Newsletter of Missionaries John & Jeanette Eggert - APRIL
GOD RECONCILING US TO HIMSELF THROUGH CHRIST AND GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
April 29, 1995
Dear Friends
THE RIP VAN WINKLE EFFECT!
You read right, THE RIP VAN WINKLE EFFECT. Remember? He slept for 20 years and then woke up to find things not as they were when he had gone to sleep. We recently had former missionaries visit us who used that phrase to describe their experiences.
Ed and Phyllis Dicks arrived in PNG in 1954, worked here for 20 years and then returned to the U. S. in 1974. Obviously they had been back to the U. S. to visit and had heard news from around the world. However, when they returned to the U. S. to live permanently, it was no longer the place they remembered! It had changed and they had changed!
Now, 21 years later, they returned to PNG for a visit and THE RIP VAN WINKLE EFFECT struck again. PNG had changed. We heard them use words which we never hear because the pidgin language has changed. The roads are less up and down but rougher than they remembered. The fact that there are chainlink fences and security guards in many (most) areas is unbelievable for them. The fact that we had to stop on the road to pay a "toll" for a place where some people had supposedly cleared a land slide off the road was incomprehensible for them. PNG has changed!
Yet on another level their return visit was very good. They had an opportunity to visit with former workers and colleges - a11 Papua New Guineans since all the missionaries who were here when they were here have left PNG. There were many joyful reunions. There were many incidents recalled and retold. The history of the work in those early years came alive for a few days as the Dicke's shared with the current staff what it was like when they were here.
The time they spent with us was a blessing. We appreciate once again the effort which was put in by those who traversed these mountains before us and who loved these people (and still love them) as we have grown to love them. We thank God for the seed sown by the Dicke's during their time here and their encouraging words for us as they left.
1995 STAFF RETREAT
Our annual staff retreat was the Week after Easter, April 19-23. The retreat this year had a couple of things we would like to note for you.
The first is the Bible Study program we used. The program is called Crossways. The main purpose of Crossways is to tie together the various stories throughout the Bible and help people see the overall scriptural focus on how God fulfilled his promise to send a Messiah. The unique thing about the program is that each lesson graphically illustrated in a very catchy way. The illustrations are helpful in remembering the story and will be very useful in PNG - especially among people with limited reading skills.
The second thing is the changes in staff we have had in a year. Of the 14 adults at the retreat six were not with us last year and seven do not plan to be at our next retreat. (Hopefully there will be seven, or more, others!) As the number of short term missionaries increase and the number of "career" missionaries decrease (at least in PNG) the staff is continually changing.
We thank God for the time we had together and for the people he has provided to work in PNG.
In Christ,
John & Jeanette Eggert
P.O. Box 363
Wabag, Enga Province
Papua New Guinea