Bougainville Update: Thursday, January 29, 2009

A full day.  The class went very well as I shared various types of preaching with the men.  Rev. Joe gave me a very good example in the devotion time and it was useful for tying things together.  The examples seemed to help the men connect, but it was not the only benefit; several times as I was sharing truth while sharing the example, the Spirit of the Lord settled down upon us.  They really connected when I shared the story style of preaching.  It was fun and lively and we are beginning to connect with one another.  

During my morning break, Rev. Joe came over and we talked at length.  It was a very good give and take.  He taught me much about the culture and students that was helpful to understanding.  He also shared several things with me about the struggles they face here and how he became national superintendent at such a young age.  He is very capable and is a tremendous asset here on Bougainville.  At the end of our time it was amazing to me how much our problems are alike though we have very different cultures.  

Most of the students had not made much progress on their inductive study, so in the afternoon study hour I spent 10 minutes with each of them.  It seemed to be good study and we shall see today if it made any difference.  Today begins the study of a proposition (big idea) statements.  

Jeff and I took another short walk after study and before dinner.

  It was a bit cooler (not cool) but considerably more comfortable today.  The jungle areas here are very dense.  Jeff says that if anything is left alone for a year or so, the jungle takes it back over.  When we got back, Alex and Lesly were working on the garden plot.  They are growing all kinds of interesting vegetables including broccoli and bok choi.  Lesly’s sister went to agricultural college and has passed her knowledge on.

Jonathan created another masterpiece of a meal last night.  We are eating far better than I imagined we would.  I took a picture of the meal just because it was so nicely presented and was quite tasty.  We had canned beef over rice (better than it sounds) kaukau - a sweet potato that is more white than ours and not as dry, various veggies as a garnish and the mystery spinach/asparagus bush that we have had most nights.  There was pineapple and mango for dessert - the tropical fruit here is amazing and will ruin me for ever eating mangos from Meijer.  

I decided not to use the message from Daniel on Sunday since Moses is using chapter one from Daniel for his sermon. So I will be writing a new one this week.  That will be better anyway.  So I worked on that for a while last night and then went to bed.  

Saw another cockroach last night when I got up to go to the toilet.  He was really fast.  And large.

  I had to be really careful where I stepped because even though I could see where he was, he moved so fast I almost had him run across my foot before I could pick it up for the next step.  GROSS!  Our friendly household gecko is getting more comfortable with us apparently, because he seems much more free to chatter in the middle of the night.  We have one large one as far as I can tell, and several really tiny ones.  It is more and more likely that the thing I had run across my neck the first night was one of these.  Jonathan saw one with a tail missing.  Could have been from being snatched up and thrown across the room.

lukim you behain  (see you later!)

Creepy Crawlies, Craters & Communication

I had an uneventful night of sleep, no creepy crawlies again, but each of us have killed a 2 inch cockroach in the last 24 hours.  The ants are under control and the flies are down to a few hundred.  

Class got off to a noisy start today.  Just as devotions were concluding it started to rain and when I got up to start class I had to shout to be heard as the rain beat on the steel panel roof.  

I’m not sure I’m getting through but I hope so.  They seemed to catch the concepts of the study tools and I wish I could get more to them.  It seems a shame that I have a library full of stuff I only use occasionally and they have nearly nothing.  Even the Bible school library is very limited.  There are lots of books, but many of them are very old and/or culturally irrelevant.  Several books I have used in the past and have cast off as outdated.  Others have done the same and so the books end up here.

I showed them some of the good classics that are useful - Halley’s Bible Handbook and Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.  Moses asked if they were available - I doubt it - but I will look into getting some shipped here.  Bringing them here in the luggage isn’t really practical because of the massive weight.  I guess I’m just frustrated by the whole have/have not dilemma.  

I do love the way the team is working together and the easy camaraderie of the three of us.  There is a good spirit of doing whatever we can to work together to get things done.

