the amazing adventures of new guinea jenny

we started off at dawn. piled into a hilux, me in the middle with a broken seat spring wedged uncomfortably under my right shoulder blade. all of us were pumped; prepared for the exhilaration and certain pain that would be made known to us over the next couple of days. we were going to climb new guinea's tallest mountain...Wilhelm.  The small paved road was at first in decent condition, but by the end of our ride we were on a true bush road, complete with mud and potholes and village kids yelling "hey, white man!" into our open windows. At 2pm, we had reached the end of the road and were at 8,000 ft elevation. We had another 3,000 ft to climb to get to base camp that night.

 

After reviving our already-cramped muscles, and hiring a guide and someone to watch the car, we threw on our packs and headed up the trail. and up...... and up. for three hours...up. It was amazing to see the change in scenery as we quickly changed elevation. lush jungle quickly became more sparse and we entered this beautiful valley that looked like something out of the lost world. waterfalls, a bird of paradise, and trees that reminded me of something dr. seuss would have drawn. and then there was the moment where we could look down and see where we had started, at about 2,000 ft before, and i think all of us got our second wind.

 

we reached base camp at dark. completely exhausted. i'm glad chris had planned a day to rest. the best time to climb to the summit is at night, so that as the sun comes up you have a chance to see out all the way to the ocean (on both sides when it is clear) before the fog hits. but I couldn't have imagined climbing that night. our accomodations were a woven bush house and ajoining tin-roofed "kitchen" that we shared with a sweet german couple. after a dinner of something warm and starchy, we put on every item of clothing we owned and gladly hit the sack. but woven walls don't really keep in the heat, and neither does a floor that is elevated on stilts. i had a miserable night.

 

the view in the morning made up for it. we couldn't tell as we hiked in that night, but our camp overlooked a beautiful lake. and even better yet, after a 30-minute climb was a second lake. it was even more beautiful than the first, with the mountains dropping right into the water and tiny waterfalls cascading down some of the exposed rock. the german couple came back from the summit at around noon, and they both were disappointed. they had climbed up despite the heavy rain, sloshing through mud, slipping on rocks; and then when they got only 100 or so ft away from the top, it completely fogged over and the guide couldn't see the way, so they had to turn around. To make it worse, they both had gotten altitude sickness and suffered through headaches and nausea. We all asked ourselves what in the heck we were doing.

 

but that night when we got up at midnight, there was a breathtaking clear sky, no wind, with a bright full moon. we were encouraged, and we thanked God. But ahead of us we had almost six hours of nothing but up. and it was steeper, colder, darker, and more rocky than the kick-butt hike the day before. we had resolved that we would only take 2 minute breaks to get food and water, and to put on layers if necessary. we would not sit down and give our blood an excuse to cool, and feel how weak and shaky our legs really were. Willy, our New Guinean guide, agreed with us. but his opinion might not count because i'm confident he could probably have climbed the whole thing without stopping once. He led the way in gumboots and hot pink pants. God love him. He practically pulled me up some of the steepest places and kept my will to climb strong.

 

Along the way, Willy showed us places men and women had died: a fat white woman had fallen off this rock here, an asthmatic had had an attack and fallen off there, a plane had crashed into the side of the mountain here, a new guinean man tried to climb up in a t-shirt and died over there... oh, look, a cell phone tower. (yes...even in papua new guinea)

 

and then we saw it. the top. with a little sign sticking up from it. it was about a quarter after 6 and the sky was going pink. the wind was brutal and clouds were getting in my eyes. after doing a little rock climbing for the last 50 meters, we were there! We all grabbed the sign as if it were a mast on a great ship that was about to go down. it was covered in ice. the sunrise was beautiful; it should have been set to music. and in between the wisps and clusters of clouds that floated by below our eye-level, we could see the ocean.

 

we hiked back to our car that day. seven hours of torture for my knees. but we were so happy.

 

 

Last week I spent school break down in Madang with a co-worker Laura Roberts. We were there to help out in the short-staffed PBT office, doing whatever odd jobs they needed. My task was to take a few picture books that had been made into the La'e language and scan them into the computer so they would be available as shell books for other languages. I enjoyed the work and the time spent with the friendly Madang staff that i'm unfortunately able to see only twice a year.

