Hydro Church of the Nazarene

Yes, it's a strange name for a church. The "Hydro" part, I mean. Just like most Nazarene churches, it's named after the community it serves, in this case the area surrounding the diversion dam for the station's hydroelectric system. There are actually 3 Nazarene churches that meet on the station, Emmanuel and Knox Memorial share the building owned by the Knox church just opposite the station gate. Hydro meets in a haus kunai (thatched bush material building) at the far end of the station. This is the area that has been subject of a land ownership conflict in recent months. Ironically, some members of the church there are actually contesting the legitimacy of the mission's lease of the land, and have been opposing construction of much-needed staff housing, and the rebuilding of the diversion dam.

Our friend Dr. Larry Hull is staying with for a few days and doing some consulting at the hospital while in PNG to deal with some business matters. He went to church with us. On the way, Dr. Becky Wallace (who is on call) caught sight of him, and called him into the hospital to see a patient with a compound arm fracture. He caught up with us at the church later.

The pastor at the Hydro church is Pastor Lapa, who was the pastor of Knox Memorial when we first came to PNG. His son Philip is now attending Nazarene College of Nursing. Sadly, Pastor Lapa's wife died while we were on furlough in the US.

After church, we returned to our house for a lunch of French toast, strawberries and Canadian bacon.

Click here for more photos.

Terrible Tangled Web

When we have a lot of patients who need oxygen, we sometimes don't have enough oxygen tanks or concentrators to go around. So our nurses just place these "T" connectors and give oxygen to 2, 3, or in this case, 4 patients. I think I remember one time when 5 were sharing one source. It works, although it's hard to control how much oxygen each patients receives. We usually use pulse oximters to check whether each one is getting enough.

Just as a bonus, I'll throw in a photo of a cute baby who is getting oxygen from one of the branches of that tangle.

New Ministry

Our friend Monica Tumap has worked at the hospital for many years. I first met her at a Nazarene Global Medical Ministry conference in Guatemala in 1999. She has worked in Primary Care, specifically in our vaccination program. In that job she would go onto the Maternity Ward to vaccinate the new babies. She would also notice if a new mom was particularly needy. She would then get some baby items (clothes, diapers, etc.) from Judy, then get up in the wee hours of the morning to slip back into Maternity to place the items on that mom's bed. Usually, if you give something to one person, everyone wants it as well, and this prevented that problem.

Monica has never married. She has, however, adopted 3 children. One is raised and away from home, the second is in high school, and the third is a new little baby whom she has named Judy Mercy (the Judy part being in honor of Judy Bennett).

Monica is in the process of changing jobs. She's going to work for our Community-Based Health Care, a program the helps communities improve their health in many ways. Monica is moving to the Southern Highlands Province. While she is originally from that province, she will not be very near her home. Sometimes communities in PNG have a hard time accepting and trusting outsiders, so it may be difficult at first.

She stopped by a few evenings ago to say goodbye (she's in the center in this photo). Please pray for Monica and Judy Mercy in this time of transition.

Uncle Tom's Birthday

Dr. Tom Staton is in Kudjip for his 9th time of volunteer service, along with his wife, Lois. Those who have followed this blog closely may remember that we stayed in their home in Ohio during our home assignment. Yesterday was Tom's birthday, and the party at the Dooley's drew all but 1 of the Kudjip missionary family.

Aden and Wiley Riggins and Olivia Dooley are the youngest MKs.

Despite appearances in the photo, Erin didn't have the whole bowl of ice cream. She was actually serving it.

Sorry when the photo arrangement ends looking kinda crazy. Blogspot doesn't have the best blog editor in the world.

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Sam's Baptism, and a Time of Remembrance

While we were home on furlough, I was at my dad's apartment. On his desk was an unused baptismal certificate. He had found it among his papers, hadn't known what to do with it, and not wanting to just throw it away had left it laying there.

That got me thinking about the fact that Sam had never been baptized. He was still fairly young when we moved to PNG. He had wanted to go through the process with some of his PNG friends, but it just didn't work out. So I brought this up to him. We talked about the significance of the sacrament, and about how meaningful it would be for it to be performed by his grandfather. Since Dad is 91, there may not be many more opportunities.Sam has made public confessions of faith in Christ in many ways, but after giving it some thought, he decided to add this formal declaration of his faith.

Dad is obviously too frail to wade out into a lake or stream to baptize a fully-grown man by immersion, but our church allows baptism by any of the traditional methods, immersion, pouring or sprinkling. I had seen Dad baptize by sprinkling when the candidate was too frail or sick to be immersed, so why not do it that way when the officiant is too frail for the other method? After discussion with Sam and Dad, it was decided to go ahead with this plan.

The fact that today is the first anniversary of Mom's death (it's still August 3 in PNG) got me thinking about our last full day in the US before returning to PNG. The family gathered at the cemetery where Mom's body is buried, for a time of remembrance. None of us had been there since the day of the funeral. We don't put a lot of emphasis on visits to graves, because we feel strongly that the person is not there, just the now-worn-out body that was the symbol of the person. I hadn't even wanted to go, but it was important to my dad, so I went. It turned out to be a sweet time of reminiscing, crying and laughing together.

Following that, we drove back to Dad's apartment for the baptism. No special clothes, no formal service, just a prayer, reading from our denomination's particular version of the ritual, and then the sprinkling of the water that symbolizes cleansing and new life, and the words, "Samuel Bennett, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen." And we all said a hearty "amen"! Then Dad signed that long-neglected baptismal certificate.

For more photos of the day and of the baptism, go to this link.

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My Cup Doth Overflow (or at least my ward doth)

I've posted photos of patients on the floor of A-Ward (Pediatrics) before. I just don't understand why it fills up when other wards have empty beds. This morning I discharged 2 patients from A. I discharged about 5 from C (Adult Medicine), which already had empty beds. Through the day I admitted 2 new patients to A, none to C.

And then tomorrow, Dr. Becky Wallace and I will have to take care of A (with the help of medical student Rebekah Lamb). Drs. Erin Meier and Scott Dooley will be looking after C-Ward, empty beds and all. I tried to get some C-Ward patients home, I really did.

Sigh.

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Operation Warm Baby

For a couple of years now, Nazarene churches have been sending little packages for us to give to little people. They are "layettes"; basic supplies for caring for a baby. A receiving blanket, a couple of diapers, some pins, a pair of plastic pants, a bottle of baby powder, a sleeper, a "onesie", a knitted hat, a pair of socks, a washcloth, and a bar of soap all packaged in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag with a lot of love. Judy and a lady from a church in Oregon came up with the name "Operation Warm Baby." It also produces warm hearts.

Some of the young mothers have very little in the way of material things. Many of them have never received a gift. So, a zip-lock bag of baby supplies, given in the name of the One who blessed the children. Help Him bless them again.

To find out how your church can get involved, contact Judy Bennett at hospitallinks@reachone.com.

Click here to see more babies and the things they got through Operation Warm Baby.

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