1. Luke & Laura
in Papua New Guinea
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Spring 2012 Issue 1 Vol. 2
Learning to live in the tropics…
Greetings from the Pacific Orientation Course! We feel we
are becoming more oriented to life here every day and are
on a very steep learning curve! We have had language
lectures, medical lectures, lectures on kinship, multi-cultural
News & dates teamwork, food dehydration, 4-wheel driving, cargo cults,
fire lighting, water purification, radio skills, together with
Finances provided! conditioning days with swimming or hiking (or a combination
Miraculously, the whole of the of the two!), and many many cultural/ language opportunities
charges for excess baggage have (often involving food!), including visiting and hosting local
been generously met through
families, learning bush crafts, worship services, going to the
supporters! Thank you all and
thank You, Lord for this
garden, going to the market, house building, sharing
unexpected blessing! testimonies or just ‘storying’.
End of wet season visit… It’s been a whirlwind of a
Immediately after the Pacific ride, but we have
Orientation Course, we will move enjoyed (almost!) all the
to Wewak (flights booked for April new experiences: new
th
29 ). Laura’s sister, Suze will be
nd
visiting us there from May 2 –
sights, new sounds, new
th
May 8 . Pray this short time smells, new tastes, and
would be filled with the presence new bugs (see the
and the peace of Jesus. It will be tarantula pictured right!).
great to settle into our new home
with her around!
Follow us online at: lukeandlaurainpng.blogspot.com

2. “But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
Habakkuk 2 v 14
Bamaro
Village life
By the time you read this, we will be in a village called
Bamaro along the North Coast of Papua New Guinea. We
will have the opportunity to put into practice our newly
acquired knowledge and skills, but also get to learn more!
Day-to-day life will be pretty different: hand-washing clothes
and bathing in a stagnant river, collecting rainwater for
drinking, finding and chopping firewood, cooking over a fire,
and completing linguistic survey work, as well as many other
cultural assignments – all in stifling heat and humidity!
A few stats… We’ve heard a lot of people say, “It takes longer to live here”.
Simple things that we often take for granted in our home
• PNG has the largest countries become an arduous, sometimes all-day task!
species of moth and the We’ve been encouraged to adopt a new pace, to slow down,
smallest species of frog in take one day at a time and set people above goals. PNG is a
the world very relational society – they live in very close-knit
community. The community takes precedence over
• Melanesian Pidgin or Tok individual likes and dislikes. We, in the West, value
Pisin has a vocabulary of independence and privacy; whereas Melanesians tend to
less than 2,000 words value interdependence and communal living.
• 75% of women in PNG Our main goals for this stint of village life are to consolidate
are affected by domestic our language learning of Tok Pisin and to make the most of
violence this ‘dry run’ so that when we go to future village allocations
• Infant mortality in PNG is in the Sepik we will be well prepared for life there.
the highest in the South
Pacific Prayer
• That God would help us during this time when we are
• 60-70% of people in PNG cut off from the outside world and immersed in PNG
believe that HIV AIDS is life proper.
caused by sorcery • That the move to Wewak would be smooth and that
we would transition well.
• 60-70% of Port Moresby
• That we would form good relationships quickly with
University graduates
our new team there and be able to begin our work in
believe that HIV AIDS is earnest.
caused by God
Thanks so much for reading, praying, and loving us from afar.
Luke & Laura Warrington Tel: +67571226958
Luke’s birthday 27th May PO Box 291
Laura’s birthday 15th Sept. Wewak
Anniversary 21st July 2007 ESP 531
Papua New Guinea
laura_warrington@sil.org luke_warrington@sil.org