So, as I went o speel tonight I expected to wake up in the morning, overtired as usual, and move forward with my day as I have been doing. Apparently, something else has a different plan since at about 1:38 I was awoken for some reason. I find it very strange.

To briefly bring you to speed on what I am currently doing I will tell you about a Literacy Inservice.

This is a four phase course that trains Literacy teachers to teach children to adults in the village their Tok Ples, or Mother Tongue. The first three phases allowed them to understand techniques and how to create small books called "Shell books." These books are very basic and have 3 to 5 picutres with room for text to go on the side. These books tell stories about Jesus and the things that happened in His life.

This phase that myself and the other interns are working on is the fourth and final phase. This phase is dedicated to two things: Making books and teaching tools. The making of the books would seem to be one of the easiest things in the world to do since all you do is write the story and then put the text in the publisher file and BAM! your finished. Unfortunately it isnt so simple.

The process for completely a Shell book requires the Literacy workers to summerize their translated Scripture, properly, and then put it into a story form that is understandable in Tok Ples. This requires they have Scripture translated already. If they don't have it in their own language they have to read another langauge, Tok Pisin, used by everyone in PNG to try to derive the meaning of the story. This gets difficult.

Then they have finally written down the story and their coordinator, someone from the intern team assigned to their group, has put it in the computer and helped with checking it. After this, which although I shortened it is about a third of the process, it is consultant checked which is done to make sure the write words are used for the write understanding. Keep in mind that no one but the people know thier own Tok Ples so we are going off the understanding we get from the trading langauge, which is called Tok Pisin. Thankfully the consultants are well trained and ask enough questions to figure out exactly what a word is being used for.

Then after this step the text file is sent to the Tok Ples Advisor which is a missionary who knows the Tok Ples. This missionary then checks the work to see if it sounds natural and is using the right key terms for words and in general try to make sure the text is correct for a paraphrased Bible story. (We wouldnt want Jesus walking on water because the guys in the boat sat down like women. In PNG women sit down in boats not men. Men, Real Men stand up in the Boat.)

Then finally after all this we put it in the publisher file and check it some more. We go through more logistical checks after this which are based on font size and word spacing. Then we print out the books and package them for transport.

Each group will produce 10 stories and of these stories we will print enough copies that each teacher and student has one. Now, my group is easy but there are two groups that call for more attention. One of which has only the books of Jonah and Ruth translated which cause for some issues while writing the story and another group that has two or three dialects. So, where I will be printing a few hundred books my teammates will be making many more.

The up sides to this is that we get to be a major part is helping literacy come to these people groups and that their children are learning to read, not only their own Tok Ples but also they are learning about Christ. One other great thing about this course is that God provided the PBT Papua New Guinea Branch with a Grant from the government that allows for the entire course to be paid for which is alot. They people that come for the course dont pay for anything. They have food everyday, laundry cleaned, a dorm room to sleep in, writing materials, bus money, travel expenses and all of the books we make are paid for by this grant as well. It is a huge blessing that God has blessed this ministry in this way.

Well, that is all I have for you maybe I will get that update done soon, maybe not. Life has been kind of slammed with the Inservice because we are there from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. on a computer talking in a language that isnt English that we have learned since we have been here. It is very draining to try to communicate for most of the day in another language all day. Oh and while at the same time as we do work trying to learn as much of their langauge as possible to provide better checking and comprehension of the stories. We are doing this work with these guys for three weeks and we are roughly half way through the Inservice so far.

I would love to demonstrate the diversity of languages here but the computer doesnt display all the right characters. Ask me about how many ways I can say "Morning, Afternoon, Good Night" in languages that are seperated by only about 20 miles from one another. It's crazy. Later.

Love comes from Above.
May the Lord grant you Grace and Peace.
Keep praying.

Your brother in PNG,
Rich Meister

P.S.
I get back in the States on August 11th and do debriefing in Dallas but I will be back at RBC on August 13th by 8 a.m. Intensives. So, don't worry. Love you all. Bye.

Gutnait ol poro bilong mi. Tenkyu tru long helipim mi kam long Papua Niugini. Mi inap tokim Tok Pisin gutpela nua. Papa God bin gat mi wantiam em na lukautim long mi.

Good night all my friends. Thank you very much for helping me come to Papua New Guinea. I am able to talk Pidgin good now. Father God has me with him and looks out for me.

It was way easier to write that in English. But anyways, What's up?

So, I am back from the bush and I must say I had a great time. Enough about me what is going on with you all. Keep in mind that if you want to send me an e-mail after reading my updates that my e-mail address is GamerRich@hotmail.com and you are more than welcome to e-mail me. Please don't send pictures or attachments, only text based e-mails.

Well, back to what has happened. I have been in the Jungle of PNG for about the last 2.5 weeks. It was pretty awesome. I had no idea all the fun and interesting things I would learn. I also didn't think I would be doing as much as I did. I was able to learn plenty of the trade language of PNG which is Tok Pisin or Pidgin and many other bush tasks.

