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| Talking at church in Kapuna before heading to Ubuo (D.Petterson) |
‘They’ (whoever ‘they’ are!) say that each day is the first
day of the rest of your life. In many ways I subscribe to this and can be a Grinch
about New Year’s celebrations because the timing is so arbitrary. On the other
hand, I recently experienced the sort of day which really did seem like the
start of the rest of my life.
Sunday February 22 was the day. It was the day I went to
Ubuo village to start the relationship building and language learning that will
(hopefully!) be the foundation of my work and life for years to come.
Until now, my village trips have all been for no more than a
few weeks, with the next trip being to a different place. Relationships have
all been short term and language learning has not progressed beyond polite
greetings. This arrival was the start of the long term. I was thankful that
Robbie and Debbie, who already have strong local relationships, were with me to
smooth the way.
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| Our cargo pile on arrival at Ubuo (R.Petterson) |
The day started with a low tide, meaning we could not leave
until late morning. This gave us time to go to church at Kapuna Hospital before
we left. The Kapuna crew were all very excited about this new start to a
ministry in their area and sent me out with much prayer and encouragement as
their missionary. Being sent locally, as well as internationally, is so
encouraging to me as it shows that there is local ownership of my work and that
it is not just my clever idea.
As we wound along the rivers to Ubuo, we stopped to visit
people in Baimuru and Era Kiti. My GPS tracker says we did 64km. The journey
felt longer, partly because of the stops, mostly because of my awareness that
this trip signified the start of something new, something I’d been looking
forward to for a long time.
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| Spending time with my village family (D.Petterson) |
Our arrival in Ubuo was friendly and low key… the way I like
things to be! We had meetings in the house where we were staying and in the
church to talk about what me joining the community meant. We talked about how
it will take me a while to learn Kope, but that while they are helping me
learn, I can be helping them with translation. The helping will need to be
mutual to be successful. We also talked about this translation being for all of
the Kope people, and not just for Ubuo, and that at times I will spend time
visiting the other villages. Smiles, handshakes and more names than I can
remember, but a good start in what is now my other home.
Soon I was adopted into the Aumarie family, meaning I have
more brothers and sisters than I can keep track of, but a place to belong. In
the week we were there I enjoyed getting to know some of my new family and had
loving hugs from them when I left.
Day one in Ubuo village, Kope language… the first day of the
rest of my life.
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| Ubuo from the river (H.Schulz) |
