The plan

Thomas and Jonathan Rodgers are preparing for
a 3-week mission trip this August 7-28
to Papua New Guinea (a small island located north of Australia).
Papua New Guinea

The brothers will be working with some heavy equipment the Lord has miraculously provided to finish installing a runway on the side of a mountain at the missionary compound in Aibai, PNG. Aibai is a small village where our friends the Mike Berbin family and a team of other missionaries lead medical, educational, and church ministries.

Both Jonathan and Thomas have experience using such heavy equipment; Jonathan owned a large landscaping company for a number of years, before entering the ministry himself in North Carolina. Thomas learned to operate the equipment while working for Jonathan, and has gone on to use bobcats and bulldozers frequently with his own renovation and property maintenance business. While the runway in Aibai has been "started", it needs to be graded, extended, and then topped with soil from another property to encourage a grass surface and prevent washout.
Partially completed airstrip at Aibai
(the airstrip is located to the left of the Aibai mission compound; note the goats and man standing on the near end of the large airstrip, and the washout lines currently crossing the property)

It will take the men all of their 2.5 weeks on the ground to complete the task, and hopefully will allow the Berbins to see the answer to 15 years of work and prayer, when they fly in and land on the new airstrip. For the first time they will be able to avoid the hazardous road trip to the village when they travel back to Aibai early this fall after their current furlough in the US.


the current method of reaching the Aibai village:
a hazardous mountain trip over washed-out roads
and precarious bridges, through areas favored by theives;
this trip takes 6-8 hours *on a good day*.

The trip is highlighted by the raw beauty of the Papua New Guinea mountains.


How can you help?
Please pray!
-for Thomas and Jonathan to have safety as they travel and work

-for the equipment to work efficiently (no breakdowns!) during the short time alotted for the trip

-for preaching opportunities while the brothers are there - teaching the gospel to some who've never heard

-for safety of their wives and children staying behind in the States

-for financial provision - each brother is raising $4500 to cover trip expenses

Want more information? Email us





Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Travel Update #19 - Wrapping Up

Well, it brings some sadness to think that this is the last report I will send from Papua New Guinea. We had a good day to end the visit!


Jon and I got going around 5:45am and worked on the walls of the schoolhouse by a little after 6. We quickly wrapped the walls in the metal sheeting and began the process of measuring and cutting the gable sheets. Once we cut out the sheets Jon took the dozer back out to the airstrip to do a little more grading. Over the next few hours I finished with all of the siding and installed an exterior door. All that remains to do on the school house is cutting out a few windows and painting the floors. (This should be done over the next couple of weeks as Matt Crain has time.)


Jon fininshed filling the last little bit of the washout on the airstrip, and cut a few more drainage ditches across to help with water flow during the upcoming rainy months.

We came back the house, showered and got ready for prayer meeting. Just as we entered the church building it began to rain for the first time this week! What an answer to prayer! We had been praying that it would not rain until after we got the school building dried-in. It was only 2 hours after the project was finished that it began to rain! This rain will also help to keep the dust down on the road tomorrow.


Please pray as we take this road trip tomorrow. Pray for saftey over the next few days as Jon and I come back to our families.


Thank you again for all of your prayers,
Jon and Thomas


Jon preaching Sunday


Note from Katie: Thomas and Jon began travelling back to the town of Goroka around 4am Thursday, August 26th - that's early afternoon Wednesday here in the States. They will fly from Goroka to Port Moresby and then to Sydney on their Friday (Thursday afternoon and evening Stateside). They will have a night in Sydney (to rest and maybe tour!) and then leave Sydney on their Saturday afternoon...getting to San Francisco Saturday morning (three hours before they leave, of course) :) They have an eternal layover in San Franciso before finally flying to Texas where their wives and little people will be eagerly waiting for them!


Please be praying that they make all of their flights, and have travel mercies. Their families are looking forward to getting them back safely! :)
Inside the Schoolhouse

Schoolhouse!
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