony, Sailas Wusik, Hospital Chaplin Elis and Friday was the Hospital Pathology dept. All 7 of them came to talk to the workers. We feel that they are visual and so we would like to have many people sharing showing how God works in so many lives. We feel that God's presence has been a huge factor in the attitudes and actions of all on the site. We would like to keep developing relationships and friendships with all on site.

The contractor asked that I would part of a team of 5 working the management. This is different that what we do in the U.S. where we have a specific roll that we all are a part of. Here if you are the owner or inspector you are put right into the mix and decisions of all that goes on during construction. Next we have made the Elders of the communities more involved and listen to what is being said in the village. We had Papa Gola and Papa Wusik on site this week and talked and they are excited about the work and told us that everything is positive about the work. Wow Praise the Lord!
We are making such good progress that sometimes it makes me stand in awe. I was standing at the front gate to the Hospital, lower end of the project just watching the men work on site and while it is 85 degrees and they are shoveling gravel and making cement at the OPD building I noticed something that I had not heard yet on site. Singing! Wow these guys are having a great time working, singing and running with wheel barrels of cement. The only thing I could think of after seeing and hearing this, they are happy! This is good! In fact this is so good the security has been decreased and now sometimes the front gate stays open. What a change. When I was leaving the project today (Saturday) and the trusses went up on the ER building, mixing of cement going on for the OPD in the first 7 courses of block and Block in the operating theater for the surgery room is being finished off at the total height. I was walking back to the front gate, it is was wide open and no one around. Well they are feeling good these days.
OK, now for production,

Out Patient Bldg: This building has been left for last. The block is now at 7 courses.
Emergency Bldg: Block is finished and trusses were put on all of the building. The front of ER has a roof at the entrance that is not complete yet. Waiting on beams and steel posts for support before trusses.
Operating Theater: This building is 97% complete with block walls. Some top plate is complete for trusses.
Maternity Ward: This building is 96% complete with block. Above the windows is being worked on today. Core fill is complete about 85%.
Surgical Ward, Medical Ward: These buildings are about the same as the maternity ward
Pediatric Ward: Block complete, Core fill complete, Trusses are on the walls. Purlins are to arrive the first of the week for installation. Roofing for all the buildings is on site.

More pictures are going to be put on our web blog page under Construction Pictures. chapmanconnection.com

Prayer Request: Please keep the sewage in prayer at this time. We have met with the contractor, PNGIF fund manager and engineers. Costs for installation are still real high, funding is still an unknown at this time even though there are some verbal thoughts, nothing in writing. This has to be complete to open the hospital and we are pushing the time line for completion of the sewer system to be ready for the Hospital completion and opening.

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Michael Chapman
PNG Nazarene Hospital,
NHM Project Manager

His Excellency, Sir Paulias Matane Challenges College of Nursing Graduates

2008-02-28T10:25:00.009+10:00

The 33rd graduating ceremonies for the Nazarene College of Nursing took place February 23, 2008. It began with the arrival of the Head of State, Governor General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Paulias Matane. The Governor General was greeted by an incredible group of people. Many were staff and workers from the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital Compound and there were many from the surrounding villages who were just trying to get a glimpse of the Governor General. Some were throwing flower pedals in greeting, a traditional greeting in PNG for someone of honor. There was also a drum corpse present waiting to lead the procession around to the site of the graduation.

The Principle of the College of Nursing and Master of Ceremonies for the event, Mr. White Kintak, opened the event with words of welcome to all present. District superintendent for the Hagen district, Peter Degne, read from Proverbs chapter 2 and 3 and the opening prayer was given by Rev. Taima Dirye, one of the Chaplains for the Hospital.

The Papua New Guinea National Anthem was an excellent trumpet trio played by Drs. Jim Radcliffe, Bill McCoy and Andy Bennett. There were greetings and remarks given by various dignitaries present. Two of the graduating students, Prescilla Maki, Student Representative Council President and Akne Sei, Student Fellowship President, both challenged their fellow class mates and asked governmental leadership present to help with change in the nursing profession of PNG.

