Another throw back to 2010-2012. Girls Bislama Bible study

Here's another post that I never published from when I was teaching a girls' Bislama Bible study back in 2010-2012.  These girls are all good friends now, and many of them come from a family that runs the airline we use to get to Ambrym!  Fun to see this again!

 

I've been privileged to lead a ni-Vanuatu girls Bible study in Bislama the last few months.  The girls are mostly between 20-30 but a few teenage siblings come when they are in town on breaks from school.  Secondary schools are tough to get into in Vanuatu so often kids end up in schools on totally different islands than their families if they pass their exams and are able to make it to secondary.  Anyway, these girls have been a joy to teach and have helped me a lot with learning language and culture and have become good friends. 

Baptisms 8-11

Some of my friends got baptized recently and what an honor it was to get to witness it!  Here's pictures of these Christians, demonstrating publicly, in obedience to God, that they have trusted in Christ as their Savior from sin.  Praise God!

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Pics with friends Summer 2011

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Bislama girls Bible study

This year I had the privilege of running a Bible study for some ni-Vanuatu girls.  It was quite an age spread (or would have been for a Western group but they aren't quite so age-divided here) with the girls ranging from 14-29, most in their early 20's.  We studied through 2 Timothy but also did some foundational Bible teaching with storying through some of the major stories throughout the Bible.  They had homework to learn the stories and share them with family or friends and most did, which I was pleased about of course!  :)  For our last Bible study I assigned 2 stories to each girl to have ready to share at study.  Below are some videos from them sharing their stories as well as other items from the study.  Please pray for these girls that they would remember what they've learned from the study and be reminded to put it into practice in their lives.

  Link to this is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlyCat246zE Gretchen leading the girls in a song she made the tune for of 2 Timothy 2:15 (sorry the girls aren't near the light and aren't easy to see).
  Link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rx2J-y4JZ0 (Me) storying 2 Timothy 1:9-10.

Link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyQKVKQs-74 Frida storying about original sin and it's consequences in the Garden of Eden.
  Link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxD3H9bPWZ8 (Me) sharing about God creating angels and about Morning Star becoming Satan.

Here are links to the others if you are REALLY bored.  They are dark and unclear and difficult to hear, as well as in Bislama so like I said, if you are REALLY bored...  :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OrLRpuO5oM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2zcZzFUWYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je20ozDt79c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXXKQCu7Nu0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob1Dd-4_bvE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOSibAS0UtI

December newsletter

office stuff

I've been volunteering 3 days a week doing finances for the Bible translation group that houses us.  It's been a blessing to help out and I've learned a lot about Vanuatu and bookkeeping both in doing it!  :)  Plus, it's great fellowship as well.  Here's some of those who work in and around the office to support Bible translation in Vanuatu.  In a few pics you'll see some who worked here in the past as well but just came back to visit.

 

 

storying

Learning Bible storytelling methods in Australia has turned out to be useful in a few settings.  I've been able to story in a woman's expat Bible study, at the Bislama girls' Bible study I'm currently leading, and also at a training for teachers and Sunday School teachers for ni-Vanuatu in Vila.  I'm thankful for One Story trainers and Backyard Bard trainers for passing on their skills!  Praise God for these opportunities to share God's Word creatively!

ni-Van family times

My parents got to experience going to see my friend Magreth when they were visiting.  Here are pictures from that time.  Also, Houghton helped me last month with some issues with Jaen's arms and legs and recurring sores she has so the last pics are from that. 

 The homes on the way.

 Heading down the road.

 Another house

 Papa, mom, Magreth, Mama Rupi, Jaen's daughter Morina, dad

 Being given an island dress. 

 And hugs.  Mama Rupi is good at those.  :)

 With Jaen and her 2nd youngest, Kalo.

 Meet the parents.

 Showing postcards of Montana.

Enjoying one of Rupi's great hugs.

 One of the cooking houses at Magreth's.

 The gate at the boundary of Magreth's family's ground.

 Neighbor's house.

Homes of others living nearby.

Below are pics of Jaen's legs (a bit graphic so if you're squeamish, don't look).  She's had a swollen right leg for a few months now.  :(  If you know anyone with an extra diabetes tester and test strips that wants to send it this way, let me know!  In the meantime, praying she'll be willing to go back to the hospital or if it be God's will, that He'd heal her!

 The black spots are old scars from old sores.  She's had these just on her arms and legs, for years, recurring in the dry season.

 Below is Houghton putting iodine on her sores after she's soaked them.  Prin is the teen on the left - Magreth's firstborn of her 3. 

We convinced Jaen come with us to the local hospital to get some blood tests to rule out diabetes or some other cause of these, but our first try was unsuccessful due to the hospital (socialized medicine here and VERY lacking) and the doctor being unwilling to take her blood at this time and the doctor's disinterest in her situation.  She was not interested in going back and wasting another full morning trying again (understandably) and has since gone to local workers of leaf medicine which did give her some reported relief for a few weeks but the sores and swelling are back and not going away.  :(  Please pray with me for her.

