Mission Vanuatu the Weldy’s – Nov 16 2015 – New format, Village Trip, and Meet Presley
New Format, Village Trip, & Meet Presley
New Format
We decided to try a new format for our newsletter. This will (hopefully!) help those of you who read our newsletter on your phone. It will also make it easier for us to share photos and stories with you!
The man on the right (above) is Presley. He is a Mobile Bible College student who is about to graduate. He wants us to do our village living on his island of Malo and has offered to be responsible for us. We are so excited! He is married and has two children – a small boy and a 9-year-old daughter. I suspect God is preparing a friend for Lauren when we go to the village and I am so thankful. His wife also teaches Sunday School so I am looking forward to spending time with her.
The people of Malo have a New Testament in their own language but we’ve heard they don’t use it very much. Our family hopes to be adopted by a family there and go back to Malo whenever we can to help them find ways to use God’s Word in their everyday lives.
Using Bislama to teach someone to play a game is harder than you think!!
Oct 5 – Nov 13 Culture & Bislama orientation for our family
Nov 26 Thanksgiving
Dec 2-10 Team meetings & retreat
Dec 13 Ethan’s 15th birthday
January 4-18 Our family’s village living time on Malo island
Our family (minus Lauren) traveled by boat to a small island named Mavea a few days ago. Our teammates were being honored for helping the church get a solar system and they invited us along. We swam in the ocean, played with hermit crabs, ate fresh fish, played with fire – all the things that people on the island do.
During church on Sunday morning I kept looking at these kids (above) and wondering what Sunday School would look like for them. Who would teach them? Where would they meet? What would they learn? I don’t have all the answers but these are the kinds of questions I’ll be thinking through as I begin working alongside church leaders in several language groups here to help them address this need.
Our village friends made us this outdoor shower on Mavea. It was so hot sleeping in the house with no fans that Sunday morning I (Angie) was looking forward to a cool “shower”. The Vanuatu flag door covering kept wanting to fly up, but otherwise dumping the cold water over my head felt great. Then I realized I left my towel on the bed. Fail. So I had to dry off with a handkerchief. It was still worth it!
Prayer Requests
~ Pray for all five of us as we continue to learn Bislama. Our formal, full-time orientation just finished up this week but we will continue to meet with our teammates a few days a week to continue learning. We will also have a daily plan for improving our understanding and fluency.
~ Praise God for rain! We have gotten rain several times recently. We definitely need more, but we are thankful for what has come so far.