Governor General, Sir Paulias Matane delivered the Commencement address. He is a remarkable Papua New Guinean man, attending school for the first time at the age of 17 then becoming a teacher and working his way through the varied levels of school administration. Later he became an Ambassador for Papua New Guinea to the United Nations and on May 26, 2004 was elected the 8th Governor General for the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. He delivered an address urging and challenging the graduates and those present to work to make PNG a better place. He stated, “The Church of the Nazarene Nursing College trains young men and women of Papua New Guinea so that they can help meet the needs of the people who come to hospital or who are seen in community health work. It is the church leader’s hope that your students will be able to help meet physical, emotional and spiritual needs of others. You want to help your students, staff and patients to know the love of God, to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal Savior and to know that the Holy Spirit is living in you and guiding your daily life. You want your students to be able to share God’s love through their personal testimony, through nursing care to the sick and through Christian attitudes and actions in their lives.” A great challenge delivered to the 24 graduating nursing students.
Written by Jeff & Dr. Susan Myers Photos by Jeff Myers

Hospital Building Project Update

2008-02-19T12:32:00.003+10:00

Well it has been a wonderful week with the construction sites here in Kudjip!
We are real excited with the progress this week with the materials arriving, meetings with the contractor and support staff. Progress at this point, we finished pouring the last of the slabs on the floors yesterday! Yea, all of the flat work is complete. At this time we are excited that most all of the walls on the buildings are complete 6 course's high. The one exception is the Maternity ward this was the last slab and so Monday we will finish the block to the 6 courses. Three buildings are 80% complete on the core fill. We will be completing these buildings with core fill Monday or Tuesday. We will also be core filling one of the wards which we have built scaffolding getting ready for the next 6 courses of block.
The exciting news is Monday we will be starting a 10 minute devotion on site! Praise the Lord. Baru Dyire the NHM Secretary and I had been talking earlier in the week about that we need to start a bible study or devotion on site earlier in the week. On Thursday I was headed home for lunch and so I thought I would just stop by the project to see what was going on. It was an easy day in the job because of materials coming and not being on site yet. As I was let in the locked entrance gate I saw some men sitting around talking as usual over on the lumber. Some men were working scattered through the project. Then one of the men came up to me and asked that I would sit down and learn some Tok Pisen with them. You see they know I am learning and they like to help. Or at least that is what I think; maybe they like to laugh at me. Well I have not had much conversation with this man and so my first thought was no I think I am hungry. But at that time a second man arrived asking for me to come. Well maybe for a minute I said.
We then were sitting on the lumber and they began to ask of the American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. I told them a little of what I know, then they asked about the twin towers that were destroyed in New York. "Were they being built again?" From what I knew they were not going to build the same buildings but some new ones would be built. Then they got onto the terrorists' that blow people up and asked what I knew. Well about all I said was that they need God.
From there we started talking about the men on site and what was there relationship with God? Why is it that we sometimes have to deal with sin and why we do not show God in all our lives at all times? Well talking in and out of Tok Pisen I ask them if we show Christ in our lives every minute of the day? Then one of the tribe's men talked of how America was the world super power and they have "One Nation under God" on the coins in America. I then used that quickly to give the illustration that when we come together as Christians that we become one voice and a voice we need to use to show and tell all people the love of God and help our brother. Asking them, when was it you last helped another tribe? If we are brothers then why do you not help him? Or do you? Then went on to illustrate that Diane and I came here to help our fellow brother, then pointed at all of them. You're our brothers in Christ that is why we come here working for no pay, but to do Gods work. This Hospital is a place that we help people to find Christ and save their souls for God.
Well I could keep going but I will stop there. At the end of the conversation I noticed 2 hours had passed and that the 25 to 30 that were there became 50 to 60. Realizing that I did not see them come and where from, but they were there when I looked around. This was all God this day I did not plan or want to when asked too. But I thank God for the opportunity to talk to the men and witness to them. I then asked if they would like a short devotional before work in the mornings. The response was overwhelming and with a good voice of "Yes" they then asked why does the Hospital do it and we do not? Well I had no good answer. Well we will start Monday I told them and they were real happy to hear me say that. So pray for God's word to be heard and souls be saved.
Thanks again for your support and prayers,
Michael
written by Mike Chapman / Photos by Mike Chapman

