Wednesday, May 14, 2014 - posted by Steph Flewelling

Whew, what day is it?  We left Papua New Guinea on Saturday, May 10.  Got settled into Brisbane for two nights which allowed us to spend Sunday down under.  We split up and half of us hiked down to Slaughter Falls, while the other half of our team drove up to the Sunshine Coast to have a look about.  Then since it was Mother’s Day the fellas took us Sheilas out for some tucker because we had slapped up a mess ‘o tucker to their tables for the last five weeks.

Breakfast Creek Hotel & Restaurant in Brisbane



We left Brisbane Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. and after a flight of 13 hours and 15 mins arrived in Los Angeles at 6:15 a.m. Monday, three hours before we left…  yeah, don’t try to figure that one out, something to do with a couple time zones and the International Dateline.

Jet Lag

 

The trans-Pacific flight was uneventful with a safe landing in Los Angeles.  We knew we had a bit of a layover there.  But it came as a surprise that the inbound plane that would take us to Atlanta was two and a half hours late.  So instead of departing LAX at 12:00, we left at 1:00 p.m.  That was a good flight too.  But, after circling Atlanta a couple times and then waiting for “traffic” on the runway that was blocking the pathway to our Gate, we hit the chute walking as fast as we could to catch the train that would take us from Terminal A where we landed to Terminal T where our next plane had already boarded as we were landing. 

The only two people standing in Gate T when we arrived out of breath were the folks waiting to scan our boarding passes.  We hurtled down the companionway through the door of the plane, stowed our carry-ons and found our seats while the rest of the passengers quietly watched, bewildered.  I don’t know if any of our checked bags could have possibly made it, but we will sleep in our own beds tonight, Lord willing that we land safely in Harrisburg.

As a footnote to the great work that was accomplished up in Kudjip, we received an email from Bill adding weight to the concerns expressed by the missionaries about how relationships within the community surrounding the new Hydro and Dam would impact its operation.  It seems someone figured out how to close the gate to the canal which powers down the Hydro stopping the generation of electricity to the hospital and its compound.  This has happened twice since we left. 

As we head toward home under a full moon shining bright in the dark sky outside our plane windows, these precious missionaries and the people of PNG that they love and serve through their work at the hospital will be carried in our hearts in prayer.  This will be our last post on the blog for this trip, but I hope that God has somehow touched you too as you traveled along with us these past five weeks.  We’re grateful beyond words for the many prayers and encouragements that have encompassed and undergirded us on this trip.  God bless you.

Post Script to the final post…  We slept in our own beds in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, safe and sound.  Our luggage was delivered the next day.