A Summer Relived

Six weeks ago our campus was flooded with 15 eager new faces ready to embark on the adventure we call Interface (click on link for more info).  We headed to the airport 45 minutes away to pick up the exhausted/excited/nervous students (this picture was actually from a couple years ago) and bring them back to their home for the summer.  Having switched planes already in the capital of Port Moresby the culture shock had already started to set in and a lot of students were really quiet at first as they took in all the changes. 

After almost twenty years of welcoming students to Interface, it was time for our old sign to retire.  Out with the old...

 ...in with the new.

Students hit the classroom the next day and spend the next five weeks immersed in classes ranging from Culture Stress and Bible Translation, to Language Learning and a crash course in teaching through the Bible Chronologically - all of this in order to gain a realistic perspective in a hands on environment of what it means to be a tribal missionary and what God's heart is for the unreached.  I teach several classes throughout the program (who knew I loved teaching!) and the rest of the classes are split between Interface staff and guest speakers who are missionaries in different roles with New Tribes Mission around Papua New Guinea. 

Myself and co-worker Drew enjoy leading music for times of worship in singing with students. (photo by Dale Stroud) 

After introducing our students to the basics of language learning, we split them up into groups and provide language helpers for them to put to practice the skills they've learned.

They're also given almost daily opportunities to head up to the village and hang out, getting to know people in the area and gleaning more language and culture.  The kids loooove spending time with the students.

Each program the villagers put on a market where they sell their (mostly) handmade items like jewelry and string bags (bilums).  I introduced Elaine to sugar cane...no need for knives when you've got teeth!

I sat down for a few minutes to chat with one of my first language helpers, Sisi, and work on our string bags together while the students shopped.

I don't know what kind of bird these boys had found but it was beautiful.

Another thing we've added to our program recently is giving the students opportunities to be a blessing in our community by helping out in practical every day ways like carrying water or picking someone's coffee.

Annie shows off the fruits of her labour.

The students got to the see the entire coffee process from start to finish - here the coffee beans are sent through this contraption which seperates the bean from the thick red skin.

One of the most incredible experiences of my life happened while our students were here this program.  This year the village decided that for the first time in Interface history they wanted to put on a welcome singsing for the students (tribal dancing and singing in celebration of an event).  Putting on a singsing is a pretty big undertaking and we were excited about this opportunity for the students.  The singsing began as usual and we enjoyed all the decorations and singing.  Nothing out of the ordinary...yet. 

As I mentioned in my last singsing blog...whatever goes!  There were some conflicting opinions among the coordinators about how "tribal" and authentic this singsing should be.  Apparently ease and comfort won out over authenticity. 

After the first round of dancing several speeches are given and there's a chance for some photo ops (below).

Momore, at right, will jump at any excuse to dress up and dance around.  The lady on my left is his wife.  These guys look ancient but they can keep up with the best of 'em! 

After the speeches were over the dancing began again.  By this time it had started sprinkling but the dancing continued.  Somewhere along the line one of the ladies in the crowd pulled one of the studetns into the dancing and before you knew it almost every one of us were dancing and singing (exactly what we didn't know) and waving branches in the air as we shuffled through the dirt in the rain. 

Pictures do this event no justice, but it was incredible.  We were wet and dirty but we didn't care!  No one could stop smiling and the villagers were ecstatic that we were right in there with them.  And it didn't stop!  It kept going and going.  Normally we're the once snapping pictures at the Papua New Guineans, but as we looked around we saw that the villagers were standing there with their phones taking pictures of us!  Too funny. 

Finally after what seemed like forever (and with our cheeks sore from laughing and smiling) the dancing stopped and after a few final speeches we all headed home.

Back on campus the students hit the classroom again.  Travis decided to take his class outside.  Every once in a while we feel like the students get inundated with powerpoints and so we'll take our classes outside to mix things up a bit and give them (and us) a classroom breather.    

We like to take the students on atleast one hike while they're here, and this program we decided to take a hike across one of the nearby ridges to a village across the valley.

If you look closely you can see a group of buildings right around the middle of the picture on the far ridge - that's Interface.

This village burned down a couple of years ago.  The people lost everything and have had to start from scratch - including their fruit, vegetable and coffee gardens.

My co-worker, Lesley, and her daughter Jess.

We passed through several other villages on the way home and spent some time just hanging out.

Here's the Interface staff at the moment.  Family away from family.  We are thanking God for all the staff that He's brought to Interface in the last couple of years.  We haven't been this full in a while and we love it.

We take our students into town for a day to check out places like our local museum and a coffee factory, and give them a chance to shop for artifacts and other gifts to take home.  On the way into town it's pretty obvious to see that it's election time right now.  I don't know who Apaso is but his tactics are pretty creative.   

An old World War II plane sits at the local museum.

We couldn't get enough of this cuscus that we came across in town.  How cute is he!  His owner decided to name him Matt after one of our students.

A mumu is something else we love to introduce to our students.  Cooking a "mumu" is like cooking in a huge underground steamcooker.  It's an aqcuired taste for some people, but I love the mix of sweet potato, greens and other vegetables.  I could live without the lamb flaps they use but it's a treat for the villagers.  See here for some more details on how a mumu is prepared (it's a mixed album so you'll have to look through to find the mumu pics).  It takes a couple of hours to prepare, a couple more to cook, and by that time we're ready to eat just about anything they put in front of us (which isn't hard when it tastes as good as it does).  

Before you know it five weeks have passed and it's time for the students to head home.  The most awesome part of this job is seeing the transformation God works in the lives of our students.  Yes, they have a lot of fun going to mumus and markets, shopping in town and hiking the hills, but that's not the essence of our program.  Our heart is to see our students eyes opened to the realities of tribal church planting and to become aware of the urgent need that still exists to see the Truth brought to those who have no concept of the freedom and forgiveness that we can know because of Jesus Christ.  

After being on the go 24/7 for five weeks at a time it feels like a ghost town when the students all leave.  I can't deny that it's nice to wind down and relax after a hectic summer, but having students here is awesome and what Interface exists for.  And after taking a breather for a bit and catching up on all that's been put on the backburner, we can't wait for the next group to arrive.

Another huge part of our program is a week-long side trip that we take the students on. During these trips they get to experience an active church plant in various tribes around Papua New Guinea as a culmination of what they've been learning in the classroom.  Lots of pictures and stories to come soon about the group I got to lead this year!