A Happy Assortment

Dear Followers, 

Rachel and I remain truly thankful to know you are reading and enjoying these posts. God is providing us so many new experiences every day, it’s a struggle to choose what to write about! What follows is an assortment of journal notes, short stories with pictures, and a few random pics that I thought you might enjoy. God bless you - wherever you are!

His Love, Ted & Rachel

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I was seeing a young girl in the ER, her parents reporting the all too common symptoms of fever, weight loss, weakness, and cough. With the differential diagnoses circling my mind, I asked questions to narrow my suspicions, and examined her head to toe. I perform this routine countless times every day, my mind finding a unique path for every patient, seeking the answers which might bring them healing. Lost in thought, I was somewhat startled when a small bird buzzed past my head! Odd things happen here frequently, but a bird flapping around the ER caught even the sickest patient’s attention, and a hubbub of amused conversation momentarily paused the “emergencies” at hand. I found myself smiling at the peculiarity of God’s creation invading our little sanctuary, breaking up the urgent importance of our work, forcing a moment of joy into the busyness. As the bird made for another fly-by, my patient’s mother reached out a hand, quick as lightning, and caught the little bird. A chorus of ooh’s and aah’s erupted, and in typical fashion for PNG women, she hid her embarrassed smile from the room behind her free hand, and passed the bird to her husband. I had to take a picture! I was further intrigued to see the bird then settle into the comfortable palm of its captor as he stroked its back. How remarkable!

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Local flowers, arranged in preparation for hosting dinner. The orange tuft, if examined closely, reveals many small flowers with a cross shape – from which it is named “The Resurrection Flower”.

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One day in clinic I met Toea Wisil, the world famous Olympic sprinter from PNG. She came to Kudjip with her brother, who has cancer of the mouth. This cancer is sadly common in Papua New Guinea since many people chew Beetle Nut, which is both an opiate and carcinogen. 

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Journal Entry:

Tonight, I caught myself asking this question: Why do I feel like I'm at summer camp? Because I'm enjoying new adventures every day? Because we sit around in prayer circles welcoming Jesus to live through us? Because I'm away from "home"? Yes, in a way, all of these contribute. But tonight, as crickets and tree frogs provided a background chorus, I walked across the lane and joined my neighbor, Adam, on his porch as he picked out a few tunes on guitar. I'm finding that excitement of summer camp in having new companions living right beside me, a regular and joyful accompaniment to the work at hand. I've never lived in a neighborhood before, at least not like this. I am greeted throughout each day with smiles and waves, casual conversations between activities, kids running through the yard, and the sounds of their play alternating with mothers' singsong call to rally. Below is a picture of Levi Crouch, "helping me". His regular high pitched greeting to me is by far my favorite - "Hiiiiii Uncle Teddy Bear!", followed by hysterical laughter. I love it. 

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One day I took a walk to the local road market. Did I take the long way up and around the hospital? Nope! I chose the path less traveled…or maybe never traveled… It was a beautiful sunny day, so cut though the bush at back of station, meandering downhill around garden plots, battling banana spiders the size of my palm, and finally made it to the river (with the help of my new found neighbor, Martha). Kicking off my shoes and rolling up my pants, I waded along the frigid water’s edge down to where the road crosses the bridge. I’m sure all the locals thought I was nuts, but it was fun! 

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Night Sounds:

- The endless jungle drone of crickets and frogs.

- Scrawny mutts of every local village joining together in bawdy chorus of "who can get the last bark"...sometimes lasting for hours…

- The revving engine of an 18-wheeler, down-shifting to make it up a nearby hill on the "highway".

- A song bird loudly welcoming the new day...starting at 12:01AM... “tweet, tweet, taaaaweet”...over and over.

- Men's voices raised together in a tune reminiscent of hearty sailors' ballads, quite likely aided with a little "homebrew".

- And drowning out the rest - the deafening barrage of downpour on tin, followed by an endless drum line of rain drops beating out a cadence devoid of rhythm.

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The unique 1 Kina coin (worth $0.40)

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Dr. Bill McCoy: Friend, Mentor, and Forever Young

I had gone into Uncle Bill's clinic room to ask a medical question (he's our go-to-guy for all such questions), and this is what I found. What a trip! You will be happy to know each man won with their dominant hand, first the patient, then Dr Bill. Full video can be found at Marsha McCoy's FB page. 

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Cute little girl playing in rain water. 

Rachel’s schoolhouse is in the background. 

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Decorative items for our PNG home!

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Progress on the Path! Rocks have been settled in with sandy gravel, about 40 Amaryllis bulbs have been planted on either side, and God sent the rain to wash it clean. How GREAT is our God!!!