Martins' Memos News Briefs |
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| Ukarumpa | Papua New Guinea |
November-December 1997 |
Many parts of Papua New Guinea have not received significant rain since March or even February earlier this year. This is remarkable for a country that normally gets 200 to 400 inches of rain per year. The higher elevations have been especially hard hit, where nighttime frosts kill off what remains of the people's gardens. When forest and field dry up, wild fires also become a problem, capable of consuming whole villages and producing choking smog. Relief operations are being hampered by criminal activity along access roads.
Joel (and his friend Rebecca Wagner) will complete their Middle Eastern Studies Program
in mid December. Judging from the e-mail we have received from them, they have had the
experience of a lifetime. The last two weeks of October they went on a tour of Israel and
the West Bank. They saw all the traditional Biblical sites and more. After the tour the
students held a "peace negotiation" simulating the complex issues involved in
the Arab-Israeli conflict. Not long after they arrived in Egypt, they witnessed the
burned-out remains of a tourist bus in which 10 people died during a terrorist attack only
minutes away from their residence in Cairo.
Their schedule has included 2.5 hours of daily Arabic study and weekly "service
projects." Joel's service project has involved teaching P.E. to deaf children at a
Christian school in Cairo.
For recreation they have dined at an "Internet" Café in Cairo (our first
e-mail from them came from there), gone on horse-back rides around the pyramids, gone
swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, floated around in the Dead Sea, gone
scuba diving at the southern tip of the Sinai, and taken a cruise on the Nile in honor of
Rebecca's birthday.
We are looking forward to seeing Joel and Rebecca and catching up on all their adventures
when they come to PNG for the Christmas break on the heels of their trip back to the US
from Egypt.
What is Soul Purpose? It is the youth group that ministers to the teens here at Ukarumpa. They have a worship team of musicians and singers and Jason plays the trap set (drums) for them. They also occasionally lead the worship in the Sunday evening services here.
At Ukarumpa International School's last band concert, Jason was given the honor of being Drum Major and leading/directing the marching band. It was a fun evening as the combined middle and high school bands and flag twirlers maneuvered and played music on the stage, while Jason and the percussion section maintained the cadence.
Drum major salutes to start and end concert
Whistle and snare maintain the cadence
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In his unfailing love,
Bill Martin (and Lenore).