Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Return to Vavua for a Special Celebration


On the weekend of July 20 - 21, 2019, Fr Bernard (Fr Bennet) the parish priest of The Village of Vavua celebrated his 6th Anniversary of his ordination as a priest and I was honored to be invited to join him on his special day. I was also invited to dance with the Mommas Group from the Diocese of Kimbe. What an honor. 
On Friday night, we met at Momma Helens house in Section 15 in Kimbe where I was shown the dance routines and we practiced together. We ate a delicious fish dinner made with greens and coconut milk and cooked over an open fire. Yum!

We then proceeded to another Mommas home where we, once again, practiced the dances and the songs we would sing on Sunday. There were between 20-25 of us and it was so much fun to be part of this event. 
Saturday, I waited the entire day for transportation, something that is a true problem here in PNG. I finally got on the last truck traveling to Vavua. One group went in the morning, another in the afternoon and my group didn’t leave till 8 pm. We basically traveled at night and made it to Vavua in 3 hours. The ride was slow due to the many potholes and the truck itself was loaded with people riding in the back. We were warmly greeted at 11 pm by Fr Bennet. 

On Sunday, I dressed in my Mommas meri-blouse and was dressed by the Mommas group in my PNG ‘jewelry’. In other words, leaves, flowers and face paint. I felt honored and accepted by this group. We danced up the isle during offertory and sang songs for half of the liturgy. After mass, I was invited to sit on the stage and was wonderfully overwhelmed as I watched the various communities of his parish preparing themselves for their dance, song and gift presentations for Fr Bennet’s Anniversary. The communities were marching and practicing in various places around the church and spilling out to the roadway. The songs, the colors, the pageantry taking place spoke to the popularity of Fr Bennet and how he makes a difference in their lives. He is very well liked and it showed. 
Each community took their turn at their presentations and finally it was my turn to dance with the Mommas of the Diocese of Kimbe. We sang him two songs and then danced two dances. How fun!! I loved it!
After the dance, there was just enough time to go swimming in the ocean and I did just that. I was joined by a few pikininis (children) from the village and the water was warm and inviting. But too soon, transportation was available to take us home- back to Kimbe. We said our final congratulations and good byes to Fr Bennet and off we went. This time, it took two in a half hours to get home.


A few other notes: 

My Director, Janice England, visited Maria and I here in Kimbe. It was nice to see her and to receive a few goodies from home. We thank her for her visit. 

After his two month holiday, Bishop Bill returns to Kimbe. Hopefully, the cathedral will begin to be built now that he is finally home here in Kimbe. 

Please pray for me as I continue my mission here in Kimbe. Please pray for the Sisters of Caritas as well as the staff and students. I will also be praying for you. 

In July we had a two week break, but couldn’t go anywhere because of a volcano that erupted in the village of Ulamona- about 2-3 hours away and it played havoc here in Kimbe where we got showered with ash - everything had to be cleaned. The people of Ulamona had to be evacuated and we felt the aftermath here in Kumbe.  Fr Gabriel, our parish priest here in Kimbe grew up in Ulamona and has been back and forth assisting his own family as they face this tragedy. Please pray for the village of Ulamona and the surrounding area as they continue to recover. 

Feel free to leave comments. Have a wonderful day... until next time... God bless.




1 comment:

  1. Wow, Danita! Who ever would've thunk it? - That you'd fly all the way to PNG to join "The Momma's & The Papa's?!" (Well, "The Momma's" anyway - I guess the only "Pappa" would be Fr Bennet?!) Silly Me!
    ;<)

    You are SUCH a Good Sport!!! OMGosh! I would have nearly lost my MIND waiting a whole day for my Transportation to arrive!! (I about "lost it" just waiting 25 minutes in line at the AMC Theatres the other day!) Just what do you DO when you're having to wait so long?? (I can't imagine you've got Internet or enough Data where you're waiting!??)

    BLESS your heart!! I LOVE it that you dove into the Ocean (along with all the "pikininis!") even though you hardly any time left there! (Do "pikininis wear bikinis?) ;<)

    Seriously, I LOVE that The Church there has allowed the indigenous people to continue to use their own forms of costume, celebration & dance - and that they so frequently incorporate all that right into their worship services!

    And Wow - that Volcano!! I hadn't ever thought of PNG as one of those "Hot Spots" - is it part of "The Ring of Fire?" Thank goodness it wasn't any closer, right? But ya never know... Did you hear/read about our Rockin' & Rollin' here in SoCal? You wouldn't have felt it as much in Long Beach as we did here in Pasadena. Epicenter was Ridgecrest - between Bakersfield & Lancaster (sort of). But Man! We had 2 Big Ones this summer that actually made me quite Dizzy! (7.0 even!)

    Our Glacier National Park Tour is only another month away! Exactly one month from TODAY, on Sept. 9th! I am getting really excited!! It will be fun to get to know both Debbie & Linda better! Sorry we have to miss YOU on this one, but hey! Just think what you have to look forward to in 2021!? Will you back here then? Do you know yet which Month you'll be coming home? (Maybe I'll plan an Alaskan Cruise for when you get back! Or perhaps you'd prefer Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons? - BOTH of those trips I'd like to organize for sometime in the next 2 -3 years.)

    Well LORD BLESS YOU, Danita!! Thanks for all the great pics & videos, & narratives! Feel free to e-mail me with any more specific Prayer Requests!

    Love & Hugs across the Globe...
    Laura :)

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