Eleven men and women, dressed in their finest, were recently honored as the first literacy graduation class among the Dinangats in Papua New Guinea.
"What a joy it was to watch several of the graduates stand up and publicly read texts in their own language," wrote missionaries Jeremiah and April Markley.
The custom of the Dinangats is to have an official celebration when something new is happening in the culture. Since this didn't occur when the literacy program began, the people decided to make up for it at graduation. They held nothing back.
"They had traditional dancers and singers, their traditional bark clothes, a full feast of fire-pit-cooked pig and every vegetable available," the Markleys wrote. "They honored us white-skins, as well as all the village leaders, with flowers and gifts of string bags, onions, greens, peanuts and tomatoes."
As the ceremony progressed it took turns that caught the missionaries by surprise, turns that they were not prepared for.
Leaders from another village had taken over and were doing the ceremony "their way." They performed a few "religious acts" to be sure the literacy program would continue to go well.
"We were discouraged to see this take place during the literacy graduation, but were duly reminded of the intense need to continue praying for our friends," the Markleys wrote.
Overall the ceremony "was an awesome connect with the people," wrote missionaries Gary and Esther Smith. "It has proven to be the forerunner to the evangelistic teaching and discipleship."
Four students still struggle with reading and writing and will have to take the class over. "Please pray that they would not be discouraged and would persevere," the Markleys wrote. "We want every Dinangat to be able to read God's Word for themselves!"
Four men who have been trained as teachers will teach the next two classes.
Disclaimer: This personal ministry website is provided by New Tribes Mission (NTM) as a courtesy to its members. NTM makes no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information on these pages. Opinions expressed are provided by members in good faith, but are entirely those of the member and do not necessarily represent policy, doctrinal position, or opinions of NTM. If you encounter information that you consider questionable, please e-mail the NTM web team.
GET INVOLVED
_img.jpg)
_img.jpg)