Most readers of this journal have heard of Wycliffe Bible Translators, and probably know something about it. Fewer people know about SIL International. In order to understand the purpose of Charlie and Amie’s mission at Ukarumpa in Papua New Guinea, one first needs to understand the mission and methods of SIL and Wycliffe in Papua New Guinea. (more…)
Archive for July, 2008
SIL, Wycliffe, and Ukarumpa
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008A Few Photos of the Browns
Monday, July 21st, 2008A number of folks have asked about current photos of the Browns. Cindy and I returned with around 8,000 photographs, so the effort to cull through those and organize the remaining ones is huge. We plan on publishing some more complete photo albums later, but for those who cannot wait… (more…)
Mumu at Rose’s
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
A Papua New Guinean mumu (pronounced moo-moo) is a traditional means of cooking enough food for a large number of people. Rose, Charlie and Amie’s Haus Meri (housekeeper), invited them to bring us over to her clan home for a traditional Mumu on Saturday, June 28. (more…)
Townsend
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
As mentioned in the Dorelo post, Townsend is another of the three hostels sharing a large, common yard area, including Dorelo. I wasn’t planning on describing any of the others besides Dorelo, but on the Saturday before we left, July 5, Charlie and Amie decided to accept an opportunity they had to move from Dorelo into Townsend.
Dorelo
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
There are four SIL hostels in Ukarumpa, and each hostel has a name. Dorelo, Townsend, and Teen Manor share a common yard area. Rama (sp?) is about a quarter-mile away up the hill from the other three. There are also at least two other, non-SIL hostels which are operated by other mission organizations on the SIL facility. Dorelo, Amie and Charlie’s hostel, is the oldest of the hostels. (more…)
Madang to Ukarumpa
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 
On Wednesday, June 25, we ate breakfast (Cindy, Jeff, and I had two breakfasts) and then loaded up to head out of Jais Aben. After we paid the bill (they took Visa!) we had to go into Madang to the SIL guest house so Charlie could return some paperwork. In typical Charlie-Amie fashion, we had turned the van around and had gone about 50 feet when someone realized Kate wasn’t with us. Amie retrieved her from the bathroom in the office/restaurant building, and we were on our way to Madang. (more…)
Snorkeling at Rempi Village
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
The Russells, the couple who were the Dorelo hostel parents before Amie and Charlie, invited us to join them at the village of Rempi, where a Wycliffe member who has been in-country for 20+ years “owns” a cabin on the beach. Foreigners are not allowed to own property in PNG, so I don’t know the technicalities of this ownership. They are apparently allowed to own buildings, but not the land on them, so it’s possible that he has leased the land from Rempi villagers, and owns the cabin on it. (more…)
Snorkeling at Jais Aben
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
As mentioned earlier, the snorkeling on the reef is great. The four oldest Brown kids were in the water when I got down to the tree in front of the duplex which we used for access. They were making their way across the reef, which was painful in bare feet. I made my way uncomfortably across the reef to the kids. Kate wasn’t comfortable, so I took her in, finding a channel through the reef. In the meantime, Jeff was trying to walk his way in across the reef, and was stuck. Amie and I hollered at him to stay where he was, and I quickly made my way out past the reef and around to where he was standing, which fortunately was only a few feet in. I reached up for him and rolled him into deep water, and escorted him around to the tree. Then Chase, Krista, and I made our way back out to the reef for a very nice snorkel together. (more…)
Madang and Jais Aben
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008The road was good (still needing to be ever watchful for potholes and people) as we approached Madang on Friday, June 20. Charlie and Amie couldn’t remember how to get there, so we pulled over on the side where a crowd of men were waiting (may have been a PMV stop) and asked out the window for directions to Jais Aben, the oceanfront resort where we were staying the next five nights. One red-toothed gentleman came over to the car. “Jais Aben? Back this way and right. Go all the way. Big sign.” We smiled and thanked him and got the big red smile in return.