The Gumine Trip

   On the weekend of May 26 - 28, 2006, we traveled to Gumine (pronounced Goo-min-ie) for a women's mini-retreat. Sometimes they say "mini-woman's retreat, " but not all the woman are "mini," and the bung (gathering) was well attended also. Crystal and I were both scheduled to speak to these women, and we made a couple of the presentations together.

   Our group from Goroka traveled in two vehicles. In an airplane it would be only 30 nautical miles from Goroka - about a 20 minute flight, but there are no longer landing strips in this area. The government's official policy is "if they now have a road, they no longer need a landing strip." The problem is, they are no longer maintaining the roads either. It took us about 6.5 hours to get there, but we did stop for several pictures and videos.

The Goroka group and a couple local women along the road.

   The 45 km (28 miles or 24 nautical miles) from Kundiawa took about 3.5 hours for an average speed of 13 kph, or 8 mph. In a straight line the distance is only about 11.5 miles.

   The scenery is among the most beautiful I have ever seen, but the roads and bridges are deplorable. When the wheels fell between the bars of one of the bridges, Rachel who was riding in the back of an open "ute" (pickup) thought she was crashing into the rocky river below.

   We had very good services. The people were very open and attentive to the teaching of God's Word, and the fellowship was such a blessing! The people are hungry to hear more about Biblical concept of marriage, family life, raising children, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

   Many could understand English, but Crystal and I did most of our presentations in a mixture of Pidgin and English. Many of the older people know neither of these languages, so some of the sessions were "turned" into "tok ples" (talk of the place - local language). Some of our lessons will be re-taught by the women in their local languages. Some of the kids I talked to know 5 languages!

Divided Highway - Papua New Guinea style.

Clouds and mountains along the Gumine Road

"A city that is set on a hill..." can not be very big.   No that's not Gumine.

   Please pray for us, and the people we minister to in Papua New Guinea. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

(Zechariah 4: 6)