Yagaria Revision

Yagaria is a tribe that I got to visit while in PNG upon three different occasions. Since the tribe I was living in was not a believing tribe, we were taken to the Yagarias to gain perspective on a “finished” work. The Yagaria’s were one of the first works started by NTM and one of the first works to receive a revised edition of the New Testament in their tribal language. When I visited them, they knew that the revised edition was on its way, and it was basically what they wanted to talk about to us. It was fabulous! The following article was just emailed to me regarding this new edition. Please read and rejoice!

http://www.ntm.org/news/5605

Videos

One of me teammates has posted vidoes of various things we did in PNG on YouTube. Click this link to view. Enjoy!

Hot Water Heaters

Above: typical PNG sunset in the highlands

For those of us who have been overseas and experienced another culture, much to our liking, tend to miss it once we’re gone. I have experienced this–a lot–since being back from Papua New Guinea. I miss many things about the culture, but I won’t bore you with them. One thing I was thinking about this morning: Dad sent Tamsen & I to the dump to take the old hot water heater and some wood. My thought process as we were driving there was:

– there’s no dump in PNG

– there’s no need for a dump in PNG

– if we were disposing of this water heater in PNG, we would just bury it in the ground ourselves

– the national women would be able to carry this hot water heater the same distance we’re driving to the dump (they’re so strong!)

– the hot water heaters we had in PNG were all solar-powered

I miss PNG! I do not mean this to come across as me sounding discontent or unsatisfied with where the Lord has me this very moment. On the contrary, I am quite excited for the next phase of life. But at the same time, I am thankful for the time He gave me in Papua New Guinea and look forward to potential trips back there in the future. I am learning to be thankful for the places that the Lord has me in the moment.

back to the land of prerecorded music and endless distractions

Hi all!!

I am really, truly sorry that it has been quite a while since I’ve last posted. My time in PNG has ceased for the moment and I am currently sitting at the bar in my parent’s kitchen writing to you.

Well, PNG was amazing. I haven’t quite figured out how to respond when people ask me the question, “How was your trip?” yet. So far I have come up with the following:

• amazing
• eye-opening
• informative
• I’m ready to go back already
• wonderful
• humbling
• quite the experience
• like nothing I’ve experienced before

I imagine that many of us could come up with similar responses after coming home from a 2-month mission trip in a foreign country. Nonetheless, they are all true and honoring to the Lord. He used the adventure in my life in quite unique and extraordinary ways, and I am excited to write future posts in which you will learn about them. For now I will continue to fight jet lag and go to sleep. Please feel free to ask questions as you think of them, for this provides insight as to what you’re interested in hearing. 🙂

Below is a picture of me during one of the film shots for the new New Tribes promo movie (I’ll post more about that later). We were romping through the hills in a nearby village.

Death Watch

I realize that this is kind-of a morbid title, but please bear with me. And mom: do not be alarmed, everyone is fine. My roommate has not been feeling well for a few days now. She’s been slightly conjested and tired of recent. We thought it was due to allergies and just recovering from a tight and busy schedule from the past 6 weeks, but last night we discovered differently. On Monday night she was running a slight fever of about 100 degrees ferenheit and had a restless sleep. We were supposed to go into town for a supply run and to pick up a new associate from Germany early the next morning. I woke up and my roommate was still sleeping, so I thought I would let her be. I left after saying goodbye and making sure she was supplied with ample water nearby. The day in town was restful and productive, though long. We expected to spend about half of the day there but ended up staying for about 11 hours total, due to the airplane delay. Our new German friend never came as all flights into Garoka had been cancelled. Fortunately, he came in safely this morning and I have yet to meet him! As you might imagine, Liz was very lonely when I arrived back home. She still wasn’t feeling well but was a little less depressed now that we were all back on campus and there were people for her to interact with. She was pretty weak after not really eating anything all day and sleeping most of it through. I made her a dinner of minestrone soup (out of a can; I’m not that domestic yet) and left her to sleep some more. We called the nurse at Lapilo (the missionary base about 30 minutes away) and informed her of the health situation. She took some notes and informed Liz that a few others were experiencing the same symptoms. We had just been at Lapilo on Monday, so Liz very well could have picked up something there. The nurse thought of the possibility of pneumonia or just a common cold. She instructed Liz to take some meds and rest, just to see how things were going to pan out in the morning. The fever was about the same and she took a few otc meds to help that situation. After watching a movie at someone else’e home I came back to go to sleep. I checked on Liz and she was fast asleep. Good. At about 1:30am this morning, Liz came into my room and woke me up in a very alarmed voice, “Kate, I’m scared.” She had just taken her temperature and it read 105.9 in one ear and 104.9 in the other. She felt freezing cold and rather anxious about what was going on. I asked her a few questions about what she was feeling in her body and what she thought she needed the most at the moment. Her simple reply was, “All I want to do is pray.” Duh. So we sat on the couch and prayed for the Lord to bring comfort and peace as the feelings of uncertaintly were overwhelming Liz. I didn’t say anything out loud, but I too was wondering what was going to happen. I called Janie, our go-to missionary on campus for health purposes, and Janie had me call the nurse immediately. At this point Liz just sat on the couch with her eyes closed looking like misery. The nurse had me take some vitals (thank you, mom, for being a nurse and educating us in the basics) and take her respitory count. The nurse asked me questions that I then proceeded to ask Liz and eventually Janie came to our house and talked to the nurse as well. In the end there was really little that we could do but pray for the fever to break. Since we are currently living in a third-world country, the hospital is not exactly somewhere one would go for first-response medical help. Besides the fact that the nearest hospital is about an hour away from the campus where we are located, there is probably more chance that one would contract a disease there rather than be healed of illness. So the emergency room that is so readily available back home is not even an option here. We were quickly jolted to the reality that our security blanket was not available. I followed the nurse’s instructions:

