Things are starting to settle into the routine here now. Although next week will bring some changes. Next Friday, Terri, I, Amy, and Compton are planning on taking a boat to Port Kaituma, and from there getting a ride to Matthews Ridge to see and help with the project there. Terri and I will have to return by the following Tuesday, as Graem and Jaide will be flying out that Monday, so I will have to be here to conduct the Bookstudy Tuesday. I will be the only appointed (using that term rather loosely) brother here until Joe and Christina arrive in three weeks.
Last night, one of Elroy and Joyann’s daughters sat with Terri and I during the meeting. At one point, she leaned over and whispered to me, "How do you spell gi?" I wasn’t sure I had heard her right, so I asked what she had said, and she repeated, "How do you spell gi?" I said I didn’t know, which was certainly true. Later I saw a little note she had been writing and it said, "I love Jim, I don’t like Terri she not gi me the book".
Last week when we were working Sugar Hill, I had spoken with a woman there, and I was trying to reason with her on the importance of the bible. I asked her if she thought the bible was a book of truth, and she said, "Some truth, some lies." That kind of took me by surprise, so I was trying to help her see that while some may teach untruth, and say it’s from the bible, that doesn’t make the bible a book with lies. I shared with her John 10:30 where Jesus said, "I and the father are one." I said while it’s possible for someone to read this verse, and then say that it proves that Jesus and his father are same same. I then read her John 14:28 where Jesus said that the father was greater than he was.
She got a look on her face and said that made it sound like they were two different people. I said, "That’s right." She said, "They not two, they same." So I asked her, "If they same, when Jesus died, who resurrected him?" She laughed and said, "Jesus never died." I said, "Yes he did, the bible says he died for our sins." She said, "See, I told you the bible had lies in it, Jesus never died." And that pretty well was representative of the rest of our efforts to reason with her.
This week were back in Wauna Wednesday. We walked back to Sugar Hill because I had told someone last week I would bring him back a bible. After we had been to his house, and we were leaving, I jokingly asked Compton if we should go back to see that woman. He said that sounded like a good idea, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was only joking, so off we went. As we were passing the house just before hers, the woman there called out that there was nobody home at the next house. She said they had gone out. I remembered that she had mentioned it was a daughter, so I mentioned to her that we had spoken to her last week and she had expressed the idea that the bible contained some truth, some lies. She said that she didn’t know better because she didn’t have any teaching.
I was kind of standing off to the side, but Compton could see into the house, and he asked if the other woman he could see wasn’t the daughter we had spoken to last week, and she said she was. The daughter then said that she couldn’t talk to us because her teeth were hurting her. Compton then said, "You know why your teeth are hurting don’t you? It’s because of the way you were ‘busing God last week." She said that it was not that at all. To which Compton said, "My teeth aren’t hurting me, so who must have been speaking truth?" She kind of laughed about it, but it gave Compton a way to get her talking. She still expressed some strange ideas, but Compton would keep calling her on them. She did allow herself to reason on some of the points he was making. He mentioned that she really needed to learn to read, so she could read the bible for herself, instead of depending on what others said it said. He mentioned that if she wanted, there were sisters who would come to help her learn. She told him she didn’t need anyone to teach her, the spirit would enable her to read. She then said that in three months, she would be reading. Compton, said he would hold her to it, and be back in April to check up on her. All in all I thought it was a positive visit. After we left, I told Compton I had just been joking when I suggested going there, and he got a laugh out if it.
Since we were last here, there has been a cell tower erected, so many here now have cell phones. It seems strange to see people standing in the window of their huts with leaves for a roof, and just open windows, to be talking on their cell phone. But there are benefits. Wednesday when we went to Wauna, Compton had suggested that we walk out to Black Water to call on a man he and I had had a nice visit with when I was here last year. He said he had seen him once since then and had again had a nice conversation with him. The man had mentioned how much he had appreciated our previous visit and how he hoped I would come back.
I’m guessing it’s all of three miles from Wauna to Black Water, and Compton walks with purpose, so it was a real workout getting. When we reached the man’s house, his wife informed us he had gone out and wasn’t expected back until the afternoon. Compton asked her is they had cell service that far out and she said they did. He then asked if they had a cell phone and she said they did, so we were able to get the number so that a next time we could call ahead before walking all the way there.
It’s with the theme of, ‘civilization comes to Mabaruma’ that I have selected one of my photos. Since we left, they have painted pedestrian crossings on the roads at the schools and other public buildings. I’m sure everyone feels much safer and progressive as a result. The other picture is of the ‘Need Greaters currently here. Graem and Jaide Bryant are from California. They have been here for their first time since the middle of September, and are leaving us, as I mentioned, next Monday. I told them that it was fitting they be married, since neither of their parents knew how to spell. The other sister in the picture is Amy Oka. She is from Arizona. And this is her second tour of duty. She was here before for about five months. She arrived in November and is planning on staying through August.
