Children of Hope... Part 2

NAME: Max (short for Makau, 'ma-cow') AGE: ~10-12

This morning my father and I woke up in our temporary lean-to out in the bush. My mom and dad and myself and my three younger brothers usually stay in one of our houses, either close by our pigs or in the village. But dad is splitting wood for planking on the side of a new house he's making. It's a big job so we're camping out near the work site pretty regularly lately. This morning we woke up with the sun and started our fire to keep warm. Looking forward to our special treat of leftover pig meat from yesterday, we put it (stuffed in bamboo) on the fire and heated it up. After eating I left my dad there. He would later go to another village about a day's hike away. He's the elected local level councilman who is expected to be at a big court meeting. As for myself, I headed down to Mibu for school. Since it was still early, I thought it would be a good time to take the long route and hunt for birds and check our traps along the way.

NAME: Longge (loang-gay) AGE: ~17-18

I left my husband and 3 month old baby girl at home this morning so I could get some food and supplies for the day. We needed some bamboo for water and for cooking and food storage. We also needed some taro and sweet potato as well as some greens to cook with our meals. Our garden is about 1/2 mile away up the mountain so I had to leave early this morning so I could get back before everyone got too hungry. Sometimes we live with my dad and my two moms, as well as 10 of my 11 younger siblings, so it's a lot of food I have to get. After we eat, I'll be joining many of the other women who go up to the water. There, us ladies will wash the pots and pans, the clothes, and also to fill up the water jugs for our families. I'll probably take one, or even a few, of my younger siblings to help me out.

NAMES: from left to right, Lakwan, Kwobe, Sama AGES: ~7-8, ~4-5, ~8-10

We're just coming back from getting some pit-pit from Sama's mom and dad's garden this morning. Her mom asked her to go get some food and we three friends decided to all go together to bring back a bit of food for each of our respective families. Some time after we eat we'll probably play outside with our other young friends where we'll spend the morning kicking and throwing little balls around that we've made out of various materials we've found. We were doing that yesterday and it was so much fun!

NAME: Nines (nee-nace) AGE: 4

Me and my mom live with my maternal grandmother as well as my mom's brother and his wife and my two cousins. My dad died when I was very young, so it's just me and my mom and our family. This morning my mom is leaving me at home with grandma so that she can pick coffee with the rest of the family. She says that's how they get money to second-hand clothes and other things each year. Since it's time for harvesting coffee right now, lots of other parents are leaving their kids in Mibu as well, so I'll bet a lot of my other friends will be here in the village and we can play. Yesterday, my mom had a bunch of other women over at our house to pray for our families and for the community. My mommy asked me to go outside because I was being too loud. Lately, she's been telling me a lot that she's changing the way she raises me. She says that she wants to start training me the way that God wants her to. She says she wants me to learn to think about and follow God's talk.

NAME: Pos (short for Posilongge 'pos-i-loang-gay') AGE: ~9-10

My two brothers and one sister are all younger than me. I'm old enough now that I go with my dad, when I'm not in school, to help him with jobs in the garden, collecting firewood, or other things. Sometimes, when mom or dad can't take me with them, they give me the task of keeping my younger siblings out of trouble. Most of the time though, when it's not time for school, I enjoy playing with my friends. My dad made me a bow and arrow set out of bamboo. My friends all have theirs too, so we go around and shoot at things with them. Every now and then we actually get a bird! We also like to play games when we have marbles, or sometimes we'll play a game where we fling a spinning top made from a coconut shell and see how many seeds we can knock over. Today while I was playing, the tall-white-skin came down and asked if he could take my picture. I said it was alright and then tried to look like I should for a picture. He told me I always look angry and then asked if I know how to smile. I think he got what he wanted eventually though, because he teased me a little bit in front of my friends and I just couldn't help but crack a little smile as we all started to laugh.They're the ones next in line to hear and hopefully respond to the word of God here in Mibu. Investment in their training is where it's at if one wants to leave a Godly legacy behind. With the fairly recent arrival of God's word and teaching in their language, it's power, manifest through changed lives has the potential to powerfully effect these younger ones. As you join us in prayer for both the believing parents here in Mibu and for their children, we thought we'd try to provide a window through which you could take a quick glimpse into the lives of this upcoming generation. Small as this window may be, we hope that these little snap-shots of life might help you connect more with the people you're praying for.