• cold compress/sponge bath until the fever lowers at least 2 degrees, but not to the point of giving her chills
• 1000mg of tylenol immediately
• 400mg of motrin in 2 hours (she had previously taken some)
• tons of water

Liz and I had joked about being able to play “house” this week since we moved from the cabins into a real home. So now we joked about playing “doctor.” It was every little child’s dream. At one point we even remembered the Little House on the Prarie stories of how little Carrie was so ill and they thought she would die. Not that we really thought Liz would die at that moment, but it made for a lighter atmosphere. We joked about how I secretly always wanted to be Laura, and since Liz is the one with curly blonde hair and I have brown hair, she was Mary and I was Laura. Liz quickly fell back to sleep, probably due to exhaustion, as I continued to have a cold compress on her forehead and arms. I took her temp every 30 minutes and it was slowly lowering. Finally, after about 4 hours the fever was down to about 102 degrees and I fell asleep. I woke up at 8am this morning (about 3 hours later) and took her temperature. It was back to normal! Praise the Lord!! Liz slept until about noon and is now blowing her nose and taking time to read mail that family and friends have sent her. A whole list of movies is on the agenda, with plenty of rest and water. Continue to pray for her recovery, as we have only 2 weeks left here in PNG and want to make the best of our time! Pray, too, that I would continue to be healthy. I have been asked to be excluded from interaction with the other missionaries for the day, in case I am a carrier of whatever Liz has. As I was sitting by Liz in the dark last night, pressing cool cloths against her forehead and arms, I thought back to missionaries Brad Buser and Mike and Sandy Mikllavich. Brad told us a story in class once about how he was in the Sepic region of PNG with his wife and young son. His son was stuck ill, probably malaria, and had a fever that would not break. As they were hiking out of the jungle seeking the last resource of help for their little boy, Brad told us how he and his wife had to just commit their son’s life to the Lord. They knew not if the fever would break, but were very aware that it could kill him quickly. They prayed with every step they took, and the Lord’s grace reigned in the form of the fever breaking. The whole point of Brad telling us this story was to illustrate the seriousness of living in the tribe and daily being willing to give up everying–including your infant son–for the sake of others hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Likewise, Mike and Sandy shared a story with us about their daughter being ill from malaria. An air strip had not yet been built near their village and they knew that hiking out for 3 hours and then taking a 6-hour boat ride to the nearest medical clinic was not an option as their daughter was quickly becoming dehydrated and burning a fever. As I remember, they ended up injecting her with water time after time, and again, the Lord’s grace reigned in the form of a broken fever and physical healing. All this is to point everything back to the Lord. He is the author and giver of each of our lives, and that initial prayer that Liz and I prayed was to express our full dependence on Him for our lives. The so-called “risks” of tribal missions became a little more realistic to both of us last night, and we cannot be more thankful to the Lord for His provision. It was a neat experience, though very scary, to be fully dependent upon the Lord–in a very tangible way–for life itself. May we all come to the point of counting the cost of being a disciple of Christ, no matter what our capacity of serving Him looks like.

