"Better than a movie!" Djaul Island Building Project

"Are you afraid?" I asked my foreman Norm. Sheepishly he admitted, "Yeah a little." Most of my crew are from the mountains and have spent very little time on or even near the ocean.

I secretly wondered if the heavy rainstorm could actually capsize one of our seemingly overloaded boats. It looked to be completely blocking our course, but our drivers seemed concerned yet confidently driving straight at the edge of it. The hope was that it would slide to our left, but a second storm was showing up to our right and looking to  merge with the bigger storm. 

It had taken so much work to get to this point. The fruits of many months of planning were in 6 dinghies, 23ft long, with 40 horsepower Evinrude engines on each one. Each boat was trying to navigate the open ocean on their own, even though we were together. We did end up getting wet, but squeezed through the weakest point in the storm.  That's how we started this 3.5-week village build on Djaul Island, way off the coast of the Papua New Guinea mainland but only 2-3 hours from Kavieng, in New Ireland.

Transferring everything from the trucks to the boats before the final leg.

The storm looked ominous when we left, even to the boat captains, it seemed.

 

The biggest challenge to building a classroom/Bible translation building is the preparation and getting materials to the worksite. Lumber was cut and milled locally many months before. The villagers selected only Taun wood and Kwila wood for the project. Both are really nice hardwoods, with Kwila having more weather resistant oils. It was great for the foundation work, veranda, and stairs. Almost all the hardware was purchased and sent by us on a huge ship just a month before. The 20-ft. container was packed with hardware and materials, some of which will also be used on a future building project on the same island in 2024. 

I was so encouraged by the people on Djaul Island! They were a great example of what a united community looks like. They were so friendly and helpful to us at every turn. They took care of our every need and fed us really well! They are strong believers and are excited to work hard on translating the Bible into their own language. I know they will make fast progress based on what I see in their translation team. 

We left the office mostly complete but still lacking some interior work and all the solar equipment, which was delayed out of Australia. It will be finished when we go out again in April 2024. 

The village of Piliwa, where we built, is on Djaul Island and sits in this gorgeous cove.

These adorable kids were covered with sand from playing at the beach, but also wanted to help with delivering the supplies.

Good progress for day 3! 

Joe and I lay out the trusses.

Larry Kraus joined us for the middle of the project and was a big help building trusses and being a cut man for the guys. 

It was common for an audience to congregate everyday.

I asked one guy if it was like watching a movie and he said, "It's better than a movie!"

Celebrating on the day of the building dedication.

Field trip!! These kids came from a neighboring village with their teacher just to see the village.

Chocolate chip starfish arranged by me and then put back in the water.
This island had the most beautiful reefs and sea life! 

One of the few places I could get a cell signal from the "mainland".
It took a 15 min hike to get there to call Laura. Awful spot, right?

Typical breakfast just like at home: Donuts with fish over potatoes!

"Puka" crash-landed on our jobsite and is now a family pet here in the Highlands. This guy caught it and gave it to me as a gift. It is a baby Red-knobbed Imperial Pigeon. "Puka" means "fell down" in the local language. 

Pastor Solomon and Alois were such a huge help!

Jessie and Rebekah did a great job planning this project.

The Papuan Hornbill (Blyth's) is known locally as a Kokomo. It is a super-friendly and amusing bird.
This really didn't hurt.  He feels with his beak.

The first kids I saw in Piliwa. I love their smiles.

I even got to do some fishing with hand lines! They call these Skipjack Tuna.

Yeah, we were all exhausted!

Andrew Good was the mastermind behind all our electrical and plumbing.
He also fixed everything that broke and planed 1,000's of linear feet of lumber.
 Here we are heading home - the best feeling in the world!

Jessie and Rebekah live in a very remote place but it is as beautiful as it is remote!

Toby was gifted a puppy, which was welcomed by this giant Doberman on a stopover at our regional center in Kavieng.