Proof of God’s love at work

By MALUM NALU
Siobhain Coles, a member of the Mission Aviation Fellowship PNG disaster relief team, witnessed heartwarming scenes at Queen’s Park in Mt Hagen last Thursday.
That was when many local churches gathered together to donate goods for those affected by the earthquake.
There were cabbages, sweet potatoes, clothes, blankets and cash donations all from their local congregations.
“They are giving out of what little they have to those people who have nothing just a few hundred kilometres away from where they live,” Coles said.
“They are neighbours, they are brothers and sisters.
“And they are wanting to share whatever they can.
“It was a privilege to be able to be there, and see people bring even just a small bag containing one blouse or a few sweet potatoes wanting to bless other people.
“And it is also a privilege to be a part of the disaster response team and the MAF PNG operations team, so we are able to send as much of these vegetables on some of our flights to the worst affected areas as a result of the earthquake.
“It was humbling to see local people, who have very little themselves, giving a few clothes, a few cabbages from their garden, whatever they can spare, to bless those bush people who have even less than them.”
Coles felt like she was watching the widow at the temple from the story in the Bible, Luke 21: 1-4:“As Jesus looked up, he saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘Truly I tell you,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’.”
Mandy Glass, MAF PNG’s communications officer, was also touched by the goodwill shown by the people of Mt Hagen and Western Highlands.
“It was amazing and very touching to see people arriving one by one with a bilum full of fresh produce or other donations, as well as individual cars and buses arriving with big bags of kaukau or cabbage,” she reflects.
“Everyone arriving was welcomed by some sort of cheering and hand clapping by the pastors and their wives overseeing the event.
“Some men were continuously busy re-packing the fresh produce into huge bags and making sure that they are sewed together properly for safe transportation.
“During the three hours I was at the Queen’s Park many different churches brought their congregations’ donations.”
MAF started flying these donations to the affected areas straight away.
The fresh produce went on flights immediately last Friday and the remaining donations this week.
Glass said this initiative to get local people involved assisting the earth-quake stricken areas started with a God-given idea by someone who knew first-hand how it was when a natural disaster like a strong earthquake shook up people’s lives.
Philip Brewster, who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, and who closely follows MAF PNG on social media commented on a post about its first relief flights: “That’s awesome. Can someone near Mt Hagen use a truck to collect donations of food from the local villages to give to the worst-hit areas through MAF?
“Let’s say, if a church in the Baiyer River valley had an idea of encouraging the villages to bring what they want to give to the road pick-up areas on a certain day, to bring them to you.
“Could you then pack it and fly it out?
“It’s easy to see 10-plus reasons why it’s ridiculous and wouldn’t work in a timely manner.
“But I was hoping one person with faith would ask God how to make it work.
“Think what it would do for rival villages to work together for their own people.
“Even though they themselves are poor.”
Glass said this very idea was passed on to the MAF PNG disaster response team as a nice idea but difficult to make happen.
“MAF simply does not to have the people or resources to put this into action,” she said.
“However, the commitment had been made that if someone obtains the goods and gets them to MAF then we will fly them.
“MAF has received some funding to pay for the transport to the places if people get us the cargo.
“So the idea was further delegated to Kambowa Kukuwa, MAF PNG’s mission and ministry team coordinator.”
Kukuwa takes up the story: “It was on Tuesday, March 13, when I was at the Ministers’ Fraternal (town pastors’) meeting at the United Church when Rev Joshua shared the devotion from Psalm 139:13-14. ‘We are fearfully and wonderfully made’.
“After the devotion Pastor Daniel Wek, the Ministers’ Fraternal chairman invited me to share about the recent earthquake and what MAF was doing for the victims.
“I told them that the recent earthquake has displaced a lot of people whom God has made.
“Their gardens (food source) and houses have been destroyed and now many of them gather at care centres and thus they are in great need of help.”
Glass said this prompted the pastors to take ownership and to volunteer to organise a donation gathering at Mt Hagen, knowing that MAF could transport vegetables, sweet potatoes, bananas, sugar canes, taros as well as blankets, pots, etc.
““The ministers got excited about the opportunity,” continued Kambowa, “and said MAF has done well and we should do something that will further strengthen our church-MAF partnership for our people.
“Then they agreed to carry out a campaign among their church congregations and the general community for donations.”
Wek also expressed gratitude to MAF for making it possible for the transportation of the goods to the affected communities.
“MAF is based here in Hagen but we (the local churches) have never realised the importance of their existence in this part of the world until this incident happened,” he said.
“The churches will now build on from what we do today and foster a good partnership with MAF.”
In receiving the donation, Kukuwa thanked the churches for their good deeds.
MAF administration manager, Eric Eribiang, who also witnessed the Queen’s Park event, closed the gathering by expressing: “MAF and the local churches are partners in the work of God.
“This donation campaign is a clear demonstration of partnership in action.
“MAF is the bridge to help the needy out there.
“MAF should be seen as the middleman between the donors and the recipients, those affected out there.”
Far away in New Zealand Philip Brewster, when seeing the first pictures on the MAF PNG social media page about the donation campaign, commented: “Yes, God gave me the idea but you wonderful people made it happen.
“My prayers for PNG are that the churches will lead the way in showing love and empathy outside their own villages, especially to their old enemies so God’s glory and grace will be known through his people.
“Thank you so much for doing God’s work in PNG even more than we know.
“I couldn’t be there but you were making it real.”