Before I forget, I should post about the trip. I do not have many pictures from it because it is now term break and all my girls are scattered all over PNG to be with their families for the break. We are going to have a thumb drive party when they get back…..I will update pictures then! These pictures are from my group’s photo scavenger hunt. Some of the pictures I chose because I am in them….others were chosen to show you the beauty of the surrounding country!
I am not going to lie…..I was really happy to get the chance to go back to Jais Aben resort. We stayed at this resort when we first arrived in PNG back in January 2010. So far, I can think of no nicer place than the south Pacific coastline. There were moments (drinking coffee by the water, watching the sunrise, sailing on a catamaran) where I actually forgot that I was a missionary! You might think that crazy….but there were even times I forgot about America. When you are surrounded by an unpolluted view of God’s creation, all other things just fade away. I had many of these moments….
Encounter….where should I begin?
Thursday night (September 16), we all met for an Encounter kick off here on center. The band was loud and the lyrics of the songs intense. You could feel the excitement in the room. Benji and Esther, the youth leader and his wife, went over a few rules and expectations for the kids…..this year’s retreat would be a little different since we were going to a resort. Usually, Encounter is held in Goroka, not at the beach but tucked away in a little camp in the mountains. For many reasons, Goroka was not an option this year. Since we were going to a resort this year, the dress code was a little more lax. Instead of having the girls wear skirts the entire time, they were able to couple modesty with comfort. This meant that we could all pull out our long shorts and tank tops. However, even at a resort, ladies HAVE to wear shorts over their bathing suits. Here in PNG, you just do not show EUT (Excessive Upper Thighs….or inner….it is just culturally inappropriate).
Benji said, “See you all at 6am tomorrow morning!”……Ugh! I actually had a friend call me in the morning to make sure I was awake. Anyone remember the test that I slept through in college? I was a bit paranoid I would sleep through the alarm clock!
Around 6:45am, all the vehicles were packed and we started out the gate in a caravan of about 10 vehicles (give or take). I was NOT looking forward to the 6 hour drive. Not only are the roads LESS than ideal driving conditions, but I was in a van of all boys….9th grade boys….and I had forgotten to bring toilet paper…..and I was NOT going to go out into the PNG bush by myself….I digress….
God answered many a prayer…..and I did not get a migraine the entire time I was at Encounter. I was positive the long ride would have thrown out my neck or something, but I was wrong! Praise God!
When we arrived, we were all anxious to get to our rooms. I was a cabin leader for 8 girls. There are 15 girls in the 11th grade class, so the other cabin next door contained the rest. It was actually pretty easy for the girls to run back and forth between the cabins.
After enjoying a bit of free time, we all met for sponsor initiation….that would be me. Since this was my first year as a sponsor, I would have to go through whatever the kids had thought up. I thought I was going to throw up! =0) What made me so nervous?? I was going to be initiated with Kelly (my college friend). Some of you know Kelly…..others of you do not…..Kelly is the type of person that can “punch people with her words”. She is just someone with a lot of energy and someone who is just really funny and fun to be around. I was nervous that since she was a drama major in college, the kids were really going to make her pay because they figured she could handle it…..and then there was me….having to join in with whatever they had planned for her.
We actually got off easy! =0) Whereas other sponsors had to sing, we had to……DANCE! I have been playing Just Dance for Wii, so I had a few moves up my sleeve. It was actually supposed to be a dance off……so both Kelly and I gave it all we had…..did I mention that we were dressed in ridiculous costumes? Yeah…about that….pictures and possibly video to come!
The speaker was from Australia. He was great! I felt a little bad for him because there were so many distractions for the kids. It was almost as if the kids thought, “I can swim and play and primp and relax….and God will show up for a revival the last night.” I noticed that the ones who tried really hard to not let the waves and sun distract them, did get a lot out of the speaker and his messages. Again, not all the kids thought this way, but it seemed to be a general theme that I noticed. But can you blame them? I can’t!
And then the pranks….the girls in my cabin had a few up their sleeve. From the beginning, I made it clear that I did not want them sneaking out of the room without me. I decided to join in on the pranks because I did not want them out alone without an adult. Our first prank involved a statue of a mermaid. The mermaid was completely naked on top…..the girls had purchased some bras from the 2nd hand shop before, so we took the opportunity to cover the statue up with a beautiful purple and black bra. The other prank we did included sneaking into the 11th grade guys cabin. We were able to convince housekeeping to give us their key (did I mention we were the only guests at the resort? We had the whole place). When we went in, the girls used Seran wrap, bras, shaving cream and more to tell the boys just how special they are…..and I convinced them to steal a mattress for me! I was sleeping on an inch thick mattress on the floor….so I figured that the guys’ mattress would be better than that.
Later during the retreat, I agreed to be in a rap with Kelly….while we were asking the senior guys for baggy clothing, I noticed that they were in the Ambassador suite (i.e. they had amazing mattresses). We came up with a plan to steal their mattress, too….but in the end the plan back-fired. Another group of girls planned to prank the senior guys at exactly the same time…..AND, I asked for the wrong room key!! Thinking it was the senior guys cabin, we woke up the speaker’s family! Ooops….
But, instead of giving you more of a play by play, let me just end this post with a summary of my experience:
I only called Caleb once the entire five days. I felt like this was my chance to spend some quality time with the girls from my Bible Study. I felt like I was in a conversation with someone the entire time I was there. I am not complaining, but it was exhausting. These girls have so much energy, so much life. I feel blessed to be a part of their lives. They opened up with me….shared their struggles….begged for advice…..and taught me more about myself in the process. These kids are really great! There is something about being a missionary kid that just makes you a bit more mature. They have to say “good-bye” to friends and family all the time. They do not have what all the other kids in America have: cars, an elaborate prom, summer vacations, quality teams to play against in sports. But, what they lack, God has given them so much more in return. My heart goes out to them and all the very different challenges that they face. The number one challenge that I see is that they do not have a right to any privacy. Their lives are on display for all to see. They are constantly watched and the expectations are huge! This small community means no privacy for them.
Anyway….I feel like I am rambling…..I am going to end the post here….and maybe I will come back to more of my thoughts from my time there….
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