A Rodent's Reaction to Espresso

In an effort to record those “stories we didn’t tell in church”, I am trying to give a weekly recap of memorable moments that never made the prayer letter. 

In 1990, Neil and I returned to our home in Dusin. We opened the door and were horrified to see more rat droppings than I have ever seen at any time in my life.  We’ve seen a lot of rats. We dispatched a lot of rats to the place that rats go when they are dispatched.  We just never quite saw the distribution of rat droppings that littered our house.  The Dusin house was entirely bamboo and had but one closed cupboard.  Our pots and pans were covered.  The bookshelves were littered.  As we made our way into the house, stepping gingerly, we had no choice but to put the boxes of supplies down on top of the mess.  Then we began to notice other things besides the droppings.  We had a really nice short wave radio on which we got all our outside news.  The antenna had been gnawed through.  The curtain cord was in shreds. Books were gnawed and toilet paper…a rather precious commodity, was no longer useable. (I am now a self-confessed "tp hoarder".)

I peeked into our extremely small bathroom and the plastic medications had holes in them.  The tips of everything from antibiotic ointment, to other medical tubes were totally gone and had to be tossed out.  We couldn’t figure out the cause for the devastation but began to clean, wash and boil.  (The Dusin house had only cold water so we had to heat the water if we wanted to shower or do dishes).

The loft was almost as bad as the downstairs, but we were grateful, after shaking off the droppings from our bed, that the Codan radio with which we communicated with the outside world was graciously untouched but for droppings on top of it. That could all be swept up.

I heard Neil call me and went to see what he’d found.  We’d been cleaning before we unpacked so things would be sanitary enough for the next several months.  The last place we looked was in the place where we stored our food because, well, there was never a lot of food left.  Neil dangle before me a desecrated bag of espresso coffee.  Suddenly the lights went on in our minds.  Yes,  “il ratto” had gotten into the espresso and “ZINGO” that had lit up its little body and thus began the carnage. We were looking at a rodent's reaction to espresso.

We cleaned that area really well too, though it was not nearly as bad as the rest of the place. I guess he started there, got his high and move on to more chewable things.  I had been counting on that coffee to get me through the next few months and was annoyed, albeit also amused, that the rat had taken as much as he had.  I actually debated throwing all the coffee out since I didn’t want the rat to win but I think I came up with what looked like a healthy compromise. We’re both still here, so as the saying goes, “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger”. I don’t know if that is true about most things, but it can be said about the remaining espresso.

If you are looking for a moral to the story here it is: keep your coffee in a metal can.

The Woman with Nothing To Give

I was telling a story this week to a friend about the first Mesem book of scripture ever published. It was the Gospel of Mark.  I told a story that many of you might not know, but which touches me to this day.

One morning I spoke at my home church and at the end of the service one of the ushers came over with tears in his eyes.  He had ring. He said, “I don’t know what to do. This woman said to me, “I have no money to give but give this to that missionary” and she ran out so fast I didn’t get her name or anything.” Then he handed me a beautiful ring. It was delicate ring with red stones.

I was leaving the US the next day and asked my father to have it appraised but the jeweler told him that it was not his area of expertise because the ring was antique.  I realized that gift, which I knew to be great was a greater sacrifice than I initially imagined.

Ultimately, we sold the ring for $220.  We felt that a gift so precious needed to be used for a special purpose.  In 1995, we bought the paper on which the Gospel of Mark was printed with the proceeds from that ring.

If you go to our website there is a video of that dedication and part way through I appear, much younger, dressed in PNG clothing and the story I am telling is how the first gospel was given to the Mesem, by a woman who said she had nothing to give.

I am not sure who she is, nor if she ever knew.  But I know that great sacrifices do reap great rewards, and though it was sewn in her tears, it will be harvested with rejoicing.  And if you who gave that ring are reading this, please get in touch….

The Scott Who Drew for the Rainforest People

God has an amazing way of weaving together threads of our lives with those we've never met.  Needing an illustration for the "armour of God", someone suggested I ask Karyn, a member of our Thursday Bible Study if she could illustrate the text.  Twenty-four hours later, the soldier here was ready and will be included in the Mesem New Testament. Now Karyn was born in Scotland. I was born in Winchester.  The Mesem who will use this picture for generations to come live in a remote rainforest area half a world away.  I don't think Karyn knew last month that God would use her gifts to bless a group of people who she has only recently learned existed, and whose knowledge of them is confined to what she can see on our website. But God has done just that.

