Conference Season!

Hey all, just wanted to give you a quick update...

* The IEW conference went really well! It was a lot of work, but very rewarding for all of us. The missionaries attending told us that they were able to get so much done while here. One guy told us they finished translating the book of Mark! He came up to our group to thank us for all we did behind the scenes to enable them to get that done. Wow. I got a little choked up by that... to be part of his ministry for a couple of weeks so that he could translate part of the Bible into a previously unknown language. In the midst of working in a hot kitchen, making a zillion photo copies, and running around making phone calls it's easy to forget why I'm here. It was very cool to have that reminder.

* We have another conference this weekend - a "Cultural Awareness Retreat" for new missionaries who arrived on the field in the last few months. This is very cool for me because I know almost everyone coming. In fact, 6 of them were in FL with me for Pre-Field Orientation back in June. REUNION! Plus, I'm going to be doing the Welcome Speech presentation thingy. Funny how I used to be terrified to get in front of a group to speak. I think speaking in front of the church so often this past year has helped to cure me of that.

* And speaking of God stretching me... He continues to push me out of my comfort zone on a regular basis here. I've been given some leadership-type responsibilities (aka "opportunities"). It's not that I'm a terrible leader, I'm just more of a people-pleaser so I don't like to tell my peeps what to do. Turns out that I'm not too bad at delegating. Meh, who knew? We work together on most things, but when the boys joked about being my slaves I assured them that we are all slaves together for Jesus! :o)

* I don't have any new pics to attach this time, but I'll give you this fun one from a few weeks ago. This is my PNG family - Beth, The Germans (Jonny, Tobi & Andy) and Adi (Danny & Tammy's little girl). We were all supposed to be making funny faces, but not everyone cooperated.
* This quick update is getting long, but just wanted to share this story with you. Today I was busy running around - as usual - preparing for the conference. Adi came out and yelled "Hi Miss Nicky, wanna play?" I feel bad because she asks me this all the time and I'm always busy. I noticed that she had squirt gun. She mentioned that she had another one. Hm. I needed to run up to the workshop to talk to the guys about some mattresses that had to be moved around. So I suggested we fill up those water guns, go to the workshop together, and wage war on the boys. We walked casually into the workshop with our pistols behind our backs, then I counted "1-2-3" and we attacked. The boys went running and grabbed a hose. Uh oh, didn't see that coming. The battle only lasted about 5 minutes, but it was good fun to be kids again for even a short time in the middle of accomplishing our "to do" lists.

Be free,... simple, a child. But be a sturdy child, who fears nothing, who speaks out frankly, who lets himself be led, who is carried in the arms; in a word, one who knows nothing, can do nothing, can anticipate and change nothing, but who has a freedom and a strength forbidden to the great. This childhood baffles the wise, and God Himself speaks by the mouth of such children.
~ Francois Fenelon

Kitchen duty

This week has been insane. I honestly couldn’t even give you a break down of 1 of my days because I have been so crazy busy and running all over campus! We are hosting a conference right now… IEW (Intro to Epistles Workshop). Missionaries from all over the country are here with their National translation helpers. I am doing my normal job (whatever that is!) and also helping out in the kitchen.

Working in the kitchen is not so bad! I expected to be doing dishes and chopping onions the whole time, but instead I’ve been actually cooking things. It makes me feel extremely productive to be able to make something from scratch.
Here I am mixing dough that I made for 300 tortillas!

Here I am making a huge thing of Kool-aid.

And here’s the sausage that I made this morning (enough for 100 people – crazy).

*Note – I think if my nose gets sunburned one more time it may actually fall off. Seriously, ever time I go outside my nose gets sunburned… still not used to the intense sun here! :o)

It’s really exciting to be able to meet all of these tribal missionaries, but also to be able to be a small part of their ministry as they work on translating the epistles into new languages. I’m really enjoying just talking to them at meals, and serving with some of them in various ways around ITF. The more missionaries I meet, the more I realize that they do NOT fit into the typical mold that I expected. They are all cool, down-to-earth, very REAL folks. They struggle just like the rest of us, most of them have a great sense of humor. I think it’s a requirement.

