Well…It’s hard to believe it’s already been a whole month since our family arrived here in Papua New Guinea! Erin and I were just talking yesterday how this month has flown by. It’s probably much to do with the incredible amount of information that our brains have had to absorb these first few weeks. The first couple of weeks were full of orientation meetings, language instruction meetings, and a whole slough of various kinds of things we must learn to adapt well in this culture.

It’s kind of strange beginning a life and routine in a culture much different from the one you’re used to. Not only do we not understand what people are speaking here, but it’s difficult to understand how Papua New Guineans think and use reason for the way they live their life. As an American, we so used to getting things done, and we often refuse to quit until we’ve accomplished what we’ve set out to do. But in PNG, the people value the moments with others more than the end goal. They value the process over the accomplishment.

I had the opportunity to work a couple days with some of my PNG brothers after a storm blew through one of our Nazarene colleges about 30 minutes away from where we live here Kudjip. It made a mess on the power grid there, and the college had no power until we had all of it repaired. It was remarkable to me how there was no sense of urgency in restoring the power, by the workers or the people it impacted. I think part of it is because they are so used to not having power. The public power company is so unreliable that the people expect to be without it most of the time. 

The power line cable and the connections were in such bad shape, it was a struggle to get it patched back together. It was getting frustrating at times in my American mindset to see an infrastructure in that condition. Why? Why hasn’t someone done something about this problem? How does one let it get this bad? I immediately begin planning how to fix it…how to make it better…how to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But…I felt alone in that thought process…the rest of my PNG brothers seemed ok with getting it repaired when it got repaired…even if it’s the following week. That was hard for me grasp. It was something that should have easily been repaired and restored in a day, but it took two. And it only took two because I may have “encouraged” them a bit that we were going to finish that second day. 

I learned a lot about this culture and their language this month, especially those couple of days working after the storm, and I realize I have a ton more to understand in the years to come. We absolutely love being here though, and we are so grateful to the Lord in choosing us for this incredible opportunity to minister here. To all of you who are supporting us in this mission through your prayers and finances, thank you! We couldn’t do this without you, and know that we pray for you everyday. If you haven’t already, join us on Facebook @Allen Family Missions for all the latest! Blessings!