Thankful for power
Missionary Beth Devine says that generator hours on the Interface campus in Papua New Guinea are limited because their generator is on its last leg. There is a replacement generator on its way, but the time factor in shipping overseas has already been extended and the waiting time is longer than the Interface staff had anticipated. It could be awhile.
Meantime they are able to run the generator long enough each day to charge all the batteries on campus. But power must be conserved when the generator is off, so that the batteries will last as long as possible.
Beth writes, “I am sitting here in the dark, thankful for the power to run my computer, send email and update our blog. Power is not something that we think of very often … power to run our computers, power to run our refrigerators, power to keep our food frozen in the freezers, power to run our washing machines, power to pump our water up from our well … I’m sure you get the picture. We need electricity for so much!”
Beth says that last Tuesday neither generator was working. One had been down for a couple of weeks, and the other generator, after thousands of hours of use, a rebuilt engine, and subsequently thousands more hours of use, had finally died. The imagination of all the complications which would result from having no generator at all were enough to drive everyone to prayer, Beth says.
“We are thankful that God gave Jacob (Beth's husband) and the rest of the maintenance guys wisdom. Jacob phoned a generator technician who walked them through the process of reprogramming the generator’s computer unit. We were also very thankful for Jerry, an engineer with New Tribes Mission Aviation, who was able to come out to help on the spur of the moment. So after three hours, we heard the sweet sound of the generator running!”
The sound of the generator running was a sweet sound indeed. And though Beth wrote her update from her computer while sitting in the dark, she expressed much gratefulness for the power to “run my computer, send email and update our blog.”
Power to run all kinds of things is something we can easily take for granted, Beth says. This season of power shortages has given her a new appreciation for the blessing that it is. “We are so thankful for electricity!”
And Beth says she is even more thankful for such a powerful, wise God Who supplies, not only power to their campus, but power to live their lives for His glory.
Pray for God’s grace on all the missionaries who live daily life in dependence on generators. Pray for those who are responsible for maintaining and repairing this kind of equipment so that life will run smoothly. Pray that the encouragement of God’s unlimited supply will be a daily blessing as they live in total dependence upon His power.
Find out more about Interface, a college-level missions course.