So here is a quick rundown for you: 30 students from Ukarumpa International School (UIS) and 6 adult leaders flew to Enga Province to work and serve for close to a week. Half of that total group worked at a medical outpost at Lapalama, and the half that I (John) served with worked in and around the hospital at Kompiam. We went on this trip to be a blessing to those in Enga Province, and we went so that that the high school students could serve and learn about the work that's going on in these areas firsthand.

This was one of two houses that my students in Kompiam worked on and this is what it looked like when we first arrived. This house will be used for hospital staff.

The crew in the truck are also working to clean up around the house and bring in dirt to strengthen the eroded foundation.

Progress being made!

Dr. and Mrs. Mills hosted us in their house daily for meals and times of fellowship.

Typically, half of the students were working at the Kompiam school, while the other half were doing construction with me. In these pics, some of the girls and school kids got to know each other better by decorating each other with banana leaves.

Meet Kairu

He graduated from UIS a couple of years ago and now lives and works in Kompiam. Kairu’s main role is running the radio station, but all that he does probably can’t be listed. Our second project entailed the demo and installation of new siding for his house.

Bees!

Yes, we found live bees and dead bees. If you look closely where we opened up the wall, there’s about 3 inches of dead bees in the wall cavity that we had fun cleaning out.

Sisalation goes behind all the walls and under the roof as a radiant barrier.

Everybody LOVES working!

Marty, the Youth Director, was my construction partner on the Kompiam team. He doubled the work that I would have been able to do and was a great friend to work alongside.

I’ve bragged on the girls many times since the trip. This was the second high school mission trip that I had the privilege to work on. My first trip yielded only one girl that was interested in construction, but this time all the girls jumped in and did great!

This side looks great! (don’t look at the back side…)

"Garbage Cajon"

Sadly, the sound quality lived up to the name, but I was so proud of my guys that built this cajon out of construction scraps that they salvaged!

Going to church in Kompiam is always a blessing. They let us do the whole service from worship to student testimonies to Marty preaching.

So cute!

Loading up in the truck to drive to some waterfalls for some Sunday afternoon fun.

Every trip is an adventure!

Ready for some fun! The lower falls are in the foreground and the upper falls can be seen toward the back.

God’s work here was just stunning!

In case you forgot what I looked like…

Everyone makes fun of me for always stopping to take pictures of flowers and butterflies, but look, you get to enjoy this :)

Reunited and it feels so good… to not be hiking anymore. The Tapps and Tony Romito hike their group from Lapalama to join us in Kompiam the day before we are to fly home.

The seniors photo bombed this selfie that Tony and I were trying to take.

Heading home!