Keith flew to Ukarumpa for three weeks on Friday 3rd May: two weeks to familiarise himself with the Finance Office as he observed what happens and when, and the middle week for meetings and catch-ups with various people and departments ahead of moving there in September. (see 2019_03 Newsletter) This left me in charge of the Lae Regional Centre. Seeing we had already been here for more than 4 years I thought I would do a good job of filling in for Keith as well as doing my own job. Boy was I in for a steep learning curve.
Saturday 4th May
With several power outages over the weekend, I appreciated how Peter, our groundsman, made sure that the generator was full of diesel on Friday before he finished work.
There was a water pipe burst somewhere in or out of Lae so the Centre had low water pressure for three or four days but everything came good about Wednesday or Thursday.
Sunday 5th May
I discovered the pool was losing water and the pool pump was struggling so with some telephone advice from Keith, I made sure all things were good.
Our Sunday afternoon Bible study group met at our place for study and afternoon tea.
Monday 6th May
Peter had to fix the leaking pool liner and adjust things for a faulty pool pump.
The gas technician came and fixed the manager’s house hot water system. No more boiling the gas kettle for a hot bath.
I’m guessing that due to the multiple power outages on the weekend, the uninterruptible power source (UPS) device decided it was not going to start. This certainly made things interesting for several days. (A UPS is used in places that experience frequent loss of mains power) This particular UPS is used to provide consistent power to our internal computer programs, phones and internet.
Tuesday 7th May (continued to work on UPS’s)
The day started with a 7.2 earthquake about 50 kilometres from Lae. All ok. No damage as far as I can tell.
Wednesday 8th May (continued to work on UPS’s)
Peter and I with Larua, our office manager, installed a new commercial dryer for the guesthouse. Joel, a Wycliffe worker based in Ukarumpa, had 3 assistant apprentices as he showed us how to hard-wire a clothes dryer into the main electricity.
Thursday 9th May (continued to work on UPS’s)
2 new UPS batteries arrived from Ukarumpa which I then installed into the UPS.
Friday 10th May (continued to work on UPS’s)
With the UPS charging overnight, most of the computer system is now working but not the wireless internet. Never mind, I learnt a terrible lot about UPS’s this week so the next time Keith is away I’ll be that much more knowledgeable. Really I could say that about everything this week.
Saturday 11th May
Took a translator out to Aigris Wharf to catch a banana boat to go the village. He is going to say thank you for building him a translation village house which will make it easier and more comfortable for him to work in the village.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Please pray…
- thankful and grateful for our fantastic staff who worked with me to sort things out
- thankful for the experienced computer staff in Ukarumpa who were able to explain to me over the phone what to do to almost fix our computer and telephone systems
- Keith is in Ukarumpa observing how things happen in the Finance Office for three weeks. Please pray for us as this is the longest time that we have been separated in our marriage, and pray that Keith will profit from his time in Ukarumpa.
- Thankful that the centre could continue to provide accommodation for Wycliffe and other church missionaries in spite of our ‘momentary problems’.
- One expat church missionary staying at our guesthouse had a medical test that came back for malaria and typhoid. Please pray for Luther that he rests and will renew his health and strength.
campbell ramblings 
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