Wanted . . .

Well, you must have actually been praying for rain because it has absolutely poured over the last three nights! To me, this seems a bit unusual for dry season, but it is only my second dry season here so I suppose I'm not quite the Dry Season Expert Extraordinaire. I was curious, though, so I posted something on the Ukarumpa intranet "wanted board" to ask whether it was normal to have this much rain during dry season. There wasn't really a clear consensus, but I do want to thank all of you who have been remembering me as you talk to the One who "supplies the earth with rain" (Psalm 147:8) because He has supplied me with the rain I needed to drink!

Speaking of the "wanted board", that is something I think is pretty cool about Ukarumpa. It's a message board on our intranet, and anyone who needs anything can post their need there. Whether you want to borrow a few eggs until the store opens (it's closed on weekends), find someone to help change a lightbulb you can't reach, borrow a particular book, alert people to be on the lookout for something you have lost, or ask a question about travelling through Australia, the wanted board is the place to go. And the coolest thing about it is that it actually works! People seriously check it often to see if there are needs that they can meet. Thanks to the wanted board, I have found someone to fix my blender when it broke, a coat to borrow when I was climbing Mt. Wilhelm (it snowed up there!), and e-mail addresses for people I needed to get in touch with. It's also fun when you can give back and meet other people's needs. Yesterday was a public holiday in PNG for the Queen's Birthday, so the store was closed, and I had an extra packet of cheese that I was able to lend out. But I never would have known it was needed if it weren't for the wanted board! It's just a cool way that we can function like one body and carry each other's burdens in a real way.