Date: 7/25/04
Location: Ukarumpa, East Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
This morning we went to both the Tok Pisin and English services. The Tok Pisin service was good, but it took a lot of concentration to follow the language and my mind would wander. The Tok Pisin music was very Western. The English service was refreshing. A translator preached about communion and how he translated sacrifice, the symbolic bread and wine, etc. In the language group he works with, the people believe that after a person dies, his soul goes down into the earth to a resting place. However, they believe an evil spirit waits and eats the souls before they reach their rest. A pig is sacrificed, because they believe the evil spirit will eat the pig's soul instead and let the human soul go free. The scent of the pig hair singeing indicates the presence of this sacrifice. In the translation, Jesus is this scent - He is like the pig sacrifice. Also, when preparing a pig for a feast, a small portion of meat is cut thin, cooked quickly, and given to anyone who is invited to the larger feast, much like communion. It is such a privilage to be here. We went to the Herrings for lunch today, and their younger boy befriended me 
. We went to Mike, Juan Carlos and Jose's place for supper. It was interesting trying to communicate when Mike, Kristen, and I don't speak Spanish, and Jose doesn't speak English.
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