Port Moresby is the capital city of PNG. It has an international airport about the size of that of a very small American town. As we drive from the airport to our lodging for the night, we get a sense of the city. It is not wealthy; not as densely packed as I expected; lush with trees – and barriers and graffiti.
The smell of campfires flows throughout the city. It is dark now and people sell food and other goods along the roadside, lit up at night by long fluorescent lights standing upright. The mission home, our overnight house in Port Moresby, is fenced with barbed wire and posted with a guard. This is the capital city.
We awoke this morning to the sounds of roosters crowing very early (maybe 3 am). Soon, they are joined by a chorus of birds singing, filling the air with the music of God’s creation – the exotic and the familiar (occasional cars are also speeding by). It’s the capital city.
As the sky brightens, we see the lush, green foliage. Palm-like plants and trees abound, some with bright orange flowers. It is warm and humid and tropical here near the equator. One by one we rise. The beds and showers felt great after two days of traveling (with more to come today).
We gather haphazardly in the kitchen and help ourselves to the toasts and cereals. A jar of vitamin-enriched yeast spread is on the table. It’s labeled “Vegemite.” I remember it from the ‘80s Men at Work song (“We Come from the Land Down Under”), so I try it on a dry biscuit. The others laugh at me as I try hard to swallow it. It is undoubtedly the worst taste I have ever experienced.
The best part of the morning was meeting a missionary couple who have lived the last 23 years in a seacoast village accessible only by boat and fifteen hours away from the nearest town. A few months ago, they completed their translation of the New Testament for this isolated people. Katherine shares her joy with us and reads a familiar passage to my children, who are listening to her story. The words flow melodiously off her lips. How beautiful they sound. When we hear the translation to English, they are even more beautiful: “God loved his earthly people so much that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him will not die forever.” And so the gospel is spread.
The smell of campfires flows throughout the city. It is dark now and people sell food and other goods along the roadside, lit up at night by long fluorescent lights standing upright. The mission home, our overnight house in Port Moresby, is fenced with barbed wire and posted with a guard. This is the capital city.
We awoke this morning to the sounds of roosters crowing very early (maybe 3 am). Soon, they are joined by a chorus of birds singing, filling the air with the music of God’s creation – the exotic and the familiar (occasional cars are also speeding by). It’s the capital city.
As the sky brightens, we see the lush, green foliage. Palm-like plants and trees abound, some with bright orange flowers. It is warm and humid and tropical here near the equator. One by one we rise. The beds and showers felt great after two days of traveling (with more to come today).
We gather haphazardly in the kitchen and help ourselves to the toasts and cereals. A jar of vitamin-enriched yeast spread is on the table. It’s labeled “Vegemite.” I remember it from the ‘80s Men at Work song (“We Come from the Land Down Under”), so I try it on a dry biscuit. The others laugh at me as I try hard to swallow it. It is undoubtedly the worst taste I have ever experienced.
The best part of the morning was meeting a missionary couple who have lived the last 23 years in a seacoast village accessible only by boat and fifteen hours away from the nearest town. A few months ago, they completed their translation of the New Testament for this isolated people. Katherine shares her joy with us and reads a familiar passage to my children, who are listening to her story. The words flow melodiously off her lips. How beautiful they sound. When we hear the translation to English, they are even more beautiful: “God loved his earthly people so much that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him will not die forever.” And so the gospel is spread.
