Exposure

Bananas are a welcome treat, offered to us weary visitors shortly after our arrival at the top of the mountain.

Bumping the think button…

Not sure when we have had quite as many things come up in such a short space of time as we have in the last week or so. Not just the normal situations, rather they have been the kinds of things that raise questions, that stretch us, and cause us to ask our Lord for grace and wisdom. After walking through the drama of the funeral of a big man last Thursday (including watching the sky for arrows raining down, the blame that was thrown back and forth between clans and the subsequent brawling that sent all nearby children running for the bush, and sitting with the mourners near the body and hearing their questions as to why the man had died), we were called out Saturday to a distant garden to look at an infant and her  5 year old sister who had fallen into the fire. Suffice it to say that, with burns covering 25% of her body the infant was in a very risky situation (the 5 year old was burned on a part of one of her arms – not life threatening). It was extremely difficult to watch the parents of this little girl struggle to decide what to do (we significantly subsidize the use of the helicopter for life threatening emergencies, but we ask that the people contribute a small sum to help them understand that it is not easy for us and needs to be reserved for true emergencies). What if they were to decide to take their chances?  They did end up deciding to go on the helicopter and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Shortly after that we were visited by some friends who had made offerings to a letter (of greeting) that our partners wrote them. They are looking for miraculous material wealth to be given to them and they were concerned that they had not done the offerings correctly. They asked us for guidance...

A few days ago we were asked to come to another village (see picture above) where a special ceremony of  was to take place following the birth of a baby. In the past, the people offered to ancestor spirits things that are thought to bring strength in hunting and gardening. They have slowly changed those offerings to things that are thought to bring strength in finding money. Again we were asked for advice.

Really these are just a few of the more major events of this long week.

Charmed… a crucifix is worn to ward off sickness for this child. (Some children wear beads or just a string instead.)

Cracking the Culture

Is there no direct answer for these situations? Of course there is. Surely God’s Word is enough to completely deal with the deep issues that the people are facing. But, if we deal it out now, in piecemeal form, without real, in-depth understanding of the thinking of our friends, it will surely be misunderstood, misapplied, and synchronized within their current world-view. So, in these situations, we spend our energy on questions, trying to seek out the underlying thought and the belief that drives our friends. Later, when it is time to teach them the whole story of the Word of God, we’ll be taking time to carefully teach truths in context that will expose their false beliefs for the lies that they are.  Will you please pray for us as we dig in more deeply to our friend’s thinking.

4 Weeks

As I write this, we are four weeks to the day from our departure from Pal for Home Assignment. We are so excited to see you all after three years plus here in PNG. What a joy it will be to meet with you in person and hear about what is going on in your lives and to share with you about all He has done here. Until then we’ll be working hard to continue our study and to ready the house for  our 9 month absence. Would you pray for strength and safety (and for no break downs of major appliances)?

Thanks so very much for caring for us!

Nate for the fam.

PS: Elizabeth’s favorite quote of the week: “We’re going slow because it is just us ladies.”  - 50+ year old widow (on the way to a garden) talking in a conspiratorial whisper to Elizabeth as Elizabeth’s lungs cry out for more air.

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