Well our time in the tribe was amazing. God taught us more than we could have imagined through the Yembi Church and the Missionaries who have been there in the tribe for 8 years. I remember how nervous we were going into the tribe thinking “what if God shows us we can’t do it?”. Being on the other side I do think God showed us we can’t apart from Him and it encouraged our hearts to know that we are in this for Him and that is it! Now we have plenty to think about and pray through as we are planning to allocate to a tribe in the near future.
Here are some highlights and interestingthings I learned about life in the jungle.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT…
-The jungle sounds like the city at night? Every night when I would get ready to go to bed I would hear the jungle come to life- and it is loud! I never knew that birds could make sounds like beeping and ring tones, sirens and horns. You know the sound on a school playground swing set, the one of the squeaky chain when a kid is swinging? Well yeah, that was out there. It was my favorite however at the same time the most terrible sound over and over! But they were all such familiar sounds that I found myself wondering, which came first: The technology that I know to be author of those sounds or the wildlife?
-Cockroaches Fly! Every night we would turn off all the lights except in the room we were in to conserve power since it is all solar/battery run. So whenever we would enter a new room and turn on the lights cockroaches would scatter into the cabinets, closets and anywhere to escape the light. It was gross but one night when I turned on the light I must have freaked one of them out because it totally came flying at me and landed on my shirt!!!! The only thing worst than that is when one runs UP your leg. (Know that from personal experience too)
-A Crocodile would be on my Table. Some tribalpeople caught a baby crocodile and we thought it would be fun to show the kids and take pictures with it. So Justin went and grabbed it from our friends and he put it on the table for the kids to find! It’s mouth and back legs were tied and the kids played with it like it was a dangerous as a kitten. (I think Justin wore it out before the kids got to it)
-I would miss my “city” ants. You all know my struggle with the ants. Tribal ants are just that- tribal! I thought my ants were bad but these took things to a whole new level! They were literally everywhere: on my tooth brush, in the bed, in the refrigerator, in the oven and even on the clothesline, so I would hang up my “clean” laundry when I took them down they had ants all over them! They were always ahead of my and knew that they could make me break (which happen once)! One night at dinner Paisley was praying “ Jesus thank you Brooks and Nina(the missionary couple in the tribe with us),For Oma and Pa. Thank you for food and cups. Thank you for salt and thank you for all the ants that came to our house.” She was just naming items she saw on the table and it cracked me up. I guess God wants me to change my perspective on the ants and pray for my enemies…
-The Meat Bink. Pax is still attached to his binky and the tribe did not understand his affection for it but figured out an alternative to his binky. There is a bird called a Cassowary that they hunt and eat. Someone gave some meat to us to try and it was so tough and has this smell that makes you want to run away that we passed on it. But one time when we were hanging out in the village someone offered this Cassowary to pax and he loved it. It was so tough that he chewed on that thing for about 3 hours! And threw it away because we could handle the smell of it on him anymore. So we declared it the MEAT BINK. (Here's a pix of a cassowary egg-kinda looks like a dinosaur egg)
- I lived out The Jungle Cruise. As I was paddling a dug out canoe with some tribal ladies on the Sepik River through “shortcuts”, it reminded me of the Jungle cruise ride at Disneyland. There was a beautiful canopy of trees over my head, parrots flying in the air, ducks randomly around a bend or two. Tree branches were sticking out of the water and were gently bob up and down just like the mechanical ones do in the ride! As we were on this adventure I asked the ladies if there were any crocodiles in the waters we were going through and they said yes, like it was obvious. I am thankful to report that in MY jungle cruise (PNG style) I did NOT see a crocodile. All that to say, it’s really incredible how well Disneyland has replicated a true jungle experience AND I can say that my time spent at Disneyland has helped prepare me for the jungle!
Thanks for reading and would love to hear your feedback!
