It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in Papua, New Guinea for four weeks already!
Our family has been able to do many fun and interesting things since we’ve been in PNG. The Goroka Cultural Show was a wonderful exhibition of many people groups, each performing a Sing-Sing in their Tok Ples (native language). So many languages in one place! Although we already knew about the multitude of languages here (over eight hundred!), actually hearing a few dozen of them certainly brought it to reality. It was very exciting to be able to see some of the traditional dress and dances of the native tribes.
We were privileged to travel to the highest point in the Eastern Highlands Province. Daulo Pass is at 8,000 ft. above sea level, with beautiful scenery in every direction and some of the friendliest people I’ve seen since we’ve been here. The reason for our trip to Daulo Pass wasn’t just for fun and scenery, however. We were able to hike to a small church plant nestled on the side of the mountain, where Alex spoke with the pastor about the history of the church and gained information about other church plants in the area. It felt a bit surreal to be in the middle of the jungle, on the side of a mountain in Papua, New Guinea, meeting nationals who trust in the same God that we worship. I don’t have words to describe the experience, but I’m thankful that God chose to allow my family to participate in this with the Sissons.
The children have had a very memorable time here. Olivia’s favorite part has been being able to walk to the river, swim with Haley and the national PNG children, and build a fire on the bank to cook fish and rice. She’s had plenty of time outside to explore, which most of you know is her favorite thing to do, and she’s a little sad about leaving this adventurous and beautiful place. Sam has enjoyed helping the men with construction on the Sisson’s house and playing rugby with the nationals, but his favorite part was the cultural show in Goroka. Everett also enjoys the river and loves playing all day with Graham, but his favorite activities have been swinging on vines and shooting blowguns.
Jeremy and I have continued to learn everything we can about the country and the work we’ll be doing here, and we’re very excited to see what God has in store for us over the next few years. Our time has consisted of helping with house construction, getting to know the nationals (pretty tough since we don’t know the language yet), learning how to live life in such a strange culture on the other side of the world, and making team plans with the Sissons for our future church planting work. Some of these activities have been truly exhausting, since even simple things such as driving to town (on the left side of the road), buying groceries, and running errands require much more brain power for us than they do in the States.
Our plans for this visit to PNG included a scouting trip into the bush. Jeremy, Sam, Alex, and several national pastors had planned to journey to a remote group of villages for the purpose of investigating an unreached people group. Unfortunately, after a couple of delays which were beyond our control, and due to some tribal land disputes in which the guide was involved, the trip ultimately had to be cancelled. We know that God has a plan for this group of villages, and we continue to pray that He will give our team wisdom in how to proceed with this people group. Hopefully we will be able to make it to the villages on one of our first trips into the bush once we move to PNG.
Our visit to PNG is now coming to a close. We will leave this beautiful country on Wednesday morning (Tuesday afternoon in the States), and begin our journey back to our home in Texas. We should be back in Dallas on Thursday afternoon, then we’ll have a ten hour drive south to Los Fresnos. Lord willing, we’ll be back in our own apartment by Thursday night or Friday morning. Our family has learned so much during our stay here, and we pray that this trip will prove even more fruitful in the months to come as we prepare to move to Papua, New Guinea.
We are humbled by the prayers and support we’ve received for not only this trip, but also for the entire journey our family has traveled these past few years. We thank God for you and pray that you all realize how important you are to us and to the work that is being done here in PNG.
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Hebrews 13:14-15
Sanders Party of Five 