A Joyful Keeper

……I was born on a small island off the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The island was big enough for a small plane to land and take off again. It had a shop, school and hospital. My dad worked there for the Australian government (PNG was at that time a territory of Australia.) He built the house we lived in, on stilts in typical local style. I was born two days before my brother’s third birthday….. and I was the youngest until my sister arrived nine years later!

My parents were very involved in the community and local church. I lived there until I was two years old. Dad also built a boat, and we would regularly go up the rivers to villages showing gospel films and holding meetings. I can’t remember much from these first years of my life, but there are photos and films that help bring it alive for me. Here is one of my favorite photos:

This lady was a close friend of my parents. I look like I’m pretty comfortable, don’t I?!

The rivers were narrow and windy, and my teddy bear fell into the crocodile infested waters once…. thankfully dad managed to fish him out and I still have him today!

It was thanks to my birth on this small island that I am Australian. 39 years ago… boy, time flies!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 7:45 am and is filed under This and That. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.