7/24/2019 Pryor John Bonita 1978 PNG

1/4

N W

UINEA

NEWS

Forwarding Agents:

Mr. and

Mrs. ale

Dunlap

Route 16,Rhea Road

KnoxviUe.TN 37920

PIONEER

BIBLE

TRANSLATORS

John and Bonita Pryor

Volume

July August 1978

No.4

In

our

l a s t

NGN, we were s t i l l i n Madang

making

preparations

to

go

to Samban.We had

f i n a l l y

decided

to send out l l of our goods

by

MAP M i s s i o n a r y A v i a t i o n F e l l o w s h i p ) . The

waterways had dried

up

to the

extent

that

we

could

no

longer

motor-canoe

our

t h i n g s into

Samban.

August and Maelene

Ben, ustralian

Churches

of Christ missionaries who

have been stationed

i n Samban

for

the

past

three years, were i n

Madang a t t h e same

time

we were,

w a i t i n g

t h e

b i r t h of

t h e i r fourth

c h i l d .

They returned to

Samban on

June

8th,

and

we

had

reached a

j o i n t

agreement

h a t

we

would

g i v e

them

a

week

to g e t s e t t l e d i n .

Then we

were to b e g i n ou r

advance

to

Samban.

I

arrived in Samban on

the 15th of

June

with

a

plane

load of

m a t e r i a l s

to b e g i n work on

making h e c l a s s r o o m b u i l d i n g

a t

Samban i n t o a

home for Bonita,

J e s s e ,

and myself. The

main

t a s k s

a t hand were: making

h e

house

mosquito-

proof;

i n s t a l l i n g

guttering

and

water tanks to

catch,

store,

and channel the water into

the

house; i n s t a l l

a gas l i n e

to our

stove;

i n s t a l l

a

s i n k

and

shower t l l

b u c k e t - t y p e

shower);

and

to

put up c a b i n e t s and s h e l v e s

for

books,

pots

and

pans, lothes, t c .

Our

i r s t

task

was

to

get

some bush timber to

supplement the

p r e - e x i s t i n g

c e i l i n g j o i s t s . I t was

my

i

r s t

e x p e r i e n c e

i n t o G r a s s - l a n d

j u n g l e ,

and

q u i t e an

eye-opener,

r should

I

say

skin-opener.

Even

though

i t i s t h e dry

e a s o n ,

t h e

mosquitos

a r e t h i c k i n

the bush. I quickly learned how to

activate

the

local broom.

t i s a

bundle

of

long

thin g r a s s stems used to hit

and

k i l l the

gunduma (Botin f o r mosquito).

And

I

a l s o

learned to build a

f i

r e

and

stand on the

smokey

s i d e , a s

t h i s seems to provide

some p r o t e c t i o n .

I t

i s i n t e r e s t i n g to n o t e

t h a t

t h e l o c a l p e o p l e

have

s e v e r a l

names

for the

d i f f e r e n t

types

of

mosquitos, and t h e

number

r e s e n t ) .

Once t h e e x t r a j o i s t s

were up,

we i n s t a l l e d

t h e

i n s u l a t i o n paper

f o r t h e c e i l i n g u s e d i n t h i s

p a r t of

h e w o r l d . I t i s t h i n , heat e s i s t a n t paper

designed to

ward

off the heat of the metal

roofs.

On June 19,

Ron

Augsburger r r i v e d to f f e r

h i s a s s i s t a n c e f o r

a few

d a y s . Our

next

t e p was

to

screen i n

the

e n t i r e house, to

provide

p r o t e c t i o n

from

the gunduma. The w a l l s of

t h e classroom r e a bamboo weave,and f a r

from

a i r - t i g h t . So

we

ined the e n t i r e i n s i d e w a l l s

with

John

cutting

bush

timber.

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Putting

scaffol ding in

place.

screen

wire.

The n ext project was to

i n s t a l l

the guttering

to

catch

r a i n water. Augu st

b u i l t

the scaffolding

o n t o

t h e

h o u s e

w h i l e

R o n

a n d

I

s o l j d e r e d

guttering sections,

c o n n e c t e d

down-pipes, a n d

p re p a re d th e guttering to b e n a i l e d u p . As o o n

a s these t a s k s w e r e c o m p l e t e d ,

we

a i l e d

u p

the

g u t t e r i n g mak ing ure i t h a d

the

p r o p e r angle to

run the water into the tank.

This

wh o l e process

was then re p e a te d o n the opposite s i d e o f the

house. Befor e Ron e f t we

w e r e able to make

platform for

o u r

1000

g a l l o n

water

tank

to

s i t

u p o n ,

nd

i nished the down-pipe work enabling

t h e w a t e r

t o

f l o w i n t o t h e t a n k f o r s t o r a g e a n d

l a t e r

use.

A l l t h i s completed,

t

was

now une 22,

a nd

R o n h a d t o r e s u m e h i s d u t i e s

i n M a d a n g . ^ o n l t a

a n d

Jes s e a rrived

in Samban

with the

r e m a i n d e r

of our

g o o d s .

