The flight from Chicago to Papua New Guinea was long. It was worth it too! I flew there because we were putting together a project and something didn’t feel right. I had to find out for myself, to check things out in-person.
I spent Thanksgiving Day 2024 on planes. All flights were on-time. My internal clock was messed up but that’s nothing new. I had plenty to be thankful for, including the Polish Vincentian who was on-time meeting me at the airport in Port Moresby. There are priests from several countries staffing this mission which includes a few parishes, a seminary, and several other smaller ministries. I shook many hands over the next few days and learned names. I heard ideas for several projects. Did they think I had a bag of gold? I listened, asked questions, and tested ideas. I had 5 days to get to the right one. I paced myself.
On the morning of day 3, I went down to breakfast with a plan. I wanted to visit the parish that is next door to the seminary where I was staying. The rector (president) of that seminary asked me why I wanted to visit there. I told him I had seen it (been driven by it) the previous day and the large amount of undeveloped land seemed like an opportunity. As we drank coffee and ate toast, I learned that he and the pastor don’t see eye-to-eye. That didn’t worry me. These things happen. I said I planned to walk there after breakfast.
“WALK?” he shouted. You’ll be dead before you get 25 steps down the road. He said he would drive me. The trip took 3 minutes. I got out at the gate and walked up the unpaved drive. There were acres and acres of hilly and uncultivated land. It looked desert-dry–all except one low part where there were tall trees and lush, green grass. It looked like an oasis.
At the top of the hill I saw the simple church and a couple of small (1-room) houses along with a larger house built on stilts. There were some people sitting at a table in the shade talking. I introduced myself and asked if the pastor was around. As if I had summoned him, he drove up the driveway as soon as I had finished speaking. Providence!
I introduced myself to Fr. Neil who welcomed me warmly. He kind of stands out in a crowd. He was born in India of Indian parents. But, he sounds like an Australian. And he is as big as an American football player. He explained that this is “What happens when a little boy with Indian genes is raised on Australian protein.” Makes sense.
We walked around the parish property getting to know each other, his hopes for this parish, and the like. He has some big (expensive) ideas. There was one that I knew would capture the imaginations of VIMS’ donors: drilling a well to provide clean, fresh water for people to drink and use for cooking. Also, this water would be used to irrigate garden plots on the property. He had shown me 5-6 gardens that were tended by various groups of parishioners. There is enough room to create 100 more. All they needed to do was drill a well, run some PVC pipes, and voila! a steady supply of water.
Over the course of the next day or two, the project came together. I explained many times that this is a test case. Do a good job–come in on-time and on-budget, send us stories, photos and videos that we can use to encourage donors to give and then report back to them when the project is finished and we’ll count this as a success. Then we can explore other, larger projects. Everyone agreed. I left a couple of days later with a plan for getting going.
They scheduled a date for the diviner to identify precisely where to drill. And then it started raining, even though it wasn’t the rainy season. It rained for about two weeks. And then it took another week or two for the land to dry enough for the diviner to do his work.
He identified the spot, drilling equipment arrived, and before we knew it, the drill hit a rock. . .a BIG rock. The good thing about rocks is they can be dug out and removed. All it took was a few donors giving more money, organizing a group with strong backs and shovels, and calling in a piece of heavy equipment to move the offending rock so that drilling could resume.
And it did. A few days later, water started to flow. Parishioners laid PVC pipes, attached spigots and suddenly, it was easy to water vegetables in the garden plots, get a drink of water, and cook a pot of rice.
On-time and on-budget? No. But, being able to adapt to the unforeseen, that’s important too. Fr. Neil and his team proved they could do that.
And the water continues to flow, when and where it is needed. Soon it will be time to explore another project. You’ll be hearing about it as it comes together.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
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