Mountain Climbing

The rain is pouring down, but the umbrella is useless since I need a stick in my hand so that I don't fall all the way down the mountain.    I give the umbrella to someone who is more sure footed.  Now drenched, slipping and sliding and falling down the mountain in turn, I reflect on the reason I went up the mountain in the first place.  My husband and son are in Port Moresby for a supply run.  Our cell phone service is out so I go up the mountain to try to get high enough to reach a different tower.  I miss talking to my husband, so I do something that  I would not ordinarily choose to do!

That day at the top of the mountain, I was to be disappointed.  The call would not stay connected for more than 15-30 seconds.  It was hard to get it to connect again, only to be disconnected after 15-30 seconds.  After trying for an hour in the pouring down rain and only talking a minute or two all total, I give up and head back home.  I at least know that he is safe and he knows we are fine.

Two days later, still no signal so I repeat the trip up the mountain.  This time instead of rain dripping off of me it is sweat.  As I climb, hardly able to catch my breath, I think this thought, Love is a strong motivator.  Right behind that thought the verse, " ..The Love of Christ constraineth us.." 2 Corinthians  5:14.   

This leads me to think of why we are in Papua New Guinea!  To win the lost at any cost.  Though climbing the mountain does not directly link to leading a soul to Christ, it does give me a little insight into these people's lives.  They climb mountains every day.  They live on the sides of these mountains.  They go down to the market with heavy loads of fruits and vegetables, never slipping and falling as I did with nothing in my hands or on my back.  Maybe just the fact that I attempted such a feat might bring someone out to church which could lead them to Christ.  To be honest  though, I was doing it for more selfish reasons than that.  I wanted to talk to my hubby!

At the top of the mountain this day, I was again to be disappointed at first by the repeating cycle of the previous trip.  At least it was sunny on this morning.  Samuel, my 12 year old son, volunteers to climb the beetlenut  tree to see if he can reach a stronger signal than I could.  It was pretty funny as he is climbing a tree that has no branches.  He has the phone in his cargo pocket.  He has dialed it and he is climbing.  Mark answers.  So I start talking to him from underneath Samuel.  Samuel is able to stand on our national PNG helper, Sidon's, shoulders.   I talked this way for several minutes before it cut out.  I was able to get more information about what he had been doing and what time the flight was scheduled to leave the next day.

As I returned down the mountain, I was so thankful in my heart that God allowed me the chance to talk to my mate.  We really function best as a team.  It is difficult to be apart, but we learn different lessons every time it happens.

It was a great blessing when just a few hours later the service returned to us at our house.  Best of all, Mark made it back safely and is here with me again.  I so enjoy working side by side with my love!