NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We have run into many different situations since arriving in PNG.  One thing that happened early on in our language learning, but we have not had the courage to share with you until now was the day that Kelly ate a large beetle.  One of our “friends” told Kelly was a special treat it was for them to eat a certain kind of beetle.  She wanted Kelly to keep her eyes open for them and catch her some to eat.  A few days later Kelly caught two the large beetles with the help of Noah (our resident bug specialist).  We put them in his bug catcher and during Noah’s nap called our friend who wanted to eat them.  She came to our house and demonstrated out to prepare and cook the beetles.  We were both very grossed out, but when the girl offered one Kelly felt it impolite to turn her down.  They each ate one of the beetles.  It was very gross to say the least.  An hour later Noah woke up from his nap and wanted a straight answer about what happened to his beetles.  We could not bear to tell him the truth.  Well, the funniest part of the story is that after being here for nine months we have never, ever seen another national eat these beetles.  Originally we thought that they were a real delicacy, but it turns out we were naive!  Slowly we are learning to question what we are told and check it against multiple sources.

Throughout the dry season in PNG people are burning everything in sight.  Their gardens, dead grass, entire mountainsides!  There is so much smoke that each morning Kelly has to sweep the porch and wipe down the tables and counter tops because they are covered in ash.  We can’t leave our clothes drying outside on the line for long at all without them smelling like smoke.  Usually people wait to burn until the wind kicks up, so the ash travels all over the highlands of PNG.  The other day we were getting ready to go to church, which always seems like a panic with two little boys.  We had them all dressed and ready and were heading out the door when Noah went out of our sight for two seconds.  The next thing we knew he came around the corner of our house crying.  He had slipped and fallen on our sidewalk, because around the corner it was so covered in ash.  We could hardly stop laughing to help him out.

Everyday I am struck by things that are so different from home.  I thought that you may enjoy a couple of things I have seen recently.  I didn’t have a decent camera with me, but I had to capture these things.  Below is a public transportation van.  Many of these are commonly seen all over the country.  I have seen some very scary driving since arriving in PNG.  There are many accidents with the public transportation vehicles due to passing on corners, swerving for potholes, and vehicles just plain falling apart.  PNG is trying to crack down on their accident rate with a new campaign where drivers take a small safety course and put a sticker on their vehicle.  I though that you would get a kick out of this picture.  It is hard to believe that this vehicle is required to pass a safety inspection every six months.

Are you sure road safety is not a game?

Have you ever wondered how you buy paint in PNG.  A few stores have the ability to mix a few colors, but many hardware stores are like the one pictured below have limited colors and once they are sold there will be no matching that color again!

Choosing paint colors.

In PNG, when vehicles are disabled in any way and the owner leaves the vehicle, people come from all over and start to strip the parts.  We have a friend’s daughter who was just involved in a car accident in town.  The accident happened in the middle of the night and by the next morning the picture below is all that remained.  This vehicle was an almost brand new Toyota Hilux (a little smaller than a Toyota Tundra) before the accident.  Even the truck bed has been removed and carried off.  They are able to do all of this using just a few basic hand tools.  The remaining body of this vehicle will remain in this exact spot for years to come.

This vehicle was almost new twelve hours earlier.

McGregor's at the Goroka Show

September 16, 2010 the Goroka Show takes place every year.  This event started in the 1950′s as a way for tribal groups all over the country to meet and compete dancing in their traditional dress.  They are awarded points for their music, dancing and traditional costumes.  The more they stick to traditional materials the more points are awarded.  It was quite the experience to see and hear the variety of people represented.  There are more than 850 separate language groups in Papua New Guinea.  Each have their own customs and ceremonial dress.

Asaro Mudmen

The Asaro Mudmen live close to Goroka and find the clay that they use to make their masks in the area where they live.

Some groups like the one above chant during the event.

Over one hundred tribal groups gather from all over the country for the Goroka Show event.

Notice the small animal jawbone necklace.

Shells in her necklace were traditionally used as money in the highlands.

Noah kept covering his ears because of all of the noise.

Plants and bark from trees are traditionally used to make the face paint.

Some of the people had amazing bead work.

Noah loved all of the dress and dancing.

Bird of paradise feathers are used in a lot when they decorate their heads.

Pig tusks are used on necklaces and traditionally pierce mens noses.

