Final Update- (a.k.a. "Home Again Home Again")

Hey there!!

Really quick, business first: I will not check
my mail again after sending this- I leave early tomorrow
(Sunday) for Port Moresby, and then Monday I'm off to the
U.S.! So please revert to using my usual email address if
you'd like to respond to this note, or for whatever.
(angelaxid@gmail.com) Thank you!

Quick- take a guess what I'm gonna do when I get home:

A. Break out my cell phone as soon as we touch down in
L.A.
B. Take a shower that doesn't involve a bucket.
C. Wear shorts without thinking I'm being indecent for
showing my knees.
D. Drive my car for like an hour.
E. Listen to music while driving my car for like an hour.
F. ALL OF THE ABOVE.

(the answer is below)

Things are winding down at Interface. I am packed, and my
bags are within the allowed weight (I don't know
how-that's a miracle). I wanted to thank you for writing
me while I've been away from home. It may be silly, but
the letters (emails) really really were encouraging, and
helped keep off the homesickness at times. During my very
last class today, we talked about the role of the
"Sender". YOU were my sender, and I thank you so much for
your prayers and encouragement.

I went on a "sidetrip" to the Pawaia tribe Feb. 16-20, and
that experience was definitely the highlite of my trip!
First off, it's beautiful- way more tropical, with a river
below the village that you can hear rushing constantly.
Jack and Isa Douglas are the missionaries who've served
there for 33 years, and their story is just so inspiring-
I hope to tell you more! Then, the PEOPLE- were so
friendly, and just excited that we were there! It was
really eye-opening to hear some of their testimonies, join
them in worship, and know that even if we can't understand
everything each other is saying, we are worshiping the
same True God. I spent the night in the home of a
believing family, played with the kids, and even bathed in
the river. There is so much more to this- but it's just
too long for an email right now! For those of you in
Orlando, I have a dvd that has footage from Haia, and I'm
gonna want to show it- several times!

So I'm leaving this country again... I have so loved being
here... Thank you thank you thank you again for helping me
have this experience. I can't wait to share more about it
at home!

I ask you to consider missions. Consider your role,
either current or future. The staff here did an excellent
job of equipping us to share back home, and I would love
to do just that with all of you.

Lukim yu behain! (see you later)

Emily.

P.S. The answer to today's quiz is F!! I will be doing ALL
OF THE ABOVE!! WOOHOO!!

My thoughts on Superbowl XL... (PNG update #3)

THE SEAHAWKS WERE ROBBED!!!

I remember... 10 years ago, watching Superbowl 30, over at
my boyfriend's place, with some other people, doing the 18
year old thing. If you'd told me then that 10 years later
I'd watch Superbowl 40 in Papua New Guinea while on a
short-term missions trip, I never would have believed you!

Yes Folks- a missionary in Port Moresby taped the game and
DSL-ed it to Interface, and we had "Superbowl Saturday"
yesterday! Now, mind you, the version we saw was minus
all the fun American commercials and the halftime show- oh
yeah- and the second quarter was unusually fast- it went
from 10 minutes down to 2 minutes in like 15 seconds (we
have to suffer a little :) )!But I got some good football
time in, and ate a lot of good food too.

Again this past week, the message driven home was "Nothing
is beyond God". I want to sort of quote from a movie we
saw called "The Cross and The Cresent"- I'm taking the
liberty of generalizing it to all people though.

"It has been said that The World is difficult to reach- or
even impossible. However, nothing is impossible to God.
If you want to share the Gospel with someone, you need to
believe that the power of the Gospel is greater than the
powers of this World, and not be afraid by the
difficulties you will face. We as humans can reach the
ears, but the Holy Spirit will bring the message down to
the hearts. We can water, take care and cultivate. But
as the Bible says- GOD does the growing. That's so
important for us to know! The burden is NOT on our
shoulders- but is on the Cross- it's on the shoulders of
Jesus Christ, who DIED for these souls. We must be
vessels- hands and feet and mouths of God to deliver the
Message as accurately and as faithfully as we can."

Good stuff, good stuff!

I'm beginning to feel more and more like a kid writing
home from camp, so here's the rest of the week in a
nutshell:

-- Lapilo- New Tribes headquarters for PNG- went there,
saw it, got to see Tom and Karen Bowen again, learned
about support roles in missions, pretty cool!

-- ISLAM- watched the movie I already quoted from, which
I would highly recommend if you wanted to learn more too.
Also heard Sally's testimony of how she was raised
Muslim, and came to know the Lord (staff member here).
This was very interesting for me, and I could talk about
this for a while, so please- if you're interested, let me
know!

