The Chapman’s in PNG

Since the phones had been out all day Tuesday in the Mt. Hagen and Kudjip areas it was difficult to get information on the flight. But, the e-mail received from John on Monday evening said that they would be in on the 5:30 PM flight. We left the station at 4:30 PM headed for the airport. We watched the plane unload and NO TEAM!!! Mike checked with the ticket agent. He couldn’t tell if they had even left Brisbane. We headed home disappointed but will try in the morning. We were over half way back to the station when we received a message that the plane was going to land at the airport. We turned around and headed back to the airport. When we arrived everything was locked tight. We headed back to the station. We were 15 minutes on the road when another radio message came insisting that the plane would land. We waited at the agriculture school and watched the air for the plane. At dark we made the decision to go back to the station with a radio message staying that there was not a plane. It is difficult to drive in the dark because of all the people walking on the side of the road. I was glad to arrive back safely.

I don’t know why the team is. Hopefully in Port Morseby. Flexibility is the key.

Mike and the workmen (28) completed the foundation slab last night, Saturday, at 4:30 PM. Andrew was sick, so Mike was power troweling and screeding the cement . Noah, hospital construction supervisor, stopped to check out the pour. As he was looking over the pour with Mike, he said that there were two guys from the hospital project offering to help with the cement pour. Jacob and John were an answer to prayer. Both men know how to work cement. Mike had just been wondering what he was doing to do to get the finish work completed before losing it. Jacob took over the screeding and Mike ran the power trowel. Jacob offered to stay all night but Mike sent him home. Mike power troweled every three hours through out the night. Sunday morning, I went with him to the sight as he finished the final power trowel. We made sure water was on the slab all day so as not to dry to quickly and crack. Jeff and Jessica Meyers helped this afternoon watering the concrete. Thank You!

Received an e-mail from John Brothwell, the team is delayed in Los Angeles and will have to stay overnight. They are to leave on the 11 AM tomorrow. We researched online Quantus Airlines learning that the engineers had a strike May 29-30 in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. This strike caused 17 flight cancellations. We will wait for updates from the Brothwell team.

We had a busy day putting the final touches on the houses.  Judy Bennett is responsible for all the housing on the station for the volunteers.  Gail Dooley, Kathy Radcliffe, Mete, Lena, and Bette are on her team.  They have done an outstanding job.  Lena and I went through the kitchen making sure that she understands all the food preparation and cleaning proceeds.  She will be helping the ladies of the teams during the days.  Lena will also help them learn language and answering questions about the PNG culture.

Today, I am teaching Lena how to operate the washing machine and propane range in the kitchen for the Work and Witness teams. Lena is going to be helping the teams in food preparation, cleaning, language, and culture. We are doing final preparation in the houses. Placing all the groceries and preparing Monday evening meal and Tuesday morning breakfast. will take us most of the day. Lena will gather all the vegetables and fruits when the team chef orders them. She will also gather the chickens needed for that day’s meal. We are finding that the food costs have increased because of the road closure. Stock feed for the chickens has tripled in price causing a chicken to cost 25K. When we first got here, a chicken cost 18K. It will be a busy day.

Last Saturday I baked 8 batches of bread preparing for the first Work and Witness Team arriving June 2nd.  They will have French Bread, rolls, bread loaves, and cinnamon rolls to start their week.  We will be preparing the first evening meal on Monday - vegetable soup, cabbage salad, fresh vegetables and fruit plates, bread sticks, and snicker doodles for dessert.  The first graders made the snicker doodles with Gail Dooley.  Everyone has been a great help getting the housing into shape, gardening done, beds made.  Maintenance has worked hard on the bathrooms, water, painting, and alarm system.  We could not have been ready.  We have a great team here on the station at Kudjip.

Mike has the schedule in place for each day and evening activities.  The team will be hosting one of the missionary families or PNG families at the evening meal.  A mumu is planned for one Sunday while the team is here.  We want the teams to experience the PNG culture while here.  They also have the option to visit a coffee plantation and Bible College.  It will be a busy time for everyone.

