Permanent Flexibility?

Leaning on the door frame, I watched Claire warming up with the other girls in her beginner’s ballet class.  As they stretched, I observed their varying degrees of flexibility.  Some girls could easily rest their heads on their knees and others struggled to touch their toes.  I mused that I’d definitely be one of the latter group.  Well that’s what happens when you get older, I rationalized.  Moments later the girls’ teacher (who has about 2 decades on me, give-or-take) demonstrated proper posture while executing the stretch perfectly.  <jaw drops>

That kind of flexibility must take years of pushing muscles to their limit in order to keep them supple and pliable.  I find, however, that the older I get the more I say, “I’m sore in places I didn't even realize I had muscles!”  We all know what happens when we try an physical activity that we haven’t done in awhile.  The next day our muscles remind us that they need time to be retrained and, for goodness sake, take it easy next time!

SO, if I know it takes time and hard work to keep muscles flexible, why am I surprised that…

• Planning meals around what you can find at the grocery store, not by what you want to eat…
• And being just moments away from a medical crisis that requires you fly to another country to get help...
• And having the finance office open from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM and the post office from 1:00 – 4:00 PM, making it impossible to visit both places in one trip even though they’re across the street from each other...
• And longing for sunshine during months of steady rain, only to start praying for rain (and drinking water) again after a 3-week dry spell…
• And having no choice about what shampoo the family is using that week and coping with the fallout thereof…
• And dealing with the mini-crisis, paperwork and last-minute travel that a forgotten expiration date in a passport can cause…
• And relearning to wash dishes with or without liquid dish soap…

…make me emotionally weary?

This month marks the halfway point of our time here in PNG, and I find myself wondering if I have the stamina to make it another 18 months.  Then I feel guilty because one quick look around reminds me that I have it pretty good and definitely no reason to complain.  So I keep looking for the day when I wake up with a permanently flexible attitude—one that allows me to naturally adapt to change and not feel pain in the alteration.

It’s an unrealistic expectation, of course.  I wasn’t made to work that way, so I shouldn’t be ashamed that so much “stretching” might wear me down.  Flexibility is a key to survival when you’re living overseas.  Actually, it’s handy in marriage, parenthood, home schooling, the workplace and just LIFE in general.  We get too easily set in our ways, and sometimes forget that things CAN be done differently, or we WILL survive without such-and-such.  Sometimes change hurts in ways we never expected.

BUT maybe it can be a good pain.  A pain that reminds us we have muscles that need to be used…especially that “dependence upon Christ alone” muscle that gets weak when we feel like we’re finally in control.  So what’s been stretching your flexibility these days?

Do-It-Yourself Waterslide

Claire’s writing assignment for today was to make a poster to advertise a fictious event.  She chose to promote a waterslide party--which reminded me of a very cool pastime the kids enjoy on the odd Saturday.

Someone had the very ingenious idea to dig a trench down a hill and line it with thick plastic.  A garden hose sprays water down the slide and the kids land in a pool of (brown and muddy) water at the bottom.  As you can see it’s the wettest and wildest ride in Ukarumpa!

Jars of Clay

Every two years members of our branch meet together in Ukarumpa to reflect on what God has done in and through Bible translation in Papua New Guinea during the past two years. This year’s conference theme was based on 2 Corinthians 4:7. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (NIV)

We “jars of clay” are full of cracks and imperfections. But when the treasure of Christ dwells within us, those imperfections allow His power and glory to shine through us. The fact that God has chosen weak vessels like us to expand his Kingdom is both heartening and humbling. We count it a privilege to be supporting Bible translation in Papua New Guinea, but it’s easy to become discouraged by our personal limitations or when our plans fail.

One of our co-workers, Bruce, had taken on the responsibility of delivering the newly printed Tairora Bibles to a few villages among the Tairora people. Since the translators (Alex and Lois Vincent) weren’t currently in PNG, they had difficulty finding couriers familiar with the region.

Nonetheless, Bruce and 2 other guys on off-road motorbikes departed with a load of Bibles for one of the better known villages. On the way, Bruce fell off his bike and was badly hurt. Some of the local people helped Bruce back to our center, and x-rays at the clinic revealed that Bruce had a broken clavicle. It seemed like there wouldn’t be any more deliveries for several weeks.

A week later, however, Bruce heard that local church leaders would be meeting in Ukarumpa village. He went to the meeting and was invited to speak about the new, undelivered Bibles. After hearing Bruce’s story and how he broke his clavicle, the pastors decided something needed to be done.

Not long afterwards, a group of men arrived to pick up all the boxes of Bibles. Not only did they complete Bruce’s failed delivery, but they also took the Bibles to some very remote villages that Bruce had no way of getting to.

Hallelujah! Our God is not restricted by our plans, and often uses our weaknesses to accomplish his greater purposes.

