Your Story Hour– From Radio Advent Papua

Our Story Producer – Pastor Steven Rumbiak

“Mom!  Dad!   Gather around its time for Your Story Hour.”    Perhaps, like me, you grew up hearing those words on cassette or radio and still enjoy those stories today.  Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue and latter Uncle Larry and Aunt Carol made a huge impact on me.

In Papua the people enjoy stories a lot but until now no stories have been created for Radio or MP3 players.   Last year my former employer, Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, donated a nice size financial gift that has allowed us to pay a script writer and get some nice recording equipment.   We finally have much of the old Testament written in story form for actors to begin practicing.   We have a few volunteers helping with recording and editing.

This past Tuesday the actors came. . . and we went through a couple of rehearsals for the first story (Adam and Eve and Creation).   The Actors laughed and cried as they realized that this was the way to make the Bible come to life for thousands of Papuans.   We’re still in Post Editing on the first stories but they will be back each Tuesday afternoon for more recording.

The eventual goal is to sell CD’s, hand crank MP3 players and put on radio stations Your Story Hour type Bible Stories.   Pray that as we produce these stories that God’s Spirit will speak through us with His incredible life changing power.  Pray that we will be able to distribute them widely and that children will grow up knowing God’s word as a result.  Pray that they and their parents will find a Saving relationship with Jesus Christ through this and many other Radio Advent Papua ministries.

Me demonstrating how to use the portable digital recorder on a monopod so we can go mobile to sites around Papua to produce stories and radio programs all over Papua in many of the 245 languages spoken here.

Listening to the recorded but un-edited version of the first story (The Creation Story).

Strip Sea Kayak

Ruth has written a few times about Aubrey and my project to build a sea Kayak.   Here is the earliest post that I could find with a mention of the Kayak in it. from the first days we starting planning it back in May, 2012.   Then there was the skeleton that everything is built on and finally one from 10 months ago

First, one has to get a picture of the odds of building a double sea kayak from scratch.   We started by reading a great book about the subject.   Then we modified a plan for a single kayak and made it a double kayak.   Ours is 20 feet 4 inches long and will have plenty of space for a dry hatch or two and some room for two passengers.   We will have a rudder in the rear and we will design our own paddles.   But that’s not all.   You can’t just run to Home Depot or Lowes and buy the pre-finished wood from off the shelf.   You have to go the the saw mill and pick through piles of wood to make sure that your pieces are somewhat the right grain and the right weight and the fewest knot holes and the straightest.   Then you have to take it home and let it dry because it’s usually freshly cut.   So after 4 to 6 weeks of drying its good enough to finally run through a thickness planner a few times to knock off the high points of the board that has been cut by a rough saw.   Then you cut the board into tiny strips about 1/2 thick to begin with.   Then you run those through the thickness planner again until they are about 3/8ths or less in thickness.   Then we chose to put a cove and bead edge on the small side of the 2 cm wide strips of wood.   All of that was proceeded by about 25 hours of drawing, cutting and shaping forms for putting those strips on.   Before we put the first strip on the Kayak we had nearly 45 hours into the project.  

Keep in mind that I travel about 100 days+ per year and I only work on Sunday’s and for an hour or two during the weeks that I’m not traveling and when Aubrey is not overwhelmed with homework at Hillcrest International school.   So I’m not feeling to bad when the 80 pieces of wood that have been glued and stapled or nailed onto the frame have taken us more than a year to get to the half way point.   But from others experience the first half takes more than the second half to strip because you’ve learned a lot by that point.   The average strip built single Kayak takes 300+ hours for a first timer like us and about 150+ hours for the second time around.   Is it a wonder that I’ve heard them being sold for as high as $11,000 for one in Europe? 

 

The first half completed.   After the second half is completed with the cockpits we will take the boat off the skeleton and sand and plan and fill any small holes then fiberglass it.

The Bottom side currently before a good sanding.

We’re expecting!

We are expecting!    Yikes!   I’m 41 and Ruth is too! Can we handle this?  Will we be able to tolerate those late night feedings and crying babies.   Yes you heard right – Babies!!!!!!   The cool thing is we know our babies will all be blonds.  And likely we will finally get our girl.  Is it possible to be missionaries and have this many babies around?   What if things go wrong in the delivery of these babies? and their mother? and what about my wife who will have to care so much for these babies?  How will I handle this as a father?   Will we be able to afford all the new mouths and their doctor visits and and and. . . . Have Mercy!!!!!

The good news is these babies are not human.   Our female Golden Retriever -  Princess – is having puppies soon.    And the proud father is our very own – Heir Buddy!   Buddy has not always been the most faithful of fathers and happens to have had a planned adulterous relationship with another good looking golden retriever who provided a “pay off” for his error of 1 of his offspring.   He had 7 puppies and 1 stillborn from this planned illicit relationship – aka.  studding service.

Buddy’s child, from this “relationship”, came for a paternal rights home visit.   Buddy was very proud of his son.  Clearly, Princess was not impressed and finally made it very clear that the new owners had to come quickly or else she was going to jealously take things into her own paws.   We don’t know the due date exactly but it should be this week or next so stand by for news.

Princess our expectant mother.

She loves digging nesting holes all over the yard.

Buddy’s offspring meets his step mother – Princess was not impressed and kept up a low growl for a while.

Buddy kept an ever watchful eye on his son while Princess looks on jealously.

Black Berry Cobbler Anyone?

We’ve been in the USA on furlough, thus the 2 month break from blogging.   While at my parents home my sister, Darla, posted on Facebook that she had put up some Black Berries.   I commented on her post that I’d like a Black-Berry Cobbler – since we don’t get those in Papua.   She obliged and made a wonderful black-berry cobber.   But as I type this I’m salivating for yet another but I’ll have to settle for a Mango smoothie since I’m back in Papua now.   As the story of the Black-berry cobbler was shared with me I became amazed.

 

My nephew, David has worked hard to make a difference for his missionary uncle – Me!   This spring I noticed that Facebook had a post for $5 blackberry plants.   Then I learned that he was inspiring his siblings and Sabbath School class and together they collected over $515 to help missions in a little village you’ve heard me mention before – Ndugu-Ndugu.   They heard me mention that there are very few School supplies in the jungle school there.   When the General Conference informed me that a donation had come for school supplies for Ndugu-Ndugu I had to smile and think of all the black-berry cobblers that some will enjoy in the future because they bought torn-less black-berry bushes from my nephew.   And I had to smile as I thought of all the children who will smile when I am able to deliver school supplies in their village this coming October when I’ll fly to see them all because of some black-berry bushes sold for missions.  The blessings are many when we give.   Thanks David for working so hard to bless the children in the jungle school of Ndugu-Ndugu.