The year 2013 held many exciting developments and changes for our family. (Seems like maybe we said that for 2012 too!) As we returned to PNG after the birth of our fourth son, built our house in the Amdu tribe, moved into the tribe as a family and started learning the Amdu language and culture, we repeatedly saw examples of the Lord’s amazing provision for our family. Many of you were a part of that provision through financial gifts and many more have played a part through faithful prayer and encouragement.
Finally living in the Amdu tribe has been the fulfillment of dreams, plans and goals that started many years ago. But it is also just the beginning!! Before we can begin teaching the Amdu people God’s Word, we must learn their language and culture. We will also teach them to read and write their language so that they can read God’s Word for themselves. We have been working at learning this language for about 7 months now. By most estimates it takes at least 2 years to learn a tribal language. When our consultant was here several months ago for our first language check, he commented that from what he could see and hear, our language was a more difficult one. So, while learning this language is a necessity for ministry here in Amdu, it is a hard job and we constantly need the Lord’s wisdom. Deciphering the patterns and understanding how this language works is often tiresome and tedious and sometimes it seems like we are not making much progress. But we are encouraged that the One who made up this language wants us to learn it and He will help us!! Will you please pray with us that our team will learn this language as quickly as possible?
Here are a few tidbits about the Amdu language and life here in general:
– So far we have found at least 200 different pronouns (and there might be more!)
– Some words change slightly depending on if you are talking to (or about) a male or female
– We are finding that you can communicate a complete thought just by saying a verb (or in some cases by stringing 2, 3 or 4 verbs together)
– Phrases change depending on how far away from an object you are and also the direction you are in relation to that object (up, down, across)
– When it rains, it pours. You’ve probably heard that phrase before. Well, it took on new significance here a few weeks ago. After not having rain for many nights, we got 8 inches in two nights! It was literally pouring rain all night. But right now we are having a water shortage again. It hasn’t rained for more than a week and our water tank is very low. Please pray that it would rain soon!!
– Married couples do not show affection in public. But it is very common to see men holding hands with men and women holding hands with women. It is a sign of friendship.
– The equivalent to kissing here is rubbing foreheads. When family members have been separated for a long time and then are reunited, they rub foreheads as a greeting and sign of affection.
– Men buy their wives. From what we have seen, the bride price ceremony often doesn’t take place until the couple is expecting their first child. Then the husband’s family has to come up with the amount of payment that the wife’s family has stipulated.
We are continually learning more about this culture and how things work here in Amdu. And sometimes we think we know something and come to find out later that we got it wrong! We need the Lord’s wisdom each moment of the day.
If you have questions about any aspect of life in Amdu, write to us and ask! If you don’t have our email address, please use the contact tab above. We will either answer you personally or answer some of the questions in a post here on our blog.