After classes last night Jeff and I went for a walk around.  He pointed out an interesting feature of the campus.  In the main yard there are three large depressions.  They are bomb craters from WWII!  They aren’t all that deep any longer but are quite large around.  This area was an area of heavy conflict during the war and the locals hid in caves down by the ocean.

We made our way down there this evening - taking a trail that led down and I wasn’t really believing where we were going.  The trail got fairly steep as we descended over coral and then there was a place where you used a knotted rope to lead to an aluminum ladder set into the wall to get down another 20 feet.  Then it was still down hill over jagged coral until it finally leveled out.  The ocean was beautiful and I picked up a shell and a bit of coral as a souvenir.  

When we got back I stopped by the cooking hut of the guys.  They were making KauKau - a cross between potato and sweet potato. We got talking about crops grown different places and Raymond asked me to describe maize.  I told him how it grew on a stalk and had one ear that grew rows of large yellow seeds.  Jairus said, “sounds like corn”!  We had quite a laugh over that one.  

Then tonight after dinner Rev. Joe came over to talk.  We had a great time with him.  He is very helpful in understanding the culture and has explained many things to me.  He also has an engaging personality and great sense of humor.  I’m loving this place and loving the people.

Mmmm - Tastes Like Asparagus!

The green stuff from yesterday’s entry turned out to be very good.  It did indeed taste like asparagus, but a little stronger and a bit tangy - but good with no ill effects.  We have also been enjoying mangos - very delicious and refreshing.

Sleeping started out well last night.  I was wiped out by 9:00 and lay down and soon was out until about midnight when I had a yet unidentified creature crawl across my neck.  I instinctively grabbed it and threw it away from me.  I didn’t experience any poisonous bites or swelling, so I guess I’ve survived another adventure.  I did not, however, sleep that well for the rest of the night.  Any slight tingle or the curtain moving against my leg put me on high alert.  It was hot, but not unbearably through the night.

Jonathan has been taking great care of us.  The laundry was done and the meals have been very tasty.  He also is very inventive.  He made french toast this morning, but since we didn’t have syrup (not many maple trees on Bougainville) he made his own by boiling down sugar and water.  It really was quite nice - not over sweet as maple sometimes can be. 

The first day of class went well.  We only had three students to start, because three of the

 students thought class began next week.  They arrived mid afternoon.  The day began with devotions, singing and prayer.  Then introductions were made and I began my class.

With only three students, it went faster than I anticipated and we were done a bit early.  I hope I was able to communicate O.K.  One of the students was quite sharp but another was very shy and I’m not sure he understands English well enough to keep up.  Have I mentioned that it’s hot here?  By the end of class, my shirt was soaked through.  Clothes won’t last long here as I am going through a couple sets per day.  

I was reflecting on the remoteness of this place.  When I was in Zambia, it was backward and Haiti was oppressive, but both places were very advanced in the tools that can be put into the hands of pastors there.  Both places the pastors have computers and many have laptops.  They have access to books and other basic tools for preaching.  This country has almost nothing.  I am very glad to be able to provide the NIV study bibles for the students.  It will give them the most basic, but adequate starting place. On the other hand, almost everyone carries a cell phone now.  They only came in a year ago but most have them and have adapted quickly to the technology.  Texting is the choice of communication as it is cheaper here than talk minutes.  

Had a brief walk around the neighborhood with Jeff this evening.  Saw a few interesting sights including a cocoa tree with pods on it.  MMMMM chocolate!  But it wasn’t ours to harvest.  A nice evening meal and a shower and I am ready to call it a day.

Tasol!  (That’s all!)

Day One - Arrival January 26, 2009

Day One - Arrival

I’m sitting in the kitchen of the Bougainville Bible College guest house, surrounded by half-naked men.  It is HOT - but a lovely hot.  We’ve arrived safely in Tanamalo - a small village on the north coast of Buka Island.  Buka-town is the main trade area for Bougainville and also where the airport is.  