Last night I was SO excited to talk to my whole church over Skype. How COOL to live in a time where technology enables us to keep in touch that way. It was such a blessing and an encouragement to talk to them… I’ve been smiling all day. I just love how God provides exactly what I need at the moment I need it most. It’s been so hectic here, and easy to get lost in the busy work. Thankfully God knows me well enough to give me a jolt of relational time – with my church family and also with a group of single girls (visiting and helping out with the conference for the weekend) who randomly showed up at my cabin and plopped themselves down in my tiny room. We sat and talked, sang some songs, and giggled a lot. It may be silly, but it’s just what I needed, and I love my God who knows my heart well enough to provide me with the silliness necessary to refuel my batteries.

Aloneness can lead to loneliness. God's preventative for loneliness is intimacy - meaningful, open, sharing relationships with one another. In Christ we have the capacity for the fulfilling sense of belonging which comes from intimate fellowship with God and with other believers. ~ Neil T. Anderson

A New Name

It's funny how a small act can change how you look at a day, or even at your life. How for a moment, you see yourself in someone else's eyes, and realize that you have an effect on people when you thought you were relatively insignificant.

Today I went down to "the circle" (the fenced in circle of cabins). I had the task of taking down a bunch of tattered curtains so that they could be replaced with new ones before our big conference next week. As I walked into the circle, concentrating on what I needed to do and where to start, I heard some of the workmeris say "NIKIO!" My head snapped up immediately and my whole face lit up with a smile. For the Bena people, adding an "o" to the end of your name is a sign of love and affection. I'd heard them do this to other people, but never have they used it for me. I waved, called back "Moning!" and practically skipped off to work on my curtain project. At lunch, I told Beth about the ladies calling me Nikio and she smiled and said "Oh yeah, Soni told me the other day that they all like you because you talk a lot to them". (Soni works in the kitchen with Beth) Now, while this does sound like me and my big mouth, I'm not sure it applies in this case. My pigin is borderline pathetic, so I really don't say much at all... maybe a few words and a big smile. I'm so happy they can tell that I care about them and I'm TRYING to communicate. See, THIS is my ministry. Yes I'm definitely here to serve and use whatever skills I have to do real work at ITF. But what moves my heart is people - the staff here, their kids, the Bena - they are my ministry. My desire for coming here was to be obedient and please the Lord, but also to be a blessing and an encouragement to the people here.
So life is good. I'm very busy this week preparing for a conference that arrives on Tuesday and lasts for 2 weeks. Our new Germans - Tobi & Jonny - seem nice and are pretty decent volleyball players, which makes our Saturday games even MORE fun! It's rainy season now, so it rains almost ever afternoon. Sometimes we even get some cool thunder and lightning. (Yay for storms!) Last week we had a downpour and I had run home in it... I giggled the entire way because I was completely drenched and muddy, but it was warm out so it just felt like I was playing out in the rain. It's interesting when it rains because we live on the side of a mountain. There are ditches dug all over campus, and now I understand why... the water positively RUNS downhill after just a little bit of rain. It's not like there's pavement here... it's all dirt roads and grassy hills... so running to my house in the rain was quite the adventure! I'm surprised I didn't fall and hurt myself. You all know how graceful I am! (*Note - That was the epitome of sarcasm.)
On Sunday we all went to the village together. It's still my favorite thing! Haha - I love the crazy faces and silliness of this first one...
This seems so odd to me - a lock on a hut. But it is sadly necessary.Just a beautiful view from the village."When was the last time you laughed for the sheer joy of your salvation? People are not attracted to somber doctrines. There is no persuasive power in a gloomy and morbid religion. Let the world see your joy and you won't be able to keep them away. To be filled with God is to be filled with joy."