A New Airstrip

The Papua New Guineans in the very remote village of Megau have been working for many years to finish an airstrip. This is the only way they can travel out of the area and will allow them to get goods and supplies into the village that they have not had access to before. An SIL translation has been in progress in this language area for many years. With an open airstrip, we hope someday Bibles in their language will be brought in by airplane!

On Friday, I made my third visit to Megau in the helicopter, bringing two other pilots, Jonathan Federwitz and James Nelson. We checked the progress of their work and the surveying pilot in charge decided it was ready for an airplane to land. While we were there, the people were very excited to show us the work they had done and were dressed up in traditional "bilas" (decorations)-- faces painted, bird of paradise feathers on their heads, tree branches and leaves around the waist, pig tusks around their necks, etc.

I took the two pilots back to their plane at another airstrip 9 miles away and they returned to do the first landing. It was a big day for the Megau people.

I continued on from there to deliver 3 different single women to their areas where they are doing translation and literacy work in the northern part of PNG.

This picture below is the Sepik River, a large river running for hundreds of miles starting in the rugged mountains and then traveling through severe swampland. The only practical ways to travel long distances is by the river (filled with crocodiles) or by air.