Finishing our time in Ukarumpa
We ended our time in PNG with Alan, that's me, giving a talk on NASA to about 50 K-7th graders and some parents. I included a couple points on the faith of some of the astronauts. I started with why NASA was created (space race) and the early programs of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Read them the transcript of what the Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis 1 as they circled the moon on Dec 24th (listen to it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading).
Then I talked about some the project's I worked on, including one that was on the Columbia, which fell apart on re-entry. That lead to playing 10 mins of Rick Husband's testimony (Rick was the Commander of that mission). His testimony includes getting to the place of wanting to be a godly husband & father over and above his life long desire to be an astronaut.
The presentation was interspersed with lots of questions by the kids! E.g., are there space cars? What fuel did they use in the rockets? Have you been to space? (Answers: No; Kerosene & liquid oxygen prior to shuttle; No - but I have floated in a plane!) We ended with Betsy passing out some NASA bookmarks and stickers, and as a special treat, allowing them to check out more books even though they were on school break! What a contrast to back home - kids reading for pleasure!
We intended again to go to Ukarumpa Village nearby, but rains made the road too dangerous. Betsy and Rob will have to distribute the pidgin language Bible story coloring books later, after we are gone. (We heard a week later that violence broke out in the surrounding villages and 4 nationals were killed. The plan now is to pass out the materials to the village kids when they come into Ukarumpa on the weekend.)
We left Friday morning with Rob and Betsy seeing us off at the airstrip. We all have such a greater appreciation for R&B's service and sacrifices, after having walked in their shoes, even just a little. Borrowing what the Queen Sheba said of Solomon "But I did not [fully appreciate] these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me." (1 King 10:7).
