The honor, the respect, the gratitude of that moment is a rarely experienced thing in one's life.
I can count the number of times I have had such moments in my life, and all but few, started when we decided to move to PNG.
Yesterday was one of those days. And I want to tell you about it, because you have invested in that moment as well. This story is for anyone who has invested any time, prayer, money, good thoughts, concern, etc in our being in PNG.
I'm sorry, but the best stories are long ones.
I have been separated from my family for two weeks now (going on my third) in Kokopo, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. I have been living in the village house of Gary and Peggy. This couple has spent the last 26 years of their lives working on translating the Bible into Ura for the Baining people. There are 2500 Ura speaking Bainings, and nearly 200,000 Baining people in total. They hope to translate into at least one or two other languages using computer comparative software.
The Baining people are not like Highland Papua New Guineans. They are drastically different. They are not aggressive, not very talkative, not nosey. They do not interfere in your business, nor are they inquisitive. This creates a great environment for avoiding the social claustrophobia, but a difficult environment for 'getting to know you'.
A baining will never ask you 'do you have a wife?'. They will not ask personal questions. In fact you get the impression they don't care about you, yet they are very hospitable. I think part of their hospitality is simplicity and acceptance.
As the days have gone by, we have been doing audio recordings to dub a video series called the Luke video into Ura. Essentially the book of Luke is put into video form using 15 separate episodes, plus an audio version and a summation of the entire book at the end. The point of the project is to be a discipleship tool.
Over these days, I have made friends with a small group of Uramet Bainings (Ura speaking Baining people) in their village of Gualim.
When I began this project, I was assuming this would be the most challenging thing I've ever done. My reasons were, that I have never lived in the village for longer than 6 days in a row. Village living is hard living. It's extreme camping, in the tropics. A simple scratch on your leg could turn into an ulcer (aka Jungle rot) before you know it. Secondly, I had never actually DONE a video dubbing before. Other than as a hobbyist at home, and a bit of training, I had no idea if I could accomplish what people were telling me they had confidence I could do. I trusted them, but was somewhat concerned I'd forget a vital piece of equipment or some small detail that caused my time to be wasted in Gualim.
My mantra was simple, Trust God... keep a good attitude.... it'll all work out.
Upon arriving, several of my worries were calmed. Gary and his team (Boas and Mungsung and Amen and others) had built a wonderful recording room out of bamboo and mattresses, thus calming my worries about recording extraneous noise.
We did face some difficulty. Occasionally we would have to start the generator which was too loud, so Gary procured a propane powered generator which was much quieter. We had the power supply for our microphone overheat, so we rigged a stick to connect it to a room fan so it would stay cool enough. Still from time to time, as it overheated we'd have to take a break until it came back online. I was told I may not get home on schedule because the local volcano had erupted putting ash into the air which harms plane engines, so the airport was closed.
But the Baining people, were prepared. They were saying their lines with emotion, and accuracy, often times perfectly the first time. Because of this, we were able to finish recording in 7 days, and able to spend an 8th day refining and re-recording parts we felt could be improved. On top of that, I had the luxury of being able to do post production with a team, and have them say 'no this isn't right, that pause is wrong,' etc. Which is EXTREMELY beneficial since I do not know the language. I am confident to say that because of that, the final production will not have any linguistic or acting errors in it that will distract people. On top of that, we still had time enough for me to go through and adjust the lip syncing and there are moments when you see God's supernatural hand at work and forget that Christ was speaking Hebrew in the original recordings, and swear He was speaking Ura. The lips moved just so, the expression of his face just so... we all took to snapping our fingers at these moments in praise.
Gary later told me that he has seen God's hand on this project as it's become smoothed out. He and Peggy have faced a few discouragements lately, but finishing the recording on Gary's birthday brought a big smile to his face. They were encouraged that at least one project in their lives was going well.
I was excited because the thing I had come hoping to do, actually was done. (I do have some more work to do once I return home to Ukarumpa).
