"We haven't forgotten you!" - A trip to Pano

Hi friends! Josh Miller here.

It’s been a while since Autumn and I have shared a blog update, although if you are part of our facebook group, hopefully you’ve been getting some of our smaller updates and pictures on there. (If you aren’t part of your facebook group, well, this is your reminder to go find “Millers in PNG” and join it!)

Last week, we were so thankful that God opened up the door for us to take a trip into Pano.

The primary purpose for this trip was to get to touch base with the Pano people and specifically the leaders in several villages, and to let them know that we haven’t forgotten about them, even though our team has faced several delays for moving forward into house building.

   

You guys have heard us share for several months about our hopes for starting house building this year. Honestly, we’re really sad and disappointed to say that isn’t going to happen. We’re working right now on an update to share with you all next month in which we hope to give some more details/explanation and also share a little bit of our hearts with you guys. Just being transparent, it’s been a hard year in several ways, and in the midst of the delays of this past year, we’ve had to continue to counsel our own hearts as we trust that God is in control of every aspect of this ministry, including the timing for moving forward into housebuilding.

And He loves the Pano people even more than we do!! 

We know that. But they don’t know that yet. 

And we don’t want the Pano people to be concerned that they’ve been forgotten or that our priorities have changed. 

So this visit was a chance to spend as much time with as many people as we could and reaffirm that we care about them, and are excited for the day when we can come live with them.

I did so much talking during the visit that I started to lose my voice, but I was grateful because even the inconvenience of a hoarse voice was proof that we were accomplishing what we set out to do, spending lots of time visiting with them and expressing care for them along with repeatedly expressing that we had not forgotten about them, which in Tok Pisin is “Mipela no lus tingting lo yupela.”  

Another part of the purpose for this trip was to allow Sara and Michele to go into Pano for the first time so they could see the villages and more importantly to meet the people that we intend to serve by reaching them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We were disappointed that Lord had other plans for Michele and allowed her to get quite sick with malaria 2 days for the trip, so she wasn’t able to go with us. But we were thankful that Sara could go along on this trip!

So early in the morning around 4:30am on Sunday, Sara Noyes, Autumn and I traveled to the boat dock in town and loaded up all of the supplies and luggage, including a huge 220 liter (58 gallons) drum of fuel.

We picked our skipper and his son at an island just a couple of minutes away, and the five of us set out on the 5+ hour trip on the ocean to Pano.

Arriving in Pano, Autumn and I both thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the familiar faces of people that we hadn’t seen for quite a while who are even now becoming friends that we long to see again next time.

We also got the chance to get to know some new friends on this trip, and it is so much fun and also very encouraging when we can “hit it off” with a new friend.  Andrew is one new friend that I enjoyed spending extra time with on this trip. 

At one point I told him that I wanted to come visit him at his house in the afternoon. Later that day, Autumn and I walked around until we found his house, and after our visit, Autumn told me that Andrew’s wife told her that Andrew was so excited all day and kept telling his wife and kids “My friend is coming to my house today to see me. I have to be ready because my friend is going to come.” When we rounded the corner in the path that leads to his house, it was such a joy to see him light up with a huge smile! 

It is in those moments that we long so much for the day when we can present the gospel to each one of these dear people in their own heart language, and Lord willing, not only be able to call them friends, but brothers and sisters in Christ.

During out time in Pano, we had lots of meetings with “big men” (what they call the leaders and influential men) in three different villages. I explained some of the reasons that our team has been delayed and assured them that we haven’t forgotten about them. 

The leaders were all very receptive and encouraging, explaining that they know Covid is affecting our plans, and they understand that we are waiting on other people to come and help us. They all are “wanbel” (unified) and just waiting for the time when we come to start house building. This is one of the seasons when it is blessing that the PNG culture is not time or schedule oriented. These people aren’t overly bothered by the delays that have come up (although we certainly feel the urgency of the message we want to share with them). Since they are a relational culture, they appreciated and affirmed that it was the right choice for us to come see them and spend time visiting, so that everyone in the villages could be reminded of why we want to come live and work among them.

Thank you all so much for your prayers for us, each day, but specifically on these kind of trips which bring unique challenges. There is always so much potential for complications on these trips out on the ocean, and almost every time, we end up dealing with some of those things, which remind us of how little of control we actually have of our circumstances. This causes my mind to reflect on James 4:13-17 and Proverbs 16:9 as I remind myself that we are not the ones in control of our circumstances. Ultimately, It is the Lord who works all things after the council of His will (Eph. 1:11).

Check out these pictures for a look into other parts of the trip, as well as some of the preparation details for the trip and some other work that we’ve been up to in the past several months.

 

Before this trip to Pano, it happened to be time to clean the barnacles off the bottom
of the small boat our mission team has for going back and forth from Pano.
Even with lots of help from national friends, this cleaning event
took most of a day before it was all said and done.

Prepping for a trip also includes planning for how much food we need; purchasing the gifts for the people who host us in their houses while we're in Pano; putting together a robust medical kit so as to be prepared for medical issues that may arise; prepping all the boat supply’s including 225 liters of fuel to get there and back; setting up, updating and testing GPS’s so we have a means to track our position and text via satellite while we are on these trips; lining up an experienced local skipper to pilot the boat for the trip. 

Pile is a teenage girl who helped to care for us and cook for us
during this visit. Here she is just coming back from collecting coconut husks
that will be used as "firewood" for cooking. 

A couple of guys from the Ndo tribe (where another FV team just presented
the gospel this year) were in town and came to our mission center.
How sweet to get to meet a couple of guys who are most likely
brand new believers in the new church in Ndo. 

Here are a couple of mature believers from the Mibu church
who were in townand stayed at our center's guesthouse.
It's amazing to get to visit with nationaltribal believers and glean wisdom
from themas we move toward starting our ministry in Pano. 

Autumn and Michele's PNG "watch mama and papa" came to visit us at our center. 

Last month, I finished painting and coating all of the trim
and shelving for our tribal house. 

We've had a couple of care packages that made it to us, and those are always so special!
Thank you to the Gibsonburg Chapel for sending this care package to us!
(And yes, in the picture, I'm holding Chick-fil-a sauce, which was appropriately labeled "Liquid Gold!!"

The last of the lumber for our house in Pano arrived last month, FINALLY!
We ordered it over 9 months ago,
so it has been an adventure actually trying to get it. 

Working on the house plans for our teammate, Michele is one of our weekly tasks.
We decided to go into town and enjoy a little AC at a local restaurant while we worked. 

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update.
Click HERE to find out more about who we are and our ministry.
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