Safe in Aibai

Thanks so much for your prayers for my trip. I arrived safely in Aibai on Tuesday afternoon. There were a few wrinkles, but nothing too major. First, on Monday morning, the couple that was supposed to walk with me (Silas and Alice) came to my house and told me that they had gotten news during the night that Alice's nephew was quite ill and perhaps had died. He was only a teenager, so her family was accusing others of working witchcraft against him and were threatening to start a fight. So they really felt that they needed to go to her village, rather than come with me to Aibai. I of course agreed. Silas found a couple other guys that were willing to walk with me, so I headed off with two James. One I knew and the other had just recently gotten saved.

We arrived in Borowal about 4pm on Monday and stayed with a national pastor, Pastor Robert. His house had been built by missionaries some time previously, so it is a cut above most national homes. (It actually had a floor rather than dirt:-) Then on Tuesday, Pastor Robert and another man from his church walked with me to the large river about a 2 hour walk from Aibai. There Matt Crain, one of the missionaries in Aibai, met me and took me (and a few other nationals who wanted a ride) the rest of the way to Aibai.

It was a rather strenuous trip. You are so high that you can see for miles, so you can see the village you are headed for several hours before you actually get there. The road goes up one mountain, down the other side to a stream or river and then up another mountain. It seemed like quite the roundabout way sometimes. We have had a lot of rain lately, so some of the rivers were rather high. Two of them were up to mid thigh with a swiftly flowing current. I was quite glad to have the guys to hang onto.

At any rate, I am safely in Aibai and enjoying reconnecting with missionary friends here. Clinic here is Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings and afternoons, and a prenatal clinic on Friday mornings. I am learning lots, which is of course the object of the trip.

Please continue to pray for a profitable time here and for the safety of the folks in Kiari in my absence. They have had four suturing cases since I left -- two nationals, one of the Smith's sons, and Erick himself. Thankfully, Erick was able to patch them all up, although doing his own hand was a bit of a trick:-) Just never know what you may encounter here!