New Year's Eve, New Year's Day

Yesterday being New Year’s Eve, the community leaders in Biwat settlement (one of the areas in which people from our church live) decided to organize a day of reconciliation. The idea was that people would forgive each other for past wrongs and make a fresh start in 2012. I was given the opportunity to preach to start things off. I brought home the point that true reconciliation between people cannot happen; it will fall apart, unless we are first reconciled with God. And reconciliation with God is only possible through Jesus Christ.

Children waiting for events to get started.

After that, some people performed some songs and drama, and everyone shared in a potluck meal. We left after that, so aren’t sure what else happened after that, but it sounds like they went on all night. We’re not sure how much reconciliation actually went on, but we’ll leave that for time to tell.

New Year’s Day being a Sunday (and with me having to preach!), we went to bed before midnight for the first time in our adult lives. Of course, we were still woken up at midnight when the whole city erupted in noise. Sirens wailed. Dogs barked. People shouted. Homemade fireworks (made of bamboo and kerosene) exploded. It all sounded like a herd of white elephants stampeding over a giant field of bubble-wrap, with an amplifier hooked up just in case we couldn’t hear.

Eventually we got a few hours of sleep.

At 6:30 in the morning, the festivities began again, just down the street from us. This time they were led by the Lae Chinese Club (consisting mostly of Papua New Guineans). They did a traditional Chinese dragon dance complete with a lot of drumming and Chinese firecrackers. When they were done, they came into our compound and did it all again. Good thing we were already awake, courtesy of Avigail…

I was able to preach again this morning on Matthew 25:1-13, the first in (hopefully) a series on parables. Stories work well in Melanesian culture, so hopefully that will make up for my weaknesses in Tok Pisin. We were also able to celebrate Lord’s Supper (my first time leading that, incidentally, after being an ordained minister for six months).

This afternoon we indulged in a great Canadian tradition, the New Years Day polar bear dip (also a first). Admittedly, the warm tropical water did not lend itself to the teeth-chattering, heart attack-inducing icy shock usually connected with such polar bear dips. But we did it, and it wasn’t bad at all!

To round off our New Year’s Day celebrations, we hopped on the computer and Skyped with friends and family in a few different parts of Canada to welcome them into the new year. Avigail got to show off her latest skill: walking on her own.

We wish all of you God’s blessings in this new year.