Resurrection Celebration

Two Grade 12 students made our Easter celebration extra special this year.  Stephanie and Elijah attended a Bible conference in Ukarumpa over the weekend with about 120 other students from across the country.  Members of our community invited the students into their homes for dinner after the Easter service.

We got to spend the afternoon getting to know Stephanie and Elijah.  They are from two different villages in the same language group.  We enjoyed stories about their families and customs.  Elijah told us how white foreigners first introduced his people to horses, and now they raise and sell them.  Stephanie told us how her people used to fight and even eat the white missionaries who were trying to get up to the Highlands.  <We’ve seen actual footage of the first white explorer’s journey into the Highlands of PNG so it wasn’t that long ago!>

It was especially encouraging to have Elijah tell us how much he enjoys studying the Bible, and ask us how he could become a Bible translator.  Yes!  It is our prayer that this young generation of Papua New Guineans…the future leaders of their country…would pick up the baton and help their neighbors get God’s Word in their heart language.

Surprise Eggs

Claire and Isaiah have vague memories of Easter baskets and egg hunts from years past but they haven’t been a regular tradition in our family.  This year, however, there were three little “surprises” waiting on their breakfast plates…Kinder Surprises.

They are a chocolate treat that most American kids can only dream about since they’re illegal in the US.  Apparently, the small toys they contain within their shells could constitute a choking hazard.  So just in case you Americans should find yourselves longing for this sweet concoction, you need only go to Canada to purchase one.  Just don’t try bringing any back home, you could get a fine of $2500 per egg!

To prepare you for this little walk on the wild side, Claire will now demonstrate how to safely eat a Kinder Surprise…without choking.

1.  Unwrap foil around egg and discard responsibly.

2. Break chocolate shell in half to discover yellow, plastic yolk.  Eat chocolate.  Do not eat yolk.

3. Open yolk to find toy.  After reading instructions thoroughly, assembly toy.

4. Smile really big!

Having Voice

We’re in the middle of our branch conference right now.  I confess it’s not my most favorite thing to sit and listen to reports and discuss governance issues.  I’m not alone in that opinion because sometimes during our meetings we even hash out whether it’s worth the time and effort to have the conference.  This year, however, I definitely see some benefits…even to me personally.

I work at home and home school my two kiddos.  My social interaction is often limited to trips to the store and Sunday morning services.  So it’s not often that I get to hear first-hand accounts of the work going on in the far corners of PNG.

Today I saw photos of villages almost completely isolated from the rest of humanity by mountains and swamp land.  I marveled at the number of language groups (not to mention individual languages) that exist in the Sepik and Sundaun provinces of western PNG.  And I was reminded that there is still a huge amount of work to do.

Later we heard presentations on a couple of proposed governance structures, and we were given the chance to discuss ideas and voice questions with those at our tables.  Even though I work primarily as a wife and mother, for me it is huge that I have a say in this work, and that what I say is valued.  It serves to reinforce in my mind that what I do matters in Bible translation.

A few years ago Jon was working at a university back in the US helping to start an aviation maintenance program.  We were convinced that we were furthering Bible translation by helping to train potential aircraft mechanics for the field—a skill that always seems in short supply.

The difficult part for me was that no matter what I did as the wife to support my husband in his role, I was not an employee and not privy to company plans and goals.  I didn’t expect otherwise, but I still found it hard to be left on the outside.  And it didn’t take long for our mutual aspiration to just become his job.

Maybe that loss of focus is my own fault, but that time on the outside has made me appreciate the “voice” I have once again.  I may spend my days making meals, washing work uniforms, drilling multiplication facts, or printing conference name tags but there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m doing it for Bible translation.

(Photos by B. Boogaard & P. King)

Fitting Pipes

Post by Jon--

Even though I have a very specific role in supporting Bible translation here in Papua New Guinea, I never really know what I might be called on to do from one day to the next.

A couple of weeks ago a guy I’d never seen before came into our hanger with a look of concern on his face.  He introduced himself as the leader of a rural development program within Papua New Guinea.  His company is in the process of installing a hydro-electric system next to a river in the remote location of Marawaka.  He had a logistical dilemma and was in desperate need of help.

He had prearranged about two hundred sections of specialized water pipe to be driven by truck from the port city of Lae to our airstrip at Aiyura, where a large Twin Otter aircraft would fly the pipe into Marawaka.  The problem was that all the pipe was cut into lengths that would not fit into the aircraft.  He asked us if there was any way we could help him get the material to his job sight. 

Wanting to help, we organized a system of measuring and cutting the pipes into manageable lengths.

Then we grouped them into loads that the aircraft could handle and loaded each one by hand into the plane.  This was no small task since some of those pipes weighed about 200 pounds!

 

As we visited with the leader of the project (who was an Australian) we learned that he had actually grown up in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s.  His parents were missionaries in a location about 40 miles from where we are now.

We just never know who the Lord is going to bring across our path, or who he is going to ask us to help!