Inspiration From PNG

As I stood in the center of the village deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, I could hear drums beating and people chanting. With mud squishing between my toes, I walked over to where the huge crowd was amassing. As I strained to see through the crowd, an old, haggard woman suddenly materialized in front of me. Her delicate features were now sagging with age. She was dressed in the limber reeds that can be found along the riverbanks. She moved with undisguised pain. Her back was so much like a camel that she could barely walk. As she shuffled closer, a pungent smell assaulted my nose. The earthly smell of her body was overwhelming. The nails that grasped my arm were like the claws of an eagle. When she opened her mouth, I could see that blackened nubs were all that was left of her teeth. With a raspy, grating voice, the old woman told me that she was the medicine woman for the village. Shivers started to gallop up and down my spine as I thought about how the people in this village had to survive. Superstition and medicine women were a part of life in this village. The light of the truth had not yet penetrated the oppressive darkness of the world in which they lived.

As the aging medicine woman slowly limped away, I took a quick look around the village. Intricate mud houses were scattered everywhere. Half clothed children were playing in the ankle deep mud. I could hear the chatter of the women as they got ready to roast a squealing pig. My heart felt a great heaviness for the spiritual bondage that held these village people in such fear.

With a start, I realized that my plane was about to leave. As I ran to the tiny, but loud plane, I realized that someday I would come back. The village needed not only medical help, but spiritual help as well. When the plane took off, I looked back for one last glance. I prayed to God that if I was not able to return here, someone else would. I prayed that someone would help those people before it was too late.

#Inspirations #MyBurden