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| Hazel and Chester in the Elseng village. |
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By Debbie Burgett - 2009.07.07
"What on earth have we gotten ourselves into?" the new missionaries began to wonder. The tribal people were thinking the same thing. The Flaugher family's nine-day "get acquainted" visit to the Elseng village in Indonesia was not going exactly as planned.
First, their intention to sleep in a tent was quickly nixed by the tribal people. Too dangerous. At ground level, pigs might wreck the tent and hurt the missionaries. The solution? Borrow a house on stilts from a villager who was away.
That plan excited the two young Flaugher children. It would be like sleeping in a tree house!
But the stilts were obviously not high enough. As the missionaries tried to set up housekeeping, rain came swooshing in, bringing sloppy pools of mud. The Flaughers grabbed their bedding and escaped clumsily up a narrow pole to sleep in the loft.
But the weak, rotten, sagging upper floor, combined with the constant creaking and swaying -- as if the house might collapse beneath them at any moment -- gave the family little comfort. The excited children were now terrified and huddled against their tired, wet parents, crying loudly.
But even more unnerving was the tribal man who suddenly climbed up their pole and shined a flashlight in their faces. He announced that the children's crying was unsettling the pigs and that the big evil pig might even come and attack them because of it.
He also informed them that their visit had disturbed the whole land, confused the weather and caused the rainstorm. His parting suggestion was that they go see the witchdoctor tomorrow for some helpful "words" on the situation.
While they graciously declined visiting with the local witchdoctor, the following day proved much more encouraging.
The Elseng man next door loaned them his slightly less leaky and rickety house. Now they could keep their food in the house they had just left, which would solve another developing problem.
It seems that no matter how well the food is stored, all the dogs and rats in the area simply let themselves in day or night and help themselves to anything even remotely edible -- including dirty dishes. The Flaughers weren't completely comfortable with such "chummy" animals and gladly allowed the kitchen to be separate.
Other issues the family had to learn to deal with involved getting water and keeping clean. With no river in the area, water had to be taken from less-than-hygienic watering holes outside the village. But this meant quite a trek to get there and then haul it back.
And no matter how many times they bathed in a dirty watering hole, the slippery, muddy hike back home quickly cured any cleanliness they may have accidentally caught. But somehow, that was one thing the Flaugher children didn't seem to mind at all!
The nine-day, eye-opening adventure drew swiftly to a close. But despite the unforeseen education on both sides, no one's mind had been changed. The new missionaries still wanted to come live there and the tribal people still welcomed them.
So Jesus Christ will soon be introduced to the Elseng villagers of Indonesia. And His visit will change their lives forever. |
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