Praying for Rain

Did your mom ever tell you not to waste water? Mine did, and I really did try to listen to her, but I have to confess that growing up with city water in the northern United States this did not come naturally to me. Sure, I knew there were people living in deserts, who prayed for rain so they could have a sip of water to drink, but I was not one of those people and in the world I knew, water was a seemingly infinite resource. The idea of running out of water was as inconceivable as the idea that the sun might not rise some morning.

Well, two days ago the inconceivable happened, and I ran out of water. That's right, I turned on the faucet and nothing came out!

My water comes from the tank you see on the left. Rain water is collected from the roof and piped into the tank to be stored. When my faucets began sputtering and producing more bits of leaves than water, I went out check the water level in my tank. You can tell how high the water is by tapping on the side of the tank, because it echoes where it's empty but makes a dull thud wherever there's water. Sadly, my tank echoed all the way down to the ground. I was very surprised at this empty state of affairs, because dry season has only just begun, and we had daily downpours at the end of rainy season. When I climbed on top of the tank to investigate further, I discovered that the screen over the opening where the water comes in was entirely covered with pine needles and a healthy layer of dirt. Probably very little of those daily downpours ever actually made it into my tank!

Now, do not panic: I did take a shower this morning and I am not dying of dehydration! Thankfully, we do have an alternate water system, in which water is pumped up from a nearby creek, although that water isn't safe to drink. After cleaning the filter screen on my tank, I crawled under my house to investigate the various pipes and knobs (shown on the right) that would allow me to switch over to the creek water. There were three knobs, and no labels, and after trying various combinations of knob turning with no success, I called my neighbor, who told her friend, who called her husband, who told their son, who came over and showed me how to switch it over. Thanks to the creek, I still have a functioning shower and toilet. Thanks to my friends and neighbors, I have plenty of bottles of drinking water from other people's tanks. But now I am one of those people praying for rain!

Alpha 338, standing by!

For lots of people working in Papua New Guinean villages, two-way radio is still the only way they can communicate with Ukarumpa or the wider world! I love using the radio . . . it makes me feel so official to say, "This is Alpha 338, calling Foxtrot 288! Foxtrot 288, do you read me? Over." Only one person can talk at a time, so you have to hold down a button to talk, and say "over" when you're finished.






Last week, while we were planning our next survey, we wanted to discuss some things with our survey consultant, but he's out in a village right now . . . so we talked to him on the radio. Here's a picture of Sara and Bonnie discussing survey methodology with our consultant.

My friend Liz is out working in a village now, so I get to talk to her on the radio every week to see how she's doing, pass on all the big Ukarumpa news, and give her messages from people at home.

A glimpse of Ukarumpa culture . . .

Last night I went to a "farewell auction", which is one of the unique aspects of the Ukarumpa subculture. When someone leaves, either permanently or for furlough, a few days before they go they invite lots of people to their house and "auction" off all the things they don't want to take with them. But the thing about these auctions is that no money is exchanged: all you have to do is raise your hand, shout "Me!", make an excited sound, or even a sarcastic remark, and the item on display is thrown at you.


One can obtain a wide variety of products at farewell auctions: I have observed snorkel gear, books, clothes, nearly empty bottles of barbecue sauce, spices, envelopes, partial bags of flour, a pineapple, (used) socks, old magazines, shampoo, a paper clip, a palm leaf fan, and even a fake engagement ring. Last night I became the proud new owner of a waterproof paper holder (great for maps on survey!), a pad of post-it notes, a green pen and a bottle of nutmeg. Who needs Wal-Mart?!?

Pterodactyls!

Just in case you're not already convinced that PNG is one of the absolute coolest places on earth, did you know that there have been reports of live pterodactyl sightings here?!?

I know, I know, it sounds like I'm making that up . . . but whether or not the reports are true, it is definitely true that there have been reports. In fact, only last week I had the privilege of eating dinner with a possible pterodactyl eyewitness! During a hike in the Finisterre Mountains, this guy saw three enormous flying creatures that sure looked like pterodactyls and seemed far too big to be birds. And he's not the only one! In 1944, Duane Hodgkinson, stationed in Papua New Guinea during World War II, reported seeing a large flying creature with a long appendage on the back of its head and a 10-15 foot long tail.

Later, in 1971, Brian Hennessy reported a similar experience. “It was so unusual." he said, "I actually heard it before I saw it. A slow flap . . . flap . . flapping sound. The air was still, and our truck had stopped on our downward journey from the top of the range to the coast way below . . . it was very big (wingspan at least two metres, probably more . . . possibly much, much more). It was black or dark brown. I had never seen anything like it before. . . . I recall seeing this creature with a longish narrow tail . . . the head was disproportionately large compared to the body [no feathers in sight]." (http://www.ropens.com/hennessy/)

Still not convinced? Well, you can hear the testimony of three Papua New Guinean eyewitnesses! People living on Umboi Island (just off the northeast coast of PNG) call these gigantic flying creatures "ropens". Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tynNqRvMrd8

Of course, we don't know what any of these people really saw . . . but what if there are still living pterodactyls???

Translators' Training Course

This is why we do surveys!!! Here are three guys from the Wagi language area (which we surveyed in March) at a Translators' Training Course (TTC), learning about principles of translation so that they will be better equipped to translate God's words into their own language. TTC is a five week course that is offered every year in Ukarumpa, with the goal of training Papua New Guineans to be translators themselves. These three guys have a real passion to see Scripture in the Wagi language . . . praise God for that and pray for encouragement, wisdom and protection during the long road ahead of them!

A brand new house . . .

Traditional PNG houses are built with wood and bamboo straight from the forest, and thatched with dried palm leaves for the roof. When someone needs a new house, his relatives and close friends get together and help him out until it's done . . . and later on he'll do the same for them.

Particularly in the lowlands, where it's very hot and wet, houses are usually built a couple of metres off the ground, to keep them dry and let lots of air flow under the house.

Great day in the survey office!

Our Bena Scripture Use survey report has been approved by our survey consultant!!!

Maybe you're not jumping for joy, but this is a very exciting occasion in the survey office!