Papua New Guinea Church takes on HIV

2008-02-13T09:27:00.000+10:00

A historic event in the life of the Nazarene Church in Papua New Guinea occurred last week when the church launched its nationwide HIV Ministry thrust with a gathering of 30 church leaders from all 12 districts for a HIV Ministry Training of Trainers course in Kiam in the Western Highlands Province. At the current growth rate, it will only take a few more years for the percentage of PNG's HIV positive population to equal or exceed that of the African countries with the highest infection rates. The National Board was so serious about empowering the church to respond to the crisis that they recently added a new division of HIV Ministry to those of Sunday School, Children's Ministry, NYI, and NMI. Last week's training of all District Superintendents and District HIV Ministry Coordinators was the first in a series of training courses that will be conducted this year in every district, circuit and local church.

In PNG the root causes of the rapid spread of HIV are in the family. The church is, therefore, focusing on equipping married couples, parents, and teens to live holy lives of purity and faithfulness in the midst of tremendous traditional society pressure to do otherwise. Local church members are also being equipped to practically minister Christ's love and message of hope to people in their communities with HIV/AIDS, their caregivers, surviving spouses, and orphaned children. Appropriate biblically-based materials are being prepared in Pidgin for the trainers and local church members.

Reported by Dr. Becky Morsch
for the Nazarene National HIV Ministry Committee

Photos by Dr. James Radcliffe

Final Chapter in the PNG Adventures of John & Hilda

2008-02-07T19:18:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday we took a tour of a twenty two year old Coffee and Tea Plantation consisting of 1200 acres… It is the only plantation in PNG where a national is part of a three way ownership. Contrary to what we thought, coffee and tea are not indigenes to PNG. Coffee and tea were brought here in the 1930’s and the plantations came into being between 1950-60. They send out thirty five containers per year …each container weighing 18,000 Kilos and most of it goes to Starbucks. In the harvest season (May) they hire five to six hundred people who pick all the beans and sort them by hand. In the off season they keep around two hundred employees. It would take to long to go through the process here but if you ask me sometime I’ll be glad to tell you how the coffee bean is processed. Let me give you one tip that was given to us…if you grind your own coffee pick the larger bean over the smaller bean.

When we arrived home, Jeff and Susan left for their short holiday. We made chocolate popcorn and had a great time with the grandkids. In the evening the power went off and we played Dominoes by head lamp ... reminded us of our time at Mondomil.

When I woke Jessica up for church she said “are we going to have an organized breakfast or everyone for themselves”. I told her we were having an organized breakfast. I hadn’t heard that expression before and it made me smile. We attended Emmanuel Church that is just outside the compound. Much to our delight, Harmon Schmelzenbach brought the morning message. He spoke from I Samuel 17...of the great battle between David and Goliath. What do we do when tragedy strikes…when the situation is out of control? David does not see what every one else sees. The battle is the Lord’s. There are many well meaning people willing to give us advice that does not know the word of the Lord…BEWARE! If you have to kill giants take advice from one who has killed giants. If you are 100 % alone in doing the right thing…are you prepared to be different? In Phil 4:8 Bible is clear what we should fill our minds with. When we have the least ability that is where God steps in…the battle is the Lord’s.
When we take our eyes from God …we are finished. He finished with II Cor. 12:9...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. We have the privilege in taking part of what God is doing.

In the middle of preparing our dinner the electricity went off just as we were ready to mash the potatoes. Since the kids don’t have a hand potato masher John used the bottom of a glass then we went to a wooden spoon. Worked pretty well! The electric went off around twelve noon and didn’t come back on till evening.

This morning (Monday) the electric went on and off several times. I’m glad we have a gas oven so I could finish the bread and strawberry pie that was in progress. The men took a short recess from their project when the lights were off but they hope to finish it today.

Tuesday we finished making up the strawberry jam and did another batch of chocolate popcorn. Jeff wanted to see how it was made so he can make it when we are gone. Finished the day with a delicious dinner at the Radcliffe’s. We spent a very enjoyable evening visiting and singing around the piano.

Wednesday I spent the morning at the hospital with Susan. The babies were so cute but it was heart breaking as so many had heart problems. I have asked Susan to describe several patients that was seen that morning.

