A definite influence in my life has been the experience of my mum and dad in full-time service in Papua New Guinea for many years in their youth.
Recently, my elder sister and I had the blessing of returning with our parents for the week to PNG, and finally visualising the land, people and culture which shaped our parents. The whole trip was an experience, part of which I had expected, but for the most part PNG lived up to its reputation:
"The Land of the Unexpected..."
The event which occasioned our journey into the past was the Dedication of the JW Branch facilities in Port Moresby. The Dedication was conducted over an emotional 2 days, wherein Sarah and I met, embraced and were bestowed with hand-crafted biloms by literally hundreds of local brothers and sisters mum and dad had studied with or known over the years.
I could go on for ...posts;) about the different characters we met and the experiences we heard but what has stayed with me is seeing how Jehovah’s spirit is universal, and even in remote PNG is the driving force behind the harvest work.
Over the years, many foreigners have shared in spreading the good news to the people of PNG, but now it is the local brothers and sisters who are doing the majority of the work and they are doing wonderfully. Many of the ones we met have over 20 bible students and willingly sacrifice much to serve Jehovah. Their happiness is manifest in their beautiful 'MacLeans-white' smiles, which along with their simple yet immaculate appearances, distinguish them from the average.
PNG is not your typical tropical island, where in all probability you might find yourself relaxing in the sun by a body of water (pool, ocean, lagoon...) with a piña colada in hand. In many instances we were fortunate just to glimpse someone selling coconut milk amongst the throngs of beetle-nut peddlers! And unfortunately the polluted water in the city was anything but inviting.
Beyond the surface though I couldn’t get over how much in places it reminded me of parts we’d visited in Colombia...the rich green and mountainous terrain were reminiscent of a bus ride between Medellin and Cali...as were the potholes and humidity!. It was truly beautiful.
After the Dedication we ventured c. 300 kms NE to a place called Kerema in the Gulf Province, where my dad was sent when he was 21. On route we passed 13 huge Amazonian-like rivers together with large rubber plantations (interesting fact: rubber trees slant in the directions of the sea!) and other impressive trees such as the rain tree and the coconut tree of course, all of which gave impact to PNG's vastness.
To get to Kerema we drove for 4/5 hours on a semi-sealed road, then from a place called Malalawa we took a dinghy down the Tauri River for close to an hour before arriving at the mouth and proceeding a couple of kms off-shore along the coast past several villages and arriving an hour later in Kerema Bay...all the while I kept thinking how my mother some 40 years before had walked this trail as a newly married woman of 24 (my current age)...
Kerema gave us further insight into especially my dad's life pre-kids and pre-marriage. On arrival, we were met by many local brothers and sisters and many villagers who were astounded (as, in truth, were Sarah and I) at dad, a now older white man fluent in their local language. I remember dad noted that this was an aspect which impressed the locals about the Witnesses, how they 'became all things to all people', and treated them as equals: conversing in their language, staying in their homes, eating their food...
The local congregation really extended themselves for us, from waking pre-'crack of dawn' to light the fire and make us breakfast, to taking the day off work to boat us several hours upstream to an isolated group, to arranging a post-meeting Papuan-style 'luau'. I can't really express how grateful I was and am. In farewelling these ones, it felt like leaving family, which of course is hard, but is just another reminder of the beautiful blessings in being part of Jehovah's international organisation.
The whole experience reaffirmed the truth in Jesus' words 'there is more happiness in giving than receiving'.
However, seeing the reality of the country made me admire my parents for their endurance and reliance on Jehovah throughout the years. It also taught me that sometimes we can idealise the adventure or mystery of serving abroad, but having the right motives and relying on Jehovah are ultimately what will make our endeavours successful. I really hope that I can follow their example in Nepal.
