Month: April 2019

In mid-2017, a Wycliffe Australia contact filmed everyone’s favourite mission couple for a promotional video calling for managers to commit to mission roles. We just received word that the finished product is available, and can be viewed either on Vimeo or YouTube .

The message could not be more appropriate to our present situation here in PNG. As part of the regular mid-year exodus, with many families having children graduating from the international school system, fourteen senior department managers and directors are leaving the country. Six of these are ending their term of service in PNG.

Many of these roles have been internally filled – or temporarily filled – though this often leaves a vacuum in some other area as existing mission staff step up into management. We ourselves are leaving a role in Lae we have thoroughly enjoyed over the past five years, for Keith to fill a desperate need in the finance area.

We truly need people with general management experience, that can apply their skills to a range of situations including administration, IT, finance, aviation, construction & maintenance, workplace training, education, and children and youth services.

Please pray….
 for immediate vacancies to be appropriately filled
 that more people may join us to share the load
 that those having a much needed break will be renewed and equipped to continue serving
 for the graduating students from mission families, as they adjust to a future in their ‘home country’, and for those families who will be returning to the mission field after settling a child into education or employment

As we begin to think of our work at Lae Regional Centre in terms of finishing well, one aspect of this is to see that several maintenance projects are brought to a conclusion. This week was all about getting our septic systems in good order, bringing the infrastructure up to an acceptable standard.

 

[ WARNING – recommend not reading the following while eating! ]

After cutting access points to one of several septic tanks on site – which happened to have a half-size basketball court laid on top – Peter ‘got down to business’ [groan] and stirred the pot so to speak, mixing in some material to break down the sludge so that the tank could be pumped out later in the week. We’ll spare you a close-up of the foaming contents as the 50 kilograms of caustic soda does its work. It is difficult to say when this was last done, but the 2 metre diameter and 1.5 metre deep pit was filled up to around 30 centimetres from the top!

Simon busied himself digging out root-infested pipework and unearthing a broken pipe here and there, and the whole system has been upgraded with improved inspection points. Keith can now produce drawings locating all of the below-ground services and leave instructions for ongoing maintenance. The initial career experience in civil engineering certainly comes in handy at times.

There are many options for projects to undertake – a deck extension to our workshop and conference building, electrical repair and roof replacement to the main office, upgrading several bathrooms, and replacing a solar hot water system to a staff residence. It will be a challenge to fit all, or perhaps even most of these projects into the four months we have left in Lae.

Please pray …

• That we effectively prioritise tasks over the coming months
• For ‘finishing well’ in terms of relationships not to be overwhelmed by the many projects
• That we be content with the end result of our kingdom service in Lae