Madang or Bust!

 The time is finally here!! On Monday I am flying to Madang to do medical outreach for the next seven weeks! It has been twenty months since the last medical outreach, so this is a MASSIVE breakthrough! Our medical team has been onboard the ship for the last three weeks, preparing for outreach and helping out on the ship and boosting the community. We’ve had an amazing time getting to know each other, building relationships with locals and crew onboard, and they’ve honestly been such a blessing to me.

In early July I was looking at the outreach plans, and they seemed so hopeless. The nation had just instituted a 21-day quarantine, I had no leads, the ship’s surveys were being delayed AGAIN. I was having doubts about whether the outreach would even go ahead, and I was googling flights back to Canada for September; but in one of my quiet times one morning, the Lord whispered “you’re going to do medical outreach this year”. It was all I had to hold onto, and I am just BLOWN AWAY by the Lord’s faithfulness!

Seven people came from around the world to serve, and ALL of them got exemptions to quarantine for just one week. We spent 6 weeks looking for accommodations for our team, hitting every road block, so many dead ends, nothing would fit into our budget, and then suddenly I had an offer for accommodation that was below our budget, and was way more spacious and comfortable than anything that I was expecting! 

Again, I was praying for funding, so that we would be able to air freight medical supplies to Madang, and we got connected with a YWAMer who is the media and marketing manager for one of the domestic airlines. They agreed to partner with us, and gave us FREE air freight for our medical supplies! Not only that, they are providing discounted airfare on the way back! 

The Lord has just blown away my expectations, and I can hardly believe that just 3 months ago, I was worrying about whether the outreach would even happen. 

This outreach is essentially a scouting mission. We are going to initiate, renew, and build relationships with the medical community in Madang. We want to discover what their greatest needs are, and we are open to where the Lord is going to lead us. We are seeking to come alongside the local health professionals and serve in whatever area we are needed most, whether that is helping in the hospital, going to schools, or even going to remote villages.

This whole outreach has been orchestrated by the Lord, and so I am confident that he will bring incredible encounters and relationships our way! Please be praying for us as we go out and break ground on the forefront of this mission field!