What started out as a typical flight to deliver medicine to a village along the Sepik River turned into an opportunity to help a woman in need.  The hangar staff had finished loading the medicine into the airplane as I finished the preflight and made sure everything was ready to go.  I was looking forward to flying on this beautiful day and being able to help the people of Timbunke get the medicine they needed. Located 38 miles south of Wewak, it’s about 20 minutes to get there via floatplane.

         Shortly after landing, a few men in a boat pulled alongside the floats. As Luke and I offloaded the medicine, the medical officer told us of a woman who was in dire need of medical help.  She had delivered a baby boy the previous day but had not yet delivered the placenta, which is a life-threatening situation.  The men took the stretcher from the airplane with them to the shore, soon returning with the woman covered in a blanket. Her name was Jangubed and she had already traveled about 15 miles to Timbunke. She looked weary and I wanted to get her to Wewak quickly. The men lifted her into the plane and after securing the stretcher, her aunt climbed in with Jangubed’s newborn son.

As I looked at that precious newborn baby, I was reminded of God’s desire for even the most remote villages of Papua New Guinea to hear and know about Him. Luke said a prayer for Jangubed and her newborn baby boy. I’m thankful that in the coming days we will continue to have opportunities to pray with her, share truth from God’s word and show her the joy that we have found in Jesus.