The entire recording, it did not rain heavily which was a major concern as rain on tin roofing, causes so much noise, you have to shout to be heard by the man sitting next to you. It would mean we had to take a break in the recording.
I wonder if we somehow set a record for recording time, and I wonder if God allowed me to do it quickly so that I could learn a great many lessons. (don't worry, I wrote my lessons down).
On the left is Mungsung, the voice of Jesus. On the right, Boas, the voice of the narrator. These two guys are remarkable people.
I learned a great many technical lessons during the project, and was thankful for the time afterward to tidy up the recording and make it better. I really want my first recording to be a good one as I have a group of peers (in the U.S.) that have to review it before it gets approval to be mastered. That said, I also learned several non-technical lessons.
For example: As focused as I was on producing a quality product, I had to remember that the process was also important. I was keyed in on wanting the Luke video to be used well, such that I nearly forgot to build relationships on the way. Thankfully, after my initial adapting to this new (hot and humid) environment was complete, I was able to eat their food with them, sit and talk with them, share pictures of my family with them, pray for their sick children, etc.
I was told later that the level of inquisitiveness that the people had with me, the level of interaction I had was rare. That Bainings do not involve themselves that much with people. Maybe it was the yoyo I carried with me, or the way I played with the kids, I don't know what it was, but I purposely kept myself from being shy and made some friends, that I hope to see one day in Ukarumpa as they do occasionally travel there.
Between times of recording, I would be walking through the rain forest on top of this ridge, experiencing this place. Gary told me 'I've been here a long while, it's nice to have new eyes to remind me of the things to appreciate'. I've blogged some of them such as:
a glorious full moon viewed through coconut trees.
the sound of the jungle coming alive at night, standing on the trail in pitch dark and listening (reminded me of disney cartoons where the characters start seeing spooky eyes in the dark).
the sound of thuds as coconuts dropped
lightning stuck trees that died
frogs
snakes
muddy roads we got the truck stuck in
most of these things, I wish you could all experience, after a while, it is amazing to me how well we adapt. The deafening roar of the jungle night, became unnoticed by me after a few days. I learned to sidestep the toads in the road, how to plant my foot firmly in the mud so as not to slip, without thinking. Putting on bug repellent in the morning and evening was as common as brushing my teeth.
Then there is the geekily interesting technical aspects of life in a village house. We had no electricity, so the basics like, lighting, and water, require creativity. The lighting was provided by flashlights, or these LED strips that my computer department furnishes, that run off of a car battery. Solar panels charge the battery. The water is fed by gravity, from a header tank on the roof, which is filled by a tank that collects rain water on the ground. Each morning you have to wake up and pump the water by hand, up to the header tank. For fun, I volunteered to do it a few times. It took 200 pumps to fill the header tank. I decided to time my pace of pumping, then calculated that it would take 9 minutes to do the pumping. So instead of counting in my head '1,2,3' I spent that 9 minutes each morning praying while working out my upper body.
I was honored by Peggy's constant service of my laundry, and making meals, and pumping water, and all the difficult things of living in a village, that she made, easier. But even this house belayed my worries because they had a flush toilet and a comfortable enough mattress on the floor for me to sleep in.
The first day assuaged most of my fears regarding my environment, and ability to record, and after that, it was all just a lot of hard work and sweat and prayer. In the end we had a product worthy of showing.
Which brings me to that moment of honor I began with.
Thursday it rained hard, all day long. It was the first time it had seriously rained, and it is not lost on me that it happened the DAY AFTER we were finished working.
The rain subsided just in time for us to gather people together to show them the Luke video scenes we had selected. But before that, there was a small ceremony with those involved in the project.
During this ceremony they thanked me for coming.
They thanked my family for letting me come.
They thanked my organization.
They thanked my supporters.
They praised the good work we had done.
And they gave me three gifts.