Some things you might want to know prior to going into the bush:
1. Also, for every possible situation have hand sanitizer, toilet paper and water purification tabs... DUH!!!
2. For no reason what so ever leave your guide during a hike.
3. When working in a Sago field keep in mind that the nationals will feed you and you will have to eat it.
4. Everything can be eaten even if you think it already has been.
5. God will give you everything you need although you may think you keep losing everything.
6. Sand fleas can live in mud.
7. Leaches are kind of like slugs except they suck your blood.... if you know me well enough you understand this.
8. The most comforting thing at the end of the day isn't a hot shower but a cold one.
9. When you bathe in the river expect an audience.
10. Don't think you understand their environment better than them. You are wrong.

So, the time in the bush was very interesting and I now have a lot more respect for the missionaries that live this lifestyle. I also had a great time. I loved working outside everyday, although I did need some alone time. It was also great fun seeing how these people took such good care of us.

I learned a lot about these people and myself this week. Most of all I learned a lot about the Father and His love for us. I think I learned this most clearly in two specific times this past week.

The first was after a very stressful day doing little tasks around the village and just keeping "the white man" occupied. I decided that after I was done eating my lunch I was going to go sit and talk with God for a good long while. Well, when you are in the bush and you are white you will never find yourself alone. There will always be someone following you and keeping track of what you are doing. This particular time I wasn't followed. I ended up finding a river that I had visited earlier in the week to wash at and I decided I would sit down and read.

After about a hour of reading through my journal and praying with God I realized something vital. I had lost contact with something over the past year. This thing was so overbearing and controlling of my life that I was consumed by it. I had no real awareness of it either. I believe that is what was the most shocking thing about it. This something that I had lost was me.

In the past year of journal entries I have made a distinct change in focus and prayer and thoughts and I must say it is very funny to read that a year ago my biggest worry was whether I would be if I was eating at Jordan's Apartment or not. There were other concerns but as I looked at these entries the selfishness was so obvious.

The thing that is most uplifting about this experience is that it was in the moment that I realized that I had once been selfish that my focus had drastically changed through God's work in me. It was such a realization that I began to laugh at what I had written down. Thank all of you for the good influences you have had on me. It is just very interesting to see such a change. This experience is a great reason to journal. I am very aware, though, that I am still very childish and that I will always be growing but to have gone from what I was a year ago to now shows something. Thank you again.

The second realization came during our hike from Angguna back to Pasinakap. Now, when you are in the Airplane flying over these two villages it takes about 2 minutes air time. When you are hiking it takes about 6 hours of up and downs through hills after you have crossed the same river 12 times and your socks are soaked. While the only thing going through your mind is, "If I stop I won't be able to get back up." It was a hard hike. Well, in addition to this hike I opted to help with carrying our cargo. This wasn't that bad to start off, it was just a 12 kilo hiking bag. Well, after about 3 hours and having falling knee deep into mud it was a bit harder.

As the hike kept on and we moved forward it became very clear to me that I wasn't enjoying the extra weight and I wasn't very fond of the challenge of hiking anymore. It just wasn't really that important to make it the whole way. Although, it was very important that we made it the whole way becuase being stuck in the jungle at night isnt even something the nationals want to do...  probably not a good call then. This entire time we all have been praying for strength.

Well, 4 hours into the hike I am exhausted but I can't very well stop. Suddenly, I realize that these people coming with us are hating it just as much. They didn't even want to come. They didn't want to carry our stuff all this way. They were helping us out because, even though they were going to get paid, we need all of our cargo to make it back to Town. Then the wieght of the pack left gradually. Then stress came out of my pores along with my sweat. Then it wasn't about me getting to the end of the hike as an individual it was about everyone getting there whether I wanted to be there or not. It was about community. It was about the hand that reached out to help you out of the mud. It was about the friend that got the leach off of your hand. It was about the talk and encouragement from teammates. It was about knowing that what you are doing had purpose and you can't do it alone.

So, God bless community. He also held off the rain all day and gave us a great sense of humor with plenty of funny stories for back in the states. Ask me about getting your socks wet when I get to School.

That is all I have for this update but I appreciate the prayers and you all reading this to keep up with me while I am very far away. I want to thank all of you again for supporting me whether finicailly or prayerfully or just by saying so. It was very nice to know that you all were with me on the hike yesterday.

Prayer requests are that the rest of the time spent in town goes well. The internship team will be helping with a Literacy-In-Service which will be a three week course helping People groups make literature for their language. CRAZY! We are all a bit wiped out from the hike and the past 2.5 weeks in the jungle so pray for us to have healing. Also, I would like you to pray for relationships and that we will build up good ones with the staff, nationals and each other. By the way, I lost my glasses so, maybe if you could talk to the Lord about that. Thank you again and don't forget, Send Me E-mails or Comments about How You Are Doing!!!

Much love.
Grace and Peace,
Rich Meister