Hello Everybody!

Thanks so much for all your prayers about my health. So
far I have avoided getting sick, although a lot of people
around me haven't. It seems like almost every day someone
else is missing class. Thankfully it doesn't seem to last
long.

We got to learn how to cook sweet potatoes and banana
today, or as they say, kukim kaikai na banana. That was a
fun lesson, but it got my hands all sooty and the banana
that I tried to eat was a little hard, or as they say,
stronpla banana. :)

We have been able to learn a lot about how to learn a new
language; and I find it very interesting in how important
it is to understand the people's culture. In our classes
they have taught us that: Language is the expression of
culture, and to a great extent, culture is expressed
through language. So if you want to teach a group of
people something new (say, the Gospel message), you can't
just go right up to them and transcribe your English into
their tribal language; It won't mean anything to them, or
else it will mean something inaccurate. First you need to
understand how they view the world, their motives, values,
and beliefs. You need to understand their pre-conceived
notions of God or "gods", or their understanding of good.
You wouldn't want to tell a group of people who think a
good person is one who lies well that "God is good."
Basically you would be telling them that God is a good liar.

I am learning that it takes a lot of preparation and
learning to be able to be able to explain the Gospel
correctly to a tribal group. There are so many things you
have to be looking out for. For example, it is very easy
for a tribal group to take their new belief in Jesus and
mix it in with their old form of religion, what is known
as syncratism. For example, there is what is called the
"Cargo Cult" here in PNG. They believe that if they obey
God and go through all the actions of Christianity
correctly, then God will provide them with physical stuff.
This came from their initial belief that all their
physical possesions come from "gods" so when they saw White
Man receiving cargo shipments of guns, food, and other
stuff they thought that their "gods" were providing it for
them. The White Missionaries told them of God and all the
things needed to be a good Christian, but instead of their
ultimate desire of wanting a relationship with Him, all
they wanted was the Physical Stuff. So they were quite
disappointed that they didn't receive any of the White
man's physical goods when they "became Christians".

I can really see now why it takes so long to "Evangelize"
to a tribal group. And I am even more impressed of those
who choose to be a tribal missionary. They have to be so
knowledgeable to all the pitfalls, aware of all that the
tribes people might be thinking, have a exceptional
knowledge of the language and culture, and on top of that,
the Bible and Gospel message. That must all take so much
discipline!

Amazed in PNG,
Jeniene