Today was a day of advanced education for me.
I woke up early 5:45 to get ready in prayer for the day that Carina had set out for us. She had organized a special night for the 18 wives and women of the Bible College who have been studying here on the grounds of the Church where Paul and Carina live. They had asked the men to take care of the children so the ladies could have a night of blessing.
Carina asked me to share on being a woman in ministry and a Pastors wife so I wanted to get up early to hear from God regarding this. I then began to help Carina prepare for the night; she wanted to make all the food to be able to bless these families. She had watched them have nothing to eat so this was to be a special night for them. Carina made a lemon cake, cinnamon buns and sandwiches. We went to the outdoor market to buy fruit and then rushed home to cut it all up.
Paul and Carina had also bought material and paid a lady in the Church to make ‘meri blouses’ for all the ladies and I ironed all of them so they would look perfect for them. As I pressed them, I prayed for the ladies and the places these blouses would be worn as they ministered. I realized that some of these people were so poor they had never had a brand new piece of clothing so what an honor this was to give them this gift. Soon they would be returning to their Churches in the Bush and they would have this one blouse as a token of how much God loved them.
We finished all the preparations and Carina went down to check on the classroom. We thought we might need to go and set it up next, she found that the woman were so excited about the night they had set up the room and put tablecloths on all the tables.
Then at 6:45 we began to hear the sounds of women worshipping we found out that they had come early to just worship the Lord as they waited for the night. There they were all of them sitting in the lunchroom just waiting on the Lord in worship until we were ready for the evening to start.
Carina opened the night in prayer and invited them to eat, they graciously filled their plates and Carina encouraged them that there was enough for them to eat and to take it to their families. I went around and refilled their cups with juice; it was such an honor to serve these women who would normally never be served. A lady named Benita interpreted for us, she had been Paul’s sister’s childhood friend and here she was now serving the Lord in Madang along Paul’s wife, she was wonderful.
Carina and I shared on being in the ministry and being a Pastor’s wife. She shared a great scripture out of John 12 and encouraged the women to follow Jesus and to stay close to Him. Then we called each of them forward to anoint and pray for them. God began to move mightily and the women who were waiting to be prayed for began to pray and weep before the Lord. It was a powerful time of ministry and I loved ministering alongside of Carina and Benita and was so thankful for this opportunity with my daughter.
Then we brought out the gifts we had prepared for them, the Meri Blouses and the bracelets I had brought from LA. In the gracious way that the people of PNG are, they received them in silent grace and then we began to look around and see the woman weeping over the gifts. It was a moment I will treasure in my heart forever.
I found myself so humbled to be able to serve these precious servants. Women who faced uncertainty and severe difficulties everyday, who had lost children and family because of the severity of their lives. Woman who had paid a great cost to be training at the Bible College, many of them had lost mothers and fathers during the year but because of the expense and difficulty of travel could not go back to their village. Yet, they stayed to prepare for the service of the Lord, paying a price that most of us will never have to pay for obedience and their humility and gratitude humbled me to the core.
The people of PNG have changed my life!
Carina and Benita speaking, the group after the gifts, and then the gift they gave me
