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Heidiz > Papua New Guinea Trip > Journal

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Date: 6/14/04
Location: Pacific Orientation Course, Madang, Papua New Guinea

Today we had Tok Pisin class and it was Johanna and Josiah's first class. After lunch, I got to go to Galahid's village. I felt a bit uncomfortable when I first asked her if it was a good time (she had asked me to come before), but we came to an understanding. We talked about a lot of different things - her family, the VanDorens, the people going to hear the Lutheran evangelist at the school, guitars, how to make noise with grass/flowers, and more. Tomorrow hopefully I can teach her a little bit how to play the guitar. At her house, I gave her a granola bar to share with her father(?) and another boy. They enjoyed it, and Galahid kept the wrapper. She also gave me a piece of the granola bar. I must remember to stori wantaim Tabitha about this when I get home .

Tonight our Discovery team minus the Tomlinsons went to Dimat's house for supper. First, we sat outside where the fire was smoking just enough to make our eyes water. Johanna and I ended up moving to the other side. Things were a little tense until Kristen shared her testimony she had written up in Tok Pisin. Throughout the night, we all ended up sharing a short testimony, including Dimat. There are two generations of Christians before him - his tumbuna (grandfather) na papa (and father). Julie also asked him about WWII. He was a liklik pikinini (little boy) when the Japanese came. His mother carried him on her back into the bush. The Japanese stole food from the gardens in PNG. Dimat believes the theory that the Australians painted planes with Japanese markings and bombed Pearl Harbor so that the Americans would join the war. Papua New Guineans look favorably on the Australians and Americans because they drove the Japanese out of PNG. I also got to tell Dimat a little about how I ride/train horses, which was fun . We talked some about training animals to listen to your voice. Supper was good - taro (similar to potato), rice, tin fish (fish out of a can), greens, and tea and banana bread for dessert. One of the first things I noticed when we came in and sat down to eat was how dark it was. They had one kerosene lantern lit, but it was dim and hard to see the food. Later, we used our flashlights to show them pictures of our families. After the walk back in the dark with flashlights, we sat on the porch around the POC office and had an encounter with a huge beetle. Josiah was tormenting it, and it buzzed up and down in front of him. When he went to almost touch it, it "hissed" at him. Finally it landed upside-down and Josiah let it crawl onto his shoe. It started crawling up his leg before he knocked it off. We all had lots of laughs tonight. I had fun . Praise Jesus .

 

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