October newsletter

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Opportunities with friends

My friend Magreth lives in a small community with most of her extended family.  I meet a few more family members every time I hang out with her. Most of them live right within a few feet of each other, but others live a few minute's walk away.  Her parents own the land that she and the rest of her family live on and are among those who live within a few feet of her house so I see them regularly.  Her mom, Rupi is often sick.  She has more recently been having issues with her spine, experiencing pain and loss of movement to the point that she is unable to even sit up, much less walk around in the morning.  She sleeps (and has always slept) on a mat on a cement floor so it isn't hard to imagine always being sore from a lifetime of this, but this is the plight of most ni-Vanuatu.  Anyway, her pain is great and I asked Magreth what she does to treat it.  Magreth explained that she won't go to the hospital for medical issues, but rather uses what she called custom leaf medicine in combination with having people from various churches come pray for her.  I told her I wanted to pray with her before I left, but was leery of creating any misunderstanding that I was offering a treatment to be trusted in rather than what I really wanted to do, which was to show her love and point her to the One who created bodies and who, if He so chooses, can bring healing.  Because of this fear of being misunderstood, I shared both with Magreth and Rupi that the Bible talks about suffering and sickness being in the world due to the world being tainted by sin, which was first introduced by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  I shared that sometimes God allows these things to bring him glory, to show God's work in our lives, and to draw us to Him, as with Job, the man born blind (John 9:3), and Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7).  Also, living in an imperfect world gives plenty of opportunities for us to look forward to our true home in heaven (Hebrews 11:13), where we will forever enjoy fellowship with God and where there will be no more pain (Revelation 21:4).  However, Christians are also to carry each others' burdens and to pray for the sick, so I prayed with Rupi that God would heal her if it is His will and that He might take away her pain (Psalm 103:3, Galatians 6:2, James 5:15).  I sat next to her and hugged her while we prayed and she shook and cried and sat and hugged me a long time after.  She kept saying "God is good, God is good, thank you so much, thank you so much."  Please pray for this dear woman for her salvation and for her physical healing as well.  (Rupi is the one on the left pictured here.)

Also on my visit, Magreth's sister-in-law, Lloyd, who I believe to be a solid Christian woman, shared with me that she is struggling and would like prayer.  She shared that when she and her husband first married, they were very involved in their church, helping with youth, fellowshipping with other Christians, and growing in their faith.  She said that she's facing a hard time now because since they moved about 2 years ago to live up with the rest of his family (just a few feet from Magreth's house), the family has been a bad influence on him.  The situation has degraded to the point that he is unwilling to go to church, to allow her to go to church, he only hangs out with friends and family who are involved in activities and behaviors she sees as negative, and he has stopped getting together with Christian friends.  She said "you come up here a lot, but you don't know everything that is going on so I wanted you to know so you can pray for me to be a good witness here and pray that God would turn my husband back around."  She said he didn't want her to tell anyone and would be angry with her for talking with me, but she said she needed to tell someone what was going on.  Please pray for this family and especially for Lloyd for wisdom in her actions and words as she desires to see her family living for Christ.

VBT and Ambrym meetings

We recently got to be a part of the Vanuatu Bible Translators meeting (VBT- a national organization chaired by ni-Vanuatu men).  Our friend, Pastor Peter, who went to Summer School with us last year in Australia, is the chairman so it was great to get to see him again!  We learned a lot seeing how the VBT is organized, and we had an opportunity to meet the new members who were appointed this last year, and have a chance to share with them our vision and leading for ministry here in Vanuatu.  They were very welcoming and the committee member in charge of the province that includes Ambrym island, where we are praying about serving, was willing even to go with the guys in May to further survey Ambrym.  He was interested in giving advice concerning land disputes and talking to local leaders about our coming.  It's exciting what VBT is doing in the country to reach Vanuatu with God's Word!

We also had a chance the last few weeks to reconnect with our friends Philip and Sophia.  Philip is our main contact from Ambrym island and he and Sophia were in town for a preaching conference.  The language group organized a committee with representatives from each village in N Ambrym and the chairman of this committee was also in town for the conference.  We had a meeting together to get to know one another and to answer each other's questions.  We also had several days to hang out with Sophia in particular, storying with her and getting more help on our Bislama.  She's a gem for that. :)  They've all headed back up north now, but we enjoyed our time and look forward to all being together again in the future!

Onesua

Currently I live in Port Vila, which is the capital of Vanuatu.  This city is on the island of Efate.  Last weekend, I was invited to go along with Elder Ann (see earlier post) to a commissioning service (seemed like a "starting the year off and encouraging you to do well" kind of deal) for her daughter's school.  Her daughter goes to a secondary school in a village called Onesua up on the north-eastern side of Efate.  Incidentally, 3 women in charge of the women's groups for their individual islands (the islands of Tanna, Malakula, and Santo) came along with us, along with Elder Ann's older daughter and her friend.  We all piled into her truck and drove on the western route around the island.  Vanuatu was a recipient of the Millennium Fund from the US so a project was started back when we were here last to pave the road that rounds the island.  The road has made it around to just past Onesua so it took us only about an hour to get around.  In 2008, Tania and I went around the east side and stayed in a village called Ekipe so as of now, I'm just about 3 miles short of having gone on every bit of the road around Efate.  It was a considerably different experience this time around going on a paved road as opposed to the hours of whip-lash and jostling last time on the coral/mud road on the other side of the island...  Thanks America for the great road!  :)

It was a beautiful drive, great fellowship, and a great chance to learn more Bislama and culture.  I also ate duck (they call it dakdak) for the first time.  Unfortunately, I was too much of a chicken to ask for pictures of the ladies I was with, but I did get a few of the view from the beach we ate lunch on.  In the distance are a few other tiny islands.  Whew, beautiful, huh?!

Last few Aussie pics

Here's some last pictures I hadn't posted yet from Australia.  In the few months between school and coming back to Vanuatu, I helped Lenna with getting a church library up and running.  And her daughter, Kristen, and I hung out a bit too, which was fun.  Miss you guys heaps!

Our last Sunday at church in Australia was a good but emotional one.  We hope to stay in touch with friends from there for many years to come but it is always hard to say goodbye to the physical part of fellowship.  We were prayed for before the church and sent off with love.

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