We departed from Port Moresby this morning - leaving the house @ 4:50 a.m. and boarding our plane at 6:30 a.m..  We had a long wait in the line at the airport to check in and while doing it met a cacao farmer from Rabaul, New Britain.  He was a fascinating fellow and very friendly.  He said that he normally harvests 4 tons of cocoa beans per month - enough to keep all the women in Lansing, MI happy for about a week.  

Once again, our flight was on time and really a pleasure.  (Are you listening US air industry?).  We flew to Rabaul for a brief lay over.  The island of New Britain is gorgeous!  I took several photos from the air.  One of them is of an active volcano which also complicated our landing pattern since we had to go out over the sea and come back in to avoid the volcanic ash cloud.  The airport had been closed briefly earlier this week to sweep up the ash accumulating on the runway.  

We had to de-plane in Rabaul - and get right back on after going through security.  Then

we flew into Buka - our approach was again breathtaking.  Beauty, not scary - the flight was smooth and good.  The airport is really small, which is to be expected.  The interesting bit was the WWII anti-aircraft gun by the terminal.  

We collected our luggage and began meeting lots of people.  Rev. Joe who is the principle of the Bible School and National Supt. for Bougainville, Leslie, one of the students, Nathaniel who is National treasurer, National evangelism director and District Superintendent for the East Buka district as well as a local pastor and he is very young.  Pastor Wesley is the pastor of the church here in Tanamalo.  It wasn’t long before we warmed up and began having a great time of sharing.  

We caught a ride into Buka-town to do some banking and shopping and wait for our ride out to

Tanamalo.  The town is not very large, but very busy.  Market is each day and it is the place where most people come to do business because some parts of the main Bougainville island “do 

not have law and order”.  The main island is only about ½ mile away across a channel.  I remember Marcia teaching about the long boats that take people back and forth across the channel in the children’s mission class.  Today I got to see them in action.  Quite interesting.  You can cross for 2 Kina - a little less than a dollar.  

Leslie took Jonathan and I to do the grocery shopping while Pastor Joe and Jeff went to do some banking.  The store was very crowded - what no shopping carts!  And very hot - what, no air conditioning!.  But we found everything we need and tried a few local treats that were recommended to me by missionaries in Port Moresby the night before.  The beef flavored biscuit was really quite tasty!

Speaking of food, (kai-kai is the Pidgin word), we ate lunch at the local restaurant - it was interesting - but edible.  I had two sausages (luke-warm) and rice.  Also on the menu was a chicken curry where the chicken was simply chopped up bone and all & huge chunks of taro root on the side.  Taro is a staple here, but is about 120% starch and very dry.  Tapioca is also grown here and I look forward to trying it, but I understand it will be nothing like the nice pudding I enjoy so much.  Fun little bit: There was a sign on the wall informing their “valued customers” that the price of soft drinks is now 2.50 kina.  Then, “10 Q for your understanding”.  Pidgin is really a very logical language.  Say it out loud and often, you will have it.  

We stayed in Buka-town for most of the day waiting for our ride.  Part of the delay was a really impressive downpour which put a stop to most commerce and traffic in town.  It rained for about an hour and dropped a good 1 - 2 inches of rain.  

We started out for Tanamalo in the back of a Toyota pick-up around 1:00 - The three white men got the seat of honor - a board across the top of the bed of the truck up by the cab.  The others rode sitting on the top edge of the bed and seeming to not hang on all that desperately.  Our driver was inspired and we flew up the increasingly narrow road until we arrived.  

Our lodgings are adequate, though we are doing battle with flies and ants right now.  I have murdered easily 30 flies and another one just buzzed me.  The ants are all over the place.  We will deal with them in a bit.  But we are settled in and showered and shirtless and about to enjoy our first meal whipped up by Jonathan - Tuna, rice and some green stuff we picked up at a stand along side the road.   If I don’t write tomorrow......

In Papua New Guinea

The first leg of our trip to Bougainville has been successful.  I am now sitting in lovely 90 degree heat in Port Moresby, PNG.  The trip has gone amazingly well - both of our flights left and arrived early.  All my luggage made it through.  Utterly revolutionary.  Are we sure the US is a civilized nation?  

