Meti's 1st birthday

Meti is one of my favorite people in PNG, and maybe the whole world.  She is a national woman who cleans and gardens for several of the missionary families here on station.  But she doesn't just do domestic chores, she considers her work a ministry to the missionaries.  And what an amazing ministry.  

I love Saturdays with Meti, as it is the day she straightens up our house.  I especially enjoy her stories, her singing and prayers.  When Meti prays, the presence of the Spirit is so real.

Meti is 41 this year.  Like many of our PNGian friends, she doesn't know the exact day she was born.  PNGians don't traditionally mark a birthday as an important day.  She happens to have an idea of her age because she knows the years that she went to school.  

Well, last summer Meti had the opportunity to go to America and represent PNG at the Nazarene Missions International meeting.  To go to America, you need a passport.  And to get a passport, you need a birthday.  So she choose February 17 as her special day, sharing it with her good friend Judy Bennett.

Because Meti choose her birthday after the actual date last year, she had never really celebrated before.  Becky and I decided put together a little surprise for her last Saturday.  Beck adorned her with the Kudjip birthday hat and I pinned on the birthday girl ribbon.  We iced some cupcakes and topped them with Valentine sprinkles, put a candle in each one.  Meti received a poor excuse for a serenade since we forgot half the words to the five birthday songs.  We schooled her on the fine art of blowing out all the candles with one breath so that her wish would come true.  There were a few presents to open.  And of course lots of smiles and a few tears of joy to top it all off.  It wonderful afternoon of celebrating our special friend.