Madang Escapade

Sue writes:

What an adventure! We are thankful for some team members who sent us special gifts so we could take a vacation.

The PMV (public motor vehicle) rides had some surprises both ways. On the way to Madang, the police made a false charge against our driver and boskru. The officer required a fine to be paid on the spot. (He said they were improperly dressed.) The riders were so incensed that they told the driver to go directly to the traffic department in Goroka, but the desk clerk there stood up for the officer. There was quite a lot of discussion among the riders about that series of events.

The scuba course we took in Madang was quite grueling. We didn't know how much would be required of us. We would recommend to someone wanting their scuba certification to take a class spread out over several weeks, but we only had a few days. We didn't want to invest our money and fail, so we over-achievers drank our share of salt water to pass.

The pay-offs were getting to see some terrific sea life at 60 feet under the warm water surface, earning our open water diver cards, and not having our lungs explode on the way up. We were relieved about all three!

On the trip back to the Highlands, we enjoyed conversing on the PMV with a young couple from Australia. They were vacationing in the country, and they were keen to talk about the observations they had made about life here. That was one surprise.

The other one was that the brakes on the PMV were faulty. The driver stopped at one point to change the brake shoes himself. After that the brakes were too tight, and we had to go quite slowly. We were thankful to arrive safely in Goroka and stop for the night.

The next day we boarded another vehicle. That one was a new Coaster (30-seater with leg room) in good repair, and we arrived back at CLTC without any further surprises.

We appreciate the Lord's protection and our team's prayers and generosity!