First, we headed to the Pediatric ward. The first patient I see most every morning is Samson. Samson is 18 months old and has been at our hospital since he was 3 months old. Samson was born with a heart defect known as Transposition of the Great Vessels. It is where the pulmonary artery (the large artery that leaves the right side of the heart and goes to the lungs to pick up oxygen)and the aorta (the large artery that leaves the left side of the heart and goes to the rest of the body) are switched around. He also has a large hole between the right and left ventricles, chambers within the heart, which is why this child is alive today. We have tried to find help for Samson, but largely because there has been damage to Samson’s lungs secondary to his heart condition, he is not considered a good surgical candidate. His long term prognosis is not good. His parents are reluctant to take him home as it will most certainly mean shortening his life span. We’ll hang onto him here till they are able to come to terms with the inevitable, short of God’s healing touch.
We then saw several more little ones with some combination of heart and/or lung disease. On bed 4 is a twin baby girl by the name of Florence. Her twin sister’s name is Floro! Florence also has heart disease and is currently reliant on supplemental oxygen. She has been started on several heart medications and hopefully soon she can go home. She will need an echocardiogram to confirm the specifics of her heart disease. She will not have that opportunity till June when a doctor from Pt. Moresby will come to Hagen to evaluate kids who have heart conditions from our area.
We only rounded on one side of the ward today as we have a visiting resident doctor who is covering the other half of the ward.
In outpatient, I normally see both adults and children even though my area of training is in Pediatrics. One man we saw has chronic liver disease from Hepatitis B. His belly looked like he aught to be pregnant and way past due. He has ascitis. Ascites is an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. On his previous 4 visits here he had a paracentesis done (this is where you put a needle though the abdominal wall and remove the fluid) each time with 2 ½ to 5 liters of fluid removed. Hilda and I headed to the emergency room where they prepared the items needed for the paracentesis. Today we removed almost 5 ½ liters of fluid! This is not the best way to manage ascites! It would be best if he consistently took his medications to remove the fluid. The problem is that he lives way out in the bush and when his meds run out it isn’t easy to get here so he ends up waiting till his belly is very distended with fluid again and then comes in. We rely on our ultrasound machine very heavily here. None of us docs have formal training in ultrasonography but have learned enough to give us valuable information in diagnosing disease and common problems we see here. Very rarely does a day go by without each of us doing several ultrasounds! Mostly for gynecological issues or liver disease. Hilda and I did see a patient Wed. morning on which we did an ultrasound on.
We also saw several little ones that we ended up admitting to the ward. The morning went by pretty quickly and before we knew it we were headed back to the house for lunch!

I enjoyed it very much. The PNG people are very friendly.

Thursday evening at the end of prayer meeting they sang happy birthday to me. All five versions. What a nice surprise! Just as we were leaving the electric went off through out the Compound. We came home and had cake and ice cream with our headlamps on as we celebrated Ethan and my birthday.

We are busy packing but took time out today to attend the dedication of the Radio House and have dinner at the Chapman’s.

The Radio House dedication took place on a sunny afternoon at the Bible College where it is located. The dedication went well…they had an excellent program and the response of the people was good. Rev. Daniel Eka welcomed the people. The DS of Hagen Central District, Rev. Peter Degene brought a short devotion….followed with remarks by Jeffrey Myers ( Melanesia Field Communication Coordinator) and Rev. Daniel Ekka. Dr. Jim Redcliffe prayed the dedication prayer and Rev Marvin Thrasher (Director of MNBC Projects) cut the ribbon. At the end of any function they generally have a MUMU and today was no exception. Great things are happening in radio. The house isn’t finished but Rev. Daniel has moved in. Radio Ministries would welcome a Work & Witness team to complete the house. We felt honored that they moved the dedication from Saturday to today so John and I could attend.

While at the Bible College we had the privilege of meeting Norbert…Money was raised for this young man by the Salem Zone, on the East Ohio District, so he could continue his studies. He graduated from Bible College and is going for a teacher’s degree. He has started three churches on the Indonesia side and two on the PNG side. With a teacher’s degree the government will pay his salary. It will enable him to teach and preach.