 

To make the week even more memorable, Kyle and Kathy Harris (the former being the "hedman" or director of this PBT branch) invited Laura and I to go sailing on July 5th. It was a perfect day for sailing- warm, sunny, and a nice breeze. They own the only sailboat in Madang, and I've never been sailing, so we readily agreed.  I must admit, I felt quite posh lounging on the deck, sailing along the coast of an relatively untouristed tropical island. Kyle told us how he and his wife had actually traversed the entire Pacific Ocean with their boat just last year; sailing from the eastern side of America, through the Panama Canal, and on to PNG. Only with a weeks worth of sailing instruction and having to deal with only one bad storm, and fresh tuna and mahi mahi on any night they wanted....I'd say they fared pretty well. Unfortunately, things did not fare too well for me towards the end of our afternoon. That nice breeze I mentioned previously meant nice big waves, which also meant I lost the papaya I had eaten for lunch.

this tuesday was the last day of school before our five week break! We spent the last part of our day making fortune cookies. The kids wrote fortunes or blessings on strips of paper to stick in the cookies, and they did an excellent job delegating responsibility to each other in order to get the cookies off the pan, the fortunes in, and then folded before they started to harden. I never knew how fortune cookies were made, so it was a learning experience for me as well. In all honesty, i am sure that i've learned 10 times what these kids have learned this year. What a wonderfully difficult year it has been. The next to last day of school, it was grade 5's turn to present something for chapel (every monday morning). My kids worked really hard on a skit about the Body of Christ (His church). They cut and painted body parts out of cardboard, and it wound up looking really excellent for only the 4 days that we practiced! We also worked on choreography to the song "We Are Family!", and I was very pleased to observe that even the boys seemed to be enjoying themselves up there on stage:)

This past Friday was "Banquet", a prom-like event for all 11th and 12th graders here at Ukarumpa. THe community worked the entire week to transform the teen center into the year's theme, New York City. The decorations simply blew me away, especially considering there was no Home Depot around the corner. There are some astoundingly talented people here! Some of the most amazing decorations were: a central park area (complete with park benches, bridges, a fountain and a fish pond), a lit skyline, a walk through a subway car (there was a place to paint grafitti on the subway walls under a blacklight), Lady Liberty, Times Square (which featured photos of the graduating seniors on the main screen), and a Broadway theatres ticket booth (i contributed by painting the Les Mis and Phantom posters).

 

The kids had no idea about the theme until they drove up to the front of the teen center. The community came out to show support, so the kids paraded through the  crowd as if they were attending some red carpet event. While they walked to the door, an announcer called out their name and a few facts about their life in PNG, or where they bought (or how they made) their clothes. After a delicious meal, the students watched a play put on by their parents and teachers, in their honor. There is a traditional encore performance the day after banquet for the community to be able to appreciate and take part in all the festivities. I was one in attendance last night and I thought the play was such a special way for the parents to express love to their kids. It included many inside jokes, but I still was laughing through most of the hour. It is a wonderful experience to be a part of such a close-knit and caring community.

 

 

Wednesday marks the start of the last term of this school year. In my heart I was feeling apprehensive about the beginning of term. A team of three school officials will be flying in today from all over the globe to reaccredit this school. This will mean interviews, observations, and overall scrutiny. My joy was being sapped because often the pressure to please people hangs like a weight around my neck.  Yesterday, I received a package in the mail full of fun school things; brightly colored pencils, stickers, and candy.  Guilt brought tears to my eyes because these lovingly packaged items should have mirrored my attitude, but instead I almost felt mocked by them.  I prayed, "Father, help me! Renew my joy".          And HE IS.

 

Today, the preacher (visiting from Australia), asked if any of us felt like we were "going through the motions", even in our ministry. He mentioned a quote by John Piper which says that we glorify God the most when we are most satisfied with him. In effect, when we see God as he truly is...in all of his holines and glory, our attitude switches from one of dissillusionment, depression, and apathy, to holy fear and joyful worship. To illustrate, he spoke of God's call to Isaiah (Isaiah 6), not your average commission. Isaiah sees the LORD high and exalted on his throne; above him, seraphs (which means "burning and dazzling") call " Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory", and their voices make the foundations shake and the temple fill with smoke. The first thing Isaiah becomes aware of is not his smallness,or limited knowledge or perspective, but rather his sin. In fear, he proclaims woe on himself and confesses his uncleanliness. A seraph touches Isaiah's lips with a live coal from the altar of sacrifice, and his sin is atoned for. When the LORD asks, "Who will go?", Isaiah says, "Here I am, send me!" The message God gives is difficult. Israel is to be told that they are hard-hearted, that they don't really listen or see or understand what is true. Isaiah asks how long he must proclaim this message, and God answers until the people have utterly destroyed themselves and have been taken captive, and all that remains is a seed with which He will continue to work his purposes.

 

As I read this, I became aware of how difficult Isaiah's task was. His work was to chastise his stubborn and sinful countrymen as he saw them working to their own destruction, with the glimmer of hope that they would turn back to God. But Isaiah did not hestate or show reluctance when God asked who would go. Seeing God in his glory and knowing that God was in control of all things and would see everything through to perfect fulfillment was enough. 

 

And again, I realize with joy that the same awesome God has given me this task and will stay faithful, even when my task seems too hard.