The Madang regional conference was very good. Everyone was glad to hear Dennis speak on family and marriage. We were given some practical ways to reduce conflict in family life as well as increase intimacy in marriage. Good stuff! The program for the kids went very well too. The theme was "Incrediworld Amazement Park," during which the children heard teaching giving them helpful tools to remember and honor God as the creator. Our kids enjoyed it quite a bit. Skyler and Maddie are still singing the songs they learned during that program. Kevin, Lori, Theresa, my parents, and Shiloh did a great job with that! And in order for all the above to happen, Joey was busy taking care of all the errands that were needed, running to town to get food, helping with setup, cooking, etc.
Then after the conference was over, the team had just one last mishap with their travel plans; a delayed flight from Madang to Port Moresby, which dominoed into missing their international connection, and quite a bit of last minute rush to figure out hotels and booking new tickets. Air Niugini, once again lived up to their reputation and refused to help with any of the costs caused by the delay. So we spent hours on the phone with the travel insurance company (Yes! The team bought travel insurance, which paid for itself multiple times - Thanks Travel Guard). The team stayed the night in Port Moresby, had tickets booked for them on a different airline and from what we've heard, have finally made it into Brisbane and are awaiting their next leg bringing them back home. As stressful as those times are when traveling, being stretched like that and the feelings of helplessness are certainly good tools to help us realize our dependance on God. The team got to experience one of those times.
Looking back, we're sure they'll remember this whole trip; their trip into Mibu, the conference in Madang, and even their traveling woes, with fond memories and increased awareness of God's activity in the world.
We are so grateful for the time that the team took out of their busy lives to come here and serve the way they did. We also want to thank all those who contributed in some way either by praying or through finances to send the team here.
PS, as far as conference pix... will have to wait till I can gather them from others who were actually taking photos during conference. Didn't actually take any myself as there were lots of other, far better photographers snapping away.
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