Yesterday’s trip out to Norikori was phenomenal. Jenny was on call, but one of our coworkers was
willing to take her call while we were gone so she could join us.
Our team consisted of my friend Steve, his wife Debbie, Amelie, Elisa,
Jenny, and myself. We were able to
procure a portable generator and with a borrowed truck loaded
with equipment, we were off to Norikori! Photo courtesy of Elisa..
We got stuck in the mud only once on the trail to Norikori, but
with a little help from the truck's 4-wheel-drive and a few men who showed up out of nowhere, we were
unstuck and arrived at our destination minutes later.
We unloaded our equipment into their haus lotu (church)
and began setting up.
After the local
church worker prayed over our meeting, we started The Jesus Film. Initially we counted about 75 people, but
they continued pouring in as the portable generator outside generated noise as
well as 220V power and the noise drew people walking by on the trail over to
the church to see what was going on.
Twice we had to stop the movie as people here
behave similarly to those in the States, they all sat in the back. Eventually there was no room for more to come
into the church so we'd have everyone move up front making room for more to
enter, then resume the film. By
the time we were finished, we had counted over 140 people! Praise God for answering your/our prayers.
There was a group of people that sat outside on the grass watching
the film through the doorway and didn’t seem to want to come in, but when the
film got to the crucifixion and the raising up of Christ, they all crowded
around the doorway for a better look.
The girls got hungry during the film, and as we fed them, a little boy came to us, so we shared our bread with him.
After the film ended, I made my way to the front of the
church and gave a (brief) sermon in Tok Pisin. All during the movie I prayed over and over
for God to give me the right words to say that the people needed to hear, and to
keep the “me” out of the talk. His
instructions were brief, simply tell them the message and that’s exactly what I
did. I explained that what they had just
seen was not just a movie… it was true.
All of it was true.
I further
explained that when Jesus ascended to heaven, He went there to prepare houses
for us to live in when we get there. I
expounded that we are all born, we live, then we die. From the youngest to the oldest we will all
die. During our lifetime we have to make
a choice whether to believe in God and choose to follow His son Jesus, or make
a choice not to believe/follow Him.
Those who choose to follow God will go from here to heaven where we
inherit a place built by Jesus which we get to enjoy forever. Then, I showed them what life would be like
for those who choose not to believe. I
pulled out a spray can of a Prep spray (used to degrease parts prior to painting)
and using a lighter, I ignited the spray spewing a rather large cloud of fire
which I continued for about 4 seconds to get the point across. I told them that those who don’t make it to
heaven will be “cooked” by this fire forever without any hope of relief. I suppose in the states you can’t do this
without breaking multiple fire codes!
Tok Pisin is a rather simple language and there are many
words in English that simply don’t exist in Tok Pisin. I asked as best I could who among them was going
to choose to believe in God and asked them to raise their hand. Virtually every hand in the room went up,
starting with my wonderfully supportive wife.
After this, I told them that God loves them so much that He
sends people here to learn from them and serve them. I explained that in the States, as a doctor,
I had accumulated no small amount of wealth.
I thought this would make me happy, but it did not. When God asked me to get rid of the wealth
and follow Him here to PNG to serve them, THEN I found true happiness. They wanted to see what kind of wealth I had
left behind, so I showed them the photos of our “cargo”. Photos of the 1969 Dodge Charger, the 1966
Mustang convertible, the 42’ diesel Fleetwood RV, the Yamaha 23' jet boat, the Honda Valkyrie
motorcycle, the Polaris four-wheeler, the Dodge Viper truck, my ex-baby the
2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8, and finally our home in Bryson City. I pray that these images had the effect of
showing them God’s and our love for them and didn’t come across as proud.
After finishing our presentation, I felt in my heart what I
suspect Pastors in the states feel when they finish, a questioning whether or
not it made a difference. God quickly
told me that this questioning was pointless.
I had done what was asked of me, and the Hold Spirit was going to do
what He had prepared to do.
We answered a few questions, then packed up our gear and
walked down to the truck. To our
surprise we found one of the rear tires flat.
This was unexpected and somewhat alarming as we were already behind
schedule to get back to Ukarumpa before the sun was too low in the sky. The truck had a jack, but no tool to work
it. As men scrambled to find a way to
make it work, it began to rain despite an abundance of blue sky (with clouds) and
sunshine. Then God blessed us with the most appropriate and beautiful rainbow
that I’d seen since arriving here.
It
was as if He was telling us that He’s got this, “Remember My promises!” Sure enough, we quickly had the new tire on,
and the drive back to Ukarumpa was uneventful with the exception of the
passenger seat-back breaking during the trip down the bumpy trail. (Sorry Dr. Jeff for breaking your truck!!)
Today will be spent washing our borrowed truck, repairing
the tire, and (God-willing) getting the seat welded so it won’t break again.
Thank you everyone for your many prayers which helped make this
trip such a success. I believe only when
we get to heaven will we fully realize the difference we make in the lives of those we
touch. Remember that you may be the only
“Christ” that people you meet may ever know, so treat each encounter as if a
soul depends on it!
Next weekend, I'll try to collect feedback and see if the film made a lasting impression. We were told when we left we can come back anytime... so I think we will!
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