Daily Happenings

As I am writing this it is Monday afternoon, and my roommate is taking a little afternoon siesta. It rained outside for a while after a cool morning. I am sitting in the loft upstairs in our house listening to Coldplay and writing to you. Liz and I slept in this morning until about 9am. I woke up and wandered outside while the coffee brewed. There are many nationals on campus today working: mowing the lawns, upkeeping the flower gardens, cleaning laundry and empty cabins. They are hard workers and it’s neat to be able to interact with the women here on campus. They are so interested in our lives, with us being from America and all! It’s kinda fascinating.

 After sitting down with the coffee to read Liz woke up and we started our planned breakfast of eggs and potatoes. Soon I got a phone call to help with some admin stuff for another staffer and I went over to the Keung’s home to insert data for Emerson. As I was at the Keung’s home I got a phone call from Dave Cross, the missionary in charge of much of the teachign that goes on during the program. He primairly does the chronological teaching, TERM, through his brother’s book, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. Dave wanted me to come up to their home and help him on a slide show presentation for another class once I was done with Emerson’s work. So I called Dave about 20 minutes later and went up to meet with him.

What he wanted input on was the importance of Bible training when considering an education for career mission/ministry work. There was a portion of a class that he had already taught to my program and just asked me more about what different schools have to offer, what programs should be considered, and what foundational issues should be thought of in choosing a Bible education. I can’t say that I had much to offer, but the converstaion was good. I love college!! Being at Master’s was an experience of a lifetime and I would do it all over again if I could. It was interesting talking through Bible education with Dave, who graduated from Bible school as well as seminary. He was a pastor before missionary, and I think he has a well-rounded perspective of education and what is necessary when going into ministry or missions. It was neat how the Lord used our time together, too, for me to realize what an exceptional education I received at Master’s and also different reasons why Dallas wants me to be in certain programs over the one I want to be in. It’s even more neat how the Lord worked it all together in His perfect timing.

After finishing up with Dave I headed back down to our house and Meaghan and Alicia were hanging out, making dessert for tonight’s “going away” party for the Simons. Alicia left shortly after I got back and the three of us girls just hung out talking about life and working on projects. The afternoon was pretty chill, and then we shared supper with the Gass family. We had some fun and good conversation over a lovely family meal. I am thankful for the missionaries here who have opened up their homes for us to have meals with them in.

 After the Gass’ we headed down to a “going away” party for the Simons. I put “going away” in quotes because they aren’t actually leaving PNG until mid-August after the final Interface program for this year. Simon and Simon are short-termers from Germany fulfilling the German government’s requirement for 1 year of service. They’re completely different men of the Lord, and we are all thankful to know them. It was really neat to be a part of things tonight, even though I only met the Simons about 2 months ago. It was like we were all one huge family. Oh wait. We are! All of the missionaries serving with Interface were present with their families as well as the three of us girls who are serving on hospitality.

Above: Liz, Simon S., Simon N. (aka Simple), me

I’ve been thinking a lot–even this past year–about Rachel Smith’s idea/workings for a Master’s Thesis. As far as my understanding goes, she is writing about being in fellowship and getting involved in community as a Christian when you know you are in a place short-term. This is geared for situations such as going away to college, or even working at a job for only a short amount of time. It’s easy to be apathetic about forming relationships and being involved in each other’s lives–the one-anohters–when you are only going to know them for a short amount of time. But is that biblical? It’s hard to think through because the Bible is clear on the issue: we are to be brothers and sisters in whatever capacity He calls us to be in. But sometimes you wonder if you’ll even make a difference in their lives due to the fact that you will only know them for 2 weeks. But surely, God gives that grace. How encouraging it is to know that I have brothers and sisters serving Him in the same country as my non-Christian family. Or that I can be praying for the MK’s that I have met here in PNG and know that prayer is probably the most effective means I have to minister to them. I may never see them again. But surely I will not be quick to forget the times we shared together. I pray that we will not grow apathetic to Biblical commands in relation to community and relationship in the short-term situations. I am thankful for the Simons and the friendship, though it has been short-lived in comparison, that we have all begun to cultivate.

Discouragement

Right before our team left PNG (and me!) a couple people put together this suystem where we each wrote each other little notes and delivered them accordingly. It kinda reminded me of leaving valentines in each other’s bags in elementary school. Well, I just now got around to reading the thoughtful notes from the team, and the very last one I read had some insightful words in it: “Don’t let anything discourage you.” It’s only by God’s perfect timing that today is the day that I am most discouraged. There are a few things that have been discouraging about today, and I will not go into detail, but I ended up reading Psalm 42 and meditating on it for the purposes of seeking comfort from the Lord. My enemies are not pursuing me as they were David, and there really is no reason to be discouraged. It’s just sin. Sin that gets in the way of loving God. I was talking with Liz earlier about our shared discouragement

me: You’d think I would get what God is trying to teach me after take 127.