This tribe uses human hair they collect to make their hats.

Some men wear the traditional "mal"

Bettlenut (Areca Nut) turns this ladies teeth red and is common in PNG.

Plenty of dancing.

Cassowary feathers for decorating this man's head.

This is just a small sample of photos from the Goroka Show.  We all had a great time and got a little taste of the variety of people living in Papua New Guinea.  Two days after the show we had an event celebrating PNG independence at our mission center.  We honestly weren’t watching Noah and Eli for a couple of minutes and they had covered their faces with dirt in an effort to fit in with the skin color of the national people.  Too funny!

Noah and Eli trying to fit in.

Rebuilding the missionaries garage.

Six months ago, one of our remote tribal church plants in the highlands of PNG experienced a landslide.  A combination of high rainfall and soil conditions caused the ground to move.  Over a twenty-four hour period this small mountain ridge slowly started to crack and shift.  Multiple houses were damaged beyond repair and a few houses even toppled over a cliff into the valley below.  Our missionary’s house was built up on posts, which tipped over and sent the house sliding eight feet down the hill.  The house itself could be jacked up and repaired, but the ground it is sitting on can’t be trusted.  Everyone in the village is worried that as soon as the rainy season starts again in November that the ground will move again.  The missionaries have decided that the land their house was on is definitely not safe.  They have found another piece of land close by where the ground seems much more stable.

Two weeks ago I drove further up into the mountainous highlands of PNG to help them rebuild their garage.  We spent the week roughing it a bit; using bucket showers and hauling water from a nearby creek.  We are trying to reuse as much of the old material as possible, so the work was very tedious.  The old wood that we were reusing was so hard that we could hardly drive nails into it.  It took us five days to rebuild the garage (much longer than what it would take in North America).  The missionary couple has been working on moving their belongings and furniture into the garage for storage.  This week we have sent a team of men to start disassembling the damaged house and work on the posts and subfloor for their new house.  Next week I will make the trip back out to help them with the rebuilding of their house.  We are hoping to get enough guys to help so that we could have the house closed in by the end of the week.

Dr. Nelis with his dental hygenist Cairo

In July we noticed that one of Noah’s molars had a big piece missing.  We took a picture of it and e-mailed it to our dentist, who was away in the US at the time.  When he came back in August, we took Noah to see him and the dentist told us that the molar had cavities that had decayed the tooth.  We were shocked, because we always keep his teeth brushed.  We were also told that Noah had a number of other cavities.  The dentist said that we needed to get it taken care of right away.  Noah would need to be seen by a dental surgeon and would need to be sedated.  There are no good options here in PNG for that kind of treatment; the dentist recommended we travel to Australia or back home to get this done.

This news made us miss the days when the cost of a dental visit was just the bill itself.  Buying a ticket home just for a dentist visit is very pricy!  We started looking into all our options, writing friends from Australia and also the Philippines (the two places we can fly direct).  It seemed overwhelming to find a reliable dentist in another country, get approximate costs for the dental work, and estimate the costs of flights as well.  I (Kelly) wrote to the Wycliffe dentist, who is an hour and a half drive from our house.  I wanted to see if he had any recommendations.  He wrote me back and told me that instead of leaving the country we should come to Wycliffe.  The dentist and the doctor were willing to work together to sedate Noah and work on his teeth.  The only catch was that the doctor was only willing to sedate Noah for 45 minutes.  We were concerned that 45 minutes would not be long enough, but told the dentist we would come for an initial visit so he could evaluate the work that needed to be done.

When we went to see the dentist at Wycliffe, we had been praying that he would be good with kids, Noah would be cooperative, and that 45 minutes of sedation would be enough to get the job done.  God is always good at answering with more than we ask for!  As soon as Dentist Nelis saw Noah, he gave him a big hug.  He told us that he doesn’t really like working on adults, just kids!  He showed Noah all his “friends” (tools) and kept Noah happy the whole time he worked.  He did not even need any sedation.  We were so thankful for this huge answer to prayer.

