Date: 8/1/04
Location: Ukarumpa, East Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
This morning, Jim, Ginny, Kristen, Tyson, and I went to the church where the Lords go (PNG Bible Church?). The service was mostly in Tok Pisin, and Mr. and Mrs. Lord helped lead worship. Then a woman prayed like I haven't heard a national pray before - she was truly an intercessor and cried out to God from her knees, praying for revival and for the nation. The pastor (visiting speaker?) spoke about how we need to be ready, watch, and wait for the return of Jesus. I sensed that these people had been fed and discipled. There was a difference in the teaching and prayer here compared to other village churches I've been in. There was a baby - about five days old - there too in a bilum 
. Of course, it hadn't been named yet, because it was so young and could easily die... This church was close to Ukarumpa, most people had clean, untorn clothes, and many had shoes/sandals.
This evening, our Discovery team presented modules in the evening church service. Everyone's thank you's from the Discovery students out to the community touched me, especially in how much I found myself agreeing as others expressed gratitude towards the Tomlinsons as our leaders. Tyson and I led the "Walkabout" song, and everyone got into it and seemed to enjoy it. We also had a slide show at the end. Ginny said that Vicki said more peole showed up for our service than in past years, and that more people showed up to eat desserts and talk to us afterwards, and that this showed we had really made an impression on the community and been involved with a lot of different people. After the service, I met a lot of different people, including a Houghton alumnus, who graduated about 10 years ago with a Bible major and a linguistics minor! He had Dr. Gould, Dr. Schultz, Dr. Tyson, and Dr. Paige came his softomore year. I also met a girl from England, and we talked about all kinds of things - marriage rates, Christian colleges, horses. I especially enjoyed talking to Ginny and Johanna. I got to talk to Kristen a bunch, too, tonight, and we want to hang out back in New Jersey. There's also a man here from Barnegat, NJ! I want to try to find out if he knows of any good churches . God has a plan and He's in control - we just need to let Him be and follow His gentle guiding. He is AMAZING! I even enjoyed giving my module and leading the song tonight! (Even though we did forget the words to the beginning of the second Tok Pisin verse at first!)
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