Liz: You’re only on take 127? Wait until you get to take 633.

Com’ on now! Why do we place our hope in false things, things that will fade and die and burn along with the rest of the world? I want my heart to continually be echoing the words of David in Psalm 42:11, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Back to the note. Don’t let anything discourage you. God is bigger than that. Discouragement is not from the Lord and has the potential of only getting in the way of truly worshipping and serving him. According to the process of Biblical change (Eph. 4:22-24), (1) put off, (2) be renewed, and (3) put on:

put off discouragement, be changed by God’s Word, and put on encouragement

Don’t let anything discourage you!

Sori Tru

Hi all. “Sori Tru” means “I am truly sorry” in Tok Pisin, the language I am learning here in PNG. I am sorry for not writing for so long, especially as I am discovering more and more how many people actually read this blog, are praying for me, and who are being blessed by the Lord and His grace from this blog! Not to say that I have anything to do with it, but I’m just learning yet one more way that faithfulness is key. Since so much has gone on since the last post about our adventure together, I will just touch base for now and write more as it comes.

 Well, our team left PNG on Thursday morning, and I had the privelidge to see them off to the airport All of the team went back to the US/Canada except for 5 of us: me, Doug (staff), Heather (staff), Liz and Jennie.  Doug will teach the next program as well, as he is a retired missionary from the Solong tribe in the New Britian Islands of PNG. Jennie is on the Highlands base with missionaries from her home church and will remain there until we leave on July 19. Heather, Liz and I are now serving on hospitality here at Interface until we leave on July 19.

 This past week has been quite interesting. Things were definitely busy as the program was wrapping up and final thoughts were made. We had ample opportunity to visit the villages and say our goodbyes to the villagers as well as the staff here at Interface. We were provided with much time for reflection, thought and prayer as the time came to an end. I’ve been thinking a lot about what the Lord has put on my heart specifically, and I will attempt to communicate some of that with you.

 There are a ton of unreached people groups, whether they are in PNG, Africa, Siberia, South America, or wherever. They have never heard the gospel message in their own language, or Tok Place, and therefore have not had the opportunity to make the choice between God and the world. On the other hand, there are plenty of people on every continent who have had the chance to hear and make that decision. Are we willing to go and tell the rest? It’s a hard decision to make, and it should be made after counting the cost. It is something that I have been thinking through a lot myself.

 Am I willing? To what extent? In what capacity? Is there anything that would keep me from going? If so, is it more important to me than perishing souls? How has the Lord specifically equipped me as an individual and how does that fit into where He currently has me?

I do not have many of the answers. One of the biggest and most helpful things I have learned since being in PNG and exposed to tribal mission work is that of what it takes to get a missionary (or missionaries) into the tribe and what it takes to keep them there. There is TONS of support work that goes on outside of the actual tribal work, but if it weren’t to happen, then the tribal missionary is going to spend more time outside of the tribe than they are in the tribe. This is where I think I come in. The more I think through and pray through the missionary options, the more I am convinced that a role in missionary support work is best suited for how the Lord has created me. I do not yet know exactly how I might fit into the woodwork, but some ideas have been entertained. Opa comments almost every time I see him how he thinks I would make a great teacher. But teaching (in public school America) is one of the last things I desire. But teaching at an MK school such as the one here in PNG at Lapilo…sure! Or any amount of office/admin work sounds thrilling to me. Honestly. I would love to be in a position where I know that the work I am doing is keeping the tribal missionary in the tribe. As my notes are not in front of me, I am not able to expound on this topic much more. Anyone familiar with this concept is more than welcome to comment, please.

 This week is partial rest. We have activities to do in gearing up for the next program, since the new set of students do not arrive until Friday afternoon. Some of my duties include: supply runs, cleaning, and kitchen prep. There will be some amount of down time each day, with Tuesday being almost a completely free day. I am really looking forward to taking the entire day to bask in the presence of the Lord and spend some undivided time with Him. If I think of anything else to write, I will.

As I went down to the river to…play?

