NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We went out to Tom and Ben’s place for a young boy’s birthday party Friday morning.  We were told to come in the morning  and that it would be just a little thing and we expected to be home for lunch.  7 hours later we were home.

When we got there they had set up a big tent in the middle of their yard and were decorating it with flowers and balloons.  20-25 kids were running around playing and as they saw us coming up the trail they all ran to meet us.  Women were preparing food and Maggie joined them and I sat and talked with some of the men.  They told us the party would start soon and they were just waiting for some people who ran into town to pick up a few things.

The party tent.

The party started a couple hours later (about 1pm) and our kids were starving for lunch and we hadn’t brought any snacks for them this trip.  We were expecting to be back home for lunch.  Bailey scored a banana and lollipops suddenly appeared in the kids’ hands and everyone was happy again.  The first part of the party was games.  Enjoy the pics.  Maggie and I participated in the coke chugging contest. We both lost, but Maggie did better than me.  Yes, I’m admitting it.  Maggie is a better coke chugger.

Kids game first!

I think this was everyone's favorite.

It was even more fun watching the ladies.

You really need to see the video of this one. But alas, you can't.

There was also pinata smacking, sweet potato peeling, coke chugging, and egg breaking.

After the games they began pulling out the food.  Many members of the family (aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas) live nearby and had been cooking huge amounts of food for the party.  Now they all grabbed the food they had prepared (chicken, pork, rice, noodles, sweet potatoes, potatoes, watermelon, pineapple, cabbage, sandwiches, etc.) and filled up 3 tables and some of the space underneath.  As we all were getting ready to begin the buffet line, rain (pouring rain) began to fall.  Everyone scrambled to grab umbrellas and such to hold over the food and eating got delayed a bit.  The rain lightened after a bit, but never did stop, and we ate.

We were told to go first and they dished us up heaping portions of just about everything there.  We ate and then decided it was time to head for home.  It was still raining as we made the 40 minute hike home but the kids did just dandy.  Although, we looked like this when we go home. . .

Wet and dirty!

It's obvious now that our walter filter works good!

First, take a look at the top half of our water filter.   That muddy water came from our faucets, and is the same water Maggie had to work with for washing the kids clothes today.  So, washing the kids clothes in dirty water = grumpy mom.  And, one grumpy mother = one great journal entry.  And now I have a great blog post.  Enjoy.

How To Do Your Laundry in PNG:

Step 1: Turn on the hose to fill the washing machine. While it’s running, sort the clothes into two piles: one to scrub by hand and one that can be washed as-is.

Step 2: Decide that your standards haven’t sunk quite low enough to wash clothes in water the color of charcoal. Drain the machine, wipe out the dirt at the bottom, and go borrow a bucket from your neighbor.

Step 3: Walk 100 yards down the hill to the rainwater tank, fill up the bucket, put it on your shoulder, and carry it up the hill to dump in the washing machine. Repeat 2 times, and don’t forget to spill water down the front of your dress and soak your underwear.

Step 4: Wipe the sweat from your brow as you stare at your half-full machine and decide there has got to be a better way.

Step 5: Experiment with different articles of clothing and finally settle on your son’s church shirt to strain the dirt out of the water. Fill your machine the rest of the way and keep telling yourself it’s better than it was.

Step 6: Spray the layer of black dirt from the shirt/strainer and throw it in the wash with the rest of the clothes. IMPORTANT: Stand on a chair before you turn on the machine! This will prevent the rats from running over your toes, which will keep you from making unearthly noises that will inevitably upset the baby.

Step 7: Scrub the other pile of clothes with a bar of soap while racking your brain to give your two-year-old a job to do that won’t end in her being soaking wet and all your freshly-cleaned clothes laying in the dirt. Fail miserably and watch helplessly while she gets soaking wet.

Step 8: Put the clean clothes in the spinner to get the soapy water out, positioning the drainage hose so that the soapy water runs back into the washing machine because you are NOT going through that again. Then remember that you haven’t strained any water for rinsing. Go inside and get a pair of your husband’s shorts, wrap them around the bottom of the hose, and fill the rinse tub with almost-clean water.