The country is beautiful.  Rugged hills and mountains, winding rivers and the colors one expects in a tropical country.  We were met at the airport by a quartet singing to greet us.  Coming through customs was a breeze and the greeting by the people friendly and warm.  

We are spending the night at a mission house in Port Moresby and then off to Bougainville in the morning.  Right now, we are relaxing in the lounge talking with other missionaries who are in transit.  It was interesting reading a local newspaper and find how much our culture influences fairly remote places.  Other things strike you as different and let you know you are in a very different place.  One of the interesting bits was a plan for a funeral service, starting with the casket leaving the home, at what time it would arrive at the church, etc..  

The country is very clean and the people show great pride in their homes and city.  A huge contrast to a couple Carribean island nations I’ve been too.  It is incredibly warm here - about 90 right now, but there is a light breeze that carries with it the scent of the charcoal fires from the neighboring area.  

So far a delightful trip.  I probably won’t be able to update until we return to this mission home on the way home on Saturday, February 7.

I Felt Right At Home

I went out for a bike ride yesterday morning.  The hills are still amazing, but I'm getting the hang of them again.  I rode out to the shore and then back out.  A climb of 300+ feet in about a kilometer.  So I am beginning to feel a bit more at home.

What made me feel like I was home were a couple other incidents.  Twice I had trucks pass uncomfortably close.  In both cases, I looked up to see they were from Waste Management.  I felt like I was right back climbing the hill on Wood Rd!  They are a plague upon the earth.

The other event happened on a lovely quiet road that is exceptionally hilly.  I had just finished climbing a quite steep hill (lowest gear at about 7 mph) and was enjoying a short coast down the other side.  Ahead of me was another rather picturesque climb that was quite steep with several curves back and forth.  About halfway up the hill (1/4 mile away) I saw two exceedingly large creatures walk into the roadway.   I didn’t recognize what they were until I got much closer.  Rottweilers!  

As I approached one moved off the road as if to let me pass.  Instead, he was waiting in a rather

 un-obscure ambush.  The dog’s head had to be close to a foot across, he was enormous!  I pulled along side and he jumped out into the road barking in a very unfriendly way.  It is impossible, at my level of cycling, to outrun a Rottweiler uphill.  So, I talked to him.  “Have you had breakfast?”  He seemed entertained enough by this to not take a chunk out of my leg, so I continued to talk, he continued to bark and we, together, made our way up the hill.  The other dog must have been an apprentice Rottweiler, because it just watched and took notes, thankfully, because I really can only engage one oversized canine at a time.  I heard a brief whistle and both animals turned for home as I sprinted away - at 6 mph.

38:29:44

As we left our home in DeWitt on Monday morning around 10:00 a.m. to fly to New Zealand  I punched the start button on my stopwatch just for giggles - by the end of the trip, I wasn't giggling anymore.  The trip promised to be a long one - about 26 hours, it ended up being much longer.  This is our story (roll "Dragnet" theme music).

Monday, 10:00 a.m.  DeWitt, Michigan.  There had been a bit of snow overnight, but not much and the roads were in good condition which gave us hope.  The trip to Grand Rapids was uneventful, we checked in without waiting in line and only had to remove one item from one suitcase to make weight limits.  All our bags weighed in within 1 1/2 pounds of the 50# limit.  

We drove across town to pick up Jill and Cole.  Kent and Jill are car sitting while we are away.  We had a delightful lunch with them and they dropped us off at the airport in perfect time.  We waited with the only worry being the short (40 minute) lay over in Chicago.  Then the delay notice came up - 15 minutes.    We boarded and found out basically the battery was dead in our plane and we needed a jump.  They finally got the engines started and off we went.

Arriving in Chicago, to the credit of American Airlines, only a few minutes late, we dashed down one concourse, over two and back up.  As we were between concourses, we heard the last call for our flight.  As we arrived at the gate, both breathless, we saw them pulling the jetway away from the plane.  The ticket agent, seeing we were international went to work to get us on the plane - what a thrill to be that guy - the one everyone looks at thinking, "So you are who we've been waiting for!"  And where are our seats?  Last row!  

