Is hospitality lost?

I started thinking about this as I was driven home tonight. Is hospitality lost? I believe it is in some communities and areas in the world. Why is that? I know I always tend to throw in the word "busy" or "tired" when answering questions like these...but when I look closely I realize it is more so that I am self centered or lazy.

When I was a child we would travel all over America seeing people (usually friends and supporters of my missionary parents) and we would be invited to stay with people, pray for us, taken out to eat, some people would even buy us gifts. This hospitality, at least through the eyes of a child, was real and warm. I found that we would speak in churches and meet people we had never met before and God would prompt them to bless us. I remember bouncing from church to church speaking, ministering, and encouraging people and yet we were more often than not, greeted kindly.

Is this true today? Do churches open their doors to people they have never met? Do families invite a newcomer to eat with them, to play games, or to fellowship with them?

I was invited over for dinner tonight. One of my friends is a teacher at the school here in PNG and her son is in my class. We had a lovely meal and even played a game afterwards. On the way home I began to think of this question, "Is hospitality lost?". I am not quite convinced. The blessing and warmth a family brings to a single ladies heart is unexplainable. I have felt this warmth so many times since I have arrived in PNG and I pray that it will spread. We are a close knit community here and can be pretty certain that inviting a newcomer into your house is not a threat. But I pray this hospitality, that we are called to give to one another, will not show itself solely in times of safety and comfort but also in times when we see a need.

This family, through their hospitality, has challenged me to be more hospitable. How hard is it to have someone over, to bless them, and spend time getting to know some one new. Think of all they can teach you.

My conclusion: I don't think it is lost I just think we have neglected it for far too long.

The Downpour

A few weeks ago I was sitting in the computer lab working on some lesson plans. The computer lab overlooks the basketball court that was recently covered (thank you WA short term trips) which is very convenient for HOT days and RAINY days. In about 30 minutes I had a PE class in which I was teaching soccer. As I sat there I felt the air change (seeing as we do not have air conditioning) and knew, rain was coming. Sure enough I was right...but OH did it come!

Do you remember the children's song, "the rains came down and the floods came up", well that is what began to happen however the floods came down as well. Living in an area where the roads are made of dirt and rock and where the majority of the roads are on small hills, the floods come down. As hard as construction works to repair and maintain our roads...downpours are determined to keep them busy.

I kept typing away as the rain continued at times so hard I could barely hear the other teachers talking. After about 15 minutes I took a peek out the window again to see how the other PE teacher was doing in her Basketball lesson. She had moved her 4th grade students closer to the center of the court as the water from the parking lot began to make it's way down to the drain, and once that was overflowing, take over the court.

I sat, along with other teachers, and watched as the water grew closer and closer to the determined teacher and the distracted children. After amusing at the sight for a few minutes I realized I had no alternative plan for my 5th grade class!

About 10 minutes later the 4th graders slid through the teacher lounge saying things like, "That was the BEST PE class ever!" and "Can't we just go mud sliding for PE class?". The bell rang and I rushed off to recess duty which ended up being a movie for all the students who could make it there (the rest had recess in thier classrooms due to the water logged pathways).

What a day! "Rainy Day" certainly has a new meaning here in Ukarumpa. All I have to say is, if you grew up in Lomalinda, you know how much restraint I had to have NOT to make mud sliding a lesson in PE that day!

New Kodiak

Our Kodiak! This is #3 in our fleet. We were happy to welcome it. This airplane will help many people do their work in a quicker and more efficient way. When we heard it was arriving we were invited to come to aviation and join in prayer around it. Who would miss that?! I say, never underestimate the power of prayer.

This Kodiak even has a cargo pod. I was told that this pod should help distribute the weight of the aircraft and also allow for more seating. As I look at this airplane I think of the many families who go in and out of the village each year. If these airplanes were not available it might take days or weeks for translators to get to their village allocation using valuable time that could better be spent on their language work.

Please thank God with us for the newest arrival to the fleet!
Please also pray for safe travels for all three.

"The Coolest Car in Ukarumpa"

If you were to describe your car, what would you say? Is it clean, fast, shiny...does it get great gas mileage, or have spacious seating? Well we in Ukarumpa rate our cars in....well unique ways.

Living in a country that has few paved roads (which are frequently sprinkled with car-eating pot holes) we take pride in our transportation based on their rate of "survival" and "battle-scars".

My roommate was in need of an interesting blog post so she create a contest entitled "The Coolest Car in Ukarumpa". She explained to the center that they could send her a picture of their car and a short description of why they think their car is the coolest. The community, adults and children, were given a chance to vote and the winner was awarded 5 free movies from R&R rentals.

This contest created many conversations and competitiveness as there are limited forms of entertainment on center.

In order to see the contestants and the results please visit Joy's blog.
http://joyellen.wordpress.com