Here we come.  The 2nd half of the slab will be poured Saturday, May 31st.  Mike and the workmen worked until dark tonight preparing the pad for the cement pour.  Mike will meet workmen on site at 7 a.m. in the morning.  They will work all day pouring cement again using hand cement mixers and wheel barrows.  We are very excited to have the slab done tomorrow before the Work and Witness team arrives on Monday.  All the building materials for framing, roofing, and siding will be delivered Monday for the Team to start framing on Tuesday.  Talk about God’s timing.  This is exciting.

Mike asked me to prepare an evening meal for Andrew and Jacob, who are staying all night working the slab. They want ed chicken and rice. No big deal, right? As I start to prepare the meal, I have the peanut butter bars in the oven and the rice on the stove top I notice that the flame under the rice is not there. I look in the oven and there is no flame. NO PROPANE. Mike had just said last week, I can’t believe that we are still running on the propane bottles since they felt empty upon our arrival in December. I quickly put plan B into action. I called Cassie and Kristen. May I use your oven for the bars and bread sticks. Here we go. I head out of the house, up the road with pans in hand. When I walk back into the house there is no electricity. Now, I think how nice a fire pit would be for using. But, the electricity did come back on. I quickly put the chicken in the electric skillet. Pam stops by and takes the rice to her house to cook. Cassie calls the baking pan with the bread sticks won’t fit in her oven so she takes it to Pam’s house for baking. Thank you to all the neighbors, who so kindly jumped in and helped prepare the meal. End result - the meal was completed by 6 PM, the men were fed, and everyone had a part in the meal preparation for the work crew. Being flexible does pay off.

I did walk down to maintenance, filled out a work order for propane bottles to be changed. Two maintenance men came to the house to change the bottles but the fitting was not correct. They ended up taking the bottles all back to the shop. Ruben comes at 6:30 PM with a bottle and different fitting. He connects the propane bottle and fixes the fitting. We are in business - propane for the next day. Thank you, Ruben.

Mike and the men got the first half of the slab poured on Wednesday. It was a very long day. The men were great. They worked hard mixing and pouring cement by hand with cement mixers. They used wheel barrows to wheel the cement in place. Andrew and Jacob worked the slab all night. They had to cover the slab at one point because it started raining. Mike is happy with the results. God’s timing is perfect.

We are excited the first Work and Witness Team will be arriving in one week June 2nd - Dr. John Brothwell, family, and team members. They will be here until June 13th. Todd Winters team arrives June 16th.

May has been an extremely busy month in preparation for the Work and Witness Teams coming. Mike and I were able to go to town for grocery shopping last Saturday. We spent four hours in Best Buy. One and half hours at the grocery warehouse. We purchased all the non-perishable items that the team will need until they go grocery shopping on June 4th. Next Saturday we will get all the other groceries that the team has asked for. I am baking bread today. We will prepare their Monday evening meal - main dish salad, vegetable soup, and bread sticks. Tuesday morning breakfast, we will make cinnamon rolls, eggs, and cereal for the team. Lena will be bringing in all the fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. Tuesday, she will bring 9 chickens for the chefs to prepare for the evening meal. It is fun to plan and help get groceries ready for the team

Mike is preparing the slab for the building. They will be pouring cement this coming week. All the cement was delivered this week. Which is a huge answer to prayer. He said that all the lumber and supplies will be delivered Thursday and Friday this coming week for framing, siding, and roofing the building. God has supplied! I have even been driving a truck hauling loads of gravel to the site. The truck is a little one but it is fun. Something different!!!

Please pray that we have good weather this coming week and that the cement pour does well.

The hospital project is going well! They had supplies arrive this week which was the first load since the road opened. Now the pace can be picked up and more of the buildings completed. They do have primer painted on the outside of four of the buildings. The engineering specs have come for the one roof so that can be started when Mike checks them.

Prayer is needed for the sewer system funding. It is a huge need because the hospital can not open without it in place.