The first gift, Boas approached me, revealed a headband, and then tied it around my head. It was made from tree bark, and was the traditional colors of their people. It was remarkable because the colors and patterns were once used in a spiritual ceremony that many have since decided was sinful, and yet they wanted to preserve their traditional art, and so they used the pattern on a headband, I bowed slightly as he put it on my head during this ceremony.
The second gift was a sling. Boas again approached and showed me without words, the step to using the sling. This finger goes there, that goes here, the rock in here. Then he began to twirl the sling with the rock in it, around all these people. Inside I was shouting 'HEY! Someone is going to get hurt!' but then thought 'well, if he has enough confidence he won't hurt someone, he must be REALLY good'. Then he let loose the sling with a SNAP. My eyes widened, and I lurched a tiny bit. Everyone laughed as they realized Boas has sneakily removed the stone, and tricked us all. Then he handed me the sling. The sling is not touristy junk, it is authentic and traditional, and later I got Boas to show me to use it, and I used it and he was impressed at my ability the first time. So was I. But I didn't hit my target, still, at least the stone went into the right direction.
The third gift was an envelop, which I later opened to reveal cash money. This is a first for me. No Papua New Guinean has ever given me such a gesture. It was a generous amount of money and I instantly wanted to refuse it. But then I got to thinking. This is a sign that they are owning Bible translation. They recognize that it cost me something to be here, and they want to own the product in the end. It was a very good sign that they are serious about this work, because a missionary will only be present for so long. I have already put that money to work ministering to a PNG family in another part of the country.
The ceremony ended so I set up the laptop and the projector and had a seat to wait. I have become quite adept at waiting and enjoy my iPhone with books on it to read, as I sit around and wait. But instead I took out some sunflower seeds I had brought with me, and tried to teach the people how to eat them. They replied
'this is bird food!'
'em bikpela wok long liklik kaikai' (this is big work for little food)
But then, after they were using their hands, etc, I put a handful in my mouth and within moments was spitting out the husks one after the other. People were staring and laughing. (They laugh out of nervousness or embarrassment or appreciation).
I had put the word out 2 weeks ago that my son desperately wanted a tree python. I had heard that Bainings were one of the few people group in PNG who had no fear of snakes. That was because in East New Britain there are (I'm told) no poisonous ones.
A young man came to me with the snake he had caught. The timing wasn't lost on me, the Gualim Uras, were waiting to reveal they had a snake. But it was about 8 feet long, and older than what my son was looking for. It was colored like a rattler, but it was non-lethal. I saw another first in my life. A PNG man holding a snake.
So he let me touch it, but held the head firmly. Then he released it, and told me I could pull it's tail back to keep it from going into the bush.
Funny thing is, most PNGians don't want a whiteskin to get hurt for compensation problems would be bad. But they were willing to let me get near this snake.
Finally Gary dared me to come up behind the snake, and grab it by it's head, ala 'Crocodile hunter' style. I wanted to badly, but thought the risk wasn't worth it. Still, putting my concerns aside, I slowly moved my hand up behind it's head, and grabbed it, and lifted, and the snake was perfectly in my control.
You may think 'that's nothing'. But remember, it was a wild snake, agitated, it would well try to bite me, as was shown when Gary went to duplicate my action, and the snake took a swing at him, but he out maneuvered it and grabbed the snake up. The people hooted and cheered Gary as he put it around his neck.
Later several men said I was much more courageous than they were, as they hate snakes.
I contemplated whether or not my son would be happy with this snake and decided in the end, it was too big for his liking, and he probably wouldn't enjoy being bit. So I passed on the snake, but the handling of it was fun!
The sun set soon after and we began to show the Luke video.
I can't really express the environment to you, because for me, there was huge spiritual significance.
The people were looking on and hearing and seeing Christ Jesus speak their language for the first time. There were stares, nervous giggles, gasps, tears, and a reserved quietness that unless you knew the people, you would take as indifference.
