Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Bamboo...

The boys learn from Pal kids about shooting bows and arrows.

…I Had This Idea…

It is just an idea, of course, but I’d love to try to make a what-if video that would transplant some of the aspects of village life into an American setting. In sitting down to try to put something together I realized that nearly everything that seems strange or funny to me has to do with the fact that in village life there is no privacy. How is it  that one of the things that we value so very much in the US is so completely alien to our friends here in Pal?

Nanges, the village grandmother hangs out with us. She is a real spunky lady and has lots of fun explaining Pal culture to us.

Imagine…

…Your living room divided in half by a mostly there venetian blind. Your family would live on one side and your in-laws would live on the other. You would cook, eat, sleep, and live in that space. Your comings and goings, conversations, arguments, everything you and your family would do would be known completely to those on the other side of the divider (not only that, there probably would be a fair bit of peeking through the holes as well…).

Selu, an elderly friend, is nearly blind and yet very excited to help us learn.

Things you would never have to say…

If you indeed did live as the Pal people do, here are some things that you’d never have to say to your neighbors (because you would already know… and they would know the same about you):

·         What’s for dinner?

·         Why is your child crying?

·         Where did you go?

·         Is this a bad time? (Am I interrupting?)

·         What are you doing?

·         Are you sick?

·         Etc

The more time we spend with the Pal kids, the less afraid of us they get (just imagine how your kids might feel if people with green skin moved in next door…)

Completely Alien

So, as completely alien creatures in that environment, we have had to make some careful decisions about when to close the doors of our home and when we can open them. Should we maintain the cultural norm of an always open door we would always have someone in our house observing what we are doing. Because we do place limits on visiting in our home, we find that wild rumors get started about what goes on in here… You can surely pray for us to be transparent in all we do and that our reputation would dispel some of the crazy ideas that come and go here.

Elizabeth sits with a friend, practicing the Pal language.

Isolated

Looks like beginning this Tuesday we will enter at least a month of time where our family will be alone in the work. Our partners have been struggling with medical issues for more than 6 weeks and are going out to our mission center to seek further help. You can pray for us as we’ll still be working with them as a team and yet practically functioning a bit independently. Please pray as well that they would be able to find quick treatment for the illness. We’ll also be preparing for a visit from consultants during the time they are gone. Please pray for us in the busyness of trying to get all of our ducks in a row that we’d continue to make good progress in relationship and language.

Thanks so much for your partnership,

Nate for the fam

Posted via email from PNG Time