I made it back alive from Papua New Guinea!
I left with 8 infections on my right foot that if you connect the dots it makes a giraffe!
But that is not all I left with from PNG.
I left there with such a new passion, a new love, and a new outlook on life.
Long story short I'm trying to say that
OUTREACH WAS AMAZING!
Seriously! I experienced and witnessed things that most people my age never have... and maybe never will.
Agggh! I don't know where to begin! Pictures, videos, and this blog don't even justify being there in person.
Like honestly.... I don't know what to say, cause I have too much to say. (Which is obvious... I'm a girl! I always have something to say...)
I have so many stories to tell!
And well... quite frankly as much as I would love to sit here and blog every single thing that happened on outreach and as much as you would just LOVEEEEEEEE to hear/read all about it.
I won't.... cause I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THAT (outreach inside joke, LOLZ)
I'll try and keep this short and sweet according to my terms.
And by short and sweet I mean extremely long, grammatically incorrect, and heaps of pictures and videos.
ENJOY!
And if you do wanna know more in depth stories feel free to hit me up! I would love to tell you!!!
MMMMKAY.
So... I guess I will start from the beginning.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Hehehe, just kidding.
But yeah... the beginning!
So! We left for the Cairns airport at like 3 in the morning.
It sucked. We had to drive 4 hours to get there.
Then, we boarded the plane to PNG.
And then we landed... in PNG.
So, we were only intended to stay in Port Morsbey for a couple of days. Everyday we thought we were leaving, then we ended up not.
But... PNG is known for being the "land of the unexpected"
So, we ended up staying in Port Morsbey for a whole week.
It was good though and much needed.
Cause we got heaps of alone time/worship time/time as a team/things to be healed.
Also, in Port Morsbey we got the news that we were no longer the LF team. We had been banned from handing out the medication because it was out of date.
It was a really sad moment to hear, cause I was SOOOO excited to be able to do medical missions.
But, God is good! And He had other plans for us... much better plans!
Oh! And this is Ano.
I spent lots of time with him during my stay
in Port Morsbey.
We played lots of games!
Such as throwing a bouncy ball, running around,
and playing tag which he liked to call "touch me"
So after sleeping at the church (which had to walls it was all open) for a week we finally got the okay to go to a village!!!!!!
So after a longas, bumpy, uncomfortable, nonstop 6 hour PMV ride and a short little dingy ride we finally made it to the first village, MOVEAVE!!! We stayed there for two weeks.And lemme tell you, those were some amazing two weeks!
So in the shortest way possible to tell you about our stay in Moveave everyday we...
woke up early, went out and did house visits and prayed for people (which was amazing... God healed)
Then we would plan for the night program on who would talk, what to talk about, and maybe throw a skit or two in there.
After that we would play games with the kids.
Usually, we would play cat and mouse (they would go crazy when we played) or we would go to the poop infested water and "wash-wash"
After that we would have a program. Ususally they would worship (and it was the most beautifulest sound ever) then some of us would share. It was at those programs people accepted or reaccepted Christ into their life and it was such a beautiful experience to witness. And we were able to pray with them and talk with them and encourage them! Agh! It was truly a blessing.
Below are a few pictures of what life in Moveave was like.
Stalk me on Facebook and you can find more pictures.
Here is a video of the "squatty potty"
(the bathroom)
It smelt like death and you had squat to do your business.
I'm like a pro squatter now!
Yup, so pigs would come and eat the fecal matter whilst you were doing your business.
At first, it was weird.
But then it just became normal.
Our home for those two weeks in Moveave!
Bucket shower!
Welcoming ceremony they had for us.
Full of cookies, flower necklaces, and coconuts!
Teaching the kids to play tic-tac-toe
They swarmed all around us!
Chicken skit during one of the programs!
Playing with the kids!
I would just make silly faces at them
and chase them and they would
giggle and giggle.
And some cried......
You put a camera into the situation
and the kids will go wild.
First wittle baby I got to hold
And the baby didn't cry!
Someone just handed me this new born baby!
I was so happy!!
It was at a village we visited during the day
while stay in Moveave!
Lalafuera(spelling?)
It's easier to say than to spell.
While the teams were out praying
I somehow got left behind with the kids,
which I didn't mind at all!
I got to just love on them.
It was such an awesome experience!!
"wash-wash"
This was Sister Charity.
Possibly one of the cutest girls in the world.
Scratch that... she is the cutest girl in the world!
One of our mode of transport
The dingy!
Our other mode of transportation.
An extremely bumpy and dangerous ride.
So... while in Moveave we got the opportunity to do a few things that no white person has ever done in that village.
It was quite an honor.
1.The first thing we got to do was make sago!
Sago is a tree and long story short it makes this weird substance that they use to make everything with.
It taste like rubber and it's all around a weird texture.
But when I say they use it for every meal... I mean they use it for every meal. I am all sagoed out!
Anywho the process of making sago is extremely hard.
First, you have to find a tree.
Once you find the tree a man hacks at it with a huge knife.
Once the tree falls down you start chopping away at it to get to the middle.
And you take away all the leaves of the tree and use it to help make the sago.
Then, the men use this other tool thingy mibob and it like shaves the tree.
All while this is happen the women are using the scraps of the tree to make a stand type thingy for the sago.