-- MUMU- it's a way of cooking food using red hot stones,
banana tree trunks, banana leaves and dirt. You put the
interesting plants, sweet potatoes, lamb flaps (don't
ask...) and chicken in, cover the whole thing with banana
leaves and more dirt, and then insert a bamboo pole to add
water for steam. Pretty cool! I got to eat a whole bunch
of things I can't remember the names to :).

-- Culture study, language study(I had to tell a Bible
story in Pidgin), hike down to the river, learning how to
make a bilum (string bag).

I thank you for your prayer support! God has been so
good, and very faithful. Prayer Requests... Let's see:
1. We are going to Pawaia this week for our side trip, so
for traveling safety while flying to and from the tribe.
2. For continuity in building relationships during the
next 2 weeks.
3. PRAISE- for reduction in homesickness- thanks to you
for writing and helping out with that.
4. It seems that while reviewing translation, another
Bena came to trust in Christ for salvation. So praise
too- for the harvest that comes with true understanding of
God's Word.

I hope you are doing well too- any prayer requests?
Stories? Interesting stuff happening in your life?
Please pass it all on.

Thankful,
Emily.

Greetings Friends and Loved Ones!

A pre-emptive warning- I didn't write last week, so this
will be long!

I have some prayer requests folks, so why don't I start
with those!

1. For the Bena tribe- that's who's right around me here.
The Mission team there saw their first Bena come to
Christ this week. While helping with language
translation, the message just clicked, and he said it
himself- "nothing but the blood of Jesus can save me from
an eternity in Hell". And he trusted, and believed. Pray
for the Fosters, Lees and Averharts, who have given their
lives for the sake of sharing the Gospel with these
people. Pray also for those attending Bible Lessons, that
they would have a good understanding of what they're
hearing. For more info, please visit www.ntm.org, and
browse for the Bena Bena in PNG.

2. For the Moi- a tribe in Indonesia (but heck- they're
on the same island!). This is a very interesting story,
and very very tragic. I don't know the details well
enough, but again, please visit ntm.org for info.

3. For an eruptive situation in the Hewa tribe that
recently caused the missionaries there to be evacuated.
AGAIN- please go to ntm.org for better info.

4. For wise use of the rest of my time here! It's going
by quickly, and I want to do as much as I can! But then
again, I want GOD to have the upper hand in this little
journey.

5. For increased sensitivity to the culture. It's so
bizarre at times, and easy to forget that IT'S OK- that's
how it's done here.

Ok, on with the news!

The very first thing that came to mind when I woke up this
morning was "Nothing is beyond God". I decided, upon
further thought, that this covers 2 different aspects:

1. God is all-powerful. He can do anything- truly
NOTHING is beyond His capability! He is all-strong
(omnipotent)- He can handle anything. There's nothing God
can't do, can't fix, can't solve, can't understand. God
can cover it all!

2. There is nothing that escapes Him. He is all-knowing.
Every single little detail of my life falls within His
gaze. He knows everything that has happened to me. He
knows every situation I've been faced with. He knows
exactly what I long for, and He knows my heart. None of
my joy or pain has been without His knowledge. And He
still knows what is to come for me too.

Just knowing this is so comforting! And here's another
comfort to me while I'm here: no matter what I'm going
thru, what I may be thinking, feeling, etc.- there are
people praying for me, and they're praying for exactly
that. Thank you so much for your prayers.

It's Sunday 2/5/06 here, 3:45 pm. So back home (for those
in Orlando) it's 12:45 am of the same day! I'm winding
down for Sunday, and you haven't even begun your Sunday!
Weird, huh.

Today has been so good! Our worship time was fantastic,
and then our message for today was taught by Dave Watters,
on "A Missionary's Call". It was a good reminder that
NOTHING is about me. It's not about me, my plans, or what
job I want to do to serve the Lord- it's all about God's
will, His goals for the world, and how I can comply with
His plans. A lot of us already know that our plans and
God's plans for us vary frequently... It was really easy
to (again) fall into the trap of wanting to do something
important for God. But I'm learning that He's more
interested in my journey- how I'm coming to know Him
better, how He's working on doing something important in
me.

This afternoon, I got to socialize with a bunch of folks
from Lapilo and the Bena team, and play with Dave's 3
kids, who are soooooooo cute, and lounge around in the
shade, watching a volleyball game. I can't think of a
better way to spend a Sunday, EXCEPT for watching the
SUPERBOWL!!

