Sunday, May 10

I woke up this morning without sweat dripping from my body. In fact, I remained sweatless until halfway through breakfast.

Breakfast was a sweet potato frittata. It was really delicious.

We attended church in Lae at the Resurrection Lutheran Church – the English service.
A quick shopping trip across the street at Food Mart before heading home.
I had planned to make tuna fish sandwiches. As I opened the can I realized something was amiss. Upon closer examination I realized that I had tuna in tomato sauce. I drained the sauce, added a can of mackerel (777) and added the mayonnaise I had bought at the store earlier.

After lunch I volunteered to do laundry while the team rehearsed for first time presentation of “American Midas.” Todd tried to show me how to use the twin tub but I assured him that I was an expert at the twin tub.

It took me all afternoon to complete this chore. I was drenched. I hung up the laundry as each small load was spun dry. I would have each of the students retrieve their own laundry from the line.

After a supper of spaghetti, peas and really good French Bread (with garlic infused butter) we attended the evening service. Tonight the team would perform for the first time “American Midas.” A little bit of tension, apprehension, nerves. How would the performance be received?

During rehearsal earlier in the day they had quite an audience watching. These people showed up for the evening performance and brought their friends. The place was packed. Later we learned that this evening service as much larger than usual.
The performance was wonderful. I had not yet seen it performed beginning to end. And in fact, a change was made to the ending during the rehearsal on Saturday.
At the conclusion of the service, a few men stood to tokautim to the group. It was a great experience to see and hear as this was tradition amongst the Papua New Guineans.

As soon as the service was dismissed a swarm of people gathered around the students. These were the people who had connected with the students the day before. From small children to teenagers, our team was embraced by the families of the community.
One little girl who captured everyone’s heart was a girl named Jeri. Yep! Her mother brought Whitney a bag of food – banana, oranges, peanuts and sugar cane. Jeri’s dad was a second year seminary student.

The teenagers wanted to get addresses from the girls. Emily was especially popular with two girls whom we met at church in Lae that morning. They too lived on the seminary property.

After about an hour we started for home. Everyone promised to see each other tomorrow.

I am especially impressed with the ease in which Stephen and Jordan connect with the boys. Already Jordan has held hands with another young man.
I might as well say right now that these students are amazing. I am so proud of them. Also, I really think that the kids at Ukarumpa are going to get a lot from these guys.