Meet the idioms, but look below

Elias enjoys a Sunday evening in the flower bed.

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Have you ever understood every word in a conversation only to find that it makes no sense at all? This has been a frequent experience for us here in PNG. Although we have passed  the official tests (did I mention that Elizabeth was given the golden seal of approval last week?) for tok pisin, we have only begun to learn the many kinds of idioms that are used here. Here are a few examples:

bun baik             (bone bicycle) means 'a very thin person'
brukim lewa         (break the liver) means 'very sorry'
kunai i paia         (sword grass, it has burned off) means 'bald'

helikopta         (helicopter) means 'pot-bellied' in some instances
namba ten         (number ten) means 'pregnant'
namba seven i askim yu     (number seven asks you) means 'to make  trouble'
sikispela lek     (six legs) means 'a man with two wives'

wanpela pato i slip long kiau     (a duck sleeping on an egg) means '20'
kus mambu or wari bilong mama     (snot bamboo or mother's worry) means '11'
nogut yu kaikai braun rais     (don't you eat brown rice) means 'don't end up in jail'
tel lait         (tail light) means 'person with face pimples'

pos opis         (post office) means 'bathroom'
kensa bokis     (cancer box) means 'heavy smoker'
nus gras         (nose hair) means 'funny' or 'nonsense'

You can imagine the possibilities here...
"It will cost you a mother's worry for that nice fish." (Elizabeth is immediately not interested...)
"I must go to the post office to send a letter." (Nate really can't understand the urgency - especially because the post office is 14 kilometers away...)
"I hit him and it broke my liver afterwards." (Uh oh, we better get this guy to the hospital quick...)

Thanks for praying for us. We still have so much to learn here - a task that we now fit in between growing other responsibilties and planning for bush ministry. This week you can be praying for us as we seek to find a schedule that fits for our new responsibilities. Pray too for our partners, Mason and Kim Lockwood, as they travel back from the States next Monday.

We are also asking for prayer for a urgent need for teachers at the MK school here (math, science, social studies, and others). There are 20 days left before it will be too late for someone to commit to come and fill those positions from the States. If no teacher comes from the States, tribal church planters will be drafted for the job (this could mean us - for one year). You all know how long we have been working toward tribal ministry, a delay at this point is discouraging to think about. At the same time, we understand that quality education and discipleship for teens helps keep their parents functioning and the work as a whole progressing. Please pray with us that qualified people with supportive churches step forward to meet this urgent need.

Thanks,
Nate for the Claasens

PS: I'd like to take a minute to share a personal story with you that might help explain our desire to head into the tribe as soon as possible: The other day, Thomas (the older guy in the video post) was talking with me and he asked me the following question: "If this message is so important that you left your family, a good job, and an easy life in the States, why don't you stay here in our village, learn our language, and tell it to us?" He then followed it up with: "I am not a young man, how long will I have to wait before someone comes and tells me?" Will you pray with us for more laborers here in PNG?