We enjoyed the fellowship and dinner with Mike and Diane Chapman. The dinner was delicious!
Diane is the teacher for the mission children and Mike is working with the new hospital building.
We thank the Lord for such dedicated Volunteer laymen.

Our stay in PNG has come to a close. We are going home to rest. We will leave on Saturday the 2nd for Ohio. It has been a busy, interesting and exciting trip! Three project have been completed…the mud room, attic, and putting the roof on the car port! It’s been a joy renewing old acquaintances and getting to know more about our missionaries through the Beauty Salon. The strawberries (all 6 gal. bags that were waiting for us when we arrived) have been made into freezer jam. Other items requested that have been made…Candies, pies, bread, chocolate popcorn, bake beans, scallop potatoes and more…many kitchen duties which I was glad to do…helping the children with dishes. John has spent this week fixing little things that need attention. It’s been an exciting adventure! God is good!

We will arrive home late Sunday evening and leave again on Tuesday to care for our other grandchildren while Gay and Tim attend Pastors and Wives Retreat. It will probably be another week before we get unpacked and settled back in.

Hello,

It was great having Mom & Dad here for these 2 months. It is a blessing enjoying the parents that God has blessed me with! Dad with his fantastic building skills and being able to work with him. Mom who out did herself in the kitchen, so that I would be able to spend more time with Dad on our projects and to give me a break from my everyday responsiblities there and all the other ways that she was a help. She really was able to polish up those bread baking skills, you should have seen some of those monsters swelling right out of the pan. I believe she made bread just about every day, fine job! They did indeed make it out of PNG although we did need to request our Mission Family pray because the flight out was messed up because the airlines had cancelled a flight from the day before. So instead of one flight on Saturday they now had 2 and Mom & Dad's flight was moved to a later time that would have had them missing thier Japan flight. But God worked it out and they made the first flight and the conecting flight in Port Moresby to Japan and they are now indeed home safely in the US. Thanks for sharing Mom & Dad's adventures here in PNG, it is an adventure serving our Lord!!

Jeff

Thank you for traveling with us on our journey
God’s blessing’s on you indeed!
John & Hilda
Jhmyers@cannet.com

Still on the Adventure!

2008-01-26T08:49:00.000+10:00

This has been a jam packed week starting with church on Sunday, reception with Jesse Middendorf and his wife Susan, Beauty Salon being opened three days this week, making strawberry jam, attending the ladies Luncheon, Attending the pastors Conference, and a special time with the grandchildren as we send Jeff and Susan away for an overnight stay at the Highlander”.
We attended the Emmanuel church Sunday morning. There were a group of pastors that had come in for The National Pastors Conference that was taking place this week. In the testimony of one pastor he had walked five days to get here. Are we as committed to attending God’s house in the States as this young man who walked for five days…its fuel for thought…isn’t it?
A reception was held at the College of Nursing for General Superintendent Jesse Middendorf and his wife Susan who were here to speak at the Pastor’s Conference. The ladies here at Kudjip planned a delicious meal of lasagna, several different salads, home made bread and dessert. Dr. Middendorf brought words of greeting, encouragement and appreciation to the missionaries for their service.
Jeffrey had to leave Monday as he was the videographer for the event and would be back late Tuesday. The Salon opened early to give him a hair cut before he left. My thought was, I’m open, and I might as well cut John s hair while I’m at it. Susan went to join him after work on Monday and I would meet up with her on Tuesday for the ladies luncheon at the “Highlander” in Mt. Hagen with Mrs. Middendorf and Natalie Ward. In the meantime, John and I held down the fort. We made freezer Strawberry jam until we ran out of Sugar. Finished up just as the children were coming home from school. Jeffrey had six gallon bags of strawberry’s all ready for us in the freezer to use. We have one week, to find the time, to do the last bag.
The ladies luncheon, on Tuesday, was enjoyed by all. Mrs. Middendorf shared from her heart. At the end she told the ladies that they could ask any question that they wanted to and they did!
On Wednesday, the Beauty Salon was opened all day. We are just finishing up with Becky Morsch. The Barnesville Zone on the East Ohio District has her for their Link’s Missionary.
On Thursday morning John and I enjoyed visiting Jessica and Ethan’s school. We arrived at Ethan’s school for the third act of a play they were doing and was invited to stay and have stone soup with them. They did the first two acts earlier in the morning. The story goes that a peddler wanted to sell kettles but no one was interested in buying. He decided to make soup, so he started with stones and thought it would be better if all contributed…one brought potatoes, one brought carrots and so on until the pot was full. When the soup was done they all sat down and ate. He sold lots of kettles. The children did a super job! They are enjoying their new teacher Mrs. Diane Chapman
We went to the Pastors Conference Thursday evening. It was held on the Togaba School grounds in a big white and yellow stripped tent. It took me back to the beginning of the East Ohio District. The service was scheduled for 6:00 but began at 6:45, becuase not all of the pastors had been able to make it through the food line. They began to trickle in by 7:15 the tent was packed with people elbow to elbow. Harmon Schmelzenbach brought the message through an interpreter. He is quite a story teller…he held them spell bound. They made a great team! During his message the electric went off and on several times then completely off…stayed off approximately 45 minutes. It was pitch black…that didn’t stop the service they just regrouped and kept going. We saw car lights come on and begin to drive around and a car ended up at each side with their lights shining into the tent. Toward the end of his message the lights played with us a bit more then stayed on. We thought we were back in Kudjip. I love to hear the nationals pray. They do not pray quietly. It sounds like a roar as they send their prayers up to the Throne. They are all praying out loud. During the invitation, they were eight, nine rows deep …completely around the alter praying for those who went forward. This went on for twenty five minutes and was still going on when we left to return home. The presence of the Holy Spirit was very real. Normally the missionaries do not travel after dark but we arrived home safely. I’m so glad we went…I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It’s a very special memory of PNG that I will take home with me. Till our final chapter next week, take care.

