Tribal Brother's Birthday Party

I have a little tribal brother named Bart. He had his 4th birthday yesterday so I spent the night at his house for the celebration. For the food for his dinner we had two eggs that the village chicken had just laid and also some maggi noodles and some canned pork luncheon meat which doesn't really taste that good until you fry it. So I said we could pour some oil on the skillet and fry them but Bart kind of bumped into his dad, Raymond, and he ended up pouring a lot of oil onto the skillet so we ended up deep frying the luncheon meat. So, after that was done we used the same oil which had soaked in some of the meat's flavor which was really tasty and we used that on the greens which gave them a nice meaty taste. The greens are called krusako which is a nice type of greens here and also their fruit which grows with them. We also had some rice so we boiled that up and set the pot aside and then we also had a special mixture of maggi noodles and we put them on the pan with some water and then after they had gotten soft we cracked an egg onto them. I hadn't tried doing that before because I hadn't really thought of it, so it tasted really good.

Then we got ready for Bart's birthday and we made him a little plate of food with flowers on it and then we set it down, covered all the plates and bowls so that they couldn't see what food we had. Then everybody started coming in and they saw the food and they loved it! Bart came in and saw his little plate with food and he started laughing and jumping up and down and clapping. Then we started eating. But before that we sang the Happy Birthday song in English.

After we ate we cleared away the dishes and brought out the two guitars. Raymond and I jammed together for awhile and sang. Then we started on the Bible study which was the highlight of the night. The first thing we learned about was a little story about the parable of the vineyard owner and his servants and stuff and how they all came in at different times but they received the same pay. It also shows how it doesn't matter how late we come to Jesus, we still get the same reward: being in Heaven forever. Then we shared some stuff about how we have just a little bit of time before the tribulation and rapture so we need to share as much as we can and work hard so we can share it with other people of the world.

After that we went to bed, but it was hard getting to sleep because there was this chicken squawking all the time and Bart had eaten WAY too much so his stomach was groaning and he started wailing. Aside from that, once Bart stopped crying then another baby in the village started crying and it was really loud. So after that all the babies were quiet, thankfully, and the chickens were probably still squawking in another part of the village. 

 After that I still couldn't get to sleep because of Bart's older brother, Greg sleep-talking. Ok, that was really weird because he was muttering like, "Mama, Mama! Mi laikim kaukau!" which kind of means, "Mom, Mom, I want a sweet potato!" That was kind of interesting. He kept doing that for awhile until I shook him awake and shined the light in his face because it was getting annoying. He woke up and he started talking to me, and I was like, "Greg, I need to sleep!" But he was like, "No, I wanna talk to you!" And I was like, "Seriously dude, you need to sleep!" He's like, "How about I go wake up my dad?" It was 3:30 A.M. but it was still light out because of the moonlight. So, I'm like, "No, you're not going to wake up your dad!" Then he fell back to sleep and started snoring and I tried to get back to sleep. Finally I fell asleep and woke up again at 7:00 and got up. I saw Bart's family out in the round house and they're like, "Oh Jason, you're alive now!" And I'm like, "Yes I am!" Then we ate kaukau for breakfast and I went home. I think I will sleep a lot better in my own bed tonight!

Raymond helping to cook

Bart's Birthday "Cake"

Bart the Birthday Boy

Cute baby Lottie

Silika

A Silika is the Simbari tradition of cooking food in the ground. I'm going to tell you how these subterranean feasts are made.

Step 1: Gather a reasonable amount of large stones.
Step 2: Did a circular hole about a foot deep.
Step 3: Build a large fire and once it is going place the stones on top of the fire to heat them.
Step 4: Gather foods like sweet potato, tapioca root, local greens, etc.
Step 5: The stones should heat about two hours. After the stones are heated remove cinders and stones. Warning: Stones should not be used more than once because they are prone to explode sending fragments shooting everywhere.
Step 6: Arrange half of the heated stones inside the hole leaving the other half for further use.
Step 7: Take banana leaves and place over the stones in a layer.
Step 8: Place food inside the hole on top of banana leaves and cover with another layer of banana leaves followed by the remaining stones.
Final step: Cover with dirt and wait 1 and a half to two hours before uncovering.

What you get is a hole full of steaming, delicious food!

 

What God Has Been Doing in My Life

Just recently, I've really been focusing on how spiritual growth dramatically effects daily life. For instance, at night I just don't want to sleep. I feel so pumped up, that I want to tell others about Christ. One of the verses that really means a lot to me is Proverbs 3, 5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Seek God's will in all you do and he will show you the path to take.

Playing "My Jesus" on the Drum

Learning to Ride My Unicycle

When I received a unicycle last Christmas I was so excited! I could just imagine starting a circus with my best friend who also happened to have a unicycle. After my dad assembled it I tried it out immediately and fell down. After that, I considered that I should probably watch the riding video. In those first few days I was trying to ride but without much success. And I also had a major problem that effected my motivation. When I put my feet on the pedals I didn't notice how close I put them to the axle. So when I started riding it whacked my ankles so badly that they started to bleed. I started to practice less and less until I didn't practice at all! Later, we went out to a coastal town for spring break and during the time between we stayed at the school center. While we were there, my friend who had a unicycle wanted to help me in my riding, so he showed me how to ride easily. I tried and started getting good at it, riding a few feet more each time for those days until we had to come back home.  When we got here I picked up and started riding and before I knew it, I was riding long distances! That shows me that commitment is an important ingredient for success.
My most recent accomplishment is learning to free-mount (getting on without holding onto anything). I look forward to the days to come when I can do tricks and learn different techniques.

The River

My favorite place to visit is the river. It is fun to go there on hot days. The hike down there is about 20 minutes. The water is freezing, but I have gotten used to it. You can sit in the waterfall and let it massage your back vigorously. What is the best about it is not the temperature, or the atmosphere, but it's faithfulness to keep on flowing. To me, it symbolizes God's faithfulness to keep on providing.

Silly Business Letter

To the Nerf Gun Co.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have been wondering as to why my package containing two Nerf-n-Strike Maverick Rev-b's and a package of 36 suction darts has not arrived. I have waited 57 years and have not received them. I am 96 now and am too old and frail to entertain myself with those toys. I must resort to Bingo now. I could have sued you but I have contained myself.

Sincerely,

Jason

Scuba-Diving in Madang

Diving on the Freighter

By Jason Ogg

Grade 5

March 29, 2012

As I strapped my BCD on I knew even then that this would be an interesting dive as all other dives are. My dive instructor said that we would only observe a reef and then surface. I wasn't ready for the adventure that was about to begin. As I stepped off the boat into the water I could already feel energy surging through my body.

 As we descended I could see the beauty of the reef. “What an amazing creation!” I thought. “Every bit of it depicts God's glory.” I started noticing less and less marine life until there was none at all! “Wow, it's getting pretty cold down here,” I thought. “We must be pretty deep!” Then I saw it, a massive wall of coral! I didn't know it then but this was the Henry Lieth, a freighter that was pulled over here to use for dives. As we approached the ship my dive master swam over to the side of the ship and detached a clam from it. He then pried the poor mollusk open and began tapping at the meat inside! Some fish swam over and started nipping at the loose meat! After that interesting turn of events, we swam over to a hole in the wreck. We saw schools of fish swimming in a hole of refuge.  Finally, the dive master motioned it was time to ascend. As we surfaced I felt the comforting warmth of the upper ocean. What an amazing dive!