We know what you are thinking, you think we just watched Pinocchio, but we can assure you we have not watched that movie in almost a decade. We have been busy spending a lot of time in the nearby village with the people. Instead of comfortably taking one of the vehicles we have as a mission and going grocery shopping by ourselves (the American style), we went to the village, grabbed a friend and hopped on a PMV (Public Motorized Vehicle). We are trying to learn to do things the way the locals do. It was Nicole’s first time on a PMV, and it was fun! The driver goes as fast (no posted speed limits) as he wants and around whomever he likes. Some of the things we experienced while on the PMV: sitting with 24 people in a 15 passenger van, red betel-nut spit on the windows, no AC, typical PNG music playing, the smell of lots of sweaty bodies close to you, and people loving to “accidentally” bump into us to feel our white skin. This is a great way to travel, it is really inexpensive; to town cost’s about $.76 cents. We went to all of the stores our friend wanted to go to, he showed us all of the “local” stores, and we showed him some places we have found that we liked.
To show our gratitude to some of our friends/language helpers we bought some dough balls (which everyone loves, including us), and a carbonated beverage, he was very thankful. Food is a typical way to show you appreciate them and value their friendship. We walked all around the town taking in the many sights, and then got on another PMV to head home. Quite a fun trip, it was great to learn a more about their perspective of everyday life.
Whenever we have a mealtime free, we usually invite our language helpers here on the base, Joshua and Amelia (and baby Russell) over and introduce them to American food and cooking; they loved looking at Jell-O, it was funny to them. We even taught them how to play the games Battleship and left right center! That was fun as well. Other times we are free we go to the local market to buy some local greens and maybe some small fish, bring some rice, and then go to the house of one of our friends in the village to sit down, talk, and eat. Little by little we try to live like they live, cook like cook. Have you ever tried starting a fire with only wet wood and a close to dying lighter? Seth had to learn. Nicole got to carry a baby the traditional way (in a string bag on her forehead) then she carried the baby and a bag of groceries for close to 3 miles. This is what life is like for most people in PNG. Seth learned how to make a mat (used to sit down, sleep, or rest on) and a fan for the fire both made of coconut tree branches. Seth learned to climb trees and Nicole is learning to make string bags. Time and time again we learn a new skill, the people use a term and call us a “real boy or girl”, meaning: we are becoming like them. They love seeing that process and are genuinely happy to help.
We are making great relationships, and little by little as we learn their language and culture, we try to point them to God, help them with basic hygiene and medical, show a difference in our lives to make them want God, and overwhelm them with love. We will randomly bring things to them to bless them; their culture doesn’t really have the concept of a “gift”. When we give them something freely using words to show it is free and has no strings attached, that they don’t owe us, you can literally watch their face in shock because they have never seen something like that before. It is nothing major, we don’t know their language fluently yet, but each little thing we can do we pray “stokes the fire” inside of them toward our Loving Father.
Your feet to the unreached in PNG, Seth & Nicole Stokes
Making a Mat
Cooking a Traditional Meal
Making a String Bag-“Bilum”
A PMV in Town
Stoking The Fires 