Gary later told me, that it meant the words were hitting home. Much like when a truly emotional moment of film happens and you get choked up and really quiet.... that is what happened. When we recorded the scene, the room fell deathly silent as well. So I knew Gary was right.
God was touching people. Later a man whom I was able to correctly guess as John, told me how much he was thankful for that movie, how moving it was for him, how he was thankful we came. He was hyper. He was uncharacteristically hyper about this movie.
After the Luke video scenes, we put on a few Planet Earth scenes for the folks to enjoy, which they did, immensely. Especially the scenes of animals eating other animals.
As I was sitting there thinking, a few memories hit me.
I remember the first and only other time I showed such a film. It was my first time, and it was one of the things that convinced me to move to PNG. It was in a village and it was 2004.
I pantomimed playing Goliath, and it wasn't lost on me that now I had an actual sling.
The symbolism to me was clear. At the closing of this goliath task which I openly told people 'this will be the hardest thing I've ever done.'.... I was given a sling. I used that sling in a speech to tell the people that we made a tool, like this sling. The making of the tool isn't the end of the work, it's the beginning. Now it's time to use the tool.
But here I was, completed with a goliath task, and I had a sling in my hand. The tables were turned, as I had previously played Goliath at the very first showing of the Jesus film I had ever done.
It was as if God spoke to my heart and said 'Chad, years ago, (I'm a bit choked up writing this), I used the experience of showing a dubbed film to move you to come to PNG. And now, you have done a work I asked of you. Now you not only know what this film is, you have had a part in creating it.'
I thought at that moment, 'I remember doing a coin trick in 2004, too bad I don't have a coin'. And I didn't. I searched my pockets an hour earlier looking for one to entertain the kids with, and had none. At that moment, my phone vibrated, and I reached down to check the incoming email, but instead my hands found a coin.
There was a 20 toea coin in my pocket, that I had searched before. I pulled it out and my heart laughed, and I said to myself,
"God, you are wonderfully humorous, thanks for letting me be involved in this."
I fingered that coin for a while, remembering all the time from 2004 to this day, all the change, the work, the people, the support everything that went into the making of this movie.
I remembered wanting to make movies since I was a kid, and how I struggled with not seeing the point of spending years to make a blockbuster film.... and yet here I was, having made a movie..... that hopefully will have eternal significance.
I was sitting there, enjoying God's awesome gifts as these thoughts were flowing in my headband covered head. I told the guys later ,'it's a good thing you gave me this headband, because otherwise my head would be swelling right now'.
My prayer is that this Luke video will go on to reach all 2500 of the Uramut Bainings, and it will kindle a revival.
Already the making of this movie has impacted people.
Already a dozen or so Bainings have learned to read the Bible in their language, in order to do say their lines. Before this project was even an idea, these people couldn't read, now they can, and they're reading Luke. They're reading Christ's words.
I have made friends here, I have encouraged translators here, and I have been extremely blessed in this challenge.
I am periodically reminded that God is awesome, in an overwhelming way. I came here to help and to bless, and I was blessed many times over in return. It seems that happens a lot to me. I don't feel truly worthy of such moments in life.
Yesterday was one of those unforgettable days, full of exciting firsts, and everlasting significance.
I write this story for those of you who I wish could have been there, but whom I know were there in spirit with me.
I thank those of you who by covering me in prayer, made this project go smoothly.
I was warned this project would be far too difficult for my first one, I think because of you asking God on my behalf it wasn't.
I found out last night that the airport is open again, please pray that it stays open. I think I'll be home on schedule!
This is Gary, see the guys poking their heads in the windows to see the Luke video? They were there for 3 hours.
This is me setting up and pressing PLAY (don't worry I got out of the way so the people behind me could see).
These are some of the people behind me concentrating on the film.
They were watching a different movie than I was, but I was watching them watch it. I really enjoyed it when this woman nodded in agreement with something Christ said.
-chad