The last 2 weeks have been crazy. Lots and lots of
classes in the mornings, with village visits and other
activities in the afternoon. We are done with our class
on "presenting the message of the Bible in a clear manner"
(that was a biggie). I've spent lots of time making
vocabulary notecards to help me learn the language, and
then time drilling in the evening (it's doing me very
little good...). Then, we've been learning about how to
effectively communicate about missions back home- how to
best share our experiences and relate to different
audiences. I've gotten to spend some really good time
with several of the staff members too- having dinner in
their homes, and going over just to read, nap, cook, play
games or chat.

Yesterday, we had a VERY thought-provoking message on "Are
the Unsaved Really Lost". I wish ALL of you could have
heard this message! Did you ever read "The Last Battle"
by C.S. Lewis? Even HE had difficulty understanding what
would become of those who have never ever even heard about
Christ, or the God of the Bible. By looking at God's
character though, it's pretty clear... The lost are lost.
There is way more to this, but it's in my notebook, in
the classroom right now... So, PLEASE ask me questions
later when I'm home if you'd like to know more concerning
this.

Also yesterday, I got to visit with Tom and Karen Bowen,
who were part of the team that went to Madang in 2004, and
who now run the guest house at Lapilo. What a treat!

Last Thursday, I went with one of the staff ladies to
visit a lady in one of the villages who'd had a baby the
night before! The little one was about a month premature,
so it was the smallest baby I'd held. I had been worried
because she wasn't feeding well, but got a report
yesterday that a visiting medical team said the baby looks
good, and the mom says she is feeding much better. Praise
God.

My FAVORITE things have been our trip to Goroka this past
Wednesday, and then this really long hike we took on
Friday. In Goroka, we got to go to the Veggie Market
(open air), a museum, a coffee factory, and then do some
shopping in the "downtown" area. The hike was 2 1/2
hours, and it took us around the ITF campus on this ridge,
on partly dirt road, and then partly mud and tall grass,
with some steep climbs, a stream and a mud pit thrown in
for the fun of it. There were some places where we didn't
even know where the trail was in all that grass!! But
man- that was so fun!!

Thank you to those who've kept in touch via email- it is
very encouraging to hear from home, and it REALLY helps me
not be too homesick! Thank you again for your prayers and
support.

Much Love,
Emily.

First Email to Supporters and Friends, from 1/23/06 (sorry so late!)

Dear Supporters and Friends,

OMYGOSH. I really took for granted a few things!

1. travel time- the last trip over here, the travel got
split up. We did the long leg of the journey one day,
relaxed in Sydney, then finished the journey another day.
This time, I went the entire way in about 40 (+/-) hours.

2.FREE BATHS- all that travel sure makes you smell! So 4
of us paid $9 US to take showers at the airport in Seoul,
Korea. And you bet I'll be doing it again coming home!!
Best $9 I ever spent!!

3. On the same line, I think I just took baths/showers in
general for granted!! I have the extreme pleasure of
taking BUCKET showers everyday here. Yes Folks, you fill a
bucket, turn a little spiguit-thingy, and let it rain on
you, etc. etc. It is NO FUN to run out of water when
you're still soapy!!

4. The importance of language, language's role in the
conveyance of the Gospel.- how do you think you're going
to most effectively reach tribal people with the gospel?
By going in and immediately presenting the Gospel in
either English or the trade language? OR by spending time
learning their heart language- the language they think and
dream in- and using that to present the gospel?

There was a lot covered today... Of course there is a
sense of urgency in sharing the gospel, but at what
expense to we hurry, and do things in an unintentionally
detrimental manner? Do we tend to bring in western culture
to the tribal church? Or do we present the message of the
Word within the context of their language and culture, and
allow the indigenous believers to live out their worship
and practice spiritual truths in that same context?

Today, we had a nice big lesson on "syncretism". That is,
the mixing of 2 belief systems, and creating a new belief
with characteristics of both. Once upon a time, There was
a tribe called the "Asiana" in New Britain, New Guinea.
They traditionally worship the Sun, and they believed that
if you drank pig's blood, you would become invisible to
the sun, and the sun could not punish you then.

Well, along came some NTM-ers, and after many years of
learning the culture and language, they began teaching the
Word Chronologically. Lo and behold, a denominational
church came in while the NTM-ers were away on furlough for
a year. They told the tribe that you HAD TO be baptized,
and take communion regularly, and THEN you would please
God, and be a true Christian. They brought in their
western culture, and their western way of thinking, and
the result was sadly syncretic.

This certain church believes that you actually drink
Christ's blood, and eat His body when you take communion.
So the NTM-ers come back, and the tribal people say, "oh,
you don't have to teach us about God anymore- we know the
answer! We have the solution! All we have to do is drink
Jesus' blood, and we can become invisible to God, and we
can do what we want because he can't see us!" This was
their "easy out"- a mix of their pagan beliefs with
"Chistian practice", viewed thru the screen of these
people's culture, and voila- Syncretism.