Step 9: Put the spinned clothes into the rinse water, swish them around, then put them back into the spinner. Have an epiphany and tell your soggy two-year-old that she can now safely put the other pile of clothes into the washer without causing major problems. When the rinsed clothes are done spinning, pile them into the laundry basket and repeat the rinsing process with the other load. (CAUTION: Remember the rats. Constant vigilance!)

Step 10: Hang the clothes on the line, except for the kids’ underwear and wash cloths, which are too dang small and annoying to put on the line and will dry just as well scattered on the porch. Breathe a sigh of relief and dream of the day when your children will be old enough to wash their own clothes. Or at least old enough not to poop on them.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great New Year.  Our last week has been pretty good but Christmas day itself wasn’t very enjoyable.  Maggie came down sick Christmas Eve and spent most of Christmas day in bed.  She got up long enough in the morning for the kids to open all their presents and then went back to bed.  The kids had a great day playing with their new toys.  Their favorites are the water guns, marble chaser, and two swings up on our porch.  Now Maisie is constantly badgering us to push her on her new swing.

The day before Christmas we went to a local hotel that also has a restaurant and a pool and enjoyed pizza and swimming.  The pictures below are from that outing.

The last week and a half there’s been a volleyball tournament happening at a house-line about a 45 minute hike from here and so I’ve spent a few of my afternoons there supporting the teams from our area and playing on one of those teams.  Today started the “knockout” round of the tournament where teams start to get eliminated as they work up to the Championship to be played on Saturday.  I couldn’t make it out there today so I’m hoping my team will still be alive when I go out there tomorrow afternoon.  Either way its been a good place to practice language and build more friendships.  We play outdoors in the sun and rain.  Yesterday, it started sprinkling just before our second game and our court soon became as slippery as ice.  It made for some good fun.

In January we’ll be heading out on Bush Orientation.  We will be spending 6 weeks in a tribe to “experience bush living and have hands-on experience in dealing with tribal people.”  We’ll continue to work on our pidgin study while there and hopefully be fluent by the time we get back.  Pray for us as we go into this.  It will be us and one other missionary family in the tribe and we’ll be isolated from medical clinics and groceries stores and the other things we’re used to and take for granted.  This is the kind of ministry we’ll be eventually heading into full-time so this will be a good trial run for us and for our kids.

Alrighty, I’m done talking.  Have a great day!

Bailey

Cole is airborne!

Maisie

Airborne Micah

First, we had the privilege (privilege is really probably not the right word to use here) of experiencing the strongest earthquake either of us have ever felt.  I was standing on the porch of our house when I started looking around to see why the porch was shaking.  As the shaking grew stronger I realized we were having an earthquake.  It shook the house enough to swing our screen doors open and bang them closed but it wasn’t strong enough to cause any damage.  The sun screen cans on top of our fridge fell over, I think that was it.  It lasted a good long time, maybe a full minute, and then slowly faded away.  Then Maggie burst out the door onto the porch where I was still standing and exclaimed, “Holy Cow!”

Ok.  Now onto the Eval write-ups.  I’ve included my whole write-up this time so you can get an idea what one of our evals is like.  My evaluator, and a Friend and I, went into town for a few hours for my eval.  Lastly, the Culture/Language levels are Basic, Progressing, Capable, and Proficient.  We have to at least reach Capable high before moving on to the next phase of our ministry.

Maggie first.  I kept this one short and sweet.  Chris’ is below the picture.

NCLA Consultant Report

For: Maggie Hostetter

Level:  2^nd evaluation

Date: Dec 14, 2011

Location: Nicky and Carol’s house

Culture/Language helper: Carol

Overall Impression: Great job!

NCLA Level: Maggie speaks with confidence and has an incredible capability for memory – for grammar and for mimicry.  We have placed her at Capable Mid level.

General Recommendations-Hey Maggie – you did so well – you’re catching on to cultural ways of talking as well as the grammar side of things!  Very important!  We’ve made a few suggestions for you to work on in this next stage of language study.  You are well on your way!  Look at the next Communications level for ideas of what to study next.  Try to explain more difficult, unfamiliar subjects to your LHs as this will force you to try new grammar.  Keep investigating new culture info and that will improve your language as well.  Most of all, keep focused on what God has for you each day, learning culture and having good relationships with the people around you!

My two friends; Nathan and David.

