March 19, 1975
Greetings from the beautiful land of Papua New Guinea;
Truly, "this is the day the Lord
has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it". Our hearts
were made to rejoice Sunday (17th) with the additions of two precious
souls into the kingdom of God. Both were in the English speaking
congregation. One is a girl who works in a bookstore here while
the other is a boy who is a student at the Tech school.
We were saddened at the sudden departure
of the John Wallace family. John's brother was killed in a truck
accident. They are to be home for six months on leave. Since they
had to leave in a hurry they were unable to store their household
goods Our household goods are not expected before June and thus
they are letting us use their house until our things come and
we can locate a house. The Lord provided for both of us.
The past weeks have really flown by.
With John leaving we have been trying to fill the slot he left.
I have already been teaching in Pidgin English.
Sunday: English speaking class and worship at the Boy Scout
Hall (25-30); drive across town to the Red Cross Hall and hold
Pidgin speaking classes (10-15). After lunch Curtis drives to
Bena for clases while we go to Emagave and Yuana for classes.
Both Yuana and Bena have to be walked into (about 2 miles). Sunday
evening we have services in English again.
Monday:
Bible class in Pidgin in the evening.
Tuesday: Bible class for the Tech school boys in the evening.
Wednesday: Bible class at Emagave in the AM. Class at Kamaliki Tech school
in the evening.
Thursday: English Bible class in the evening.
Friday: Bible class at Yuana AM, Religious instruction
(45min) at Goroka High School during lunch period (9 Christians);
Evening the English speakers get together for fun and devotional.
Saturday: Catch up day!
Add all this up and roll in time that all the brethren stop by to talk (they think you're no busier than they are) and we don't wonder where our time goes.
We received our first mail March 4th. It had been mailed
February 24th. Air Mail usually takes 7-10 days.
We have already fallen in love with the
people. They are so warm and hospitable. The congregation at Emagave
has already asked us to come and spend a few days with them. They
even have a hut for us to stay in. To get to their "haus
lotu" (church building) one has to walk through ankle deep
mud for a quarter of a mile. You see we are in the raining season
now with it raining most every afternoon and evening. Terasa and
Jason went with us to Bible class the first time and they were
an instant hlt. They went native, geting in the mud and all. After
class Jason spent some time trying to catch the little pigs which
run free in the village.
Saturday the 8th Curtis Harrison and I hosted a "mumu"
for all the English speakers we were working with who could come to the scout
hall. This is when a hole is dug in the ground and a fire is started. Then rocks
are heated by this fire which are then used to cook the foods. Kaukau (sweet
potato), corn, sausage, cabbage and greens was enjoyed by the more than 70 youngsters
who turned up. The following Sunday we had 10 visitors to our service. Most
of those present were from the Teacher's College and the Tech School.
Kathy has been to the local market several
times. Fresh vegetables are plentiful and cheap. Potatoes are
11¢ a lb, cucumbers 4¢, corn is usually less than 5¢
an ear.
Tersaa started pre-school this week and
she is in hog heaven. The school is just across the street and
she goes in the mornings.
It seems that I could go on for days
telling you the things which are happening here but and space
and time prohibits such.
We want to coutinue to ask for your prayers.
The work here is growing but Satan continues to draw back some
into his group.
God bless you all in your work and labor
of Love
Tobey, Kathy, Terasa and Jason Huff