Then, the women come and pick up the shavings carry it over to the stand, put it on the stand, grab a hunk of it, pour water over it, and squeeze it out, and then repeat that process 4 times until you throw it out.
It's an extremely hard and tiring job. You have to move at a fast pace and do it in a certain way.
I ended up doing like 3 bag fulls without stopping.
My hands were all sorts of scrapped up, infected, and stained.
As tiring as it was it was an honor to be able to be part in making sago!
Okayokayokay, I'll just show you pictures now.
One of the tools we used to make sago!
Using parts of that tree to help make sago!
Hacking away at some plant to help make a stand
for squeezing the sago.
Making sago!
This is what sago looks like!
It feels like silly puddy
and has no flavor
and taste like rubber.
2. So, the second thing we did was a ceremonial farewell dance.
They got us all dressed up with face paint, grass skirts, arm and leg bands made out of tree bark, a head dress, flowers, necklaces made out of seeds, pig tucks, and dog teeth, and some sort of coconut mix thingy that they sprinkled all over us.
Then once they got us all dolled up we went to the middle of the village and danced. The whole entire village came out to watch us dance.
It was by far the coolest experience! My group had three different dances
1.The men were in the middle drumming and the girls swayed around in a circle.
2. We all stood side by side and would step
3.We squatted and swayed and then we had to jump while still squatting.
If you're lucky I will show you just exactly how those dance moves went. They all thought I was a ligit dancer!
My outfit!
Face paint!
The whole team!
There were 4 different dancing groups.
Dancing in the village!!
Hoookay.
So.....
That was a brief overlook on my time in Moveave.
God did amazing things there.
I saw people come to Christ and people get healed both physically and spiritually.
It was probably the best two weeks of my life!
God is good all the time.
All the time God is good.
So, after our stay in Moveave we headed to Kerema.
Again we stayed there for two weeks.
AND THERE WAS A TOLIET WHICH YOU COULD SIT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And also, here we got to work at the Kerema hospital and go to the jail!
I of course freaked out being able to work at the hostpial
CAUSE WE GOT TO WORK WITH PREGNANT WOMEN AND BABIES!!!!!!!!
One day would be a day for the pregnant women.
It was just checkups and treatment.
Usually when we worked with the women we just sat in and watched.
But I got to sit in in the exam room where the nurse feels the stomach for the baby and then uses this ear thingy, puts it to the pregnant women's belly and hears for a heartbeat.
It was a shock to see how they did things, but it was still one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
So the other days were for babies.
They were just check ups/treatment.
I got to help weigh the babies
and tell the mothers the growth of their babies!
It made me so happy cause the babies were so healthy!
I weighted lots of babies and all of them were
about 80%-100% in growth.
I also got to work in the treatment center
giving babies two drops of some sort of medicine!
Weighing the babies!
Giving the babies treatment!
They must have hated it cause they all cried
and one baby puked.
This was the clinic I worked at!
So, we also got to go to the jail.
I talked with some people who had committed some
harsh crimes, but who am I to judge?
But they were some of the sweetest people I have ever met.
It was awesome to be able to talk to them about God's forgiveness and just chat with them about life.
And it was great to be able to see the eagerness some of them had
in wanting to change their lives for the better!
Kerema Jail
Also while in Kerema we did programs at a couple of schools.
The programs were similar to Moveave.
We sang, did skits, and spoke on something.
It was awesome to be able to work with the youth!!
High school!
Me speaking at the Primary school.
So one weekend in Kerema we decided to take a weekend trip to the village Meii.
(it's said like my middle name, Mae or the month May)
So obvi I knew this was gonna be a special place to me.
We just hung out with the kids and did programs.
It was a super duper busy, but fun weekend!
Jonah and the Whale
Sin chair skit
During the weekend there was this one girl who had been laid upon my heart.
Her name was Mary and she was 15.
Her and I hung out a lot during that time.
And then that Sunday we lead the church service.
In that time people came to the front for prayer or for accepting Christ.
Mary was the second person up there and I got the opportunity to pray with her and witness her except Christ into her life.
It was such a beautiful experience being able to see that she wanted to change her life!
She holds such a special spot in my heart.
I'm making sure that I remain in contact with her somehow!
And if you ever just wanna lift her up in your prayers... that would be amazing.
She has lived a hard life and she is starting a new journey.
Just pray that she continually seeks out the Lord and grows!
This is Mary!
Isn't she just beautiful?!?!?
I wish I could have spent more time in Meii.
But the time spent there were some times I won't ever forget.
Meii was such an amazing and beautiful place!
God definitely moved there!
So yeah!
After two weeks in Kerema our journey was coming to an end.
We headed back to Port Morsbey for a couple of days.
We took a 9 hour bumpyas PMV ride to get there.
When we arrived we met up with the two other PNG teams.
We got to go to the market and the mall and eat Chinese food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then, we got back on a plane and headed back to the world down unda (Australia)
Well, that was the shorter version of my outreach experience...
But, in all honestly, outreach was challenging, but also outreach was one of the best experiences of my life and something I won't ever forget.
God moved me.
He broke my heart for the people of PNG.
I learned so much!!
And I am so extremely thankful I got this opportunity to be able to go out and be one of God's disciples.
Well.... peace and blessin's y'all!
Blog use another day!
Bye!!
xoxoxoxoxo
