Sunday in Ipaiyu

Today, (Sunday) Bro. Matt, Pastor James, Bro. Jon and I loaded up in the Toyota to go to Ipaiyu. It was just one of those mornings for Bro. Jon! He wanted to be gone by 7 AM which we were close to doing, but when we got about 10 minutes from home, the truck completely stopped! We lost all power to the engine and had to get underneath to try and figure out the problem. Turns out it was a fuel filter that had clogged. He did his best to get the filter unclogged and we went back to the house to grab another filter for the truck. At this point Mrs. Lena got out because she knew we were late to services and didn't want to hold us up on the trail. After the filter was successfully replaced, we loaded back up to head out against the second time. In Bro. Jon's hurry to leave, he didn't pay attention the the empty fuel tanks off to the left and HAMMERED them with the side of the truck. After we inspected the damage and hopped back into the back of the truck, we re-re-restarted to leave. Now we are a hour behind and I get told we are gonna make it up on the hike . . . . I mean run . . . on the trail. So we started back to the airstrip (the last part of the road the truck can drive on). Bro. Matt and I noticed the back tire looked very flat. Bro. Jon said they were fine and don't worry about it and he was not gonna stop for anything else! It turned out he was right, but the tires were low on air!

When we got to Kanabea, we got out of the truck and started the 45 minute hike into the bush. It wasn't bad and I got some really cool pictures and videos from it! In two spots there is a stream that runs down the mountain and across the trail. We had to jump from boulder to boulder to get across and on the return trip Bro. Jon videoed me crossing! It looks scary but it wasn't too bad. Maybe when we get home I can load that video on here!

Services at Ipaiyu where awesome! They were planning on having a baptism today so they had several visitors who had come for the services due to that. After the services, Pastor James evidently asked for a show of hands for anyone who want to get saved. When it was all said and done, 4 people got saved!!! It really was a great day. Then we all went over to the "bathing hole" and 17 people got baptized. Pastor James did the dunking and he had some trouble with about three or four of them. One guy didn't go under fully and when he came up Pastor said it wasn't right! He preceded to grab some dirt and just "sprinkle" him with it and then explain that because Christ was buried and rose again he had to go all the way under to show the true picture of His death. The man was ok with it and got a second submerging. During the whole baptism, Pastor presented the Gospel to the villagers who gathered around as well as the folks up on the road who stopped to watch. Prior to returning home, I met a lady whom Faith spent the night with there in Ipaiyu. I also got my first "PNG food" here. Kau ka was actually a lot better than I was expecting. Maybe I am just saying that because tomorrow I am going with Jason to Komako! I am looking forward to it and hope to really get to be a blessing as well as receive one.

Just as a update on yesterday, we had the day off!!! It was the first Saturday I can remember in a long time I didn't have to split wood or mow grass. We were told that because Sunday is normally a long days work, the resting day comes on Saturday. I told Matt he was a Seventh-day Adventist! He just laughed. To start the day, I sent out several emails to friends just touching base and saying hey. We are having a wonderful time here, but we do miss our friends and constantly think about y'all. We also got to go swimming yesterday (I know it is a little cold for that back in the states!).  The girls took us to their swimming hole and man was it cold! Ariel and Hannah were used to the miserable water but I never got used to it! After the arctic plunge, we all went back to the house for the treat of the week - a movie! Hannah "demanded" we watch a Star Wars since we haven't ever sent it before. As Ariel was cleaning the disc, she got out a Star Wars book and was schooling Connor on who was who in the movies. It really was quite comical. After the show, we walked over to "Papa John" Allen's place and had (no, not pizza) spaghetti. It was REALLY good. After that, we hit the hay for today's sake. 

Back on Friday we picked up Connor and Jason, I finally got to fly some, and we had Hannah's birthday party! The whole TTMK team came over to the Allen's place for supper and it was a really cool evening. After tacos (Hannah's favorite food - I love this kid!!!) we held flashlights and Hannah opened her presents. It was neat to watch all the team together. They truly are a family God has placed together. 

Those are the major events of the previous few days. The minor ones would be I smashed my thumb, cut my hand, cut it again, cut it in the first place again, Connor got nicknamed "Goober" and I got nicknamed "Goose" (they have a dog named Maverick if you can make the connection). Our first week in PNG is almost coming to a close, but we are still excited about the things to come.

-Collin