(Sunday, July 31, 2005). I’m sitting in a little room in a small cottage near the town of Minj, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. A generator hums outside, providing electricity to my computer so I can type this report.

Today an enthusiastic crew of local and Australian workers has been laying blocks, constructing a building on newly-donated land here. Work is progressing slowly, as materials and tools such as cement mixers and scaffolding are hard to procure. Still, there is progress, and everyone is encouraged at our success so far.

There is something interesting about the chapel that we are building. It is right in the middle of the tribal fighting ground. Only a few years ago, there was a big war between the tribes here. Homes were burned to the ground. People died.

A couple of weeks ago a police sergeant lady, named Maria, came by to view our progress. She said that all the people around are happy that we are building this church in the middle of the traditional fighting place. They are calling it a sign of peace. I’m starting to think of it as the “Peace Chapel.”

I would like to be back for the dedication - it would be significant to everyone: For the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement, a lighthouse in the highlands, and a headquarters for the Papua New Guinea Mission. For the neighborhood, an ensign of peace on a historically violent ground.

Last Thursday a number of us spent all day in town, waiting for a truck to come and pick up the last delivery of blocks. We were to load them at the site where they are being made. The truck never came. So Bro. Ciric and I traveled back to Minj from Mt. Hagen on a bus, while the rest stayed behind. Then Friday I returned alone on a bus. When I stopped at the transport company at 8:30 a.m., they had a truck ready for us, and I helped the driver get tie straps and boards ready. Then we were off to the block place, where the other brethren were waiting to load up.

As we were loading, I was thinking about what to do. I had been asked by the brethren at the construction site to order some more materials - rebar and cement. I had been planning to go to the hardware store after the block loading was done, and then catch a bus back to Minj. But then the idea came to my mind that we could save a sizeable delivery fee if we were able to get the material brought over and put on the truck that we were loading, which was already arranged and paid for.

After pondering the possibility for a few minutes and discussing it with the brethren, I decided to go. But I would have to hurry, as the loading was over half finished. I dashed off across town on foot. I arrived out of breath at Mitre Hardware in Mt. Hagen, which is on the opposite side of town from the block maker.

Mitre Hardware was able to deliver the goods, although I had to make a trip to the bank to get more money (on foot again). I rode the hardware delivery truck over to the block yard, where we transferred the rebar and 35 bags of cement over onto the bigger truck. Then it was a long ride back to Minj, bouncing over bumps and crawling around potholes. But we were very glad that we were able to save both on bus fares and that delivery fee by putting in some extra effort.

This is an example of the earnest work that some of us in the Australasian Union are doing to finish the building for which you have given so generously. However, despite our hard work and economizing, the project is still in need of funds.

Today was the last full day of work on the first fly-and-build trip for the project here in the highlands of PNG. The first construction crew has been here one month and is now leaving, but in the coming months new groups will be traveling here in order to complete the building.

If the Lord should move on your heart, please give through your local church or the General Conference toward helping the PNG Building Project. If you would like to join a construction crew in the near future, please contact the Australasian Union immediately. Above all, please pray for the “Peace Chapel,” and for the success of the work in the Pacific islands.