Because the Steinkrauses had forged ahead and developed great relationships with the people of
Okbilibip where they lived, it paved the way for the Boushes as they settled into village living. Yet, the
work was challenging and long. At times they grew discouraged due to the lack of interest by the people,
but they never sensed that the Lord wanted them to leave the work. During this time, in 1975, the
country became independent and known as Papua New Guinea.
Health concerns were always a challenge in a remote area because planes were few and far between.
On one occasion, their son Stephen had malaria with a temperature of 105 degrees. There was no way
they could get him out of the village for treatment. Yet, the Lord provided the help they needed! On
their last trip back to Ukarumpa they did something they had not done before. They took quinine
medication back with them. It was the Lord who had impressed on their minds to take this medication
along, even though they thought they wouldn’t need it. This was the medication that saved Stephen’s
life!
The Lord encouraged them another time when there seemed to be no interest on the part of the people
to learn to read and ultimately write their own language. As this concern was shared via short wave
radio with other translation teams working in Papua New Guinea (PNG), there was a call to pray. A
leader of the translation work in PNG came to the area at just th