I’m sat cross legged on the concrete floor of a small bamboo
house. I and the other eight people here fill the small room comfortably. From
the dim light cast by the oil lamp in the centre of the room, I can see before
me one of two large bowls of boiled leaves and I am prompted to take a white
ball that is being offered to me. I oblige and as I do I come to realise that
what I am now cupping in my hands is a ball of rice. Not entirely sure what to
do next, I pause and look around, desperately hoping that someone else will
lead by example. Everyone in the room looks towards the two new visitors to
their country in eager expectation.
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| When I say dimly lit... |
Fortunately for me, most of that
expectation falls to my Australia friend Anthony as he has not been in the
country long, and he is only visiting for a short time. This is fortunate for
two reasons; the first being that I don’t really like being the centre of
attention, particularly when I’m not sure how to behave, and secondly, because
my English instincts might just have driven me to be ever so polite and to
muddle through and consequently quite possibly make a fool of myself. Anthony
on the other hand, as I have already mentioned, is Australian. As such, he just
got straight to the point and asked: “what exactly am I supposed to do with
this? Do I eat a little then pass it around?” By their reaction, I suspect that
perhaps our hosts were expecting this question, if not, then they still
certainly didn’t mind it.
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| The setting for our meal (several hours earlier) |
In fact they were more than happy to explain their etiquette,
and seemed delighted at the opportunity to share their culture with us. And we
too, were delighted to share in their culture with them. They also seemed to
take great pleasure in watching me try to strip a fern of its leaves and then
after several failed attempts demonstrating just how easy it was. This cycle repeated
more than just a few times! It was such an honour to be there that night. To
share in what was a normal meal to them, to share in part of their lives and to
come to understand more about their lifestyle and traditions, from tasting
every type of kumul (leaves) that you can imagine, to learning how they cook
their food, to being taught their etiquette about women not walking in front of
men, but behind them, especially at meal times. We were so well treated and
looked after from our hosts, well beyond what we had expected when we had
arranged to come to Watabung.
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The village river
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This as you may have gathered my now was not a normal
Saturday evening in Papua New Guinea for me. I had travelled to a rural village
with some friends from CRMF to show the Jesus film there. They do not have the
equipment in Watabung to do this themselves, so we brought all of the equipment
and set it up in the local church, for the people of the village to come and
hear (and see) about the life of Jesus (in Tok Pisin). I find it some amazing
and encouraging to be working with these friends who love God and their people
so much that they think nothing of spending their Saturday travelling and
working to make this happen, so that people would have this opportunity to hear
about God. It was a very popular night too, with the church overflowing with
people and lots of people brought to tears as they experienced the life of
Jesus in a way they had never been able to before.
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| Welcome to the cinema |
It was a tiring day, but one
with rich reward. It was a day filled with new experiences, beautiful scenery,
good company, lots of laughter, deeper understanding, and the privilege of
knowing that I was able to be part in helping people have a chance to come hear
about what God has done for them. In this country more than ever, it seems that
if you give a little without expectation, then you receive much, but then God
does so love to bless us, and I am very grateful of how He blesses me!
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