BFO visits

   My (Nellicia's) visits to a local orphanage, Bible Faith Outreach, or BFO, have been one of the highlights of my time in Mount Hagen so far. Started by a national who had a heart for children with no place to go and nobody to care for them, the orphanage has expanded from a garage to a residence with a girls and boys’ dorm, a kitchen, dining room, large garden, and a small house for the lady who founded the orphanage – known to the children as “Mommy.”

   On the first visit, the younger children were thrilled to see a new face and eagerly gave me a tour of their home. I learned the names of the eight to ten children that were giving the tour, and it was great to see their faces light up as I said each of their names; I undoubtedly pronounced them incorrectly at first, but we’ll get there! On the tour, I learned several things about the orphanage: 

   When the orphanage moved from a garage to the new property, there was no power available. The children used a traditional cooking hut to cook their food, but many of them were getting lung problems because of their exposure to smoke. Seeing this, an MAF volunteer designed a new kitchen with a tap, sink, and stove. After raising enough money to complete the project, the new kitchen was built with solar power to fuel it. It was great to see the girls using the kitchen as they baked fresh bread for lunch!
   The boy dormitory was completed first, which meant that the boys moved to the new property while the girls still lived in the garage. It was constructed in the traditional way of weaving bush materials together, creating a single room structure. Following this, another MAF volunteer was made aware of the need for a girls’ dorm, and as an engineer he designed a multi-room dorm constructed out of storage containers. In this dorm, there are approximately eight bedrooms which sleep two or three girls each. There is also a bathroom with shower stalls, but unfortunately the bathrooms and showers do not have running water yet, which means the children still use buckets to shower. 
   Through funding, it is the orphanage’s aim to send each child to school. However, because they come at any age and with little to no education experience, a teacher helps the younger students catch up. Following an Australian Christian homeschool curriculum, this teacher helps the students until they reach a Grade 4 or 5 level, at which point they go to school to continue their education. 
   After my tour of the orphanage, I played a few games with the children before leaving. As there was no ball, string, or any other supplies, we stuck to the classics: tag and a few other high energy games. In the scorching sun, I didn’t last very long!
   My second visit to the orphanage was together with Brandon, Nova, and two other MAF families. The occasion for this visit was Independence Day! The children had planned some games, which were followed with the singing of the national anthem and a snack. After the snack, some of the older children still wanted to play more games (yes, the sun was scorching again!). While the younger ones stayed inside to colour and draw Papua New Guinea’s flag, Brandon and I took the older ones back outside to teach a new game. We decided on Capture the Flag, and everyone had a blast! It took the first few minutes to sort out all the rules (if you get caught, you must go to jail; you can’t free someone from jail and get the flag, etc.), but once it was all clear everyone had a lot of fun. I got tricked a few times when someone was walking casually on my side, pretending to be on my team – and then suddenly dashed for our flag. After playing several games, Brandon let them know that we would play one more. I heard someone comment behind me, “You mean 63 more?” I guess comments like that show how much they appreciated us playing with them! 

   This past Monday, I visited again -- this time as a teacher. Several of the high school students had been having trouble completing their homework, since they had no device or way to access the Internet. It seems that this is crucial to be able to complete Grade 12 especially. For some research assignments, these students simply had to say that they couldn't complete the homework and get a failing mark. In response to this, a laptop was purchased for their use. Though this seems like the solution to all of their problems, it is only the beginning; these students have never used a computer before, and are starting from scratch. 

   On the first day that they received the computer they were shown how to turn it on and off, how to log-in, how to access the Internet using Mommy's hotspot, and how to save a Word document onto a USB drive so it could be printed. The lesson that I gave was their second. Some of the first things that they learned with me were how to copy and paste, how to open multiple tabs on the Internet, and various features of Microsoft Word, like how to change the font, size, and colour of their text. 

   Our main focus was on learning the basics of typing, which I believe is becoming a more and more essential skill worldwide. After watching me type a few sentences, their eyes bulged -- when I explained that they could learn how to type like that too, they grinned and nodded enthusiastically. We learned how to make capital letters, and why there are bumps on the F and J keys. I also set each of these students up with an account on a website where they can learn to type for free. After about an hour of instruction, I left them to it with their laptop, my laptop, and a few paper "keyboards" to practice. When I came back to collect my laptop about 30 minutes later, they were competing against each other for the high score on a game that had them practicing the D, F, J, and K keys. Their desire to learn was infectious; I am excited to see how they have progressed when I visit next!

A view of the orphanage

The children singing their anthem, dressed very patriotically!

Shine as Lights

As we walk down the streets, nearly every person greets us: "Apinun." "Apinun!" If Nova is with us, she will get handshakes, knee rubs, and pinched cheeks from several passersby, with a cheerful "Hi baby!" Elderly ladies will call good day from across the street, and people will lean out of their vehicles to wave at us. As the only white faces on the street, we are ever the spotlight. Most everybody is friendly, but we know that everyone has a close eye on us. At times it feels as if we are zoo animals let out of our cage, and our next opportunity to relax will be after our performance, when we can return to our compound. However, viewing this reality as it really is means that opportunities to be a Christian witness are everywhere. We don't need to first attract attention; we automatically have it. How we walk, how we interact, and how we react are showing who we are as Christians. 

The focus text of my devotional yesterday morning was "In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." (Philippians 2:15) The author wrote about the different purposes of a light: to make manifest, to guide, and to warn. As a Christian, he explained that our lives should make manifest who we are and Who we serve; but also that we are to guide those around us by holding out the Word of life to them. I was thinking about this devotional as we were walking through the market. Even though I don't have a solid grasp on the language yet, and even though I don't know everything about the culture, what are my actions telling those who are so carefully observing me? When the "market boys" continue to follow us and ask time and again if they can carry my bag in order to earn two kina (a little over 50 cents), what is my response telling them? How can I be a light that makes manifest and guides in a context like the market or the streets around the compound? People are everywhere; hundreds of people throng the market, many just hanging around. A short conversation, brief exchange, or even just getting to know someone's name can make a difference -- and now that we are starting to learn the language, this is actually becoming possible!

Since relationships are the most fundamental aspect of this culture, our primary focus for the first two months is language learning. In PNG, showing that you are trying to learn to speak the language and learn the local culture is crucial to building trust and relationships. Especially in the elderly population, a "white skin" who speaks only English immediately loses a degree of trust. Even a broken attempt at Tok Pisin will mean you are accepted more readily. It is difficult at times to feel so lost for words, but we are getting more confident as we talk to the local workers on the compound. They are all exceptionally forgiving of our mistakes, which we are very thankful for. 

To help expedite our language learning process, a local language helper comes to our house three times each week to help us practice and learn the language. In today's lesson, we were asked to share a few things about our family, and then we asked a few questions to learn more about our language helper's family. We heard an amazing story -- as the only child in his family to make it through childhood, he went on to finish high school. School fees are an incredible burden on families who live in the bush, but he used every opportunity to work in people's gardens or do other small jobs to earn a few toea (50 toea is equivalent to 20 cents) to be able to stay in school. He finished school and was able to study to become a health worker, getting a job in Mount Hagen. Later in life, he served with MAF as an Occupational Health and Safety Worker, providing information and other preventative healthcare measures in rural communities. Now retired, he is a great help to us as we learn the basics of Tok Pisin!

Views on a outing with another MAF family

The road was steep and bumpy!

A mountain ridge on the outskirts of Mount Hagen, with some forest trails to explore