Yesterday (Wednesday) we embarked upon the
long-awaited hike to the river. It takes the typical group
about 1.5 hours to get there-one way-and each group that
goes through the program has only one opportunity to go. It
was a nice hike down there, but really it was more of a
walk-about. I can’t say I’ve hiked in much similar of a
situation, but the closest I can think of is hiking
anywhere along the northwest Pacific Ocean. But even on
those hikes people don’t typically walk through coffee
gardens or through grass that is as tall as your waist and
as sharp as a razor (for reals, most of us got cuts on our
legs). There was even one point that the grass was up over
our heads like a canopy for a while. I got some sweet
video footage that I’ll post once I am capable.

So we were led astray to the river; apparently we were
hiking to a new destination than previous groups have gone
and our leader turned off too soon. So it took us longer
than we thought to get there, but no complaints because it
was beautiful. We spent about 30 minutes actually playing
in the river. It was like the American River up near home,
but dirty and frigid. As we were hanging out some dark
clouds loomed overhead and the missionaries commented
about rain coming. Keep in mind that it has rained a total
of one time since we’ve been here, which is apparently
unusual. So we’re getting out of the river and ready to
hike back when the downpour starts.

This is wonderful because the entire trail is dirt and
mostly full of hills. Oh, and did I mention the part that
we are all soaking wet from the river anyway? And on top of
that, all the girls are in skirts. So we’re pretty much
getting started back as soon as we can…all 34 of us.
Somehow or another I ended up in the front of the group
with a national guide, two MK’s (ages 10 and 14), and 3
other students. We got way far ahead of the rest of the
group and decided to keep pressing on without them. The
trail was pretty slick and even the guys were slipping all
over the place. Additionally, there were parts of it where
the ground was about 6″ wide, with a cliff on one side and
a barbed-wire fence on the other. Safe, I know. I forgot
to mention that the national children love to follow us
wherever we go. In this case we had about a 1:1 ratio of
children with us. I was heading up the back of our group,
with Joerg (a student) in front of me and a village girl
named Wendi behind me. There was another village boy in
front of Joerg who kept looking behind and making sure
that I was okay. Eventually, the village boy (can’t
remember his name), who is all of about 9 years old, pulls
back behind Joerg without saying a word and digs out foot
holes in the mud with his bush knife for me. It was so
precious! Because of the noise of the rain the boy kept
turning back and yelling at me to “stepim here!” and
pointing with his machete at the freshly turned dirt. I
felt very loved and taken care of. As I was sharing the
experience with one of the missionaries upon arriving
back, I couldn’t help but think of how the Lord does that
for me in life. There are so many times where I am just
walking along–not in the best of situations, but
definitely not the worst–and God just clearly shows me
the steps I need to take towards safety in the midst of
potential hazard. Yes, He can take away the rain or
flatten the mountains. But He takes pleasure in me
following His instructions even more. And just as if I
were to not listen to the child, I would be a fool to
ignore the instructions of the Lord.

Our group will be in the air on their way to Singapore
exactly one week from right now. Once in Singapore they
will spend the night and fly to LA the next morning. I
will see them off to the airport and spend another 3 weeks
here in PNG. Two other girls are staying with me, and we
will watch the new group come in. There is about a week of
time between the two groups, and much of it will be spent
doing random jobs around the campus, going into town, and
just hanging out. As for me, today marks the 1/2 way point
of my time in PNG. I love it here and can’t wait to share
more experiences with you as I anticipate coming home.

This Is The Day

Please overlook the delay in getting an update
posted. Tamsen (my sister who is taking care of these
posts for me) had surgery on both of her feet Monday (CA
time) and is steadily recovering. Additionally, I have
been busy here in PNG! I went to write emails yesterday
afternoon and the Internet was down, and there are
constant opportunities for ministry among my teammates and
the other missionaries that are sometimes more important
than blogging or emailing. Thanks for your understanding!

The days here have been one in the same and similar to
previous days. It’s all great and good, but does not
provide much new information for y’all. Except for Tuesday
when we went into town. We drove for an hour into Garoka
and experienced what the typical PNG tribal person might
do with an afternoon in town. We were broken into smaller
groups as to keep a low profile. I was actually led in a
group by a local PNG girl, Shara, who is a believer and
lives just outside of Garoka. She visits the Interface
campus frequently and is a really neat girl. Another guy
in our group is one of the German interns, so he is also
town-savvy. So having the two of them was pretty cool.
Shara knew all the safe shortcuts and hotspots and Simple
kept us on time.

