Sorry I have not posted sooner. I should be back now to posting at least one post a week, Lord willing. I have had many things going on the past few weeks. I preached a youth meeting, in which one made a profession of faith. The meeting went pretty good with around 35 youth attending, most of whom have already made a profession of faith. The youth here have a very difficult time making a true commitment to Christ. There are many things pulling them. I preached a series of messages on being resolved to serve Christ.
The last Sunday, I had an interesting event occur. I was dropping off a family at the end of the village. The man asked me to stop at certain location so he could get a “sak.” In the tok pisin language he asked. “Stapim ka, mi laik kisim wanpela sak bilong mi.” I assumed he meant some type of basket, but I was wrong, very wrong. I stopped and let him out, and I could not see where he went, as he went into the bush. A minute or two later he returns with a SHARK! It was not a sak he was going to get; it was a shark! He was trying to say the English word, and I thought he using the village language, when he first told me what he needed to get. The shark was a black-tip reef shark. The man, who caught it, caught it standing of the beach with a fishing line wrapped around his hand. The villagers do not have “fishing poles.” They just wrap the fishing line around their hand, a bottle, or a small plastic device designed for it. The man was simply throwing his line into the ocean from the beach when he caught the shark. Our waters are very plentiful so there are many sharks in the waters.
The shark of course was dead. He had gutted it, and then cooked it whole in the ground. They call this a “mumu.” When they cook here, almost all of their cooking is done in this “mumu” style. They dig a hole; light a fire, then put big rocks on top of the fire, many big rocks (rocks about the size of a softball). They then wrap the food in banana leaves and place it on top of the rocks and then put more rocks on top of the food. A few hours later the food is ready to eat, and it is cooked thoroughly. This shark was going to be the family dinner that night. Since there is no electricity, thus no freezers, everything will be eaten in one sitting with others in the village.
Every week brings something different here. I never know what to expect next.
(The picture is of Levi trying to “help” Heather with her school work.)
The last Sunday, I had an interesting event occur. I was dropping off a family at the end of the village. The man asked me to stop at certain location so he could get a “sak.” In the tok pisin language he asked. “Stapim ka, mi laik kisim wanpela sak bilong mi.” I assumed he meant some type of basket, but I was wrong, very wrong. I stopped and let him out, and I could not see where he went, as he went into the bush. A minute or two later he returns with a SHARK! It was not a sak he was going to get; it was a shark! He was trying to say the English word, and I thought he using the village language, when he first told me what he needed to get. The shark was a black-tip reef shark. The man, who caught it, caught it standing of the beach with a fishing line wrapped around his hand. The villagers do not have “fishing poles.” They just wrap the fishing line around their hand, a bottle, or a small plastic device designed for it. The man was simply throwing his line into the ocean from the beach when he caught the shark. Our waters are very plentiful so there are many sharks in the waters.
The shark of course was dead. He had gutted it, and then cooked it whole in the ground. They call this a “mumu.” When they cook here, almost all of their cooking is done in this “mumu” style. They dig a hole; light a fire, then put big rocks on top of the fire, many big rocks (rocks about the size of a softball). They then wrap the food in banana leaves and place it on top of the rocks and then put more rocks on top of the food. A few hours later the food is ready to eat, and it is cooked thoroughly. This shark was going to be the family dinner that night. Since there is no electricity, thus no freezers, everything will be eaten in one sitting with others in the village.
Every week brings something different here. I never know what to expect next.
(The picture is of Levi trying to “help” Heather with her school work.)
3 comments:
Awesome news about the youth making a profession of faith. God is so awesome and so good. The shark cooked in that way actually sounds very good, have you eaten shark cooked that way?
Love in Christ,
Cindy
Cindy,
No, I have not eaten shark yet, but I will. As soon as I have some spare time I am going to try and catch one. I have had my encounters with sharks in the ocean while fishing here though. The villagers say shark is good to eat. Usually when I fish here, I am going for Tuna or Mackrel (sp?).
On the west coast of our island the men our known for "shark calling.” They "call" the sharks in and then put a rope around them and bring them to shore. They do this from their own canoe (dug out log). People come from all over to watch them.
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