We were supposed to have one of these appointments a couple of weeks ago, but we were unable to make it due to tribal fighting on the highway.  Sadly, this can be quite dangerous and common around here.  We were thankful that we made this week’s appointment. Noah still has at least one more visit with Dentist Nelis, so you can continue to pray that Noah will be cooperative even though it may be a little painful to get his fillings.  Noah is always telling us about his friend Dentist Nelis and how fun the visits to the dentist are; we hope that attitude continues!  Well, time to brush some teeth…

About a week ago Kelly and I had the opportunity to try what many of our national friends here have told us is the most tasty way to cook in Papua New Guinea.  In a country where eating pure pig fat is a delicacy, I can tell you I could hardly wait to try this type of cooking.  In the morning I picked up my friend and the two of us went to the large market in town to gather the things we would need.   The market in Goroka is full of hundreds of vendors selling their vegetables and goods.  Every time I go it is an experience.  It is even more interesting when you travel with a local who can teach you a thing or two about the customs of purchasing things in a market.  Contrary to popular belief selling goods is not the most important things to the sellers in a market in PNG.  The most important thing is relationships.  If you quickly purchase goods and move on, you are not really showing yourself to be a good person.  It is much better to compliment the vegetables that they are selling and strike up a bit of a conversation before making the purchase.  I am still in such a mode of trying to be efficient with my time, it is difficult to take time to stop and chat all of the time.  Another thing that is surprising in the market is the importance of helping multiple people make sales.  It is much better to buy a few things from a number of different people than to just find someone selling the best product and buy everything from that one person.  With these things in mind we started to go around and find what we needed.  At this point I was more of a tag-a-long as I had no idea what we really needed.  First we found people selling bamboo for cooking.  There are many types of bamboo in PNG, this type is a large diameter, but with fairly thin walls to it.  You just purchase a single section of bamboo at a time, with one end naturally plugged.  We purchased four pieces of bamboo planning that our family would eat one and take one home, my friend would eat one by himself and take one home.  The next stop was the kumu (greens) area in the market.  There are a crazy number of different types of greens that people eat in this country.  I think that they all taste the same, but my friend seemed to know just how much of each one he was hoping to put into the bamboo.  Some look like fern leaves, others like some sort of a vined plant you may grow in your house as a decoration.  The most impressive is one that is sold as individual leaves.  The leaves are huge and brightly colored.  Some are green, yellow, orange, and red.  It is something very different than I have ever seen before.  After we had purchased more greens than I was sure we could ever eat we stopped by another vendor to buy a number of ginger roots and garlic cloves.  We stopped in town quickly to purchase a little meat to go inside.  My friend was very excited about getting some pork fat, I was feeling a little more like chicken breast.  Once we arrived home I grabbed Kelly and the kids and we headed up to my friends house to prepare the food.  We used a grater to grate the ginger and a knife to peel the garlic cloves and chop them up a bit.  In a bowl we combined the ginger and garlic with some curry powder and salt.  We took the large colorful leaves and used them as a wrapper for a combination of greens, meat and the ginger mix.  Once everything was wrapped into one of the large leaves then we shove it down into the bamboo.  Each bamboo hold about four of these plugs of food.  Once the bamboo is filled the other end is sealed off with a grocery bag.  A small fire was built and the four bamboos full of food were placed on a metal grate over the fire.  For the next hour they were turned regularly so that the bamboo would not burn.  Near the end of the hour the food inside of the bamboo starts to steam.  Once you see steam pouring out of the end of the piece of bamboo you know your food is almost ready.  It was a surprising amount of work to get the whole thing ready.  By the time everything was cooked the sun had gone down.  There was no electricity at my friends house, so I didn’t really get a good look at what it looked like once it had finished cooking, but it was definitely very interesting.  The outer leaf was quite thick and was very chewy.  There was a lot of ginger mixed with the greens, so it really had a bite to it.  Overall it actually tasted quite good and it was very fun to experience a new way to cook.

Eli playing in the laundry sink

It is still hard to believe that when we go to bed at night in our warm covers, just 50 feet outside our home is a family sleeping in a hut who have literally nothing from the outside world.

I (Kelly) have never appreciated the luxury of running water before moving to PNG.  One of Noah’s favorite pastimes is standing at the sink, letting the water trickle as he fills and empties pots and pans… while I stand by with a towel acting as the water police.  It is amazing how much water ends up out of the sink if I am not watching.  The other day we had one of our language helpers and his wife visiting with us outside when I came in to do a few dishes.  Noah REALLY wanted to play at the sink, but I told him he’d have to wait until she left.  I had never thought of what a luxury this would be in the eyes of an outsider…. Just the thought of having running water alone!

