Tyler and Emily in PNG

Saturday I woke up with many things to do yet the lack of motivation to start any of my projects loomed large. I did my normal Saturday reading of the ‘Wantok’, national newspaper in Pidgin and drank coffee. However, I still did not want to start priming the hand rail, start working on security lights, or give the dog a bath. Oh, not to mention the power went off at 9:30 am. I was reminded by that when I was planning to drill a hole for a lag bolt.

About lunch time I got a call from Bob whom I knew was going out to the bush to transport some materials for one of our national workers. He calls and says, ‘I have a problem. Can you help?’ He said he lost his slave cylinder to the clutch thus he is stuck on a hill in the jungle of PNG. So I got some rope, grabbed a drink, Bush biscuits, and headed to rescue Bob.

I meet him on the mountain then drove down a bit to where the Toyota Hilux was resting on the hillside. I turned around, fixed the rope to our bumpers and threw the truck in 4 High. I gave him a jerk and another jerk, and pretty much nothing. I knew then I had to figure out how to put this 4 cylinder Nissan pickup in 4 Low. After reading the manual and figuring out you had to depress the shifter, I got in 4 Low. And yes it made a big difference but still a 4 cylinder pickup is not much power. I pulled the dead weight truck only to put myself in a small bind. I backed up and tried it again and again.

By this time, the whole neighboring village is watching and offering advice on how to drive in the bush in 4 Low. Ah…wait man em i save long driv insait long bus, yu bai lukim. I told the guys to get behind the white truck (Hilux) and push. All I needed was a little push to help me jerk the truck and get it rolling up the hill.

Let me explain the trail we were on…the trail was a 2 path off road dirt trail but this smaller trail was more like a single foot path. So we had one tire on the path and one tire in the bush. The problem we were facing was the weeds and bush was slick and the wheel was not gripping. My 4 wheel drive truck has limited slip differential so when one tire spins the opposite tire is idle. I knew I need to get all 4 tire spins to get out of this jam.

The weather was starting to turn and sprinkle a bit. We knew we had to get out of there soon. By this point I was almost to the point of giving up or trying a new approach to this monster. I offered a silent prayer – ‘God help us get out of this pinch we are in.’  I gave it another jerk and pull…and just like that with the help of the men pushing, I pulled the truck up the hill.

Once we got to flat ground, Bob was able to start the truck in gear and keep the truck rolling down the hill back to the highway. Once we got back to the highway, we decided to pull the truck the rest of the way into town due to the risk of not having a clutch.

It ended up being another day in the life as a missionary living and helping others in a bind.