Christmas in Ukarumpa

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I've been enjoying some rest this Christmas break and wanted to write a brief update about my work and about Christmas here in Ukarumpa.

WORK

About two and a half weeks ago, I started my job in the language survey office. I haven't been on a survey trip yet, but there are plenty of things to do in the office! We often get requests for information on certain languages; I've been fulfilling these requests by finding and reading old survey reports and writing summaries of them. Hopefully in mid-January I'll be able to go on my first survey trip. I'll let you know more once I do!

CHRISTMAS

I'm renting a small house, and I was happy to find that the house came with a small Christmas tree and some other Christmas decorations. I used crocheted picture-frame ornaments (with pictures of family and friends) given to me by my mom, and plastic canvas ornaments given to me by my grandma to decorate the tree. I was pleased at how beautiful it looked!




I did some other traditional Christmas things to celebrate, including opening an advent calendar and baking cookies to share with friends! These are the second batch of Marbled Refrigerator Cookies I made. I didn't adjust the recipe for high altitude on the first batch and they were crumbly. (Ukarumpa is at 5,000 feet altitude, so all baking recipes have to be adjusted accordingly!)




Christmas here isn't associated with winter, snow, or cold. It's actually summertime here in the southern hemisphere, although the weather doesn't vary too much with the seasons since we are relatively close to the equator. Today is overcast and I can't seem to get warmed up (even though the temperature is up to 72 now), but Christmas Day was beautiful! It was warm and sunny, as you can see in this picture, taken looking west out of Ukarumpa.



On Christmas morning, I went to some of my friends' house, had a great breakfast with them, and watched their kids open presents. We all went to a church service midmorning and then came back for a wonderful lunch. I spent the afternoon, relaxing, reading and napping at my house. Even though I missed my family and being home, I had a great day. And even better, I got to talk to my family on the phone the next morning, which was their Christmas Day.

NOTE

I wanted to let you know that I have reliable email access now, so feel free to email me; I'd love to hear from you if you read my blog! My email address is the same, and you can also find it on my Blogger profile page.
I can also receive postal mail. My address is:

Sara Van Cott
SIL Box 39
Ukarumpa EHP 444
Papua New Guinea

Thanks!

Me in Village Living: Photos

This water tap which provides clean water to the village was less than a minute's walk from my house. I went there multiple times each day, to fill basins with water for washing my infected sandfly bites, wash dishes, or wash clothes, as I'm doing in this picture.





While in the village, one of my "uncles" taught me how to make a basket out of coconut leaves. I like to make things with my hands, so it was a fun experience for me.



One Sunday afternoon, I was sitting down and visiting with one of my village grandmothers when she pulled a bright, beautiful bird from her bilum (string bag)! A local boy stunned the bird (a Common Paradise Kingfisher) with a slingshot and captured it the previous day. What a privilege to see this amazing bird!

Life in Ukarumpa

I’ve been living in Ukarumpa for a week now, so I thought I’d write a little about my life here.

HOME

From now through July, I’ll be living alone in a small, but sufficient house. (In July, the homeowner comes back from her furlough, so I’ll be moving somewhere else.) The house has everything I need: a small kitchen, living/dining area, one bedroom, a small laundry, bathroom, and an entry way with a desk. After the communal life at POC, I’m enjoying having some time and space to myself, but also being able to be a part of the great community around me.

COMMUNITY

Ukarumpa is a close-knit Christian community and I’ve already met new people who are interested in who I am and what I’ll be doing here. In the week I’ve been here, I attended the high school’s chorus and band concert, played ultimate frisbee, watched a Christmas movie, and practiced with a Christmas choir. It’s great to have so many opportunities to met and interact with new friends!

WORK

I’ve spent the last few days in orientation, learning my way around and how everything works, so I haven’t started my work in survey yet. I have had a chance to visit the survey office and meet my new colleagues Bonnie and Dan. I’m excited to start in the office later this week!

A PRACTICAL NOTE

During my orientation, I found out something that is relevant to you, as well as to me. It’s illegal for me to receive any kind of food items in the mail. If you ever send a package or card, please don’t include anything edible as this could create problems for me. Thanks!

An Incredible Film

What film has been translated into over 1,000 languages and shown in every country in the world?

The JESUS Film.

Since it’s initial release in 1979, the “JESUS” film has been shown over 6 billion times and resulted in over 200 million people making decisions to accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. The JESUS Film Project translates and dubs the film in order to help all people “encounter the life and message of Jesus in a language ‘of the heart’.”

The “JESUS” film has been translated into Tok Pisin, and I had the chance to show it while I was doing village living.

On the afternoon of November 21, my wasfamili (host family) helped me move the heavy generator, the projector, and other equipment into a grassy area in front of our house, and then watched as I set everything up. We moved the generator a distance away and behind a mango tree, where its noise wouldn’t be a distraction. The family put poles into the ground and rigged up a white sheet in between to be a double-sided movie screen. Before too long the projector, DVD player, and speaker were all set up correctly too and we began to wait for people to arrive.

People started arriving around 6 pm and by 7 we began a short program. I played guitar and led our wasfamili in singing some songs; a church elder prayed in the local language; and we gave gifts of betelnut and green coconuts to all the adults. Julie and I both had a chance to share devotions we’d written out earlier in Tok Pisin. I spoke about the grace of God, using verses from Ephesians 2 to encourage the people that grace is free. (Some of you who heard me speak in churches this spring may remember a story I told about Papua New Guinean’s struggle to understand grace; for this reason, I was especially grateful for the opportunity to share!)

When the program concluded around 8, I started the generator and got the movie underway. By this time, a crowd of around 300 people had gathered in our yard to watch the movie. All present, from little kids to elderly people, sat riveted to the screen for the next 2 hours. When Jesus performed miracles, they clicked their tongues to express their amazement. Because they are a fishing community, they were especially astonished when Jesus provided an extraordinary catch of fish.

After the gospel presentation at the end of the film, everyone started back to their own villages. We didn’t see any immediate impact of the film, but the following Sunday at church, the pastor mentioned the film in his sermon and my wasfamili told me that Sunday school teachers would be sure to discuss the film with the kids in their classes.

Thank God for the opportunity to show the “JESUS” film in Bunabun and please pray that what people saw will continue to impact their lives.

To learn more about the “JESUS” film, visit http://www.jesusfilm.org/.