Getting Connected November 19, 2013 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Christiane Weber & Missy Damon with Tim Scott
“My cell phone battery is empty again,” complained Jonah with a smile to the Webers. “I just charged it at the school yesterday, but my daughter used it to watch the Jesus video last night and used up all the power.” Mobile phones can be found in even the most remote areas of Papua New Guinea. Everyone seems to have one—creating plenty of new opportunities for business. Phone-charging vendors spring up anywhere a solar panel and a car battery can be set up. The primary school near Jonah’s home may lack electrical lighting for the classrooms, but it is equipped with a solar array to power the teachers’ computers and printer. For a small fee cell phone owners can also use the unit to charge their phones’ batteries. Cell phones are also creating unexpected opportunities for language developers and Bible translators. In 2005, the JESUS film was dubbed into the Bim Weng language, and in 2008 the Bimin New Testament was completed. At that time, translators Thomas and Christiane Weber couldn’t have foreseen that people like Jonah would be watching the JESUS film on their cell phones. Today the mini-SD cards in mobile phones make an ideal catalyst for circulating the translated material. The JESUS film and the audio version of the Bimin New Testament are easily copied onto the SD cards and inserted into a variety of phones. During a recent visit to Bimin, the Webers distributed 40 such mini-SD cards as well as 230 AudiBibles—solar-powered MP3 players with the spoken Bimin New Testament. Fifty years ago, story-telling was vital to the Bimin way of life. After the sun crept over the horizon, families would assemble around the cooking-fires inside their homes and share local news and stories of old. Now the tradition continues as young and old alike gather together to listen to God’s Word in their own language or watch the JESUS film on their mobile phones. For more information on this release, contact, The PNG Experience, PO BOX 413, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-4431 or Email:
ThePNGexperience@gmail.com or follow the daily blog at www.thepngexperience.wordpress.com. Pictures do not always depict actual event, activities or people. “Yumi Stori” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for “Let’s talk” or “Let’s have a conversation”