October DTS 2009Kerema Outreach, Papua New Guinea

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of our team getting to go and serve on this outreach. The opportunity to experiences a culture so remote and unique has radically impacted each of our lives. Also it is our belief that God really moved through our time in PNG. Through the simplicity of prayer and with an attitude of obedience and a willingness to step out in faith we have personally all grown and seen God provide in mighty ways.

These photos and stories are testimony of God’s goodness and grace as we eagerly strive to follow him.

Kerema Outreach Team Oct 2009

Buddy Baldock - New Zealand Stephanie Anderson - CanadaJJames Sandquest - UK Megan Schulz - CanadaBriana Conklin - USA Rebekah Cage - USALuke Waterhouse - New Zealand Elizabeth Grajewski - USAChelsea Oloffs - Canada Viivi Rahkonen - FinlandJessica Feld - Germany

Papua New Guinea

Rose, Meii Village, Papua New GuineaChelsea Oloffs

To know God and make Him known!! Not only is this Discipleship Training School a time for each of us to develop in our own lives, but we are also passionate about making a difference in this world. This includes 2 short term outreaches of 3 weeks and 5 weeks reaching out in practical ways to individuals and communities in Australia and Papua New Guinea by helping them to discover identity, hope, and purpose. As a team we will also be involved in preparing the way for the YWAM Australia and PNG Ship Tour starting in February 2010. Having just finished 3 weeks in PNG here are some of the things we aimed to accomplish.

The needs in PNG are vast, from the issues related to the poor and needy, to a lack of adequate healthcare, therefore we are wanting to join with Papua New Guineans to:• Share and celebrate the differences in our cultures. • Work in remote villages to strengthen communities and local churches through acts of service, teaching, and ministry.• Help prepare the way for the Australia & PNG Ship tour, particularly by analyzing health care needs and encouraging the Papua New Guinean church to be involved in missions.• Collect stories and media through hands on experience to educate and advocate on behalf of PNG to the youth of Australia.

OUTREACH GOALS

Trip Overview Our team was based in the Gulf Province of PNG where the YWAM medical ship will be targeting in 2010 with a medical outreach. We spent our time in 4 villages Meii, Kerema, Malalaua, and Muaveave. All of our time in PNG we were overwhelmed by the generosity of the people and in every place we were welcomed like family. Through relationship we were able to share testimonies on how God has transformed our lives and the power of the Gospel.

Meii: Meii is a small village about 45 minutes by dingy from Kerema. A week before our team went to Meii, another outreach team had just been there and shared the gospel with many people responding. Our goal was to follow up with more in-depth discipleship.

Kerema:Kerema is the capital city of the Gulf Province, but despite that we were still challenged with how much need there was, we went to the largest clinic in the Province. We also worked in some of the villages in Kerema particularly spending time with the youth and kids.

Malalaua, and Mauveave.Our last week of outreach, we helped out with a 4 Square youth camp, as well as sharing with the Uniting Church in Malalaua. In Muaveave, the biggest village in the Gulf Province. We worked with the combined churches to share the Gospel at our largest open air program where a great number of people responded.

Transport on outreach is awesome. This small plane took us from, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby to Kerema. Stephanie Anderson

Our First PNG Dingy ride from Kerema across to Meii. Kerema, Papua New Guinea

Stephanie Anderson

Welcoming CeremonyMeii VIllage, Papua New GuineaStephanie Anderson

This was the first place we visited as a team it was called Meii. We spent one week there and were able to get real close to some of the guys, and got deep with them about God and how they are living out their relationship with Him and treating each other. God did amazing things while we were there, you could see the change and the growth.

It made me look at life so differently and now has given me a new hunger for life with God…

by Luke Waterhouse

Meii Village, Week 1

The house we stayed at in Meii, which was right on the edge of the sea. The Ocean is a vital part of village life in the Gulf Province, not only as a means for food and trade but also joy and fun .

This is Renagi, We met him in the Meii village outside of Kerema. After spending the week building relationship with Renagi, he began to share his story with us in his house one day. I never saw until now, that behind his joyful and contagious smile there was a broken man with an incredible story of redemption and hope.

“This is where I used to take the bad children, they come here to drink my home brews" He confessed. It then became clear that the area we were sitting, was in fact, the infamous location around the village called "the Hotel" This would be the place the youth of the area would flock to drink his home made alcohol, chew beetle nut, and smoke marijuana. All night he would blast his loud music and would tell all the children to come and drink " Because who is going to get cross with us? If they get cross, I'm going to hit them" Later on in the night as everyone would get drunk, Renegai would then beat up and bash the kids who earlier trusted him.

Well known as an influential man of power in the village, naturally Renegai is feared among the people in Meii. Known for his aggression, his strength and his past which is clearly marked by the 3 tattooed lines on his forehead. Cont.

