This is coming out late, I know. I’ve been picking at it over the last week since getting back from Mibu! And then my email system for posting to the blog isn't working all of a sudden.
I’m thanking the Lord for his mercy which got me the rest of the way home after my first international flight out of PNG was delayed causing me to miss all the rest of my itinerary, and having to overnight in Sydney, and rebook all the rest of my flights. After my knucklehead travel agent accomplished nothing for 30 hours, I finally just went back to the airport hoping and praying I could get on the next flight. The agent at Fiji Airways service desk was extremely gracious and helped me even though technically she didn’t have to, and the rest is history. So glad to be back with my family now after 2.5 weeks away.
You’re probably used to me posting more on social media, but I’ve had to be very careful of that because we assume the terrorist group sees those posts and we don’t want to give them information. It does make it more challenging to update though. Certainly not real time like we’re used to anymore. I have lots of pictures and video clips and feel like I can’t post them.
I get asked a lot how our brothers and sisters in Mibu are doing, and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my impressions after being in there. One thing that was very clear to me was that the church isn’t struggling in their faith, and I wasn’t there to try to fix anything (other than computer hardware that wasn’t cooperating… haha). But the church is strong in their faith as evidenced in how they talk about all the difficulties of the last couple years, and by the things they continue to prioritize in their lives. They prioritize looking to the Lord in all of it. They prioritize continuing to share the gospel, which they’ve done, with people who haven’t heard. They’ve even prioritized somehow getting the gospel message to these terrorists. The church in Mibu has served others in need even when being in need themselves. And listening to them talk about the struggles, there is still a hope and a joy there which only comes from the gospel. So I was super encouraged to be in there and interact with them and see the fruit of their faith!
It is interesting to hear how the gang has splintered into 3 or 4 groups who are now sometimes fighting and even killing each other! The terrorists haven’t been very active in their attacks on the communities and their threats against Mibu. So that’s good, for right now. But the reality that the church is having to grapple with is that while the terrorists seem to be in a lull right now, they never have been dealt with. All their evil ways of thinking and their motivations are still there. So whenever they feel like it they probably will start attacking again. The Mibu church and the community is trying to do what they can to be more ready for it, but that’s difficult to do out in the remote jungle.
The highlight of my trip was actually having plenty of time to just sit and listen to my friends as they talked about life the last couple years. Most of it revolved around the terrorist group and the extreme challenges they brought on the community. We talked about many other things too of course, but I just appreciated being able to sit and talk life together and catch up on things. People were fascinated to see my hearing aid implant and hear about how that works. They also enjoyed hearing about how our family is doing.
I was able to get done everything that I wanted to with some translation work, and re-training on some of the tools we use to work together virtually. I did notice the equipment is a bit ‘rusty’ and needing replacement so I’m making plans that way as well. I’m thankful for a recent gift specifically for replacing the computer that Sesi and others use to work with me. The current computer, an old Dell is on it’s last leg and I’d like to try a macbook this time to see if we get more trouble free usage from it over the long term. It was comical seeing how we were having to jerry-rig his computer to try to get a workable system going again.
I’m hoping that I can return to Mibu again in 6 months or so, so I can take the new computer and get it set up and working with our system and with the software needed. And being a different kind of computer, with different operating system, Sesi will need some more training on that as well.
One thing that I’ve come to realize is that I likely will need sponsors for future trips. Finances aren’t what they used to be and it’s just not been possible to save what is needed for travel to Mibu. We’re so thankful for the generous gift that allowed me to make this last trip. I need to raise about $4,000-$4,400 specifically for the next one. And I’m hoping one of these days I can go back with the whole family to give the kids especially a bit more closure after leaving the place and country they grew up in. I can discern the need there as I talk with the family about my time back there myself.
