Bart and Emily Allen Tribal Church Planters in Papua New Guinea “Red Lights Shooting Out Of Their Armpits”
True language learning cannot be done in a vacuum. In order to sufficiently understand the language a person speaks, one must also understand the culture that they live in. With that in mind, a major part of our time spent learning Tok Pidgin (the trade language of Papua New Guinea) deals with delving into the culture and finding out what and how these people think.
We thought you might be interested in hearing a few of the stories that our PNG friends have shared with us. Please keep in mind that they really believe these things. The point is not to make them look foolish or backward but to show you a little glimpse into the lives of the people with whom we interact.
Read the rest of this entry »
Life in PNG – A Different Kind of Church Potluck
Bart enjoying lunch with Rison
Maybe you call it something different – tureen dinner, carry-in, fellowship meal, potluck… Whatever you call it, we think of a church potluck as a time to get together with friends and share food and fellowship.
New Family Photo
The Allens – Bart, Emily, Luke and Titus – June 2010 – Papua New Guinea
Life in PNG – A Mumu: Simbari Style
Before we came to Papua New Guinea, we had heard people talk about this thing called a mumu. Others had tried to explain it to us and had even showed us pictures. But it wasn’t until our time in the tribe for bush orientation that we actually got to experience one first hand!
We thought that the best way to describe a mumu to you is through pictures. So, enjoy!! (Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.)
Step 1 - Fill a large hole in the ground with burning hot stones
Bush Orientation Update
Ready to fly out of the tribe
For the past 7 years our family has been heading in the direction of church planting among unreached tribal people. We completed 2 years of Bible school, then 2½ more years of specialized missions training. After that we spent almost 2 years sharing this burden with churches and individuals as we saw the Lord raise our needed support. Throughout this time, we were sharing (with many of you!) that our goal was to live in a tribe in Papua New Guinea, learn the language and culture of the people and eventually translate and teach them the Truth of God’s Word. However, we had never actually experienced living and working in a tribe!! We were just walking by faith down the path which God seemed to be leading us.
Read the rest of this entry »
Photos from the Tribe
Owen, Nedi and 3 of their 5 kids
Please pray that they would understand their need for salvation throughJesus Christ!
