It is officially 2010, as you well know. Due to time zone differences, the new year arrived here in PNG 15 hours before it got to the East Coast of the US. We didn't have any noisy celebrations or balls dropping though:-)
Seriously though, it was a fun-filled week with two different church Christmas parties. The first, on Tuesday, was just for church members and their families. There were around 50 people there (including children). We had a mumu where a pit is dug in the ground and filled with large stones. A fire is lit on top to heat the stones. When the stones are ready, the fire is removed, the stones are lined with banana leaves and the food is piled on top. Then the food is covered with more leaves, then dirt is shoveled over the top. Basically the food is steam cooked as in a very large pressure cooker. A couple hours later (longer if there is meat in the mumu), the dirt and leaves are carefully removed and the food taken out and distributed. While the mumu was cooking, there was informal volleyball games and a lot of visiting. After the mumu, Elena Smith, Tiffany, and I distributed Christmas cookies. Then, for the second (or third) course, we had a soup made of maggi (like ramen noodles), tuna, cabbage, and beans, served over rice. In the evening, the adults went into the Smiths' house and watched a Christian video while Tiffany and I took the kids to our house and let them see Winnie the Pooh. They don't understand most of the English but they laughed a lot at the pictures.
On Thursday was the part for the entire church and their families. We again had a mumu, bigger this time, and the volleyball games while it was cooking were organized with formal teams. In the evening we had a Bible quiz time, always a favorite. Then they made scones (like biscuits) and coffee. All in all, both parties were enjoyable times of fellowship.
The big praise for the week regards Megan, the teen girl who had gotten away from the Lord. She was in my Sunday school class on Sunday morning, but didn't seem to really want to chat when I approached her afterwards. She didn't stay for the morning service, but I saw her around after the afternoon service. Another girl came to me and told me that she wanted to see me. When I went to her, she said that she knew she had done wrong and that she was under a lot of conviction. She knows that she made a lot of public sin and wants to make a public confession to the church. She asked to meet with me and Brother Randy and Elena sometime this week. What a blessing to see the Lord working in her heart! We have seen several of the new, promising believers wander away, but she is the first to come back with a desire to make things right. I firmly believe that the Lord's conviction in her heart is a direct result of your prayers. Please continue to pray that she will have the courage to follow through on her decision.
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