We have been in Papua New Guinea for three weeks now, staying in a duplex owned by AFM on the campus of Pacific Adventist University (PAU) just outside of the capitol city of Port Moresby. Though we haven’t yet arrived in the jungle, we have experienced a lot of new things. Our first impressions of PNG are very good indeed!
We have found the people of PNG to be very polite and friendly. They enjoy talking with us everywhere we go, and when we smile or wave at them, it truly makes their day. Here in the city, almost everyone speaks English. All business is conducted in English unless you are speaking to an elderly person in the local outdoor market. Many people are well educated and have good jobs. Some of the houses here in the city cost a million dollars.
It is strange to see security guards at every store and parking lot. Also, there are lots of tall fences topped with razor wire. When we want to enter a parking lot, a security guard opens the gate and waves us in, then motions where to park. Local people are required to check their bags and purses at the front door of any store, but we usually just get waved in. When we come back out to our car, the security guards help us load our car as we chat. They even take back our shopping carts for us.
Driving in PNG can be both scary and funny. Traffic drives on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel is on the right side. I still get confused which door is mine. To make things more perplexing, most intersections have clockwise roundabouts. There are no stop signs. During rush hour, traffic slows to a crawl, people come up to your window selling opossums, wallabies, crocodiles, puppies, birds, bananas, peanuts, deodorant, etc. If traffic gets too jammed up, vehicles pull up onto the sidewalks to try to get through. There are posted speed limits, but the police don’t seem to enforce them. But potholes in the road will make you slow down quickly! Sometimes it leads to games of chicken when drivers swerve into oncoming lanes to avoid potholes.
The local highway patrol truck is filled with policemen armed with machineguns. They drive around looking for trouble. However, most officers stand along the roadsides checking passing cars for expired registration stickers. Most of the time they just wave you through. But one time when Steve Erickson was driving and I was the passenger, they pulled us over and gave us a hard time. They even took Steve’s driver’s license. They were pressuring us to give them a bribe, but we stayed polite, and they finally gave Steve’s license back.
I have seen only one fast-food restaurant chain here—The Big Rooster. It offers fried chicken, french fries and soda at a drive-thru. Some restaurants will make you a veggie pizza, but it is generally difficult to find vegetarian food at restaurants. Markets are overflowing with fresh produce, and grocery stores have a surprising selection of canned and boxed goods. We were even able to purchase Mission tortillas and refried beans, one of our favorites. However, we don’t expect the rest of the country to have the same selection.
As we have been attending church at PAU and visiting the local Adventist Book Centers, we have been making friends with colporteurs, lawyers, policemen, government workers, health professionals and church workers. When we tell them we are missionaries going up the Sepik River to May River and Ama, they get excited. Those who have family on the Sepik River immediately befriend us. One man we met holds a high position in the government. He went out of his way to befriend us and take us on a tour of the city. He even took us to the one-and-only mall in PNG. He told us that whenever we need something in Ama, we should let him know, and he will get it for us.
Another friend is a politician and a lawyer. We have really enjoyed getting to know him. Since he is single and lonely and really enjoys being with us, we invite him to join us when we go places. We have gone out for pizza, traveled in his truck to the Kokoda Trail, and talked a lot about PNG culture. He really has a heart for missions. His grandfather was a prominent church worker and PNG missionary. He is young and has a bright political future ahead of him. I believe God is arranging for us to meet a few of the prominent people in PNG and exchange contact information. They could become our lifelines in times of need.
Next week we will fly to Goroka, which is the base for Adventist Aviation Services. After a few days of gathering supplies, we will fly to the town of Wewak where the Sepik Mission is based. From Wewak we will drive to the Sepik River where we will find a motor canoe to take us and our supplies 200 miles upriver to May River and Ama.