Most people living around us own one or two five gallon plastic buckets or containers for carrying water.  If we buy milk, everyone wants our leftover milk carton.  I have seen women carrying water home in cartons like this with a cracked plastic lid because it has been used so many times.  They are still using these broken containers that we would have thrown out a long time ago.  People get drinking water by digging a hole in the ground and catching rainwater or sometimes people will have a tiny seeping spring that comes up from the ground.  They bathe by taking a plastic cup and pouring it over their body while their clothes are still on.  I once saw a family bathe their little baby and then a few minutes later wash their vegetables in the same water.  They don’t even realize that this type of practice can make them very sick.  It is just so much work to get water, none of it is wasted.  Often the women go down to their gardens, find potatoes and greens from their garden, collect water from a nearby stream and find wood for their fire.  They carry all of this (sometimes a 40 minute hike) back to their homes.  Often they have a kid riding on their shoulders too!

I can only compare the PNG lifestyle to camping, but when we camp we have our very cozy sleeping bags and extra-thick inflatables to sleep on!  The weather is getting colder here now, and often at night it can be as low as 45 degrees F.  Often they sleep in their cooking hut where they light a fire to keep warm.  Sometimes people own a blanket, but often they do not.  I was recently asked for a couple of empty cardboard boxes. A family wanted them to make their hut darker for the night and also provide more insulation from the outside.  The huts are made of thatched bamboo walls, but a lot of light comes through.  As the nights and mornings are quite cold now, people are not interested in bathing as often because the water is so cold.

We would appreciate you praying for us as we interact with the people of PNG.  Our greatest concern is seeing these people understand that “It is by grace that we are saved, and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.”  This very concept is very difficult in PNG culture.  You cannot “say sorry” but must “do sorry”.  Just today Mike went to see one of our language helpers who in the past week has had two very sad things happen.  He has been going back and forth to the doctor with his sick daughter and they just figured out that she has dengue fever.  On top of that, yesterday his youngest daughter burned her arm very severely when she fell into a hot frying pan on the fire.  The cultural thing to do in this situation would be to give them some money, or buy them a chicken to tell them how sorry I am for their situation.  This is so different than my culture where I could just share my sympathy using words.

The idea that we have a serious problem of sin and the only solution is the work that Christ has done for us through his death and resurrection, is very difficult for the people of PNG to accept.  Being a “good person” is one of the most important parts of PNG culture, this makes it difficult to accept that Christ’s work on our behalf is a free gift and not earned through the good things that we do.  There is no way we can “do sorry” for the offenses we have done, and there is nothing we can add to the full payment that Christ suffered for us on the cross.  New Tribes does a lot of discipling of new believers so that they do not fall into this trap.  We hope that we can be involved in those discipling relationships when our pidgin speaking gets better.

We are so thankful that we can be part of New Tribes in PNG.  We are focused on building relationships with the national people and would appreciate your prayers as we desire that these friendships will ultimately result in evangelism and the discipleship of young believers.  We may be living in a place where people have nothing, but we know that ultimately the only thing that will ever help these people is the hope we have in Christ.

I got a phone call from the helicopter pilot for New Tribes Mission here in Papua New Guinea asking me if I would like to go along with him on a flight to the Northern coast of Madang province here on the main island of PNG.  Everyday I spend my time struggling to learn the language here in PNG.  What I needed was a good break.  I have not flown now in almost six months, so I jumped at the opportunity.

Ray picked me up at 4:45AM to get the helicopter ready for a sunrise departure.  The weather here in PNG is constantly changing and even though it is a relatively small country, there are very different weather patterns throughout.  We knew that we had to leave early if we were going to make it out of Goroka before the fog rolled in shortly after sunrise.  Ray also knew that on the coast of Madang clouds start rolling in and by noon the clouds are too low to make it back across the mountains.

Mountainous Highlands of PNG

We loaded up the helicopter at the airport here in the highlands and then did a quick pre-flight inspection.  Ray inspects the helicopter the night before so that there are no unexpected surprises in the morning.  We were in the air just as the sun came up.  We took off and started to climb around clouds that were starting to develop.  We had not left a moment too soon.  It was obvious that ten minutes later there would have been so many more clouds that we would not have been able to climb through them and make it over the mountains.  Some of the mountains on the way to the coast are over 15,000 feet.  It is pretty amazing to see how the terrain climbs from the coast.  We had a great trip down.  Ray took the time to introduce me to the many things about flying in PNG that I am going to have to learn when I start flying in the next couple of months.

