Thursday
We set out early this morning for Tauruba Village. Tauruba is Tau and Nau’s village and it is about a one and a half hour drive east of Port Moresby just off the coastline. The team seemed up for a ride on the open back truck which made for an enjoyable trip, and even though it rained in some parts it didn’t deter from the fun. As we got to the village Gilkin had to navigate the truck up a steep hill for almost half a mile to get to the church. This just added to the excitement as he parked it atop the hill. The view was of course breathtaking as we unloaded and carted our gear to the church. We performed to a packed crowd or at least from the time we started the congregation grew bigger and bigger as we went along. We were an instant hit and after the performance we were invited to the Pastor’s house for some refreshments. We were treated to some traditional prophet songs while eating which was an awesome cultural experience. Our return home was a little quicker than getting there as we had to get to the airlines to purchase our tickets to Lae.
Tonight we had a visiting YWAM team from Brisbane over for dinner. The team made the most of this visit by doing some dances for them but for the most part it they were just glad to share stories of how the outreach was going. We have an early start tomorrow and everyone is in packing and cleaning mode once again. There is much anticipation for our trip to Lae and for the Tabor/ Ila clan this is going to be huge as they’re going home to Lae.
Friday
A 3:30am start got underway and last minute cleaning and loading bags set us into motion for the day. After our farewells to the YWAM Moresby staff and the church staff we were finally on our way to Lae. Most of us saw the back of our eyelids on the 45 minute plane ride. We arrived at Nadzab airport in good time and were met by Winterford, the YWAM Lae Base leader responsible for our itinerary in Lae. Winterford is a long time friend of the Ila’s and Tabor’s. Nadzab is about 45 minutes from Lae. Little did we know that there was a huge traditional welcome planned? So when we arrived in Lae, Winterford had the truck driver with our luggage and the bus driver with the team drive around sightseeing for about 10 minutes. After driving around we arrived at the CRC Church and it was certainly a huge surprise and blessing to see the welcome we received. Family and friends had taken the morning off work to welcome us. Each member as they stepped off the bus was greeted with a huge smile, a hug and a lei. We sat down to feast as the live music played. That evening we performed at Cassowary United Church for the youth group and headed back to CRC for showers and bed.
IT IS SO GOOD TO BE HOME!!!
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