Wednesday, May 13

It was another cooler night. No sheet, but also no sweat. I woke up refreshed and ready for the day.

The sky is clear and you know that it is going to be a scorcher. It’s 89 at 11 am but it doesn’t feel like the humidity is to high.

Whitney, Emily and I attended the pigin service at the chapel. I could catch most of what the sermon was about: Believers in Jesus do not need to be afraid of death.
The team is off at another class and I am left to do a load of laundry and prepare the noon meal. I love this quiet time. The beauty of the surroundings is amazing. The sounds, the sights and smells – I love this country!

I repacked my suitcase with the hostess gifts, putting the items in five different bags. I hope that is enough. Not knowing how many homes the team will be staying in makes it hard to plan. But I DO have a plan B.

I am so excited to leave MLS and go to Ukarumpa. Some of the students are nervous about being separated into the different homes. Also, Todd and Rhett refer to Ukarumpa as “Little America” the team has developed a bias against it. The time here, at MLS, exchanging ideas and developing relationships with them makes them want to stay here longer. God help them adjust and be just as caring and giving in Ukarumpa as they are here at MLS.

It reached 100 degrees this afternoon. I must be acclimatizing as I am not horribly hot.
After a lunch of toasted tuna and cheese sandwiches and fruit (papaya, banana and orange) salad, Todd and I went to town for our last trip to Food Mart.

We are way under budget for food costs in Lae, but it’s hard to spend 14 kina for a gift of English Breakfast tea for Jordan’s birthday on Friday.

Todd and I then stopped at the Lutheran Church headquarters to post a sign about the performance tomorrow (Thursday) from the MLS classes and the team. I think it’s going to be a HUGE event.

At the headquarters office Todd ran into two of his former students: Gary and a lady I never did catch the name of.

We had a nice chat with Gary. He is head of ministerial training for the Lutheran Church in PNG. He has 5 grown children. He’s probably close to my age.

I am now preparing a special dinner of spaghetti as Jacob Luke has been invited to join us at 5:30 pm for kai kai bilong belo.

Then we all travel down the road to a school for a ‘copi shop’ performance for the students. I am not clear about everything that is going on so you’ll hear more about during tomorrow mornings writings.