Blessings

John and Hilda

Another Week in the Life and Adventures of John and Hilda!

2008-01-20T13:21:00.000+10:00

It’s hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks left before we board the plane for home.
Last Sunday we went to a bush church…Tuning Church of the Nazarene. Michael, a security guard for the compound, went with us and served as our guide. Dr. Erin Meir, also, went with us and upon returning home stayed for dinner. We started out on a paved road…then it went to stones, dirt and mud, a portion of the road reminded us of out trip to Mondomil…forded a river and kept going.

As we drove through the gate we were greeted warmly by children who were waiting for us. As I walked into the church, it was dark…no electricity. I noticed benches on one side and none on the other…it ended up the men sat on the benches and the women on the floor. Although the women are often thought to be less than the men, this is the first time that Jeff and Susan have seen this. The service was excellent …God’s presence was very real…the singing went on for fifty minutes. They had a young man, who played the guitar, as worship leader. As I sat there, I wished that I had had a tape recorder with me to record the music. He was very good! Jeffrey brought the message in pidgin and John and I did a duet in English. Susan gave them a synopsis of the song before we sang. The people were very responsive! As we left, they gave us nearly a bushel of vegetables which was shared among the Myers, Dr. Erin and Michael. On the way home we stopped at the Bible College to give the Swesey’s and Thrasher’s their Christmas gifts. They were in Australia for Christmas. We were a hungry bunch when we arrived home and were ready for the dinner that Jeffrey had put in the crock pot.
It’s been a very busy week trying to accomplish much before our time is up to leave for home.
We had company in for dinner on Wednesday and attended prayer meeting on Thursday. Jeffrey didn’t get to go because doors could not be closed due to being painted that day and were not dry yet, rain and humidity can make drying a slow process. Before going to bed the Lord answered prayer and we were able to close the doors for the night without sticking.
Friday a youth group came in from Goroka doing an in country mission trip. Karen Comstock was organizer of the group and along with Jeff and Susan led them on a tour of the compound.
We left Saturday at 9:00 AM for Mt. Hagen, mainly for souvenirs. It has been the only opportunity to do that so Jeffrey took that opportunity, also, to get a few supplies and items for his project. One of our first stops was the “Potato Trading LTD” for potatoes. You can see the man weighing the potatoes. We finished our shopping then went to the “Highlander” for lunch and swimming for the children. On our way home we stopped at the Bible College to see the Radio Director’s new house but he wasn’t home so will have to try again, radio Ministry will be having the dedication service Feb 1 just before we leave on Saturday. It isn’t quite finished but Pastor

Daniel has resigned his church to go full time as Director of Radio Ministry. We arrived home around 4:30 PM…unloaded our goodies…Jeffrey went to play basketball…had a bite to eat and the men were off to watch the recorded Ohio State National Title game at the Radcliffe’s. The children, Susan and I did the dishes then watched a recorded program on TV.