NCLA Consultant Report

For: Chris Hostetter

Level: Progressing 2^nd Report

Date: Dec 13, 2011

Location: Goroka market and town

Culture/Language helper: Nathan

Overall Impression: Chris has been doing well.  He has been getting out and spending time with some of the younger guys and with Tom’s family and is learning culture and language.  I don’t think it will take long before he’ll be chewing betel nut.  J  He is comfortable around Nathan and interacts well with him and others.

NCLA Level: Chris did very well and is moving along well.  He has learned a lot culturally and linguistically.  He has moved ahead to the Progressing High level.

Details of the Evaluation Procedure:

We drove into town and stopped at the market and from there we went to a couple of other places to interact with people on a casual basis.

1)    Driving in the car – Chris had good interaction with Nathan.  The conversation back and forth was well balanced.  There were just a couple of things that I noticed… One was “ol man iran igo long lukim pait.  You had left out the long.

2)   Walking through the Market.   Chris went through purchasing many different items for himself.   He asked Nathan to help at times which was done a good way.  Some corrections, a pile is referred to as a heap (hip) of kaukau.  He should have said  ol kerot instead of saying carrots.   There is no ‘s’ on the end of a word describing many items in pidgin.

3)   Said hi to David at the store.   Chris went in and said hi to David and talked a bit.  It was too noisy with loud music.  Good to see a friendliness and good relationship with David.

4)   Talked outside of the store beside the car.  Chris asked Nathan if he liked this store’s prices better than Papindo.  Chris did well and when Nathan gave it back a different way, he changed it up a bit.  It would be good to listen to the recording and see how Nathan said it again.

5)   Said hi to Nicky at TNT.  Chris did well with asking questions and wanting to know more information.  Asked what time it was.  He said “wanem taim nau” and it would have been better by saying “nau em wanem taim”

6)   Walked around in Bintangor.  Chris asked the lady at the meat counter if he could get leaner minced meat than what was there.  (He was told to ask this.) The way he asked the question they thought he meant that Chris wanted the fat taken out of this batch that they had already grinded.  We all had a couple of good laughs with that one.  This was a difficult request and was to see how far along Chris had come along in this stage.  He did well in the midst of many unknowns.  Then we went to the meat pie counter to ask how much they were and when they would come.   He did great and was able to express it clearly.

7)   Ate lunch at Kimis.  Chris asked for food and then when we sat there at the table we talked about a number of things.  One of those things was to talk about fishing in Alaska.  It went real well and he was able to learn some new concepts about fishing such as pol bruk or stik bruk, pis emi stap yet long huk stik, net is umben, river going into the ocean is a hanwara, huge lake could be bikpela wara.  Nathan gave that instead of bikpela raun wara

8)   Description of fishing rod.  Chris described the fishing rod well with a diagram

9)   Talked about Chris’ family Chris was able to talk about his family and the work they did.  He did well here also.  There was one time where it was kinda confusing if something had happened or was going to take place.  It was good to see him use the word “save” in the right context a number of times which was good to see.  “brata bai kamap bosman bilong dispela…”  Chris had left out the “bai”.

10) Describe a place.  Chris explained what the Asaro school grounds looked like and how they as a family had gone there for the Graduation.  Chris was able to explain it well.  One area where he said things a little wrong was about the being under the sun and that is why he went to the stand under the roof of the class room.  Should be “stap long san” and “mi laik sindaun long ples kol”. The conclusion was a little weak and that was noticeable when Nathan asked “…and so… are you done.

11)  Drove and talked about the Pig rope at the tumbuna market.  Chris asked “ Dispela rop em bilong wanem?  Nathan said it would have been better to say “ oli save mekim wanem long dispela rop.

12) Talked at the park.  Chris was able to communicate well with some of the different communication tasks.

13) Express appreciation for our time together.  Chris was able to express appreciation well to Nathan.

Detailed Observations: It’s been great to see you Chris progressing in Culture and Language.  I can see that you have been building good relationships with a number of the young guys in the community and with Tom and Benson that is so important.   Playing Rugby or basketball is a great way to just have fun and get to know how they think.

There were a few times that you used pinis in the wrong way.  For example “mi no save olgeta pinis.  Yu would rather say “mi no save long olgeta yet”  or “ Mi no save yet long olgeta”

Pronunciation words: keep working on the vowels.

