How to Make Brownies 101

Each year we have three German Interns come to Interface for 10 months as part of the Free Social Year program in Germany.  They're trained in different areas of maintenance around campus (electrical, woodworking, mechanics, etc.) and are also involved in some discipleship with the Interfac staff men.  This year Jonny, Diemo (Dee-mo), and Marco have joined our Interface family and we love having them around!  A great benefit to all of us is how well they all knew English before the came.  Every year I think, "THIS is the year I learn German!"  And although I'm picking up bits and pieces here and there I've got a loooong way to go. 

Another area we like to teach the guys in is cooking, since for many of our interns this is their first time away from home.  My co-worker Beth (the chef here at Inteface) and her husband Jacob have taken on this task and once in a while I'm invited to enjoy whatever meal the guys have concocted.  This particular day they were learning how to make chicken fingers and potato wedges...some good North Amercian food.  I have to laugh when the German guys call chocolate chip cookies "American Cookies." :)

A first for Diemo - homemade brownies.  They were good!

Jacob always takes it upon himself to teach anyone wanting to learn the fine art of Smoothie making.  I have to admit, he's got talent and I wish I had taken notes.  Here he used pineapple, papaya, lemon, vanilla, yogurt, milk and bananas. 

Time to eat!

Different Skin...Same Family

Today a group of us had the privelege of driving an hour away to join in on church with the Fellowship of National Bible Churches (FNBC).  Years ago a tribal church was begun by missionaries amongst the Yagaria here in the Highlands.  Over the years that church has grown and expanded into a thriving body of believers who have begun their own church plants in neighboring areas.  The last Sunday of every month believers from several different denominations within FNBC get together so we decided to take the small group of believers from our local Bena area to the service to hopefully encourage them.   Often at meetings like these the speaker will say, "Our skin is black and your skin is white, but in God's eyes we're all one family." :)

The national believers unload after arriving at the FNBC base.

This base used to be an old New Tribes Mission training center.  I remember re-painting that building on the left when I was in High School!

Me and my buddy Kelsey.

This little guy wasn't born too long ago (to a couple from our area) and this was my first glimpse of him.  In Papua New Guinea it's customary for several people to give different names to newborns.  Often the parents will ask a missionary who they're particularly close to to name the baby for them, so one of my co-workers named this boy Daniel (fitting, as his brother's names are Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego).  His family then gave him the name Paulina (yes, that's right), and another lady in the village named him Spencer. 

Not sure how hundreds of people keep their flipflops straight, but we all seemed to go home with our own.

There's little Daniel again with his mom, Anita...he had a few cameras on him 'cause he was just so cute!!  (I just noticed the guy's shirt in front of him "4 da las time...no pain, no gain")

After the service we all talked outside for a bit. 

Me and my close friend, Janet.  My heart is heavy for Janet when I so often see her making choices that don't honor the Lord and are harmful for her and relationships around her.  Then I remind myself that the believers in our Bena area only have portions of the Bible so far in their own language, have had very little teaching recently (the missionaries in their village left on home assignment and the believers have had a hard time continuing on with the teaching) and are much like new believers.  Please pray that I would know how to encourage Janet and others like her.

Judy is a friend of mine from the FNBC center that I like to touch base with whenever I'm in the area.  That's her son with her...in the pink dress. :)

Here's Janet with her son (Barney) and husband (Heti) along with Anita's baby.  Heti is one of the main teachers in the Bena church and could use a lot of pray for this responsibility that's on his shoulders.  Often tribal churches will thrive until the missionaries leave on home assignment and the believers realize how much they were depending on the missionaries instead of the Lord.  It's a tough transition for them and they are often easily pulled back into their old ways.  As easy as it is to depend on man, we know that we have the Holy Spirit who is our Guide, our Counsellor and our Encourager...we would love for the Bena believers to truly grasp this!  Janet talked to me after the service today and said "Today I really understood what was said...I've been looking into my life and wondering about some of these things and today I finally got it good."  Praise the Lord for the understanding that He's given.   We long to see the believers here grow and understand more about the amazing life that they have in Christ, and we're encoruaged by each little step they take. 

A Close Call...

If you read my previous post about the incredible control the people here have over their fires during burning season (most of the time), these pictures that I took yesterday along our fencline are what I'm talking about:

Rainy Season Arrives

September 2011

October 2011

There are two seasons in Papua New Guinea - rainy and dry.  Although, the weather has been so inconsistent in recent years that it's hard to distinguish the seasons anymore.  During dry season the people in our area get busy burning their fields and gardens for two reasons that I know of - it's a great alternative to "mowing the lawn," and it helps replenish the ground for their gardens.  A few weeks ago our valley was filled with the smoke of these fires, occasionally burning right up to our fence line. You can hear the crackling of the flames like they're next door.  It's a mystery to me how they control the fires, but they rarely get out of hand.  One day we were driving into town and noticed a fire burning on either side of the road, which was odd since they're usually more controlled than that.  A couple days later one of our language helpers came to work sheepishly saying that she had gone to burn some garbage a couple days earlier and the fire got out of hand and wiped out the entire area where she was living and jumped the road.  Thankfully her house wasn't touched and not too much damage was done that couldn't grow back and she was able laugh about it. 

It's Just Protein

Every year around August or September, around the time of the first rain after dry season, we get swarmed with thousands of Muna Beetles.  It's tradition for all the kids from the village to run around campus trying to catch as many as they can...and the Interface staff get in on a bit of the fun, too.  Why the frenzy to catch all the beetles?  Well, a little bit of oil, a bit of salt and pepper and it's a pretty good snack...or so they say.

It's fun to see the kids all running around laughing and chasing the beetles.

I collect plastic bottles all year to pass out during Muna season. 

A branch or a towel is the perfect tool to knock the flying beetles off balance and grab them off the ground. 

Who needs a bottle?

A little bit of beheading and pulling off of limbs, and they're ready to throw in the pan.  Rumour has it they taste just like popcorn.  I've never been brave enough to eat one myself, but our students always love being able to go home saying they ate a bug. :)