Urgent Staffing Need – Update

Back in July I blogged (Urgent Staffing Need) about an urgent staffing need in our Finance Department here in Papua New Ginea (PNG), and how I have been helping out part-time in the Finance Department to try and ease the shortage.  Thank you so much for your prayers in this. Since then, the Finance Department has been surviving/scraping by thanks to the help of various volunteers from Australia who have been able to help out for a handful of weeks here and there.  Another translator, like myself, has also put aside their translation program for the time being in order to full a critical management role in the Department.

Now I am happy to report that we were able to hire two Papua New Guineans to come work in the finance department long term.  They will be filling two much needed staff positions and will also be taking over the work that I have been doing which will allow me to again concentrate entirely on our translation program. They arrive two days before I leave for the village, and so I will have one day, the day right before I leave for the village, to train them in what I have been doing.

Here is another bridge that collapsed earlier this year on the same road.

However, we have just learned that a main bridge on the only road that leads here has just collapsed.  This is the road that one of the new hires will be arriving on, and it will be weeks, if not months, before it will be passable again.  The new hire could most likely cross the river on foot and then catch a bus the rest of the way.  However, he is moving to the area in order to work with us and so he will have all of his cargo with him as well.  If he decides to cross the river on foot, he will need to know someone in the area near the bridge collapse who can look after their cargo or else it will most likely all be stolen. This whole situation will now obviously delay the arrival of this new hire.

Another picture of the bridge that collapsed earlier this year on the same road.

Thank you so much for lifting up these needs to our all-sovereign, all-knowing, and all-powerful God. Your prayers have been much appreciated. Please however continue to pray for more finance staff. In July we will be losing at least one more person in a critical managerial position in the Department as he returns home for his scheduled home assignment. Pray that God would provide in His perfect timing. Pray also that God would sort out the arrival of the new hire coming from the direction of the bridge collapse.  Lastly, pray that I would get everything done in preparation for leaving for the village a day earlier so that I can train these new hires on the day before I leave and not be too stressed.

Rain

New lush green growth fences in a foot path.

It has started raining again in many parts of PNG. Thank you for your many prayers. This week it rained almost every night so our water tank is now full on a regular basis, sometimes even overflowing, and people can start planting their gardens again. However, continue to pray as the main staple, kaukau (sweet potato), takes several months to mature. Until then, people will be subsisting mainly off of greens and bananas.  Additionally, some places in PNG are still in a severe drought especially in the south and western parts of PNG where people have very small amounts of remaining water and what little water they do have is very poor quality. There is some food remaining, but nothing new is growing, so the future is looking difficult still for these areas.

Patchwork of newly planted gardens.

New Kaukau (sweet potato) leaves.

Newly planted Kaukau (sweet potato) garden.