General Recommendations- Chris, my recommendations for you in the red print above.  Continue to work on some pronunciation.  You have improved a lot in your usage of “long” and “bai”, etc.  Keep up the good work. Keep listening to recordings – the people won’t correct you all the time but they will say it correctly when they say it back in a recording.  It’s a good way to learn new vocabulary as well.

Conclusion- Keep up the good work and the time you are investing in learning.

It’s that time again!  My second evaluation is Tuesday morning and Maggie’s is Wednesday morning.   We’ll let you know the results as soon as we know.

The pics below are of the worker appreciation meal we had last Friday.   There are about 10 or so nationals that work on the center here helping to keep this place running in a variety of ways.  Last Friday, they and their families were invited to come and enjoy burgers and fries, cupcakes and ice cream.  After we all downed multiple burgers and cupcakes, we played basketball.

I'm glad we get to BBQ in PNG!

Everyone loves the trampoline.

Terry (our boss-man) gave a little speech.

Basketball!

The next few pictures are from Micah’s birthday party.

Birthday Cake

Micah and Friends.

Present time.

I thought this was pretty cool.  Watch and learn.

First, you need to build a big fire and put a whole ton of rocks in it.  When the fire has mostly burned out, remove any leftover wood so that all you have left is a pile of hot rocks.

Next, put a ring of sticks around your pile of rocks.

Now, cut up the trunk of a banana tree and wrap the pieces around the inside of the stakes.

Next, grab a bunch of grass and pile it on top.

Grab some banana tree leaves and line the edges.

Add your food. Sweet potatoes, Chicken, Lamb Flaps, etc.

Cover the food with more banana tree leaves, but make sure to leave a hole in the middle for later.

Make sure you put lots of leaves on top to help keep the heat in.

Next, put a tarp on top.

Cover the tarp with dirt.

Did you leave a hole down through the middle?

Pour 3-4 pots of water into the hole.

After all that hard work you deserve to sit and have a drink. Let the food cook for an hour or so.

Take apart your masterpiece, divide the food, and eat!

1 December, 2011  (Maggie)

This was the 'comfortable' way to ride.

Note to self: When you live on the equator, babies get sunburned even
in the shade. 

We went to a graduation ceremony today and poor Bailey
came back looking like a lobster. We had to drive about 27 Km to get
there, so it wasn’t far, but the road was so bumpy that it took us
almost an hour and a half. Chris was driving, and Tom was in the front
seat, so me and Auno and the four kids were all in the back of the
little double-cab pickup. Cole was sitting next to the door and he
kept banging his head on the window because of all the bumps, so we
had to stop and everyone got out and then back in to rearrange the seating
order. We happened to stop in front of a house and the entire family came
out to see us. We shared our chocolate chip cookies with them. When we got
to the village we went to visit Tom’s parents’ place and meet lots of his
relatives. They don’t get many white people up that way so we caused
quite a commotion wherever we went. For a while it was awkward because
we were standing on one side and all the PNG people were standing on
the other, and there wasn’t much interaction between the two sides.
More like observation and private discussion. But between us and Tom
trying to keep our kids from falling over the cliff into the river,
eating raw peanuts and passion fruit, and nursing the baby inside the
mama’s house, there was enough to take our minds off the awkwardness. They were so hospitable and accepted us as family without a second thought.

When it was time to go to the ceremony we all got back in the truck,
but in the bed this time. It was much easier to ride that way.
Something about the threat of smacking your head being gone and the
freedom to move your elbows. Anyway, it wasn’t far to the school, and
when we arrived we sat in the shade and soon drew a crowd of
thousands. Not really, but pretty much everyone who was already there
came over to have a look at us pale-faces. The kids handled it pretty
well. Even Micah, who can get really embarrassed, ate his lunch with
an audience and didn’t complain or try to hide under my skirt. Cole
sat under one of the school buildings and had about 50 kids laughing
hysterically at him as he made faces and did just the weirdest little
things to be funny. And Maisie was fine because everywhere she goes
people like to give her things. She got two free popsicles today, free pineapple, and a banana or two!

Cole playing underneath the school.