As we flew over the large mountains it was amazing to see nothing but jungle, waterfalls and the odd little village or lone hut down in the trees or perched on the top of a mountain ridge.  It was impossible to see the foot paths that the people who live in the bush use to get from place to place.  It was wild to fly in a helicopter in such a remote part of the world without any road and to see how many people actually live out there.  It sure makes you wonder if there are still people here who have never seen white skin before or who have not had any interaction with the outside world.  The mountains are so rugged that there are not many places you could even set the helicopter down.  When missionaries move into a tribe that is situated in terrain that is too rugged for an airstrip, they must clear enough of an area for a helicopter pad.  Sometimes it can be quite the hike from the village to even find a place suitable to build a helipad.

Pilot Ray

As we descended towards the coastline on the horizon, I was shocked to feel the humidity increasing like crazy.  We were on the ground in Madang before 7:30AM and it was already very hot and sticky.  What a change from the highlands where we live.  Since this was a last minute trip, I had completely forgotten about the malaria they have down the coast.  I was thankful that the sun was out and it was hot.  The mosquitoes had hidden themselves away until later in the evening, so I was safe.  New Tribes has a number of support staff who live on the coast to help with the numerous jobs involved in supporting all of these remote missionaries in the bush.  As we touched down in a grassy field we were quickly met by a van that pulled up close to the helicopter.  The helicopter never shut down.  Ray locked off the controls so that they wouldn’t move and we hopped out to help with loading the cargo.  We filled all of the cargo areas in the helicopter.  This Bell Long Ranger helicopter has only been used by NTM for less than a year.  Before we had this we had a shorter Jet Ranger.  Often the cargo would not fit inside of the smaller helicopter and would need to be put in a net and slung underneath.  Anytime a helicopter slings cargo, it’s speed is severely limited.  This larger helicopter can usually fit all of the cargo internally saving a lot of time and money when we are able to fill it up.

Once we finished loading the cargo there was not enough weight available for me to ride along.  Ray took off to deliver the cargo.  This gave me a good chance to meet many of my co-workers who live and work in a different region of the country.  It was very exciting to get an overview of what the Lord has been doing in the Madang region of the country.  It is one of the newest areas that NTM has started to work in PNG.  Some of the tribes are hearing a clear gospel message for the first time and they are seeing many putting their faith in Christ along for their salvation.  This has been very exciting for everyone.

Preparing the helicopter for loading cargo

When Ray returned he landed the helicopter in a field close to the ocean.  He had picked up one missionary who was in the tribe and needed to get back to the highlands.  This man has been in PNG for many years, but has never ridden in the helicopter.  This was how I got stuck in the back.  If anyone ever tells you that the backseat is as good as the front, they are lying to you!  Looking at the back of two people’s heads does not compare to seeing mountain peaks pass under your feet.  I was thrilled to be able to go along and to go for a flight where I was not responsible for flying.  It was fun to be able to just sit there and take in the beauty of all of the amazing scenery without having the responsibility of keeping the helicopter under control as well.

Right now we are busy learning language until the end of June at the earliest.  It may even take me the month of July to be proficient enough.  As a pilot here I need to learn the language well.  I will be landing in remote places and the missionaries are not always there to meet me.  Usually one of the national people will know how to speak the local trade language that I am learning.  This will be invaluable for the rest of my career here.  The aviation department sees this as very valuable and are willing to let me take the time to do this.