We started first at the Veggie Mart where anyone and
everyone comes to sell their produce. There were many
varieties of fruits and vegetables for sale–pineapple,
carrots, lettuce, kaukau (sweet potato), coconuts, tapiok
(a root they eat here), sugar cane–along with traditional
clothing and children’s toys. It was extremely busy and
due to a high caution of fights breaking out and/or
pick-pockets being around, we went more or less to look
than to shop. No one was stolen from and there were no
fights, but it was still pretty interesting to experience.

After the Veggie Mart we drove a little ways to tour a
history museum of PNG. It was a little run-down museum
compared to our immaculate and dust-free ones in America,
but informative nonetheless. The two main sections were
about the tribal customs of the highlands (the “old ways”)
and then the WWII era that PNG experienced. It was
definitely something that history buffs would be into, and
I was thankful to learn more about this country.

After the museum we visited the big coffee factory here in
PNG. Coffee is the cash crop in the highlands where we are
currently at, and it was neat to be able to see coffee as
I know it in America from the plant to the bag. It smelled
incredible and was even interesting to watch the men work
as sanitation here is not what we are typically used to.
When one of the workers was pulling a batch out of the
roasting barrell, someone asked how long each roast took
(mild, medium and dark). His simple reply was, “I don’t
really know. We just do it by sight.” Fascinating that it
turns out good every time…

After the coffee plant we visited New Tribes Mission
Aviation’s (NTMA) base in PNG. It was so cool! We got a
tour of their offices, workshop, airstrip and the like.
They even have a little simulation room that two men were
working in. Aviation is one of the many support ministries
I have learned about that make tribal missions happen, and
it was so neat to be able to watch the support happen
first-hand. There is so much need in NTMA for different
roles–pilots, mechanics, admin, etc.–that it’s difficult
not to think of people I know who could fulfill those
roles out here on the mission field. (And I’m sure you are
reading this, you whom I’m thinking of. We’ll have a nice
chat when I get home.) 🙂 We had a picnic lunch at NTMA
and then headed into the main part of Garoka.

The majority of the day was spent just wandering and
shopping around downtown Garoka. There are different parts
and the first place we went is called the Artifact Market.
It’s just where anyone and everyone plops down on the
sidewalk and sells things. Again, it reminded me a lot of
when i have visited Ensenada, Mexico. There was also the
“wall of bilums” (bee-lums). They are hand-sewn purses of
all shapes, sizes and colors that the nationals use to
carrying things in–everything from personal items to
their own liklik (leek-leek) pikininis
(pick-ee-knee-knees), their babies. There were literally
hundreds of bilums hung up along the fence line waiting
for a customer.

After that we just walked around town to the places that
Shara and Simple thought we would enjoy the most–mainly
knick-knack stores and the like. There are a couple of
places that sell anything you could ever want, from bush
knives and machetes to material and ribbon by the yard.
One of the stores even sold live baby chicks. The groups
all met up at the Bird of Paradise hotel in Garoka (the
tourist hot-spot) for some snacks and time in the shade.
Then we left Garoka to come back to the Interface campus.

This morning (Friday) we had a language helper session and
my language helper, Doris, took me to her garden to teach
me how to plant kaukau (cow-cow), sweet potato and do
other things. It’s a rather simple process: make a little
mountain of dirt, then pick three kaukau leaves and put
the ends together in the middle of the mound. That’s all!
It takes 2-3 weeks for the root to grow big enough to eat,
depending on the rain. After we all (3 of us) took a whack
at planting kaukau, Doris taught us how to weed. Pretty
much anything that grows but is not edible is considered a
weed. We rooted many a weed and just threw them in the
ditches between the rows of planted food. I asked her if
they ever take the weed and burn it, but she said no
because it is essentially compost for the soil (not her
exact words, but that’s what she meant). So interesting! I
would think it silly because then the weeds just plant
more seedlings of themselves, causing even more weeds to
sprout and have to pull. But that is what is good for
their soil, and what they have been doing for generations.
The 4 of us worked in her garden for about 45 minutes and
then rested in the shade. She told us that our 45 minutes
of work saved her about 3 hours that she would have had to
do on her own. Praise the Lord!

As we were sitting in the shade resting and being
relational, Monica (one of the girls in our group) asked
Doris what kind of music she likes. Doris replied that she
only likes “gospel music” and Monica asked her to teach us
a song. Doris taught us the Pidgin words to “This is the
Day.” It was stuck in my head all day, and I pray that you
find wisdom and encouragement in meditating on such simple
words:

This is the day
This is the day that the Lord has made
That the Lord has made
This is the day
This is the day that the Lord has made
That the Lord has made
This is the day that the Lord has made
I will be glad and rejoice in it
This is the day that the Lord has made.