So we sat there waiting, listening to Amy Grant and Point of Grace on
the loudspeaker, and every 15 minutes or so a voice would call out to
the surrounding area that it was time to gather for the graduation.
When it was time to start, we all took our umbrellas and went to
the viewing area to bake in the sun until golden brown and firm in the
center. I had all the kids with me for a while, and it was hard to
organize so many arms and legs under the shadow of one umbrella. Then
one of the mamas came to my rescue and took Bailey to go sit under the
shade of a tree and eat her papaya. We gave the boys the Gameboy, so
that pretty much took care of them for the next several hours, and
Chris took Maisie somewhere to go play because she refused to sit
still and I didn’t want all of her skin to peel off from horrific
sunburn. Like any graduation, lots of people gave speeches – a teacher,
one of the board members, a pastor, and a nurse. Then the teachers gave prizes to the top students of each class in
different subjects. Each winner got a wrapped gift. Many of the
classes had a first and second prize for personal hygiene, which is
something I didn’t expect. And the parents had the opportunity to have
their child presented with a special gift from them. It was fun to
watch. Children are very valued here and education is coveted.

I still can’t get over how much goodwill we receive everywhere we go
just because we’re white. I heard a few people call me “Missus” today
– which is a more traditional term for the wife of a European man
(whom they called “Master”). They recognized our presence at the
ceremony as one of the honored guests and had everyone clap for us.
When we got home Auno told us how happy everyone was that we came and
that they consider us family, and that the mother of the young
lady we went to see graduate cried when we had to leave early. She
really wanted us to spend the night!

Graduation!

We had to leave early because we had to make it back for a meeting this
evening. I was really sorry to have to leave, because Tom and Auno
came back with us, which meant that they had to leave early too, and
also that I didn’t get to take pictures of the people that they asked
me to take pictures of for them. I tried to tell them how sorry I was
several times. I’m glad that we are comfortable enough with them that
I feel I can be honest about how I’m feeling and know that they will
be honest with me, too.
It’s almost Christmas time! We’re going to a Christmas “festival” on
Saturday and we’re hoping to score some decorations so we can make our
house look a little more Christmas-y. I was talking to Chris about how
I’ve been feeling homesick, and it makes me sad that I’m missing
Christmas in MN. I love Christmas, and this year I don’t even feel
like playing Christmas music. I’m sure that it’s all a part of our
first Christmas away from our family and everything else familiar, and
we’re planning some fun family things to make up for it.

Have a wonderful day!  We hope you are able to spend it with loved ones.  Mom and dad, what time should we expect you?

As your Thanksgiving day is beginning, ours is ending.  Here’s what we did today.

Maggie woke up early and by 7am was working in Kaula’s garden.  She returned home near 9am as the kids and I were cleaning up from Breakfast.  I then spent the rest of the morning trying to fill out a finance form that needed done right away.  We had mac-n-cheese for lunch and then I spent some time memorizing the radio alphabet (I’ll explain that some other time) and learning all the names and locations of PNG’s provinces.  Mid-afternoon found all of us outside, after the rain shower ended, and I finished cutting steps into the slippery grassy hillside behind our house.

Near 4pm I took off up the road (on foot) to see if people were working on the Church we attend.  They’ve been pouring cement all week but not this day.  I found a friend nearby and talked with him awhile.  Not long after another friend came by and him and I went over to the volleyball net.  (Side note: This house line recently got a new volleyball net put up and now all the young men are playing Volleyball every afternoon instead of Rugby.  I hope they tire of this game pretty quickly.  Rugby is way more fun.)  We played a couple games of volleyball and then David (one of the previously mentioned friends) came with me back to my house to borrow one of my novels so he could read it and learn English more.  He ended up staying for supper; chicken strips, biscuits, corn, and pineapple.  Our whole family walked him to the gate after supper was finished and then we came back, cleaned up, and put the kids to bed.  Maggie and I played a couple card games and now she’s on one computer and I’m on the other.  This was our day!

Thanksgiving is not a national holiday here (but Christmas is!) and so we didn’t celebrate today.  However, we will be having Thanksgiving this weekend.  On Sunday, all the families that live on the center here will be gathering together to eat and give thanks to God for all His blessings to us.

Here’s some things we’re thankful for.

Our families, friends, and health.

All the friendly nationals willing to help us learn Tok Pisin.

The beautiful hills, mountains, and scenery we get to enjoy everyday.

All of our partners in ministry.  Those that give, pray, write, encourage, and do so many other things.