Sunday, April 20, 2014 - posted by Steph Flewelling

Saturday the linemen pulled the last two spans of overhead wire between the hydro plant and the switching station.  The only remaining portion of the main feeder are the two underground connector cables at each end of the overhead line.  These will be completed early next week. 
 
With the project running ahead of schedule, some of the team took time off Saturday afternoon to walk over the local market.  Chaplin John, a native of PNG walked along chatting with the team.  Most people in this region have gardens in order to survive and many sell their vegetables and fruits from little stands trying to subsidize their meager existence.  As our team walked along the hot dusty road between displays, they witnessed a woman being violently run down in the street and beaten to the ground with large stones by a mob shouting and yelling.  Our team watched in horror as the scene played out in front of them.  Chaplain John quickly herded them away from the chaos and back into the safety of the hospital compound.  Later we heard that she had either stolen something or was accused of being a witch.
 
As this was taking place at the market, back in our Barnabas House kitchen, Deb received a call to assist in an emergency surgery at the hospital.  Another woman badly beaten from some conflict had to have her arm amputated due to injuries. 
 
In a previous blog, I said I hoped to be able to tell you some stories of hope and happy endings and yet it probably sounds as if they are few and far between.  But remember that this culture was steeped in the darkness of ancestral worship and superstition a little more than 50 years ago.  There are many stories of lives changed, of men taking the Jesus story of salvation and hope back to their villages and little by little the culture is being changed.
 


Easter Sunrise Service at the Barnabas House

This morning in the darkness just before dawn we gathered quietly on the Barnabas House porch for an Easter sunrise service.  Several of the missionaries met with us as Earl spoke about the contrasts between the dark scene we experienced in the market yesterday and the love of a God who would give his only son to make a way for all men to live in peace.  He reminded us that because Jesus is alive, his resurrection life lives in those who have made him Lord.  It was a wonderful service reminding us all that God’s love is stronger than the darkest heart of a man and that his love continues to reach for men through the love of Jesus.  And that is why we serve, why we’re here.



Village along the pathway to the Kulamung Church

After breakfast, we split into small groups, some walked about a mile out to a village church, some went to a local church just outside the hospital compound, and some traveled by car to another village church.  In each of these places, even though we couldn’t understand the language, we saw the love of Christ in the people and the speakers as they shared the resurrection story again.  We saw firsthand how God’s love demonstrated in Jesus Christ alive in men’s hearts, can change the darkness to light, spreading hope against despair, village by village. 
This afternoon Dr Andy Bennett led us on a tour of the hospital.  250,000 people live in this district and are cared for by eight doctors.  It’s three days walk from the farthest edges of the district and many people walk in.  For a “fourth world country”, the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital is exceptionally clean and tidy.  Beautifully sculpted gardens frame the sidewalks as you walk between the wards under covered outside walkways.  Dr Andy said the housekeepers plant and tend the gardens.  On this Easter Sunday afternoon, you feel the peace of the place, this margin of land between two warring tribes.



Emergency Room at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital

Again we sense the dichotomy of this place.  Looking at the ancient apparatuses they use, from the med carts to the surgical tables… it’s hard to come to grips with the peace you feel inside these walls and the help and hope these eight doctors and their many nurses and staff provide to so many people.  It’s a testimony to the men and women who serve tirelessly from Jesus’ love.  
 
The “darkness” sometimes seems so loud, so showy and in your face.  But the love of God that flung galaxies into space sometimes moves quietly with a force and a power that can’t be quieted.  God still calls men by his still small voice, arresting them, completely transforming them into sons of the Most High God.