I t was

good to

be r e - u n i t e d w i t h

my

amily

a f t e r

a

week

o f

separation.

The next t a s k was to t r an s f on t i the in s i d e

o f

t h e

c l a s s r o o m

i n t o

a

home

o r

t h e

t h r e e | o f

u s .

We i

r s t set the sink into a set o f p r e - e x i s t i n g

s h e l v e s

a n d

put up

another

s e t of s h e l v e s for

s t o r i n g our f o o d , e t c .

Next,

we

had to

s e t

a nd

l e v e l our kerosene

r e f r i g e r a t o r

and t h e n

h o o k

up o u r

s t o v e

t o t h e g a s

b o t t l e

we

had r e v j i o u s l y

obtained.

Upon

c om pl eti on

o f

these

t a s k s

we

s e t

our shower

stall

and

ins ta l l e d

our

bucket

with the

s h o w e r

h e a d

i n the b ot t om . T h u s ,

our kitchen and bathroom

combination

was

complete.

To c o m p l e t e the l i v i n g area,

we

made a n

eating

bar

a n d storage cabinet

f r o m

some helves

that

w e r e

already in the classroom.'After

b u i l d i n g

s o m e b o ok

s h e l v e s

a n d

p u t t i n g u p

curtains o n the win d ows , a n d m aki n g some

curtain

p e t i t i o n s

for inner

w a l l s

the

i n s i d e

beg an

to take s h a p e .

The n ext

c h o r e wa s to un p a ck . Since t h i s

wa s the tenth

h o u s e

we

h a d

stayed

i n since

o u r

a r r i v a l a year ago

i n

PNG e were ready to g e t

t h i s

task

c o m p l e t e d .

After the addition o f

an other set o f helves,

made

f

bush

timber a n d

s p l i t bamboo we

w e r e

able to c om pl et ely

un p a ck . t

has

sure b e e n great to store the s u i t

cases

a w a y

a n d

f i n a l l y

f i

n d

things

we

knew we

had somewhere.

We

re m o s t appreciative

to

Ron

Augsburger

for i s

help.

And we re indebted to

August

a n d

Ma e l en e for

su ch gracious h o s p i t a l i t y

a n d

help

fulness i n helping

us

get

s e t t l e d

e s p e c i a l l y to

August

a n d h i s unending

k n ow l e d g e

o f

bush

b u i l d i n g . I'm

sure s o m e

of

o u r techniques a nd

material

wou l d

cause

my

c a rp e nte r

friends

i n

Oklahoma to

s h u d d e r ,

but

when

o n e i s in the

B u s h , o n e d o e s wha t

o n e m u s t to

l i v e .

On c e we w er e s e t t l e d we

beg an ou r fo rmal

language work. As our f i r s t

t a s k

i s to obtain a

conversational

a b i l i t y

i n the language,

we

have

begun by trying to e l i c i t n a m e s o f

f a m i l i a r

objects a n d

a c t i v i t i e s .

At the s a m e time we are

p r e s s i n g

to

g a i n

a n

understanding

o f

the

culture

of

the

people h e r e . T h e people a r e r e a l l y

excited

ab out o u r work a n d a r e

t r y i n g

t h e i r b e s t to

help

Guttering being adjusted o n o u r h o u s e .

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Setting the water tank.

u s . Some f the a c t i v i t i e s we

ngage

i n each day

are: attempts at conversation with the local

people;listeningand

mimicing

the conversations

of

t h e

l o c a l

p e o p l e ;

l i s t e n i n g

to

t a p e

d r i l l s

we

have made, e l i c i t i n g s p e c i f i c

information

we

need

to obtain to

g a i n a b e t t e r understanding

of

he language;

n t e r i n g words n t o a d i c t i o n a r y

f i l e a s we hear and

confirm

t h e i r

meaning;

observation of culture; and learning the names

of i l l a g e folk and t h e i r f a m i l i e s .

Sometimes

ou r

heads about pop from

l l

t h a t w e r e

t r y i n g

to

cram

into

them

At t h i s point

w e l l

go

to

our garden.

As

a l l of

the

people l i v e

off

t h e i r own gardens,

we

decided

to

plant one. I t

i s

abo ut a 20

minute

walk into the

bush, n d I'm

sure,

ooks

i k e n o n e

you've ever

seen,

as i t has been cut out of the

j u n g l e .

However, the

ground

here

i s

v e r y f e r t i l e ,

and

we ope

to

soon b e

eating f r e s h corn,

beans,

melon,

pumpk in,

and

b r o c c o l i .

Later

w e l l

plant

bananas, coconuts, papaya, and some more

common v e g e t a b l e s . So, when

we

say

we're

going

to the

garden,

the

people here understand

and are happy to see us adjusting to t h e i r way of

l i f e .

We

i n c e r e l y a p p r e c i a t e your

p r a y e r s for u s .

Please continue to pray that we may

provide

God's

word

for t h e s e

people

i n t h e i r

own

language.

