Thursday our team made a quick trip of 45 minutes or so to the famed mission station of Pabarabuk, PNG.
Aunty Rosa's husband Jiwa wove our vehicle around potholes and over 2 miles of terribly bumpy road after this sign for the Bible College.
I loved this beautiful garden landscaped into the shape of the cross in the center.
Here Wilmer and Linda Paulus are viewing the sad remnants of the little house they had lived in while they taught at this mission years ago.
It had burnt down back in late winter due to an accident with a candle.
It was difficult for the people there to accept this loss of one of the original buildings on the mission station.
But perhaps God wants to do a new thing--raise up this mission station again,
so that people can rejoice in a resurrection rather than a relic!
It was difficult for the people there to accept this loss of one of the original buildings on the mission station.
But perhaps God wants to do a new thing--raise up this mission station again,
so that people can rejoice in a resurrection rather than a relic!
Sis. Paulus making her way around and telling us what all the buildings were and who used to live where, when all the missionaries were here 20 to 40 years ago.
We felt like we were walking on holy ground.
This is the home that used to be Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Pelfrey's, with whom we worked in Ukraine 22 years ago, and who are remembered with much respect everywhere they worked,
from PNG to Ukraine (where Roman, whom Bro. Pelfrey mentored, is still serving God in a conservative way) to Belize.
At least some of this former mission station has been turned over for government schools.
Here to the right is the girls' dorm for high school students.
;
They were very excited to have a picture of some of them taken with Jonathan and me!
PNG people LOVE having their picture taken!
I believe there are over 1000 students here at this school now.
We discovered that this young man is the brother of Simon, a student at Penn View who loves to tease Crystal during choir tour!
Meanwhile, Wilmer and Linda Paulus meet the dear old pastor of the PNG Bible Church on the grounds who was pastor clear back when they were serving here, and who is still pastoring faithfully!!
Wilmer was crying, and then the rest of us starting crying, and then you should have heard the girls start to cry!
And PNG people don't just cry, they wail! They are easily touched and it is different how they express their emotions.
Here is the huge sanctuary on the grounds.
The beautiful display of flowers in the front of the sanctuary.
Then we headed toward the enormous open-air tabernacle that shelters the annual campmeeting of around 10,000 people.
This is where James Plank and many others have been privileged to speak in recent years.
The PNG Bible Church is alive and thriving!
Praise God!
What a witness to the faithful labors of missionaries--
and the precious open hearts of the dear PNG people!
The first floor of this building is called John Wesley Library.
A crowd has begun to gather around Wilmer Paulus.
Jonathan and I pause before entering this enormous edifice.
The floor is covered with dry grass, and I assume people sit on the ground when they come, unless a few benches are brought in at the time of camp meeting.
Jonathan takes off his hat, as it seems that as we enter, we are aware of a
Presence,
and that we are standing on holy ground.
Jonathan notices the rain water cisterns that collect water from this huge roof.
Turning to go back out, we see people flocking toward the tabernacle around the Americans.
I watched a big boy reach out to shake Sam's hand,
which resulted in a lot of laughter and cheering that we didn't understand at first.
Then Aunty Rosa explained that the young people are shy about shaking hands with a white boy, but when that young man did it, the others thought it was great!
So here she is exhorting the young people not to be shy but to be friendly and reach out to the white people!
What an outstanding monument to this great but humble man!
The Pauluses heard that one of the pastor's wives had been ill and with a pained back, but that God was healing her. We all went to her house and Pauluses prayed with her.
Here the pastor and his wife are saying goodbye to us.
I hope to post about the next leg of our trip, the Kauapena station, later.
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