Another week, another life-threatening event

Well, we are starting our final week here at PNG, and I know alot of people will enjoy being able to quit holding their breath for our safety. Like I said last week, it seems like everywhere you want to go around here is a life-threatening journey. Even driving along the main road you run the risk of being stopped by gunned men and robbed. I won't tell these stories I have heard until I am safely home. :) (I do have to say I am awful proud of Judy, there were a group of men in the road yesterday and she just plowed by, ignoring their gestures for her to stop.) Anyway, back to the event- I was NOT involved this time. Ben and a group of guys went repelling into an unexplored cave. I felt uneasy the whole time they were planning this trip, but, around here, I guess you just can't live in fear. The morning they left, I was laying in bed and heard Ben call my name. It was so real that I yelled back, "what?" only to find upon looking around that he was not anywhere around. I was so sure that I heard him call me that I even looked out on the front porch to see if he was there. Immediately I felt a strong desire to just pray for the men. I won't give too many details because I know Ben is going to write a blog about the experience tonight, I will just say that the Lord was with them, kept them calm, and protected them! I don't know all of the technicalities, but a D-ring came loose as Ben was assending the cave- about 50 feet up. He was able to struggle in mid-air for about an hour and get it latched enough for him to continue up. After the second came up, the youngest of the guys couldn't reach the top, and we had to send some men from the base into the darkness to retrieve him (2 hours away). Needless to say, us wives were praying. A big group of native children who are close to the guy stuck down there ran all of the way from the hospital to the cave to make sure he would be okay. Then, upon his return, they were all singing outside of his house, "Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God can not do."

We spent Mother's Day with the same two guys and their families. We rode into town to church, then the Highlander hotel for a poolside meal and swim. The sermon was interesting, and the message different than what you would hear in the states. His emphasis was on creation and how woman was created to be a helper for the man, not property or under the man, but equal and important. It's interesting how much women do in this culture. They are actually viewed as the strong ones, because they do alot of hard labor and carry their children everywhere. You also won't see a man and woman holding hands. Men hold hands all of the time as a sign of friendship with other men, but since men are viewed as above women, even if married, they do not walk around holding hands. I'm sure Ben and we got some strange looks yesterday, but I was clinging to that man knowing I could have lost him the day before! It ended up being a great Mother's Day though as we relaxed then played in the pool.

Well, like I said, we have a week left and we sure are going to miss it here. I get teary-eyed when I think about it. We have made such great friends and I can only pray that God would allow us the opportunity to someday return. Caleb especially has really adapted and settled in. I know he will miss his new friends- especially Priscilla and Olivia. Olivia and him are both two and get along quite nicely if there are no toys involved- especially if the activity is simply throwing rocks or playing in the mud.