TOP TEN

Top ten ways you know that you teach in a tribal village:
(all of these experienced personally or by our family - feel free to leave a comment and add to the list!)

1. You had to take a boat and/or hike on muddy trails to get to church.


2. In order to be heard, you have to compete with roosters crowing, babies crying, and other animals making indistinguishable noises. But you have to pause the teaching whenever the rain gets hard – there is absolutely no competing with that noise on a tin roof.

3. A high percentage of the people are multi-tasking by chewing/spitting betel-nut and picking lice out of each other’s hair while they listen.

4. You are repeatedly dive-bombed by a bat while you teach.

5. You have to take a spontaneous intermission for laughter when a woman ties her husband’s loincloth to the floor so that when he tries to stand up, he VERY promptly sits right back down.

6. The service has to be stalled in order to deal with two amorous dogs in the aisle (and now under the seats) who are desperately trying to go in opposite directions with no success.

7. Many of the women are openly breastfeeding – while many others are very obviously ready to breastfeed at any moment. (hate to put the equipment away when you are just going to have to get it right back out, right?)

8. The teaching stops so that people can help – and of course laugh at – a small boy without a diaper who got a very sensitive area stuck in the split rattan floor.

9. A toddler has been wandering in circles around you – normal. He stops and pees on you. You don’t miss a beat but just keep teaching.

10. There is no place in the world that you would rather be than in this little village, worshipping God with these precious people, in their heart language.