Renagi - Meii Village

When Renegai was 16, He found out his dad married another woman. This hit him pretty hard and eventually he wanted to do and say everything that would make his dad angry in order to hurt him back. He then dropped out of school and ran away to Lae, where he joined a Raskal gang. Infamous in that area for anything from petty theft to the more common highway robberies, murder and rape. Rascal gangs in PNG emerged as an outlet for uneducated and unemployed youth found a sense of self-worth by associating with others in a similar situation. This includes people in brutal situations of poverty, brokeness and despair, This seemed like a perfect fit for Renegai, A troubled young teenager, having recently dropped out of year 7, there is no hope for a career for him anymore, and being poor, this made matters desperate for him. He stayed in this downward spiral for 5 years, when he realised that as he was trying to get something for himself, he just found himself hitting a brick wall.

Hitting rock bottom, he travelled back to the Gulf Province to his home village of Meii, and because he saw no hope for himself anymore. He fell into a vicious circle so many have fallen into in this village. When you have no money, you have no education, You have no education, you have no job, and when you have no job, you have nothing to do, so you get bored, so you do what you want, ....you turn to drugs and alcohol.

It wasn't until 2 weeks ago though, Where Renegai's story radically turned around.When he and everyone who was close to him thought there was no hope left, there was a moment in his life where he found God. It was when another team from YWAM Reef to Outback came through for the day 2 weeks before we came, They preformed a drama that showed exactly the way he had been living. This made him really look at where he was at, and the emptiness he felt. He said "enough is enough I have to have a life transformation" He realised he had to stop what he is doing or else he was going to die. He wanted to be changed fully.

The amazing part of this story is he now wants to use his influence and his power in the community now for good. instead of using manipulation and fear and as a way of getting what he wants, he really wants to be influential in a good way, he wants to see his village change and benefit.

He now wants to travel over seas to experience a reality different from his own, he wants to preach the gospel in other countries and come back to see his village and country change.

It was so cool to be able to disciple him in this pivotal moment in his life.

For me, when we were in the village called Meii I learnt how to fight for God's purposes for my life and others.

We had a prayer session and there was a lot of distractions going on. I knew i had to talk but there was a lot on my mind. And we were praying and we were proclaiming truth. As we were proclaiming I got discouraged because i thought i heard someone to tell me to be quiet. I ran away and felt scared and burst into tears. It felt that there was a lot of warfare. Buddy came along and encouraged me to rise up and stand and not to follow the old ways. I received strength and felt to go and talk with the person. I told him that it really offended me and he didn't say anything. So I knew that I was under attack. I felt very serial and weird, but i knew that i had to speak that night. but i realised that the enemy wanted to rob me. We had some prayer and did a drama and as I got up to speak, i had no notes or pictures of what to say. I just spoke and proclaimed the freedom that God has given us in our lives and I felt it broke the stronghold over me.!

SO, on outreach I learnt to step out in faith and obedience and now i realise there are battles each day but I know my identity and hope is only found in God. So outreach was an amazing time of growth. - James Sandquest

Meii Village

I live in this village. I found growing up very hard because we have no electricity or running water. And up until recently we have had no clean drinking water until the CCL donated and installed water tanks in our villages.

I am one of the more fortunate ones here who was able to get an education. But as soon as I completed my year 10. I found it difficult to go on with my studies, So I would go home to the village and do anything I wanted to do. I thought I had no hope so I went out drinking, fighting and doing all sorts of things that weren't good for me.I began to realise I was getting nowhere with what I was doing so I decided to leave most of that behind to finish my studies. But still found myself slipping throughout my time in school.

I still struggle for employment because here in Papua New Guinea you not only have to pay for all your studies. But it also costs 2,000+ Kina to get your certificate which proves you did all your studies, I don't have that kind of money, So even though I am qualified for a job. No one will hire me because I cant prove it to the workplace with my certificate. I want to get out but I'm left to stay here in the village, doing nothing.

Recently I gave my life to God and decided I want to live in a peaceful way, I left the things I had done and started to follow Christ. Now I would like my life and this village to be changed.

Andy Kupa - Meii

After meeting hundreds of children on this outreach, after playing countless games, handing out hundreds of balloons, and even more handshakes and smiles. I have come to one conclusion. That children all around the world, no matter what they go through in life , need one thing. That one things, is Jesus.We can come with the greatest array of things to entertain children, but if we are not giving them the gospel, then all of it is worthless. We need to give children the one thing, that will last longer then any balloon, and be more entertaining then any game. You have a chance to give them something that will last forever. Something that no one can take away from them.A living relationship with Jesus Christ.

-Elizabeth Grajewski

Children of Papua New Guinea

Our team leaving Meii after the first week, with the kids swimming out to wave goodbye

One of the things I loved the most about this outreach was the opportunity to stay in each village for long enough to really build relationship. Its common to travel into villages and stay for a day, share, then head on to another place. Really missing out on forming deep relationships with people and connecting with their real needs. Eating and living just as they do had such an impact on our team throughout the time in PNG and has really challenged our whole perspective on life with our excessive want for bigger and better, and more!!

Being immersed in the culture.

Healthcare in the Gulf Province - Kerema is the largest Clinic in the whole Provence.

