Matt and Rachel Clayton Just another weblog Andrew is an 18 year old Uriai man. We sat down under the shade of a thatched roof and I could tell from his unease that he wanted to ask me for something. I sat there quietly for about 10 minutes or so while he kind of worked up the question.
I wondered what he must want. It couldn’t be just the normal batteries or matches or a knife. I could tell he was working up to something big.
Finally he began to tell me about his mother and how she had died two years ago. Then he told me about his father who had just died last year. He told me about how much he missed them. Then he told me about how sometimes at night he would lie in bed and cry out because he missed them so much. Then he asked me the question he wanted to ask. He asked me if I could show him the road to see his parents again.
Rustic Settings
For the last month Rachel and I have been living in a small tribal village among with Uriai people. Imagine a place with no cars, no telephone poles, no roads, no municipal water, electricity, or sewage of any kind. Imagine houses constructed from only leaves, branches, and logs, held together by only vines. Imagine a small village of houses with small gardens of papayas, sweet potato, pumpkins, bananas, and pineapples connected only by grassy foot paths. Imagine a river running around the village lined by coconut trees. This is the Uriai village where Rachel and I were staying.
New Tribes Mission first started working among the Uriai people in 2004. The team there consists of one family from the Netherlands and two single ladies from America.
The fact that this team has only one man makes the work there much harder than it needs to be. Although the ladies work hard and have contributed much to the work, certain aspects of Papua New Guinea culture make it impossible for them to hold the same kind of teaching role or leadership positions as men. It also creates security concerns that prohibit them from staying in the village by themselves.
Despite these and numerous other challenges the Uriai team has faithfully been making slow but steady progress in their preparations for presenting the gospel for the first time. Although they faithfully continue to prepare for teaching, the work there could be greatly helped if another family could join the team. What they need is another family who could move in and help shoulder the load. Any guesses as to who that could be?
Meeting a Need
During our time among the Uriai people Rachel and I realized that we might be able to help fill the needs this team has for another family. We enjoyed our time among them and were very impressed with the team. Right now we are currently in discussion with this team and our field leadership to investigate the option of our moving in. There is much to be discussed still, and we want to make sure to seek the Lords will in all this and not rely on our own limited understanding. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and guidance as we seek His will.
What about Andrew?
As for Andrew, are you still wondering what I said in response to his question? As you can imagine my heart broke as I heard him quietly ask me to find his parents. There was so much I wanted to say in that moment. Unfortunately I knew that the language barrier between us would not allow me to communicate anything to him beyond a surface conversation. The day before I had been asked to try and describe my first car to this very same man and I had been completely unable to communicate much more than that it was white and had four wheels. (I am not sure if he really understood the part about the wheels).
With a heavy heart all I could say was that I couldn’t show him this road now, but that someday the other missionaries would be able to talk more about it. Maybe someday I will get the chance to explain to him the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