Until next week,
Blessings,
John and Hilda

Another Chapter in the Continuing Saga of John & Hilda (Ch. 5)

2008-01-14T19:23:00.000+10:00

We attended the Emmanuel church outside the compound this past Sunday (the 6th) due to having the English Lotu in the afternoon. Some of the songs they were singing I recognized and some I didn’t. I could catch a few words but decided to participate by making up words to the ones I didn’t know to fit the melody and sing along with them in English. The Spirit is something we all can sense regardless of the language. I love to watch the babies and children….they are so precious and they have such large beautiful eyes.
John and I participated in the English Lotu service in the afternoon…It’s the first Sunday of the month when all the missionaries come together for a service even those who are not of our denomination. I played the piano and John and I sang a duet. James Johnson, Strategy Field Coordinator, brought greetings and Patrick Hall from the CLTC (Christian Leaders Training College…non denominational) brought the message.
We celebrated Jeffrey’s birthday today (Wednesday) with gifts and cards. In making his birthday cake it was a challenge baking at this altitude. In spite of that it didn’t turn out to bad.
John and Jeff laid tile today (Thursday) in the mud room….It’s looking great! While they are waiting for the tile to set Jeff is initiating John into the second project, working in the attic. I have taken on many duties in the house so that Jeffrey has more time working with his Dad on his projects.
Saturday, we were planning on going to Mt. Hagen for a day out….looking for souvenirs, then having lunch at the Highlander and relaxing for a while as soon as Susan came from making her hospital rounds. When she came through the door at 9:30 AM she said I just saw the container pull in. You have to understand, the whole compound had been waiting on that container. We had sent boxes back in September and couldn’t remember what we had sent because my list was back in the states. We were as excited as every one else. Needless to say the trip to Hagen was cancelled and the morning was spent unloading the container.
What an exciting time to be on this end when a container comes in! All hands and vehicles respond. The container is on a large truck and has to be unloaded by hand in approximately three hours….Bill Swesey came from the Bible College with a truck and helpers to claim his boxes and help….Trucks were filled with boxes that were designated for the Lab, storage room, and pharmacy and missionaries looking for their personal boxes. About the time the contianer arrived a helicopter landed on the mission grounds, bringing someone for medical help. The Nationals thought this was exciting so they went to investigate…during a lull back they would come back to watch the unloading. When the helicopter left back they went to watch it take off. Many thanks to Todd Winter in OR who was obedient to God’s voice in organizing “Nazarene Hospital Foundation” which packs and sends the container here to PNG. Since our plans were changed, when we arrived back from unloading the container the men decided to make use of their time and work on their project so Susan and I went to the Beauty Salon to use the products that came on the container.
We ended the day by going to dinner at the Bennett’s. What a great way to end an exciting day! The food and fellowship were great! Dr. Andy said that the lemon pie, we had for dessert, was the reason that he stayed married all these years:) but we know differently. They are a lovely couple along with their son Sam.

Until next week, God’s blessings on you indeed!
John and Hilda

Continuing the Adventure Chapter 4 John & Hilda

2008-01-06T16:02:00.000+10:00

Another week is almost over. Our New Year’s Eve was quite eventful. We started out with dinner at the McCoy’s ….came home and brought in the New Year by watching a movie….Ethan wanted to call his cousin at midnight with the Digicel phone card he received for Christmas. At the stroke of midnight, all of a sudden, sirens went off ….I wasn’t expecting that to happen here in PNG. Susan said they were ambulance sirens. Trucks were going back and forth blowing their horns. We added the noise makers; we brought with us, to the bedlam going on. Jessica used the last sparkler she had been saving, you can see her in the edge of the picture showing Ethan on the phone. It was a great beginning for the New Year.

