Being a Servant

While the men work on the house, the women have been working very hard at keeping all eighteen of us fed and doing our laundry. The food preparation is meticulous. Produce is bought at the market and cleaned, carefully in bleach water to kill any germs that could occupy bathrooms for days. So far so good even with the leafy vegetables. Paula provides the guidance in this while Marylou, Ingrid, Donna and Becky work side-by-side. Sometimes Aretme, a hired local, helps out.

Laundry is also a challenge – especially with this large group. Clothes need washing daily for the men working on the building project; and the kids…. Enough said. Washing is fairly easy; drying is the harder part. To be strategic, wash gets on one day and hung out to dry early in the morning. The heavy dews and frequent misty rains can undo a day’s work. So the ladies have been quite busy. They are truly examples of Paul’s encouragement to all Christians to “serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.” (Ephesians 6:7)

We had another example of service last night. The Schwager’s hosted us for dessert in a kind of “progressive” dinner. At their house, another missionary, who first came to PNG with his wife in 1964 shared some of his life story. We sat, even the children, in rapt attention. The story of Bob and Shirley Literal is an inspiring one of faith and marriage. It is a story of trusting God as he led them to a remote people to translate the good news of Jesus over the course of 35 years. They went out to the mission field as newlyweds with this word of encouragement from Shirley: “God will bless us with many trials and difficulties.” When Shirley died with Alzheimer’s disease some 40 years later, Bob could say that those last years of caring for her were the best years of his life.

Praise God for such faith and commitment!

P.S. Happy anniversary to Scott and Joanne who are serving together half a world apart.