The coast of the Madang Province, PNG

Once language is finished in the next couple of months I will start with the aviation department.  First on the agenda will be to get me licensed to fly in Papua New Guinea.  I will need to travel to the capitol city of Port Moresby to accomplish this.  When we first arrived they were still deciding what aircraft they would like me to fly.  They have decided that their biggest need is for me to help with the helicopter program.  There is a lot of work involved in that and currently their pilot, Ray, is the only person handling everything.  He would really like to have some help.  I am excited about this opportunity, but there are a number of things that still need to be figured out.  The aviation department is still discussing how they should go about training me here.  There is a checkout involved for me to learn how to safely fly here for them here in PNG.  I will learn the weather, all of the tribal locations, and the landmarks needed for navigation in such a remote rugged country.  They would like Ray to train me since he is a veteran pilot here in PNG and has a lot of experience.  He has his instructor rating in America, but he would need to get his instructor rating issued here in PNG in order to train me.  This test would need to be taken in our large helicopter.  He would need to do some practice flying and take the checkride.  They are looking at a cost of $20,000.00 for this training he would need.  Since we are a non-profit missions agency flying primarily for missionaries and nationals of this country, we operate for the cost of fuel and parts for the helicopter.  We do not have money set aside to pay for this sort of expensive training that comes up.  The aviation department is waiting to see if the Lord provides the money through donations for Ray’s training before they are going to proceed with training me.  We are praying that this money would come in while we are finishing language here so as to not delay me starting.  You can be praying that the Lord would provide for these needs.

One thing that we have learned since arriving in Papua New Guinea is that things are not always as they appear on the surface.  People may be friendly and appear happy, but below the surface many are full of fear.  I have noticed little things as I make friends around the area we live.  I was inside one of my friend’s huts and I noticed an old Coca-cola bottle half full of water hanging from the roof above the doorway.  It is easy to miss these sorts of things, so I took the opportunity to ask my friend what his Coke bottle was doing there.  At first he told me it was drinking water inside, but a few minutes later he admitted that he believed that it protected him and his family while they were inside of his house from evil spirits and other evil forces that could be sent by someone wanting to cause him trouble.  As I walk around and learn language I have noticed that many people call themselves Christians, own a Bible, and attend church regularly only to find out their their lives are controlled by fear of evil spirits.  It is very important to be a “good” person here.  If enemies are made or you don’t handle yourself in an appropriate way, you are opening yourself up to potential problems.  When there are disagreements it is common that one of the arguing parties will find themselves a sorcerer.   The disgruntled party will hire the services of this “poison man” who will come and use words, touch, or even actual poison to cause the person targeted to die.  Every death is suspect in PNG.  Once the family is satisfied that it was definitely not the work of a poison man, they can relax.  As long as there is a suspicion of “poison” being worked, they will do whatever it takes to find out who was responsible and see revenge for their relative.  Revenge involves usually taking the life of that person and destroying their property, animals, and sometimes even relatives.  I bet you thinking that it is pretty wild that this occurs in some remote locations of the world in this day and age.  You will be surprised to hear that this happens close to our house, along side a paved highway, just outside of a large town.  Where we live is not even that remote.

Recently we heard about a true story that is a good example of what I have been talking about.  In one of the tribes where NTM works, there is a Bible teacher and a faithful Christian man.  This man is very close to the missionary who has been working with them for years in the tribe.  One week ago the two year old nephew of this man drowned.  The child was unsupervised and fell into a hole that had filled with rainwater.  The neglectful parents of this child contributed to this terrible accident.  The trouble is that no one sees this as an accident or neglect.  They are deeply convinced that this is an act of sorcery.  In this tribe when there is suspected sorcery, they always blame a family member.  This tribe believes that sorcery is always the cause for these tragedies unless the person is very old.  This time they have blamed this faithful Christian man as the sorcerer.  Of course he is innocent, but that does not mean anything in this tribe.  They have many silly things that they do to “divine” who the sorcerer is.  An incident like this can quickly escalate into violence.  Often they will torture the accused person, burn down their house and steal their property.  Murdering the accused is also not uncommon.  The missionary is sitting with his faithful Christian friend now encouraging him.  Please join us in praying for this man who is facing such a serious accusation.  Pray that this situation would not escalate into violence and would somehow work out in a way that would glorify God.

Sometimes in these situations, the accused can be taken to court over the accusation that they worked sorcery.  There is no evidence other than the testimony of a witch doctor who claims to know who caused it.  Often the judge will side with the “victims” and charge the accused.  They will face fines and prison.  One missionary recently attended one of these trials and afterwords talked to the judge about the lack of evidence.  The judge admitted that their was not much evidence, but he was really saving the accused life.  If he did not find the man guilty and satisfy the family then the individual would certainly face death in the hands of an angry mob after the trial.

There are so many things that excite us about being in Papua New Guinea.  The only way out of this life of fear is by truly trusting Christ alone for salvation.