At last, on New Year’s Day I came down with a bug and spent the day in bed with my faithful bucket by my side. John and Jeffrey carried on in the kitchen making pigs, kraut and ice cream for the evening meal….did a superb job! Dr. Bill took Ethan and Jessica fishing in the afternoon to try out the new fishing rod that Dr. Bill and Marsha gave him Monday night. The evening was finished off with watching several favorite DVD’S.

The PNG Beauty Salon was opened on Friday afternoon. This week’s clientele included Ray Comstock who is working with maintenance and our very own Susan. I do enjoy getting to know our missionaries.

John and Jeff are coming along nicely with what Jeffrey says will be the “show piece” of the house when they are done. It has been framed in with the plywood applied. So to date the outside is covered with corrugated tin, the window is in and framed, glass cut and the whole works. Also as stated before the plywood is in and has been painted with a single coat of primer and the ¾ inch plywood for the floor is in and will soon be covered with ceramic tile. So they are moving along on this project. This week we try to finally understand 240 electric and get the light to actually ... light.

Till next week

Blessings
John and Hilda

Chapter 3 Of John & Hilda's Adventure

2008-01-02T19:43:00.000+10:00

Dear Family and Friends,

(Sorry to our avid readers for the lateness of this chapter, but with Holidays and our trip we didn’t make our deadline. This weekend we will do better!)

Another busy week has passed….Christmas has come and gone….we have returned home from our trip to Mondomil.

It is a tradition here to go caroling through the wards at the hospital during the Christmas season. A nice way to start the Christmas week. As we concluded our singing, gifts are given to each patient from items that you have sent in boxes. Here we are getting organized just outside of the hospital.

We spent Monday getting ready for Jeffrey and Susan‘s Christmas Eve party. We were to go “Dyna” (a flat bed truck) caroling around the compound at 5:30 PM then back here for snack food and fellowship….we had to cancel due to rain. The rain did not stop our celebration though we continued on with games, fellowship and lots of good food. We had a great time with the missionary family. We topped the evening off with watching Santa Clause 3.

It’s Christmas day! Susan has made her rounds at the hospital and is back home….children are up and ready to open gifts but first a breakfast of sticky buns and Grandpa reading the Christmas story. What a precious time together…. after opening gifts on to preparing Christmas dinner. A young couple the Benedick’s shared it with us. After a time of fellowship and rest we topped the evening off with a Christmas movie.

We took Wednesday to prepare for our trip to Mondomil on Thursday. We were going to spend a few days at the EBC mission guest house…Evangelical Brethren Church….the road is indescribable….the trip is very rough….I prayed the whole way up and down the mountain….through the deep mud holes….over rocks and deep holes….a wash out and that doesn’t even began to describe it. Jeffrey did a superb job of driving!!! One side of the road was straight down. We arrived safely and set up camp.

The house we stayed in was very nice but due to the electric wire being cut and stolen several times and sold the mission decided not to do any more wiring but we were prepared with our crank lanterns and headlamps. When it’s dark in PNG its pitch black. We played domino’s one night till 12:30 AM using our headlamps and lanterns….fun was had by all. For hot water, fire had to be started in a special fire place in the living room….it had coils arranged in the bottom and up through the chimney, when a fire was started it would heat the water. The roar of the river in the valley was heard night and day….it was very peaceful. Hikes, trips to the river, a tour of the mission, games, reading, picture taking, enjoying the scenery, flowers being delivered by little boys were enjoyed by all. One of the things we enjoyed most was looking from our mountain across the valley to the next mountain at the little huts set in the trees and the very neat hill gardens being tended. It’s amazing how they stand upright. Jessica says that sometimes the sides of the mountain are so steep that they must tie a rope around their waist with the other end to the tree above them.
One interesting thing that we had never done before was cook bread on bamboo poles over the fire….it was delicious! To my delight I saw not one cockroach. Then it was time to make that journey back to Kudjip….more praying but made it safely back Sunday afternoon.

Arrived back to find the two boxes that had been sent before we left had arrived along with other mail. Fun was had by opening the boxes. We finished the day off with pizza and a Christmas movie.

Until next week…..
John & Hilda

John and Hilda (Chapter 2)

2007-12-23T18:45:00.000+10:00

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)

2007-12-13T08:40:00.000+10:00

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