Saturday 7 March 2009

Bush church

One of my favorite weekend activities is going to "bush church."  A bush church is generally a one room building where a village congregation gathers for Sunday service.  The decorations are colorful flowers neatly arranged across the front of the church.  Benches or pews are a rare find.  Worshipers either stand or sit on the floor:  women and children on one side, men on the other.  Hymns and choruses are sung in Pidgin or "tok ples" (the local language), a capella or perhaps accompanied by a guitar or tambourine.  The offering is given not only in kina and toea (dollars and cents), but also in fresh produce from gardens.  And last but not least, the pastor preaches a sermon in Pidgin and/or tok ples.


This day I joined up with Niles and Patty and Niles Jr. (two volunteer docs and a PT from Minnesota) and Dr. Erin (here in PNG for 2 years with Samaritan's Purse post residency program:  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Serving_Overseas/Post_Residency) for a hike up the mountain to Konduk church.  It is an intense but amazingly beautiful walk, about an hour straight up.  The view from the top is well worth the climb.  You practically get an aerial look at Kudjip Station.  The service was wonderful; I think I understood quite a bit of the sermon.  Hurray for Pidgin!  And the people of Konduk are so welcoming; always excited to have visiting missionaries.  One of the neatest things about such experiences is evidence that the family of God crosses barriers of language and culture.  The Papua New Guineans are our brothers and sisters!


"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus... For there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, [black nor white, Papua New Guinean or American, or anything else for that matter], for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

~ Galations 3:26, 28


8 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures!!! I can just imagine it was an amazing experience!! Praising God from the top of a mountain. =)

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  2. The little white specs in the middle of the picture are buildings at Kudjip :).

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  3. We call that a "holler" around these parts!

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  4. Hi Stephanie- I met you at NTS orientation this fall and love keeping up with all the Kudjip blogs, including yours. Konduk is wonderful isn't it! Thanks for sharing your heart- I look forward to reading how our amazing God is showing himself strong through your ministry in PNG. It's an incredible place! Please give my love to everyone!
    ~ Alison Weinstock

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  5. Hi, Alison! Welcome to my blog :). And thanks for saying hello!

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  6. I have been reading South Pacific Family for a while,but today ran across your page. Hope to be able to follow it for quite a while. It's fun to hear from someone who is just beginning -- different than those who have been there a while.

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  7. Thank you for exploring my blog! I so enjoy sharing my experiences with the world.

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