Meanwhile in Papua New Guinea, the roofing iron for Susie's house has been purchased. Christians from Canada, the US, Brazil, and Vietnam have come together to help a woman they don't know but who is related by the blood of Christ.  There is something so powerful and beautiful in all of that.We're part of a family so big we don't know each other but we love and care for each other anyway. I know God smiles on that.  We pass along to Susie notes from everyone who writes. She is encouraged and that in itself is a gift to us.We're still going via Gapfill.org to help with her school fees but the house is the most immediate need and we are so, so thankful that so much has come together so quickly for her. A PNG sister wrote to express her thanks on behalf of  this "unseen" widow. I thought of that and smiled. No one is unseen. We might think we are, but God sees and He is not far fro any one of us.

Thanksgiving is next week. We are most blessed.

Thoughts?

This past week I've been thinking a lot about the final 18 months of Mesem New Testament translation and the ministry in which we've been involved in PNG for more than 20 years. I was actually thinking of how faithful, loving, generous, and truly amazing, have been those who have prayed and sacrificed for the sake of reaching the Mesem. There are dozens of churches, and many, many wonderful Christian friends, who have stayed faithful to answering God's call to reach the Mesem.

How many? It is said that it takes at least 100 "donors" to keep a missionary on the field. I know that the number of people who have sacrificed for this work, far exceeds that number, but there are a dozen or so families that have given, prayed and fasted, not to mention painted, cleaned, moved, stored, archived, called, and researched...just to name a few tasks....and participated in this work in ways that are known only to the Lord and perhaps to us in some measure. There are single parents, single women, couples with disabled children, pastors who are AG and pastors who are Baptist, who have stood by us for as long as we've been in Papua New Guinea. They've stayed faithful for more than 20 years to a group of people they have never met, and never seen in person. I really don't have words to adequately describe just what a gift this is to us and to the Mesem.

As "the missionary" we get to go, be with the people, and see first hand the fruit of what God is doing. The rest of the people in the ministry, those at home, don't get that opportunity. I have often wondered how we can best share the day the New Testament is dedicated with that faithful cohort. A number of friends have been saving for years to come to Papua New Guinea when that time comes. (Lord willing, summer 2012...speaking from a Northern Hemisphere perspective). Many, of course, cannot come and we really would like to know how to best share the dedication celebration with them. So I put this out here to ask for ideas, suggestions, or whatever comes to you as what might be the best way to share that day. Thoughts?

The Mesem "Magic" Stone

Many years ago a village elder told us the story of a magic stone that the spirits in the rain forest had given to the Mesem people as a gift. Whenever the Mesem went hunting with the stone, they were guaranteed success. They would go out, set their traps and be guaranteed success the following day. We asked what had happened to the stone, and were told that no one knew where it was, but it was suspected it had been taken by people living in an area closer to the coast.

So, it was with great surprise that a friend of Neil's approached him and told Neil that he had the stone in his possession. He asked that it be taken to the US to undergo tests to find out the source of it's power.

The stone is safe and will be evaluated for age and we are amazed at the detailed work on the stone given that no metal tools were known in Papua New Guinea until last century. We'll keep you posted on what we learn but many of you heard us tell this story some 15 years ago when we began working with the Mesem. It's quite the modern day mystery!

God's Boast

The Continued History of the New Testament among the Mesem People

I've been reading an excellent book called "The Gospel According to Job". The author has many wonderful lessons learned from Job but the one that struck me today was that Christ did not pay enough to outweigh our sins. It's not as though He paid just a bit more than our sins cost. He paid so our sins are forever eradicated. Job's point for all the pious platitudes of his friends was that he had a Redeemer. There are many chapters of the book of Job dedicated to religious people trying to justify Job's misery and suffering. If there was a reason he deserved the suffering he had, then they were a bit more righteous than he was, they were a bit more deserving of God's blessing and protection. As good at their reasoning sounds, defending God for being "fair", they did not understand that Job was the man of whom God boasted.

Ah..what does that have to do with the Mesem people? Why do the Mesem live with so little help, so distantly removed from medcine, roads, and the availablity of scripture? What have we done that we merit the blessing of having scripture in our languages, having trained pastors who can read, having the means to make decisions about how much effort will be put into reaching the lost? Is it because we are just a little better? I think not.

What amazes me still is the Mesem men and women who live every word of the Bible they understand and do so without hesistation. If they understand it, then they live it. I believe these are the ones of whom God boasts.