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Handasydes & Helicopters

"Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous deeds among all peoples." Psalm 96:3

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The SHORT Version 
  • We are thankful for a good introduction to living and working in Ukarumpa, PNG. We’re now half way through our orientation course, learning language and culture from our Melanesian hosts. The days are long, and our brains are fuzzy, but we are encouraged by the progress made.
  • Prior to orientation beginning, Robert had the chance to ride along on a few helicopter flights: a medevac and transporting some translation advisors home from their village.
  • Loralie has also been able to help out a few patients in the clinic, despite not being officially set up yet.
  • The kids have settled in well to day care whilst we are in full-time class. They love their national teachers who are a great blessing to us.
Prayer & Praise
  • Please continue to pray that we can establish and build up good relationships with those we serve alongside. 
  • Praise God that the kids have settled in well. However, there are unique challenges in parenting that come alongside us being in “school” all day, and we would appreciate prayer for wisdom in caring for Emily and Michael.
  • Pray for patience and endurance with our language learning. 
  • We will be in a village in the Markham valley for three weeks from the 10th March. This will be an intense time of learning and growing and we ask for prayers for good relationships within the village, safety, health, and sleep during this time. The Markham is closer to sea level so it will also be very hot, please pray we can adjust to the heat. 
  • Praise God that Loralie’s optometry equipment (and the rest of our shipment) made it through customs to Ukarumpa. Pray that this new role of providing eye care in Ukarumpa will be a blessing to the community and the ongoing work here.
  • Please pray for peace in a community near Ukarumpa where there has been internal conflict recently.
  • Pray for the ongoing work of Bible translation. Pray that those communities who have received God's Word in their own language will be using it effectively. 
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Eph 6:18
Above: A mountaintop village, and villagers awaiting the medevac. A view over the Finisterre mountain range.
Below: A trip into our closest town, Kainantu, reveals the farthest reaches of K-Mart! Robert learning from Johannes how to light a cooking fire.
The LONG Version 
Early one Sunday morning we packed into a vehicle, drove to park at one end of the centre, waded across a cold river and walked a beautiful track through the Ba'e village to get to church. It was a great experience to worship outside of Ukarumpa but within God's family, praising God together. We may not have known the words to the songs, but could hear the heart of worship.

The message was a reminder to be faithful to what God has called us to, and a reminder that we are always fighting a spiritual battle. Spiritual warfare has been an ongoing theme of our devotions this last year. The spiritual world is a vivid reality to Papua New Guineans.

One lesson that has stood out to us concerns the armour of God in Ephesians 6, specifically the shield of faith. Eph 6:16 says "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."  The shield used by the Romans in New Testament times was large enough to hide under, roughly two feet wide by four feet high. When soldiers were close enough, shields raised overhead could clip together providing a roof through which the enemy's arrows could not pierce (the so-called turtle formation). If the shields were wooden they could also dip them in water, so that flaming arrows would not just be deflected but also put out.

These shields were large enough to be a cover for a community. The spiritual battle is not one we fight alone, and we all need to be "taking up" our shields of faith together, standing together, united, with the object of that faith being Jesus Christ. 

We believe that you are also integral shield bearers of faith as you cover us with your prayers. Thank you for being part of this turtle formation!
Below:  Piled into the car on the way to church. Emily being fierce. A view into the church we visited. 

Many Lessons!

Over the last three months we have learnt the art of speaking like a toddler in Tok Pisin (we're improving ever so slowly); meeting and greeting everyone in the street; filtering our water to make it suitable for drinking; preparing, cooking and enjoying various new types of greens and potatoes; using a bush knife to cut wood; lighting fires with the (damp) wood and cooking over it; catching PMVs (Public Motor Vehicles) to town; and avoiding stepping in betelnut juice.
A World Apart

Time itself is considered very differently in PNG compared to a Western view. Although these differences are perhaps becoming less as Papua New Guinean culture is modernising and changing, the following analogy still describes the contrast well:  
"...a Westerner sits in a truck gripping the steering wheel. He is tense, staring straight ahead, trying to anticipate the future. Melanesians, however, are on the back of the truck; they are relaxed and talking together. They look back to where they have come from. The mountains in the distance are clear and unmovable. The present flashes past them and only as it moves a little into the distance does it become clear. The future is unknown and uncontrollable. Little attempt is made to guess what may be around the next corner or five kilometres down the road." (Barthe, Neville, 2005. Death, Witchcraft, the Spirit World. Point 29).  


Perhaps because of this view of time, looking mainly back rather than forward, Melanesians are said to strive and search for "Life" - not life in the future, but life in the here and now, that can be celebrated. There is a term for this in Tok Pisin: gutpela sindaun, which literally translates to "good sitting". This brings across the idea of peace and plenty - people having space and time to enjoy each other and their material welfare. It is not just an individualistic goal, but rather something that must be for all members of the clan or community. Interestingly, the book of Proverbs is called Gutpela Sindaun in the Tok Pisin Bible.

It is an important exercise to consider what aspects of the Gospel would be most meaningful from this frame of reference! Pray that the workers in Papua New Guinea can clearly communicate the message of the Gospel.

John 10:9-10 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Above: For Australia Day we shared a BBQ with all the other Aussies on centre, and a few extras given honorary Aussie status! There are 18 nationalities represented in Ukarumpa at the moment.
Want more photos? Click to watch a short video of our first three months in PNG.

To Contact Us:
Email: robert-loralie_handasyde@wycliffe.org.au
Our postal address is: PO Box 1 (142), Ukarumpa, Eastern Highlands Province 444, Papua New Guinea.

If you’d like to know anything about our journey, send us an email! 
We love to hear stories of your lives too, and are encouraged, challenged and changed by hearing them. Please never underestimate how much we value you all!

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