Time in the Tribe

On Nov. 26, I left Goroka and flew by bushplane into one of the many tribes of PNG. I was met there by a single missionary lady and a family who are her co-workers.

They were celebrating American Thanksgiving that day, so I got to join them for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. What a treat!

I spent almost a week in the tribe, and enjoyed my time there.

We took walks around the area, and I took pictures of the tribal homes--round buildings made of woven walls with thatched roofs & dirt floors. Other homes were raised up and had bamboo floors. Most houses had some sort of fence on one or more sides, and also flowers or bushes nearby.

Men from the village spent mornings or afternoons practicing for Tournament Games, which will take place around New Year's. Contestants from different villages come from all around to play soccer and basketball against one another. Each participating village puts in a certain amount of money, and the winning villages get to take home the money.

On Sunday, I attended church in the tribe. They have a new church building under construction: a large, rectangular building on stilts. In the meantime, though, they are meeting in a smaller round building with a wide (5 feet?) 'bench' running nearly all the way around the room and a dirt floor.

There are believers in this tribe, and Bible teachers. Right now the missionaries are working on translating Scripture as well as Bible lessons into the Simbari language. The Sunday I was there, one of the tribal Bible teachers taught a translated Bible lesson from Romans. Those who were able to read followed along in their 'usable-but-not-quite-finished' translation of Romans.

On Monday, I sat in on a literacy class, which was really neat to see. Afterward, the missionary showed me the other primers and books which they have prepared to teach literacy. I found that very interesting.

It was also cool to see what a 'normal' lifestyle (in many ways) these tribal misionaries lived. They capture energy with solar panels & store them in batteries, enabling them to use regular appliances & lights. They collect rainwater and have it running into their homes. They have radio or satellite e-mail access. Their homes are attractive & comfortable, and with many 'modern anemities.' The family in the tribe even has a Wii!

All in all, it was a good time spent there. It was good to see a bit of what the misisonaries do & how they live...and great to make some new friends! :)