Dorothy,
you aren’t in Kansas anymore!
We
finally made it to Kimbe, Papua New Guinea last Thursday. We were met with a beautiful welcome from the
community including music, dancing and flowers.
After a whirlwind tour of the Diocese grounds, Kimbe and a beautiful
dinner with Bishop Bill, Fr. Gabriel and Danita Kurtz, we prepared to leave on
Friday for a visit to parishes: Kiliai
and Bariai.
Immediately
following mass on Friday morning, we piled into Bishop’s vehicle for a one-hour
ride through palm plantations and forests.
Absolutely stunning.
Finally,
arrived at a small village on the south coast and loaded onto a banana boat for
a 5-hour trip to our first stop: Kiliai parish.
We stayed at this parish for the weekend but on Saturday morning back
into the boat for another 2-hour ride to Kudeai which is an outpost of the
Bariai parish. The afternoon was spent
at Confirmation Mass for over 300!
Palm
Sunday was in Kaliai and was beautiful.
The afternoon included a short trip to one of the small islands for fun
in the waves.
We
returned to Kimbe on Monday and are now settling in and preparing to begin in
earnest next week. All of us came back
with sunburns. There is absolutely no
way to put enough suntan lotion on this white skin to avoid burning! Danita and I escaped the worst of it, though. Ron’s legs burned terribly and for the past
couple of days he has been moving in pain.
Today they began the blistering process, so we are hoping the end is
near. The dear Sisters at Caritas shared
some Aloe lotion with the 3 of us so I believe that has helped.
We attend
morning prayer in Tok Pisin followed by morning mass either in Tok Pisin or
English. Today, though, we joined the
staff and students at Caritas Secondary School for morning mass and then were
invited to morning repast with the Sisters.
This
week we have been ‘setting up house’.
You know, the things you always have to do when you move into a new
place. Today included setting up a bank
account and shopping for items still needed.
We are still trying to figure out the internet situation and the banking
was a definite experience!
O Jesus, we surrender ourselves to you, take care of
everything!
