Recap of 1st week and Transition to a new home!

Rua! Rua! That’s been the customary greeting to dozens of curious people in Yanemillon (the village where the Nehrbass’s live) throughout the day as I’ve been, hiking, running, sitting in church, talking, and playing with them. It’s hard to believe that the first week here on Tanna has already flown by. I’ll definitely miss the Nehrbass family – it was a great week filled with so many new and exciting adventures. So many lessons learned – I’ll write a bit about them later. But now I’m at the Stapleton’s house, excitedly looking forward to everything that Erik Stapleton has planned for me to help out with – I hear that there is a lot of construction, so I’m looking forward to learning more about that in addition to more about the translation work going on here. Tomorrow we’ll start with making blocks from cement and a mold!
The reason I haven’t written for a few days is because the satellite internet has been down at Ken’s house for a few days but now I have a connection again here at the Stapleton’s so I’ll quickly summarize the last few days for ya.
I left you off with a bit about our trip to Isaka and the schoolhouse. Since then:
- I’ve killed a chicken w/ a bow and arrow – certainly more humane than chopping its head off J. And then we ate it! Yum! I love all the food here – some is definitely different (sometimes good sometimes not) but I’m very thankful to Daddy and Mama for teaching me to eat all my food or sit at the table until it’s finished because it certainly makes it a lot easier to try new foods now that I’ve learned the importance of eating it even if ya don’t like it cause it may actually be pretty good if ya give it a chance.
- I helped out with some audio MP3’s of Acts, Mark, and portions of Genesis – kind of funny to be listening to audio that sounds like gibberish to me but yet still editing it. It’s neat to know that it’s God’s Word and that people actually understand it, even though it sounds a little funky to me. It was fun to recognize the voices of those who helped record it – like Ken’s, Jacob’s, Kilion’s, and Napiko’s.
- I spent some time with Kilion in learning a little bit of Bislama – it’s such a funny language because it’s so similar to English and yet some words are used in ways that make sense but sound funny to an English speaker. For example the word for hunting is “lookoutem.” Kilion was really fun to spend time with and I’ll miss him a lot. It’s so neat to see his love for God! He gave me a nice beaded necklace as a going away gift which was really cool!
- I’ve spent a boatload of time playing with Caleb, Hannah, Abby, and Kate. We made a few videos that are just hilarious when played in reverse and I’ll have to post them on facebook once I get home and edit them to play backwards. They’re the best of young pals and I’ll miss them but I can already tell that I’ll also have a blast with JohnMark, Sierra, David, and Joel – today we played a soccer game which was pretty fun and intense.
- We traveled to a nearby waterfall which was really, really neat. After about 90 minutes of hiking through green crisscrossing over the same river a couple of times a waterfall burst into view. It was situated in a sort of natural amphitheater. For 160 degrees stood a massive earth wall with the river gushing forth 120 feet above us and entering a pool of water that was drained on both sides by two river forks that joined 300 feet downstream. Even though I’m usually a warm-blooded chicken that’s averse to cold water I plunged into the frigid mini lake and swam towards the base of the waterfall. The current was so strong that I could only go so far and then swam back to shore. Our guide on the hike, Maurison, was fun to watch on the hike as every time he heard some birds chirping he would stop and look to see if he could shoot one as he brought his bow and arrows.
- We also went to the volcano on Sunday night. It was a great photo opportunity – being the world’s most accessible active volcano! It was neat to see up close the behemoth that I’ve been looking at and hearing for the last five days. It’s pretty close and yesterday I ran 3 miles to the opening of the ash plain surrounding the mountain.
- I’ve talked to Ken and Mendy a lot about being a missionary and observed various problems and solutions they’ve found to those problems. It’s been great to just chat about so many different things with them and I feel like I’ve learned so much more than I ever knew about being a missionary from this short bit with them. Pray that I would continue to observe as much as possible while here at the Stapleton’s and continue listening to what God is showing me.
All those things were great but I think one of the neatest things was the church service on Sunday. Even though I couldn’t understand most of it – it was so neat to watch and be a part of. It’s really cool to be so far from home and yet know that there are those around who worship and love the same Jesus, the same God that I do. I love listening to them sing, especially the kids because they belt out the words at the top of their lungs, hehe. And a few of the songs were in English which was pretty neat. And also at the end of the service I had a chance to say a little bit so I did through Ken’s translating. I only shared a few words about what God had been doing in my life over the last few years but it was so encouraging to see how they ate up the reminder of God’s goodness and provision. To see their eager eyes and nodding heads was kind of overwhelming and definitely something I won’t forget.
Ahh, so what have I been learning about though? It’s all been so much of a rush, everything so new and different and yet I’m continually impressed with how our Awesome God is still the same, here in Vanuatu! He is still in control and is changing lives and that’s exciting! I’ve also been pushed in a specific direction as far as which degree to pursue in college which is a huge answer to prayer because it’s kind of important to figure out at some point. I had a partially specific yet somewhat generic direction before the trip but now I think I almost know for sure where I want to head. I just need to look at all the details of where majors and classes lead when I get back home. But I’m not gonna tell ya what it is yet, hehe, because I’m still praying about it and observing things, and thinking about things!
Thank you for praying my dear brothers and sisters! In addition to whatever the Lord lays on your heart to pray for, please pray that I would be more diligent in how I spend my time in the mornings. This last week I often didn’t start my day off right - with time alone in my Bible and in prayer.
I miss yall, but am having way too much fun to come home just yet!