We went to visit a couple hospitals while we were here and it was a life changing moment for our team. The Kerema clinic is the biggest in the Gulf Province which is hard to believe when you think of how many thousands of people live in this province, and this is the largest facility for healthcare. Not a lot of people in Papua New Guinea have access or money for healthcare because 80% live in rural areas, if they get sick. Most of the time they stay in the village, instead of commuting for hours to get to the nearest clinic.

If they do come though, the conditions are shocking. You walk inside and instantly feel the muggy air clinging to you. The heat was very uncomfortable because of a lack of basic things like air conditioning or even fans. I cant even imagine how someone who is sick in the hospital beds would feel. As I continued to walk inside, I didn't smell the normal smell you would expect in a hospital,

instead of anaesthetic and cleaner it smelled like old sheets, metal and 2nd hand equipment. The dingy air and the atmosphere almost made me choke.

We saw a man limping out as we came in, who clearly was not ready to be released. but the realities are that he could probably no longer afford to be there, or the doctors still don't know what is wrong so they have to release him.

Another thing patients have are struggling with aside from the heat and the lack of care due to a shortage of staff, not a lot of food is provided in hospitals, so they rely mostly on friends and family to come and feed them.

Its hard to believe that if people are fortunate enough to get healthcare, this is what it looks like.

Something has to change...- Stephanie Anderson

Papua New Guinea really is the “Land of the Unexpected” from the most loving and welcoming people , to remote and untouched land, sunsets that leave you breathless, to its tremendous national resources. It is impossible to miss the deep and rich inheritance that this nation has, and is yet to find for itself.

I loved getting to hear people’s stories, getting to know their way of life.

Arriving in the Mauveave village our team was exhausted. However preparing for the evening program we sensed how we had to fight for the villagers lives here. There was a battle going onThere was thunder in the distance but that didn't scare us, but it just encouraged us to pray and stand in the truth that Jesus is greater than any other powerAs we started the programme hundreds of people showed up and a patch of bright blue sky showed and opened in front of us- There was a big rainbow too.On the other side the nasty clouds were still hovering yet to us it was more than obvious it would not rain during this evening.The crowd listened very intently to us and what we shared & many responded. Thank you Jesus for letting us be a part of bringing people closer to you!

Jessica Feld

Mauveave Village.

Every night our team would set up our mosquito nets, mostly to keep mosquitos out but also we were all pretty freaked out by the massive PNG spiders.

It was awesome watching the reaction on the kids faces when we would show them their photo. For some of them it was the first time they had ever seen a photo of themselves.

Outreach in PNG was such a massive challenge, being able to speak into peoples lives and encourage them has been a privilege. I also have really enjoyed stepping out in obedience into what God has for me in my life.I realised how much I like working with women and helping them enter into who God has made them to be. I love helping them understand their worth and purpose in Christ.

Chelsea Oloffs

Outreach for me really challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and fears that I had. I have always hated public speaking and just thinking about outreach freaked me out because I knew that everyone had to preach in front of PNG people at least once. That opportunity for me came much sooner than expected. The first night we were praying about our program God spoke to me and told me that I was to speak about forgiveness. I was so scared I didn’t want to tell the rest of my team but I knew that it was right and that I had to be obedient, mainly because my heart was beating out of my chest. As I was preparing I had this weird sense of peace and I knew that I only had so much I could speak on so I asked God to speak through me and give me words to say that would really stand out to the people. When I went up to speak I had a weird sense of confidence and what I wanted to say just kept flowing into my head. While I was standing up there I knew that my fear of speaking had been broken and I felt a sense of freedom knowing that I can speak in front of anyone.

Briana Conklin

Stepping out in FAITH.

Mauveave Village, week three of Outreach. The largest Village in the Gulf with around 5,000 people. Still even though it is one of the largest villages the nearest clinic was hours away by boat.

It was the third to last day of outreach and we were doing our last program. I have been challenged in many areas, but i felt this night, God was really challenging me. After our program we invited people to come up to the front to pray. We waited for a bit and finally a young girl came forward. I felt weird during this because I didn't want to step up, but at the same time I wanted to see lives changed. After a long time Buddy went up and said a few encouraging words and a flood of people came to the front! i was so exciting! until i realised we said " we " would pray for them. I was scared out of my mind but I knew if I stayed back and didn't pray I wouldn't be growing in what God had for me. So i took a few deep breaths and took that first step of faith and did what I was being called to do. That night in conclusion I ended up praying for several families and had first time dedications. I also got to witness to a girl named Lucy I had been getting close with and she gave her life to the Lord as well.

by Rebekah Cage

Mauveave Open Air Program

The kids were my biggest joy in PNG. They were always up for any game or run into the ocean. Many of them had no idea what we were saying to them and they would just smile and nod. I was also really learning how to hear God’s voice in new ways and practicing walking it out around me. -Megan Schulz

The generosity and hospitality of the people in PNG taught me a lot about the servant heart of God. God also showed me His beauty, peace and power through the amazing sunsets of PNG. It was cool to see God's faithfulness when we took steps in faith. - Viivi

And HOPE does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us - Romans 5:5

October Discipleship Training School 2009

PNG OutreachKerema Team