Back in May, I shared a little about my prayer request for
what I am to do the next few years. I just
couldn't come to peace with leaving and not returning after December. I prayed about what this would mean for me,
how it would work out, and if staying was really even necessary here, or what
God wanted. The answers have come and I
am now planning to stay in Papua New Guinea through March of 2016. I am not planning to come home until then. That date was chosen because I would like to
see the class of students I started teaching last year graduate and that is
when they will! These are the students I
am currently teaching an Obstetric Emergencies and Newborn Complications class. These are the students that are on my heart
all the time. I love all the students
here, all three classes, but the current second year students are the ones I have
taught the most, have seen the most, and who have put up with me the most!
I was thinking the other day about what I am thankful for
lately and mostly it was people who came to mind. I want to share some of them with you
all.
First, there is Angela, one of the women who works in the
College printing room. She knows I am
really trying to working on my Tok Pisin.
She loves to make me laugh by starting out a conversation with me in Tok
Pisin and then switching to her Tok Ples halfway through our conversation and
seeing me get all confused! As soon as I
realize she switched languages, I roll my eyes and she just laughs more and
more, until we are both laughing so hard others come to stare at us! I got her the other day by asking another of
the tutors a Waghi phrase (her tok ples) and saying it to her before she had a
chance to talk to me!
Next, there is Sister Grace, one of the senior tutors at the
college. She asks how my lesson plans
are going and is always there if I need some input on how things work in
PNG. She also has a great laugh, and
thinks I'm extremely humorous, (even though I doubt most others do!) She and her daughter love to read and Grace
has been so thankful for all the books given to her when the missionaries
recently cleaned out and downsized the station Mission library. We chat about books, obstetrics, our
families, and our love for the students and love for Christ. She shares from her garden with me, and I
made a cake for her son's birthday. You
have never seen anyone happier over a simple chocolate sheet cake with "Happy
7th Birthday Moses" written on it!
There is Emily, and Lin, Ann
Marie, Queensley, and Sylvia, my neighbor girls that love to do anything with
me from weeding my garden, to taking down laundry to baking cookies. They also like yelling "Hi, Sister
Staci" as often as they can as I try to get their correct name out.
There is Moris, the woman
who has come over a few times a month for the past few months to help me clean
and do yard work. Her cheerful spirit
while doing these simple tasks puts me to shame and makes me smile at the same
time. She too is helping me learn Tok
Pisin, and loves to find a new word or two to teach me each time I see
her. At K10 ($4) for 4 hours of work (the
going rate around here), I truly get the best part of the deal just by getting
to know her.
I could go on and on; about
my national friends, about the missionaries here as well, about patients I met
on the ward that I think about and pray for but I'll end with sharing the names
of those 38 students who now make up the second year class and are continually
in my prayers. –There is Andrew, Bruce,
Chris, Danny and Dimas. Everlyn,
Elizabeth, Israel and Louis. Jacob, John
G and John M, Joshua, Jonah, Joy, Josephine, Jennifer and Jeminah. Mata, Max,
Mec, Moses, Madelyn, Mero and Michael. Nathan,
Philemon, Robina, and Rebecca. Samson, Shedrick,
and Sera. Tracy, Timothy, Tom, Thomas, Terry and Wilfred. And there are a few that are no longer in the
class that are also still in my prayers.
(And yes, I did that without looking them up, it helps that I attempt to
grade their papers in alphabetical order to make it easier to record grades.)
These are many of the reasons
I've had to be thankful lately and there are so many more, but I'll leave that
for another day. These are the some of
the people who are my "People of Papua New Guinea."
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