Here’s hoping your week was well and your thoughts are peaceful.
Last night, one of Elroy and Joyann’s daughters sat with Terri and I during the meeting. At one point, she leaned over and whispered to me, "How do you spell gi?" I wasn’t sure I had heard her right, so I asked what she had said, and she repeated, "How do you spell gi?" I said I didn’t know, which was certainly true. Later I saw a little note she had been writing and it said, "I love Jim, I don’t like Terri she not gi me the book".
Last week when we were working Sugar Hill, I had spoken with a woman there, and I was trying to reason with her on the importance of the bible. I asked her if she thought the bible was a book of truth, and she said, "Some truth, some lies." That kind of took me by surprise, so I was trying to help her see that while some may teach untruth, and say it’s from the bible, that doesn’t make the bible a book with lies. I shared with her John 10:30 where Jesus said, "I and the father are one." I said while it’s possible for someone to read this verse, and then say that it proves that Jesus and his father are same same. I then read her John 14:28 where Jesus said that the father was greater than he was.
She got a look on her face and said that made it sound like they were two different people. I said, "That’s right." She said, "They not two, they same." So I asked her, "If they same, when Jesus died, who resurrected him?" She laughed and said, "Jesus never died." I said, "Yes he did, the bible says he died for our sins." She said, "See, I told you the bible had lies in it, Jesus never died." And that pretty well was representative of the rest of our efforts to reason with her.
This week were back in Wauna Wednesday. We walked back to Sugar Hill because I had told someone last week I would bring him back a bible. After we had been to his house, and we were leaving, I jokingly asked Compton if we should go back to see that woman. He said that sounded like a good idea, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was only joking, so off we went. As we were passing the house just before hers, the woman there called out that there was nobody home at the next house. She said they had gone out. I remembered that she had mentioned it was a daughter, so I mentioned to her that we had spoken to her last week and she had expressed the idea that the bible contained some truth, some lies. She said that she didn’t know better because she didn’t have any teaching.
I was kind of standing off to the side, but Compton could see into the house, and he asked if the other woman he could see wasn’t the daughter we had spoken to last week, and she said she was. The daughter then said that she couldn’t talk to us because her teeth were hurting her. Compton then said, "You know why your teeth are hurting don’t you? It’s because of the way you were ‘busing God last week." She said that it was not that at all. To which Compton said, "My teeth aren’t hurting me, so who must have been speaking truth?" She kind of laughed about it, but it gave Compton a way to get her talking. She still expressed some strange ideas, but Compton would keep calling her on them. She did allow herself to reason on some of the points he was making. He mentioned that she really needed to learn to read, so she could read the bible for herself, instead of depending on what others said it said. He mentioned that if she wanted, there were sisters who would come to help her learn. She told him she didn’t need anyone to teach her, the spirit would enable her to read. She then said that in three months, she would be reading. Compton, said he would hold her to it, and be back in April to check up on her. All in all I thought it was a positive visit. After we left, I told Compton I had just been joking when I suggested going there, and he got a laugh out if it.
Since we were last here, there has been a cell tower erected, so many here now have cell phones. It seems strange to see people standing in the window of their huts with leaves for a roof, and just open windows, to be talking on their cell phone. But there are benefits. Wednesday when we went to Wauna, Compton had suggested that we walk out to Black Water to call on a man he and I had had a nice visit with when I was here last year. He said he had seen him once since then and had again had a nice conversation with him. The man had mentioned how much he had appreciated our previous visit and how he hoped I would come back.
I’m guessing it’s all of three miles from Wauna to Black Water, and Compton walks with purpose, so it was a real workout getting. When we reached the man’s house, his wife informed us he had gone out and wasn’t expected back until the afternoon. Compton asked her is they had cell service that far out and she said they did. He then asked if they had a cell phone and she said they did, so we were able to get the number so that a next time we could call ahead before walking all the way there.
It’s with the theme of, ‘civilization comes to Mabaruma’ that I have selected one of my photos. Since we left, they have painted pedestrian crossings on the roads at the schools and other public buildings. I’m sure everyone feels much safer and progressive as a result. The other picture is of the ‘Need Greaters currently here. Graem and Jaide Bryant are from California. They have been here for their first time since the middle of September, and are leaving us, as I mentioned, next Monday. I told them that it was fitting they be married, since neither of their parents knew how to spell. The other sister in the picture is Amy Oka. She is from Arizona. And this is her second tour of duty. She was here before for about five months. She arrived in November and is planning on staying through August.
Here’s hoping your week was well and your thoughts are peaceful.