We backed away from the gate and got de-iced.  Then pulled back up to the gate, because the flaps were no longer working properly.  We waited about an hour and had the pilot tell us several different versions of what was going on and how they were going to get us on another plane if this one couldn't take off - none of which turned out to be right.   We deplaned and headed out to the gate where they told us to wait only to find out that was the wrong gate.  We went to the right gate and found out there wasn't a plane waiting there, just one harried AA ticket agent.  Someone suggested calling AA and so I did.  To my amazement, I got connected right away and before I could get to the front of the line, they had us booked on a United flight to L.A. and then - big change - a Quantas flight to Sydney and then to Auckland that would get us to Auckland around 5:00 p.m. Wednesday instead of our original 6:00 a.m., but it was still better than an overnight in either Chicago or LA and then arriving on Thursday.

To get to the United ticketing agents we had to go from Terminal 3 to 1 - a walk of nearly a mile.  We got in line behind a family from Germany with an adorable little girl who kept us engaged and helped pass time.  We finally got our tickets and headed for our second security check of the day.  We had plenty of time - until....

Because of the number of cancellations and quick bookings, the number of "random" extra security checks went way up.  I was one of the lucky ones.  I asked the right question: "Do I need to do anything more with my carry on than take out my laptop?" and got the wrong answer, "no".  It took 1/2 an hour for the line to move through and when I did get in place, they took my backpack through three times and delayed us even more.  By this time our time cushion had evaporated and I sent Marcia ahead to the gate with the intention of catching up.  I finally made it and the jetway gate closed behind us as we got onboard.  For the second time that day in Chicago I got to be "that guy".  

It was 7 pm and the snow was falling heavily.  The wings were covered in snow (my fault probably) and so we had to de-ice once again.  Half an hour later we pulled away on a snow covered taxiway.  The runway wasn't much better and after we got away I was thankful that we didn't have to land there.  10 hours after leaving home, we had only covered about 200 miles of our 18,000 mile trip.

We arrived in LA @ 9:45 p.m. local time (12:45 on our body-clock) and had to find our way to the Quantas ticket desk.  This involved a shuttle bus ride, getting off at the wrong spot and walking nearly a mile again.  The agents were relatively helpful and did finally manage to get us seats together.  We were, however, chastised for not having arrived sooner if we had wanted se

ats together:  An indication of Aussie hospitality that was going to become far too familiar in the next several hours.  

We actually had time to wait before boarding in LA.  As I was getting on the plane they stopped me and told me I had to check my carry on because it was too large - never mind that it was smaller than Marcia's.  Regardless, I had to check it through.  I assumed it would be placed in the front of the plane and I would reclaim it as I got off in Sydney - they didn't ask me for my final destination.  Arriving in Sydney I was told I had to go to the transfer desk and get it sent to the right plane.  

I stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to talk to the transfer agent.  When I finally got to the desk the agent told me "You will have to put in a lost baggage claim for it when you get to Auckland.  It's too hard for us to try to find it."   There was a woman of Indian descent right behind us and she was told the same thing.  She had had a similar experience to ours with rerouting of her flights and had been trying to get to her destination about the same duration.  

We arrived in Auckland finally and found a very welcoming environment.  The immigration stop was well manned and therefore had short lines.  The agent who took care of us was friendly and efficient.  While waited for our baggage on to come off the belt we had a very nice lady talking to us.  Later when it turned out that NONE of our luggage arrived, she directed us to the next very helpful person who put in the report.  Our large luggage is to arrive today (Thursday) and my carry on....not too sure.

So, I'm setting here finishing this long entry after a good night's rest, but without a change of clothes since Monday morning.  (Be thankful that technology hasn't advanced to the point of sharing odors!)  The total time upon arrival at Brett & Kristen's new home:  38 hours, 29 minutes, 44 seconds.  

But this makes it all worth it!