Land Purchase

Friday was a big event here in Kiari. We actually purchased the land on which to build the airstrip. This has been an ongoing project for several months. First, we had to determine exactly who owned every inch of the land. A committee of three national men worked on this for a while and drew up a map labeled with section numbers. For around a quarter mile length of land, there were 35 sections of land, owned by 25 different men! 22 of those men came on Friday and were paid for their land. The amounts varied depending on how many sections they owned and whether the sections were large, medium, or small. Each owner signed a contract with Brother Randy, then the contract was witness by the village council, a village magistrate, and the three men from the committee. We took a still picture of each man signing and a picture of him holding his contract with Brother Randy. We also shot video of each man receiving his money. That way there will no question in the future regarding this. Quite the process, but a real praise to have it successfully completed. Brother Randy is planning a supply trip for this week, but he hopes to go to Aibai the following week to drive the machines the rest of the way to Kiari. Please continue to pray for the details of this project.

 

Also on Friday, I was brought a patient with a fairly severe injury. The man, Stanley, was attacked by his older brother. The brother was aiming for his head and when Stanley flung up his arm to protect himself, he received a major cut to his right forearm. Men from the village put him on a a stretcher made out of flour sacks and two small trees and carried him close to the mission. Then Matt Smith (Brother Randy's son) brought him the rest of the way in the truck. It was definitely the worst cut I had ever seen here. Thankfully, right after Stanley was carried into the clinic, Benson arrived. Benson is the government health worker for the village and a strong Christian. He doesn't have a lot of book training, but he has lots of practical experience, especially with injuries. So I was quite happy to let him take the lead in dealing with this patient. After about a 3 hours cleaning, suturing, and bandaging job, the man was ready to be carried back down the mountain. He came back to clinic today for a dressing change and seems to be healing all right.

 

Please pray for Stanley. His wife is saved and attends church with their five children and his oldest daughter is in our Christian school. Stanley made a profession of faith at one time but has either fallen away from the Lord or was never truly saved. Please pray that this injury will turn his thoughts to the Lord.