This was the Lutheran Church- something that hits close to
home for me, because I was raised Lutheran. And to this
day- there are many many Asiana who continue to reject the
truth because of this scenario. "If you do this, or say
that, it'll get you into heaven..."

This is so sad, folks... It certainly heightens my sense
of urgency...

I thank you for helping me get here. My time here has
already surpassed my expectations! The Highlands are just
beautiful- nothing like the last time here. We are on top
of one peak, and we look into a valley, with more hills
and mountains in the distance on all sides. I can't
believe I am so fortunate to have another 5 weeks here! I
really love the staff- they have all been so open and
inviting- they ALL knew me (and the rest of the team) by
name/face when I first arrived. I really like that the
group was small, because it is really allowing for better
relationships to be made. I'm being told email time is
over... I hope to hear from you soon! I love you all, and
miss you!

Your Sister, Emily.

As I Leave...

I’m there already! I have been waiting for “The Exit”, disconnecting from all things safe, and stepping into a familiar, yet foreign place. And I get to on January 16^th!

You know what I envision when someone talks with me about my trip to PNG? I see the airport in Port Moresby. It’s really smelly… but it’s my gateway.

My active participation hasn’t even started yet, but let me tell you- being a part of Interface has been challenging already! If doors were wide open in the beginning, they were swinging shut around October and November. I started to doubt, and started making plans for things I’d rather do.

And God, in true God style, just looked on, and let me do my thing.

Eventually, I heard, “Trust Me…”

That’s never something that comes natural to me though.

Then I heard it again- “You have to trust Me. It’s ok, I am Good. Walk with me…”

I crawled…

So, God came to me. He met me where I was, and showed me how to walk with Him, and put my faith in Him.

I leave for Goroka, Papua New Guinea on January 16, and will return February 28^.

I will gladly welcome emails or letters while away- it’ll definitely help me not be homesick.

I thank you, my supporters, for helping me see God’s faithfulness.

So often, many of you have let me know that you have been- and will be- praying for me. I cannot adequately express how much that means- to know that I’m lifted up and covered in prayer, no matter what I may encounter. Thank you for just perpetually showing me your love and support- it is a very moving, humbling experience. Thank you for demonstrating your belief in the fundamental importance of “all the world knowing”.

That is exactly how it should be within The Body.

Please remember me when you look to Heaven. I will remember you.

Interface email address: itf_emily_parbhoo@ntm.org.pg

Please Visit http://www.roamingangel.blogspot.com

For trip updates.

Snail address: (should be used up to Feb.8, due to an increased

amount of travel time for mail)

Emily Parbhoo- INTERFACE

New Tribes Mission

P.O Box 1079

Goroka, E.H.P. 441

Papua New Guinea

Fundraising Update and Some Thoughts

From that little party, $357.00 was raised. My Leaders from Revolution informed me that night too, that Revolution would match what was raised. So grand total straight from God's hand in one night: $714.00. That brings total funds raised to $3634.00!!! How do I not believe at times?? I must be the Queen of fools to continue in my disbelief at times...

You know, God did the same thing last time too. A girl came twice to Revolution. The first night she was there, she heard the four of us talk about the trip. The second night she was there, she donated $1500 towards our fundraising efforts, really rocketing us forward, and giving us much hope to continue. It turned out that SHE had been to PNG to do Interface- how cool is that?? I have never seen her since. I had her phone number, but with time and moves it's disappeared... I do have her address, and did send a letter to her in recent months.

I've never seen or heard from her again.

But that's how God works. She was not meant to be in my life but for a few brief moments... But oh, how the memory of that experience continues on. God worked thru her in a great way in those moments.

And God has worked thru all of you, my current supporters too. Obviously, I needed to be re-shown how faithful He is though I am not.

Now, I am starting to feel homesick. Wait... What the... I'm not even gone yet! I have been sooooo looking forward to "The Exit", it's not even funny. Any given day, if you'd ask me where I'd rather be, I'd say, "in the airport at Port Moresby." Man, that place STINKS!!! But I can see it in my head, and that's where I'd want to be, and I'm going to be there on January 20th. I'd say I can't wait to put my cell phone away for 6 weeks, not worry about work stuff, house stuff, money stuff, guy stuff- for 6 weeks!!! I would say I can't freaking wait for the Big Disconnect from everyone and everything that's dear to me.

But NOW though, I have seen just how supportive my friends are, and the "I miss you" feelings are beginning to surface... Already I can't wait to be back, and the conflict of these 2 thoughts is weird...