Role call!

After spending about a week and a half with the same 25 or so people, you get to know them well. Add to that close sleeping quarters, eating every meal together, moving as a group, and sharing a common language and let's just say our 10-day-acquaintance felt like we'd known each other for at least a half a year. The beauty of such a big group is that each person contributes something uniquely different that gives the group its flavor. We decided that we should highlight a trait for each person to give our faithful (4-5) readers a true taste of what it was like to spend some time with the Serui-Crewi. We'd also like to extend our group's stardom beyond the standard photo-shoots and handshakes to official celebrity titles. So introducing, for the first time in public, we have....

Larry "The Rock" Jones: if you’re imagining Stone Cold Steve Austin, the WWE champion wrestler, you are…a little off. Now, if you were thinking of something solid that acts as an anchor, you’re right on target. The whole trip, Mr. Jones centered our group on the whole reason for our being there: the dedication of God’s Word and the glorification of our Savior! He also made it a point for us to come together at the end of the day or at meals to fellowship, read scripture, and share stories of how we were being challenged or how we were growing. This made everything flow a lot more smoothly the whole trip, as everyone was moving from a similar foundation. Naming him “the rock” proved to be an incredibly fitting name especially after we all learned more about the translation process. Through the nearly 30 years of the hard work, Mr. Jones kept his priorities rock-solid.

Linda "Camper of the Week" Jones: when I used to work at summer camp, we would give weekly awards to the kids at the end of the week. You had the usual “helps clean up at meals”, “memorizes scripture well”, “learned how to swim”, etc. However, every once in a while, there was a camper who couldn’t be pinned down with a single title or accomplishment. These campers were constantly helpful, loved the devotional times, were leaders by example, and enriched the quality of the group through their general sweetness. For these special few, we reserved the award Camper of the Week (or C.O.W., for those of you privy to camp-counselor-speak). Mrs. Jones was practically glowing the whole trip, relishing in God’s goodness over the past 30 years and His faithfulness still today. I’ve never been more pleased, nor has it ever been more fitting, to call someone a C.O.W!

Nathan "Showin' a Little Leg" Jones: before you begin thinking I'm accusing Nathan Jones of immodesty, let me explain. Yes, I'll admit he does have a lot of leg to show off if he so chose. What I am referring to, however, are his dancing skills and his skirt-wearing. The gift Nathan received as his initiation to the clan was a hand-woven Papuan skirt, which he proudly wore. Just as happily as Charity took a bowl of water being dumped on her, Nathan rose to the challenge of wearing a skirt all day and didn't bat an eye. Immediately after tying the skirt around his waist, the men started dancing and cheering. Again taking everything in stride, Nathan joined. He certainly was "showing a little leg" muscle when he jumped higher than anybody else in the parade line and was already a head taller than everyone else, too. It was quite a sight and the joy on the Papuans faces when he was joining in their celebration was priceless. Needless to say, he put his long legs to good use!

Charity "Newest and Wettest Member of the Pi Clan" Jones: one tradition that we were all introduced to on this trip is how the women of the Pi clan welcome members. In this area of Papua, members of a clan are expected to marry members of another specific clan. The counterpart for the clan that Nathan was inducted into is the Pi clan. After our long and very wet hike up the mountain, Charity had finally arrived in the village and changed into a nice, DRY shirt to try to maintain an acceptable/tolerable level of freshness (on an unrelated note, we later found out that, for all of us, it took more than a t-shirt change to smell fresh in a mountain village). As Charity was walking back in to join the rest of the group, sporting a dry t-shirt, women of the Pi clan approached her holding a bowl of water. Charity was hoping with all her might that it was for her hands or feet, but guessing that it was probably as it seemed: a full-body baptism into their clan...starting at a very soaked head of hair, making its way down past the dry t-shirt, to the already-wet shoes. Welcome to the family! Like a true Jones, though, she took it like a champ and felt honored to be welcomed in.

Caleb “Who?” Jones: oh yeah…there’s a third Jones kid. During the first dedication, the whole ceremony they kept referencing both Nathan and Charis Jones again and again. Every once in a while they would even reference Charity. All of us listening in the audience kept thinking we had just misheard or hadn’t heard when they talked about Caleb. By the end of the speech, however, it had become clear that we had been listening closely and the master of ceremonies had actually forgotten Caleb! We later found out that the people running the ceremony didn’t know the Jones’ as well as everyone else in the village, so instead of simply forgetting him, they actually didn’t know he existed. Is that better? As the week went on, we began to realize that had the master of ceremonies ever met Caleb, they couldn’t have forgotten him. He was super fun to hang out with, always had a good attitude, and is very easy-going. A great addition to the group and NOT forgettable, don’t worry!

Charis "Golden Heart" Jones: following in her mother’s footsteps, Charis is an all-around incredible young lady. I hadn’t spent an extended amount of time with her since we were about twelve years old. Back then, the more important things in life were wrapped up in beating Donkey Kong levels on our Super Nintendo and jumping off the couch into beanbags. That was about ten years ago and her passions have shifted quite a bit! It was such a cool experience being able to team up together in the clinic (along with the 6-7 other volunteers and Dr. Teubl) to tackle physical ailments instead of videogame bosses. And, actually, I think working at the clinic was more fun. I loved seeing the way Charis glowed while working with these patients. She truly has a deep love for the people of Papua and thrives on serving. Included in the title “golden heart” is her servant’s heart, but also the parallels between Charis’ caring touch and Midas’ golden one. It seemed that every Papuan she was able to care for or pray with went away glowing. I’d gladly serve with her again any day…or, more appropriately, be the Ditty Kong to her Donkey Kong.

Josh " The Golden Retriever": in the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that this title is not original with me. Caleb mentioned that a few in his family jokingly call Josh a golden retriever on occasion because of his constant smile and always-willing-to-help attitude. They mentioned it early in the trip, so we were able to observe him for the remainder and it is, truly, an accurate description. Dogs, in general, are loyal and everybody’s best friend—and golden retrievers are the Cadillac of dogs. Josh could have won a Senior Superlative for just about every category: Nicest, Best Smile, Friendliest, Class Clown, etc. The biggest difference is that golden retrievers strut their stuff all day with their gorgeous golden coats, while Josh was clothed in humility and behind-the-scenes service. Not to mention his remarkable ability to chase a stick and catch Frisbees with his mouth—truly a talented guy!

Ethan "Mercury-Poisoning Jungle Medicine" Johnson: the longer version of this story can be found in the blog entry written about the Clinic Day in the village. The shorter version is that Ethan was incredibly helpful at the clinic—measuring baby’s with a tape measure, helping wet bandanas to sponge off kids with malaria, and taking temperatures. That last item was the trickiest. The only thermometer we had with us was a shake-down mercury thermometer. In a fluke accident, Ethan was shakin’ it down a little too hard, and apparently glass is more fragile than wood. Like true jungle doctors, we acted with what we had and scraped the pieces of mercury through slats in the wood floor of the clinic as our way of containing the hazardous situation. On the bright side, if all the patients who come into the clinic begin complaining of the same symptoms, it can be easily diagnosed as mercury poisoning! But, in all seriousness, having Ethan in the clinic was so great and that tiny little thermometer accident was nothing in comparison to the amount he helped out. His question was always “How can I help?” or “Where would I be the most helpful right now?” All in all, he was a grrrrrr-eat addition to the group!

[Note: for the sake of brevity, we have broken up the list into three separate blog entries. Our hope is that each entry will be “bite-sized” so you are able to appreciate each group member’s fully without being overloaded! Also, thanks to Ethan Johnson for the majority of these pictures!!]