On May 22nd Brody, Jen and Evan Pav moved into their house in Mamusi. As a team they hosted a huge “thank you” party for 1200+ Mamusi on July 16th. This month they hope to finish the airstrip renovation. In September, they will kick off the next phase of our ministry: Mamusi culture and language acquisition.
For the Pavs, writing this from their finished house in Mamusi feels surreal. For so many years, they waited, prayed, and prepared, believing that God would make a way for them to serve somewhere in the bush in PNG. Such a huge milestone. Praise God for His direction and provision throughout this process.
As a thank you to the community for all their help during house building, as a team they planned for the biggest party their Mamusi friends have ever seen! On July 16th, over 1200 Mamusi from 25 villages gathered to celebrate the completion of the two missionary houses. A party of this scale takes weeks of preparation — building new sleeping houses, cooking houses, meeting houses, digging new toilets, carrying stones from the river for cooking, cutting bamboo for benches, cutting and carrying firewood for all the extra guests, gathering garden food, organising cooking teams…it was a huge amount of work.
It all came together and after everyone had feasted, Brody and co-worker Chris spoke: they shared again their motivation for partnering with the Mamusi church — to see them understand God’s Word clearly and grow to maturity in their faith. Then the party really got started. They hosted a series of games, splitting the group into three separate teams. Games like a three-legged race, human wheelbarrow, a potato-peeling race, and several more. It was a great time and the laughter and joy experienced together as a community was something they won’t soon forget.
The next priority is to work alongside the community to see the airstrip renovation finished. Last year the community finished about 75% of the work. Now, the team have the opportunity of working alongside them to complete the project so that they will have an easily maintainable airstrip for years to come. Aviation support is their lifeline in the village because they are a two-day hike from the nearest road. Pray for strength, wisdom, and stamina for all involved, and that this project can be completed before their resupply flights in September.
As a team they hope to finish the airstrip project completely within three weeks — cutting gravel out from the mountain and laying it on the runway, fixing the slope on the airstrip, and digging two cross drains.
On September 7th, they will celebrate another big milestone in Mamusi — their Culture and Language Acquisition (CLA) kickoff! One of the mission’s CLA consultants will meet with them and the community for a few days, to raise awareness for what this language learning process will look like over the next two to four years. Pray for wisdom and focus for us as they prepare to kick off the next season of their ministry here in Mamusi: becoming fluent in the Mamusi language and culture!