A Step back in Time

So here we are in Papua New Guinea and it is quite a beautiful county.  Everywhere there is lush, green and incredibly beautiful flora.  Yet, in the midst of all this beauty, it seems like time has stopped for the inhabitants of this country.  When we are on the Summer Institute of Linguistics Centre, there is some semblance of the 21^st century, but once you cross the boundaries of the Centre, you step, a bit, backwards in time. 

As I reflect on how things are back home (in the U.S.), I wonder if the people here have been spared the frittering away of simplicity that has so besieged the people of America and the rest of the developed world.  Yes, it is a wonderful thing to have all the things that you could desire at your fingertips.

But at what price? 

Recently as we sat inside a hut constructed by a New Guinean out of simple material that they have gathered in the fields around them, I was amazed at how happy the people were—without electricity and running water.  But, they had each other.  They were fed, they were for the most part healthy and they thanked the Lord for their life.  Why is it that that is not enough for those of us who are from the developed world?  Why do we seek after so many ephemeral things that will not follow us into the next world?

Even, in what we would call an urban setting when we came to simply sing gospel music to the people in the streets, it was as though we were Hillsong.  Throngs of people gathered around to hear us struggle (somewhat out of tune) through a few songs and give personal testimonies of how we came to Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps, the most telling scene was as we were walking back this past Sunday from worshipping in a village church and two little boys followed us waiting to be photographed with flowers in their hair as a tribute to our coming to visit their church 

 

 

 

Oh Lord, when will we, your children, learn to appreciate the simpler things in life and just be content that we belong to you!

Blessings,

james