Hello again from Lae, Papua New Guinea.
Greetings to each of you in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I pray you are well and trusting daily in God’s care and provision.
The past couple of months have been filled with challenges, but God is good and continues to provide. If you are on Facebook, you may have seen that Papua New Guinea, and much of the Pacific Region, are experiencing what has now been called a ‘super El Nino’. Starting earlier this year, raine dried up in much of P.N.G. and drought took hold. Parts of Enga Province have recently experienced hail so heavy it looked like snowfall, something that caused a huge stir. The same province has been experiencing flooding in other areas. There are bushfires burning in different parts of the country, including an island in Manus Province which has lost most of its forest and gardens. Over this past weekend, a grass fire took out 73 houses in Sialum, along the coast from Lae towards Wasu Station.
In Lae, the rain continued through September but has now dried up. I am physically watering plants each morning, hoping they are getting enough. Cracks are forming in the lawn behind the house – something fairly normal for Canada in summer, but not here. Our water tank – which is a backup for when the water supply turns off – is nearly empty and it looks like we will soon be without. The prices of market foods have increased, in some cases, by 300% or more. Store foods – which have been increasing in cost throughout the current oil crisis – have also increased considerably. That being said, we are alright. God has provided and we are not hungry, just a bit frustrated. Thank you for your ongoing financial support and/or prayers for our wellbeing and the work here. Both are greatly appreciated. This week, the bus fare within Lae increased from K1.00 to K1.50 (about CN$0.50). It doesn’t sound like much, but when I first came to P.N.G., they charged K0.30 to travel from 5 Mile to Eriku to Lae Town to the Market. The same route now has been divided and shortened and would cost K6.00 to travel, changing buses twice along the route! Through it all, Papua New Guinea wages haven’t increased and the country is doing it tough.
The greatest challenge we are facing in Lae right now is our power supply. That is why I am writing this now, not knowing if we will eventually be without power supply. At the best of times, P.N.G.’s power – which comes from hydro and backup diesel generators – is rather unreliable. The company was declared insolvent last year. Since the start of this month, the blackouts have been getting steadily worse. This week alone saw accumulated outages of 15 hours on Monday, 21 hours on Tuesday, 17 hours on Wednesday, and so far nearly 15 hours today. Our hydroelectricity comes from Yonki Dam which is located between Lae and the highlands. Yonki is currently down to 35% transmission capacity and PNG Power (Very) Limited is now relying on their diesel generators to power Lae and the rest of the grid, which is extremely expensive and likely unsustainable. Current output is meeting less than half of the power demand for the grid. We are facing another seven months or more with the current estimates regarding this El Nino. Please pray for P.N.G. as the country is really struggling right now.
There is a comical side to our current power situation. It is amazing how quickly we adjust to changing focus whenever the power comes on – drop what you’re doing and start charging things, grinding coffee, etc.! I generally do a leisurely load of laundry in the morning (when needed) while cleaning the house and getting into whatever work I’ve put aside. Now, as soon as the power comes on (regardless of the time of day), I find myself traveling through the house at a dead run with the loaded laundry basket, hoping the power stays on long enough for it to finish. Our back steps are termite infested and wobbly, otherwise nothing slows me down as I hurl towards the goal of clean laundry. A couple of nights ago, the power finally came on after about 18 hours, and I did the laundry dash, however, it only stayed on for about 20 minutes. It came on again for another 20 minutes four hours later and finally came back on for a few hours at 3:30am. I gave up and went to bed and the less-than-fresh laundry was waiting for me when I got up at 5:45am.
Please pray for roommate Miring and a group who are currently in the Waria Valley for the 2nd Morobe Provincial Meri Bung (Ladies’Camp) at Orouba village. They left at 11:50pm last Friday (October 16) and traveled the newly constructed road – with brother Joe Dobadoba -to Garaina Station, arriving at 12:45pm on Saturday. The next morning, they set off to walk the remaining distance to Orouba. I spoke to Miring yesterday (Wednesday) and they had arrived at Aroba village and were at the “last place to get phone network”, on their way to Orouba. The camp starts today. One of the ladies – Rachael – was unable to continue and stayed back with the church in AroMotete where she will teach classes and wait for the others to return. The camp runs until Sunday and then they will start the long walk back to Garaina Station, likely arriving back in Lae late next week. Please keep them in prayer, especially as they are walking through drought conditions and intense sun. Please also pray for the camp that God will be glorified throughout the coming days.
Prayer Requests
1. Papua New Guinea experiencing worsening drought and subsequent issues.
2. The group currently in Orouba, Oro Province, for the 2nd Morobe Provincial Meri Bung.
3. Miring’s extended family have experienced at least five deaths within the past two months. The hardest has been the loss of Miring’s 8-year-old great nephew, Haggai, who died suddenly on August 27, likely from a ruptured spleen. Haggai attended the church-run elementary school on this property and a regular visitor to our house. Please pray for the entire family as they grieve.
4. We received word this week that the little daughter of one of our student families from this year has died in their village. Sofi was only 2 years old. Please hold her parent’s Gotfrey & Tilio – both new Christians this year – in prayer, as well as the church at Zumangurun.
5. The M.B.C. congregation has finally embarked on the refencing project, with the goal of completing the fencing around the main campus first and then around the two dormitory blocks. Please hold us in prayer as we continue to raise the funds locally, and for those who will be doing the physical work in coming months.
6. Brother Chris Moore and family, and the Fenwick congregation (in Ontario) – cancer.
7. The mission team from Canada, planned for May, 2027.
Note: I love hearing from you and appreciate your questions and comments. The current power restraints mean that I am spending less and less time on the laptop. I will try to respond to you, but it may take time before you hear from me.
The Bougainvillea is taking the drought in stride.
With love in HIM, Ruth
Sponsor information: Fenwick church of Christ, P.O. Box 416, Fenwick, ON L0S 1C0 Canada (cofcfenwick@gmail.com)
Malaga church of Christ, P.O. Box 105. Ballajura, WA 6019 Australia (malaga@perthchurch.net)
Contact: Ruth Zimmerman P.O. Box 1112, Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea (ruthzimm@gmail.com)