Auio in his garden

Auio in his garden
Originally uploaded by kudatestest

Had Nakui a Newspaper...

This week's edition probably would contain the following headlines:

* Night time pig hunts cancelled due to battery shortage.
* Missionaries find out that when the big rains come, it is a lot
easier for the people to come over and ask for the ripe bananas on their
porch than go to the gardens for food.
* Village leader finds out the hard way that polygamy leads to strife,
tries to straighten things out by paying off policeman to beat his first
wife into submission. (Hasn't worked yet.she is a fighter)
* New white man fails to stay low key at church meeting, singled out
for public prayer (in Tok Pisin no less)
* String of unsolved garden theft continues with papaya missing. Papa
of the purloined papaya perturbed.
* Market for vanilla beans on the upswing, vanilla cultivators
rejoice.
* Pig caught vandalizing airstrip. Escapes before dinner. (Luckily for
him)

Anyway, we continue to enjoy our time in the bush and are learning very much
about life and church planting work. There have been lots of ups and downs
in the church here lately. Ups like the outreach that has gone so well in
another village and downs like the church leader who has had to step down
because of adultery. I (Nate) have had several opportunities to encourage
guys here to live out the truth that they have heard. There is one man in
particular (Auio is his name) who is especially sharp and understands the
teaching but has trouble reconciling his desire to be a 'big man' in the
village with obeying God. If he chose to live what he knows is true, it
would be a powerful testimony to the rest of the Nakuis.

We leave Nakui on Monday, all too soon. We have made so many friends,
learned a ton, and are just now settling in to a routine. We are sure to
miss this place, or rather, the people here. Please continue to pray for the
Nakui church, and for us as we head back to Madang next week.