A Real Broken Arm

Day 1: Mae is running and playing with our coworkers' daughter, falls in our church area and lands on a big log we use for seating. We look at it and can tell that it is obviously broken.

Day 2: The helicopter and pilot are already in Hewa because our other coworkers are moving in and we are also bringing in a tractor that was donated to us by Friends in Action for our airstrip. Mae and I fly in the chopper to a neighboring village (the nearest airstrip). Next we get on a plane and go into another village where our friends were flying out to Goroka that same day. A pilot from Goroka comes to pick us all up and we fly in. Mae and I go directly to the clinic. She is x-rayed and gets a cast. We spend the night with some sweet friends who were willing to put us up for the night on very short notice.

Day 3: Mae and I fly to Wewak. We spend the night and get to go in the next morning with our coworkers who are moving in for the first time. Fellow missionaries here prepare a place for us to stay and make sure we have meals.

Day 4: (tomorrow) We plan on flying into the nearest village airstrip and the chopper pilot will come pick us up later that morning.

In case you weren't keeping track that is two helicopter flights, and 4 plane flights in 4 days. Sometimes I think all this flying around for medical stuff is just God trying to get me over my fear of flying. I think He is tired of hearing me scream in my heart like the disciples on the boat in the middle of the storm every time we take-off. Tomorrow I am going to do my best on those flights, so that maybe this little lesson can be over.

Seriously, though. I do sometimes wonder why in the world we are having so much medical drama, and I realized that it is just life. Kids get hurt all the time. Over half the ladies I know have had to have some sort of lump checked. And a surprising number of people we know have cut parts (or all) of their appendages off. It is just that when you live in a remote location in a third world country with very limited medical care it becomes more complicated and dramatic than normal. But with all this I have truly come to appreciate the medical team that is here. Without them even a broken arm and severed thumb would send us to Australia.

I am also truly thankful for the pilots who work like crazy everyday flying us in and out of these remote locations. And I am thankful for the missionaries who run guest houses, so we have places to stay. And all the "support" missionaries who do crazy things just to keep us in the tribes. I am thankful for the Body of Christ. The Brains. The Eyes. The Arms. The Hearts. The Muscles. The Legs. The Feet. They help us everyday and show what it means to move and work as one. In One.

My dear friends and fellow missionaries have supported us and helped us have peace through every one of these little trials. I really don't know what we would do without them. I am so glad the Lord planned on us needing each other, and makes us dependent on one another everyday. It is definitely at a gateway to unity.

"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful." Colossians 3:15

Yes, Lord. I will always be thankful.