Papua New Guinea

I'm pretty lousy at geography and don't have an urge to travel to other lands - I feel uncomfortable if I'm not familiar with the cultural expections - afraid I will come off as ignorant or insensitive.

I don't know anything about this country - didn't even realise is was so close to Australia!

But here is a little bit I have been able to learn from the WDOP site and the CIA Sourcebook.

At one point a colony of Australia with independence in 1975.

Life expectancy is 66 years. Most people work as farmers and unemployment can be as high as 80 % in the urban areas. 63% of men over 15 can read, 50% of women. Close to 6 million people live here - between cell phone and fixed lined phones there is a total of 360,000 phones. More than 800 languages are spoken!

From the WDOP website (USA)

PNG's Babies and young children who are dying at high rates leaving communities to struggle with the cause of all these deaths.

Violence against women, a longtime issue, is now being challenged by women in order to meaningfully live and take care of their children.

Oil companies and corporations reaping benefits from Papua New Guinea’s natural resources while continuing to exploit the land and its people.

Environmental degradation and climate change impacting Papua New Guinea’s islands which will soon force indigenous people to move from one island to another seeking safer ground.

There's lots to pray about and as my roots are British and I'm Canadian I recognise the problems history has shown when one culture is held subservient to another, this is a good reminder of not just politics but how we treat all those we come in contact with especially in our individualistic North American mindset. Here is another Canadian link: the little girl in the photo was born in Papua New Guinea and was there until she was three.

She served in the Canadian Forces and was killed in Afghanistan in 2006. Captain Nichola Goddard was honoured by her family through raising money to provide solar powered lighting to health centres ( a project of the University of Calgary).

So we are all interconnected though people seem so far away and so different from our own culture.

Here are some other photos that just show how beautiful the land and the people are:

This boy is surfing on a surfboard donated to him. Surfing is popular and usually they use their own form of boards - not the fancy fabricated ones we buy.

As for the photos, I only try to grab photos that are on sites that are using the photos for public interest or to sell things (newspapers, tourism, Oxfam). I don't like using other people's work but in these cases I am trying to honour the artists by showcasing the moments they have captured and used in wide distribution.

WDOP

World Day of Prayer is a day set aside by churches all over the world to come together to learn about a country and the issues that the vulnerable in that country face. The women of the country chosen write the service that all churches holding this event will use and it includes short statements representing the hardships and prayers of those people.

Each area has a host church which gathers together other churches to join in planning this event. There is a leaders resource book which tells about the country, suggestions for a festival day to teach others about the country and even recipes to make from that country.

Sadly, this is one of the biggest wastes of my time so far this year (hey, we are only in January). I went to our local meeting where the information was handed out and upon announcing the country that is being represented we immediately went straight to the service details - and decided who would do which of the speaking parts. That being settled we finished our cups of tea and cookies, picked our next meeting date and went home.

No prayer. No discussion about the country (we can read that at home I guess), no discussion about how to advertise this (why bother, our churches already know about it) and certainly nothing as labourious as planning to serve a few dishes from the recipes.

This is one example of how church becomes irrelevant. The task at hand is far more important then the reason for it. The women who come together for this event have done it for years and they take pride in continuing to take part though the younger people don't seem interested. They are doing what they have always done and getting the job done is the goal. Even within the team there is a lack of nurture - we stated our names and which church we are from and that was the extent of actually being in fellowship.

There was a lament last year that younger people don't seem to be interested. By younger we are talking about someone under 40 - I was the youngest there. I'm a bit stuck. I would encourage others to join in this event but honestly I don't want to set the bar so low. The amount of time we are puttng into this event as a group effort is less then when I plan a service for worship on a Sunday.

But on the other hand, this is a tradition that has meaning to the women who come out. They remember the old days where there work was vital to the community - the bake sales to raise money were well attended, funding for overseas missions often came from their efforts. That the world has changed isn't on their radar except to see that not as many people go to church. I don't think that it would occur to them that this is our responsibility to correct.

So I sat in this church, which put effort into fixing up their lounge - I felt like I was sitting in some grandmothers living room, nodding politely but feeling that if I could get out of doing this I would. I'm going to plant a seed at the next meeting and ask if this is a community event.

I need Jesus....

The image above is taken from icanhascheezburger.com which is a whole whack of pictures of cats with funny slogans. Yes, evangelists sometimes come off as crazy as a cat talking about Ceiling Cat!

The other day I came out to my car and there was a little yellow sticky note attached to my door that says "You need Jesus". This disturbed me, because frankly I wondered what I had done to compel someone to tell me this. Did I cut someone off in traffic, did I bring too many items into the 1-8 cashier? What exactly had I done to some stranger that they felt the need to tell me this.

I surreptiously looked around and was relieved to see that apparently everyone in the parking lot needs Jesus.

What a waste of time. Slapping yellow stickies everywhere with the offensive "You" rather than "We" or "Everybody". I think someone needs a hobby!

Um, dangers of self examination.

Sometimes a picture just says too much. I was looking for a picture to depict self examination and had no idea that you could mail order your own kit with mirror, flashlight and speculum to observe the status of your own insides.

The dangers of self examination is a topic that has been on my mind lately. And the discomforting picture really expresses how I am feeling about the whole thing. Sometimes I don't want to look at myself and having someone else do it under a bright light isn't necessarily and more comfortable.

I have been given lots of advice lately and having gone through a stage where I assume that everything I perceive is narrow and self serving have often taken advice that didn't feel right with assumption that its just like taking a shot of Buckley's. However, I'm more balanced now and am starting to see that not every impulse I have is wrong and that there is a lot of self serving advice going on out there. Not that it isn't good advice, its just not good for me in my own context. Somehow there is a boundary between advice that is good for you because it reveals a blind spot and advice that is not good for you because it is a product of the other person's blind spot. Knowing the difference is the issue.

I'm also learning to be slow with advice and ask lots of questions to lead people to figure out what works for them.

So, I have come to terms with advice. I can take it or leave it. I know that a three year journey to arrive at this determination isn't much bang for the buck. But I think that its going to let me sleep a lot better at night.

I've been away...

I'm not creative, much. But I some some photos and blog from some friends and I was moved to put a few words onto my blog. Part of me thinks no one reads these things and part of me thinks even if they do what is the point? I'm a bit old for blogging and still a bit self conscious about it I guess.

Anyhow, I have been away and as I guessed before signing on since November. I have been going through a stage or mood where I have been very reflective and just thinking a lot. Its been nice but it has also meant that I had to remove myself from people and places for awhile.

I think my biggest revelation is that while I journey with others and learn from them I need to know when to stand my own ground and consider myself has having some insight. There is a balance between not needing anyone else's opinion, being blind to others perspectives and learning from others. I've made great strides in this and was able to walk away from an ambush by a fellow student realizing that almost everything she said was much more revealing about her than having anything to do with me. Which was surprising as I had really connected with this person.

I've been reading War and Peace and have found it fascinating as it is really a reflective book which mirrors some of my own thoughts. Some of the characters keep seeking heroism, enlightenment, meaning and once journeying the path realise that its not to be obtained. I think that ultimately the characters will realise that these things come from within by being rather than doing but that seems like a trite obvious revelation.