Recently, Bonita and I were asked to help in

teaching th e i l l i t e r a t e

adults

i n Samban to

read

and

w r i t e

Pidgin. We

take t h i s

i n v i t a t i o n

as a

step

toward i n t e r e s t i n

l i t e r a c y

a s a whole

and

a s a step toward i n t e r e s t i n learning to

read

th e

v er na c u l ar as

t becomes vailable.

Since w have arrived a t Samban w have

seen that

our t r a n s l a t i o n

ministry w i l l b e

somewhat d i f f e r e n t

than we had expected.

We

ad

pictured

our

w or k

as mostly e v a n g e l i s t i c .

B u t God

has e d

us to t h i s

group

and

quickened

our

thinking

to

r e a l i z e that

our ministry

w i l l b e

one of equipping those

C h r i s t i a n s

already

here

and providing

them

with the powerful

e v a n g e l i s t i c toolGod's Word in t h e i r own

l a n g u a g e s .

Eventually,

we xpect

to

b e i n v o l v e d

in th e e v a n g e l i s t i c aspect, b u t you cannot

realize

how

difficult this is

u ntil one

has

accumulated adequate language

and

c u l t u r a l

knowledge. In the meantime, we w l l b e helping

those

who

already

have

those innate

a b i l i t i e s .

I t

i s a t h r i l l i n g prospect. Because Samban s the

center

geographically and

d i a l e c t i c a l l y ,

most of

the

other v i l l a g e s frequent Samban And since

i t

i s a Christian v i l l a g e , the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of outreach

are g r e a t .

The

Scriptures in th e

vernacular

g r e a t l y

e n h a nce t h i s outlook.

The

work of th e

Australian Ch urches of Christ Mission already

b e g u n

and maintained here

in

Samban an d

nearby

areas w i l l aid considerably i n the propa

g a t i o n

of

the S c r i p t u r e s .

^ l l l l l l l l l l l l l l t l l l l l l l i i l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l i i i l l l l l i i i l l l l l i i i i l l l l t l

D I T O R S

NOTE

1

S

lease address

a l l

stateside

S

orrespondence and make

S

M

hecks payable

to Pioneer

=

S

i b l e

Translators. Use t h e S

S

eturn address

on this

news-

S

Se t t e r .

Thank You. s

f f

l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l i

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JESSE'S CORNER

.SHARING I N THE WORD

I t

was

j u s t

a

year

ago

a s t month

that we entered PNG; almost a

year

to

the day we ntered

Samban,

three years and eight month s from

the time we decided

to

enter th is

work. With these f a c t s in mind , and

t h i n k i n g i n

r e t r o s p e c t ,

I'm remind

ed of the words of s a i s h i n

chapter

40:31 Those

who

wait for the

Lord w i l l g a i n new strength; They

w i l l

mount up

with

wings

l i k e

e a g l e s , They w i l l

run

and

not

g e t

t i r e d

They w i l l w a l k , a n d n o t b e ^

come weary. And as

Stuart

Hamblin

adds

i n h i s song of

t h i s

v e r s e : Teach

me

Lord, Teach

me

Lord, to

wait.

Many times

the

Lord

has

had to teach us h i s lesson,

and this advice from Isaiah has

always proved to

be

sound and

wse i n e v e r y s i t u a t i o n .

W a i t i n g

i n ;

volves

a

great

deal

of t r u s t

on ou r

p a r t . Rosalind

R u s s e l l ,

the popular

entertainer who fought and

l o s t

a long

b a t t l e

with cancer, wrote

the

following

v e r s e ;

Trust

Him,

when

darkest

thoughts

a s s a i l

you,

Trust

Him, when yo u r f a i t h i s

small.

Trust Him,

when ust t o t r u s t Ifim,

I s

the hardest t h i n g of

l l .

I

r e a l l y

l i k e Samban. There

are

l o t s of kids

here to p l a y

with,

and I'm always the center of

e v e r y b o d y ' s a t t e n t i o n I l i k e

t h a t e s p e c i a l l y .

Mama

and Papa c a l l me a show-off.

What's

that?

T he b e s t p a r t ,

though,

s

my

r i e n d s

here

pick

me

u p and carry

me

around everytime I

fuss

j u s t a l i t t l e . All

I

have to do s cry a l i t t l e

and

up

I

goI have

t h e m w e l l - t r a i n e d . I think

Mama

and Papa c a l l i t spoiling me.

u s t

got

over

h e mumps,

nd

i t wasn't much

fun. I hope

the

next

time

I

can

announce

that

I

can

walk.

On July 22, 1978, I was

one

year old.

t

sure

i s

nice being the

youngest

n the Pryor household.

I seem to g e t a

o t

of

t t e n t i o n ,

s p e c i a l l y when

I s t r i k e up

my pots

and pans band. See

ya

laterJesse.

Bonita and esse

arrive

atSamban.

Pioneer Bible Translators

Forwarding

Agents

Rou te

16,

Rhea Road

Knoxville, Tn

37920

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