Stories from PNG: July

-
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Several people have been asking me about what God is doing in Papua New Guinea (PNG), what life is like there, what impact Bible translation is having on the people, how they're using the Bible, how they are training to be pastors/ministers of God's Word and so many other things. So, I've decided to start sharing at least one story a month (and probably more) with you so you can see the amazing things God is doing in PNG. Enjoy!

Passion for Stories
(shared with permission from the PNG Experience: Volume 2. For more stories see: http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com/)

For much of the workshop, Susan, a Kwomtari speaker, at unobtrusively at her table, often resting her chin on her hands as she listened to the lectures. One of 30 participants from seven languages, Susan was attending the third of four workshops on Oral Bible Storytelling (OBS), a course that teaches Papua New Guineans how to memorize and retell Bible stories in a dramatic manner.

Quiet and humble, Susan rarely spoke in discussions, and so when she shyly walked to the front of the room, everyone grew silent. She stared at the ground for a moment, and then, breaking into a huge grin, Susan dove headfirst into the story of Moses fleeing Egypt. Waving her hands and darting around the room, this tiny woman became a fierce Moses attacking an Egyptian, scolding Hebrew, cowering shepherds, and Jethtro's daughters. As she finished the story, the room roared with laughter and applause; Susan beamed in delight -- being illiterate no longer meant she couldn't share God's Word. 

As a pastor's wife with a deep faith, Susan's inability to read has long been a great frustration to her, preventing her from leading well her women's fellowship group or even telling Bible stories to her children. After she attended her first OBS workshop, Susan eagerly began sharing stories, but the other women in her fellowship became angry, accusing Susan of arrogance and not accepting their authority as literate members.

But, a chance to clarify OBS came when Susan was asked to share a Bible story for the opening devotional for a regional women's meeting. "How many of you can read?" 150 women were asked. Only a dozen raised their hands. "OBS helps you learn Bible stories and share them with your families -- without needing to read." Excited, the women listened spellbound as Susan proclaimed Truth in their own language. No longer did Susan face opposition from the fellowship; instead, they were excited about receiving God's Word through OBS into their own lives!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brokenness, Hope, and the Now and Not Yet

-
Image
Moonrise near my home       I stood in the shower, in the first truly hot shower I’ve had in over a week, the seeping cold slowly melting from my body. Words kept forming on my lips and in my heart in prayer for the twin baby who was rushed to the hospital today. The other twin died the day before yesterday and now the second was in unstable condition at a hospital about 30 minutes away. The babies are relatives of a dear friend and my heart broke in unintelligible words in the shower. It had been a rough day. One woman was brought in without a pulse and it became evident shortly into the resuscitation that she was too far gone. At the same time another baby was fighting for its life hooked to tubes and fluid bags, its fearful mother watching with wide silent eyes as staff worked on her little one.      Less than a month back to my Pacific island home and the black wall of suffering has already slapped me full in the face. The haunting reality of our broken world and the faintly glimme
Read more

A Creepy Crawly Welcome

-
Image
  Asiatic rhinoceros beetle  Flicking on the light I walked down the stairs to my basement. I had only been home for a few minutes but wanted to check the house and see what I’d need to do to get it into shape after my long absence. The upstairs was clean and tidy and ready for me to start unpacking and the whole house had been cleaned a couple of weeks before. I went down the stairs and turned the corner. I pulled up short. There if front of me was the huge inverted corpse of a spider, curled legs frozen and dangling in the web of another spider. The dead spider was at least an inch across and had to have been quite big when it was alive. Taking a broom from the wall, I poked at the dead spider, just reassuring myself that it was indeed dead. I shuddered and stepped around the web, making a mental note to clear away the cobwebs downstairs as one of my first chores. I’d only gone a step or two when I stumbled on a rhinoceros beetle that was struggling on its back. It angrily flailed it
Read more

Seasons

-
Image
 Note: I wrote this back in August and forgot to publish it, but it was too good not to share. So, you guys get two blog posts this week. :) Ukarumpa with a lovely double rainbow over it  The smell of freshly roasting coffee and rain glide through my window into my office. The weather is turning cooler and more foggy but the rain has slacked off as we creep into the dry season. And so we make another determined march through the seasons, ticking off the months in their turn. In the northern hemisphere Summer is tantalizingly close. Schools are finishing up their year and kids are counting down the days until break and endless hours without homework or classes. Right now some friends and I are studying the way God’s story starts in Genesis and wraps through the whole Bible, weaving in and out of what feel like unrelated stories and poetry and pronouncements of doom should the people not repent. But as we look for the common thread of God’s story I can see God’s rhythms of creation and g
Read more