Back From PNG!!!

View from the girls Hut. 

   Well how do I describe what happened in 7 weeks?!?! God is an amazing God and He definitely challenged me in terms of speaking in front of people and building relationships with them. I flew into Port Moresby and stayed there one night with Grace's family. The next day we got on another plane and headed to Mt. Hagen. There is a YWAM base there so we stayed there for about 4 days. Didn't do much but get used to being in PNG and  practicing and preparing for programs. The YWAM base is located on the side of mountain. So it was a fun climb to our huts everyday:). The view from there was beautiful. Because we were in the highlands, everything is green and lush. The morning views were beyond words.
   The next place we went to was a town called Wabag. It is located in the Enga province. I stayed there for 3 and a half weeks. During that time I did many church programs in the evening which most of the time our team stayed the night at the church or in an elders house. We also did a mini DTS for a week every night for 4 hours. I spoke on finding your identity in Christ and also what is missions. God really helped me put together what to say and how to present it. Then we went to many schools and did lots of programs. The one day I spoke in front of over 500 students. I have definitely gotten over stage fright. :) The whole time in Wabag, we stayed with a family (whose daughter was in YWAM) in their house and they treated us like family. Our "mama" Betty took care of us and treated us like her own kids. We had bucket showers there and used rain water for everything. For a week it didn't rain, so they got water from the river. Which was a 30 min. walk away. The only thing that sucked was we all got sick there (diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, etc.). I think it was from the water. I had diarrhea for a little but that cleared up.

Me, Baby Brooke and the mother. 

   For the next 2 weeks we stayed in a village called Wapenamanda (spelling?) at a missionaries house. It was amazing there because of the amenities they had... a real toilet, sink, shower with hot water and a kitchen! We did a lot of church and school programs. Here we did a mini DTS at a local church. It was really amazing to see at the end of it so many people were really impacted about what we said and taught. We also visited hospitals while we were there. When I went to the maternity ward, I prayed for a couple people but one stood out the most. She had a 1 week old baby and was going home the next day. I asked her what her baby's name is but she told me she does not have a name. The mother asked me if i would name her child! I was so blown away. I really wanted to name her after me but I felt like God was telling me to name her Brooke. So I did. I named her Brooke after one of my teammates because even before we went to PNG, she said when she goes she wants to name a baby. When I told her what I did she was so blown away and overjoyed. Probably the coolest thing I ever did in my life so far :).

This pretty much sums up our group :)

After 7 weeks in PNG we finally made it back to Australia. This trip was very challenging and made me do things I never thought I would ever do but at the same time I enjoyed almost every minute of it. Being their taught me patience and understanding of others. I really had to put my self aside and focus on what God wanted from me. I have many other things that I would love to say but that would be a very long blog. Thank you Lord for the lives my team and I touched.


I have been very busy and never got to post these next couple post. Better late then never :)