By Diane Miller

One of the things that always impress me about Papua New Guineans is their resourcefulness—especially the many ways they find to use jungle materials. As I wrote this I was thinking particularly about their uses of bamboo.  My thoughts were prompted by a lesson in our Elementary 1 materials which mentioned bamboo in relation to cooking.  I have often seen sago stuffed inside a hollow piece of bamboo perhaps along with a few small fish or some beans and thrown into the fire to cook. It can also be used as a container to carry water through the bush or to pack sago one wishes to transport in order to have this staple food available during a stay in town.  Bamboo can also serve as the base for a spear on some other type of pole such as a fishing pole.  It can be used to make furniture or woven together to make the walls of a house.  Its shoots can be eaten.  I love the sound of a bamboo band such as the one pictured above which was made by some of our national co-workers and used in the graduation ceremonies of a translation course they attended in 2010. These are just a few of the ways I have seen bamboo used in Papua New Guinea.

God has provided us with ever so many resources and given us the ability to think of ways they can be used.  I am reminded of how modern technology has been a blessing to modern day missionaries, speeding up the Bible translation process, enabling better communication between missionaries and their families and friends as well as between co-workers in different locations or missionaries and their supporting congregations.  God’s Word in many languages is now being made available on the Internet.  We are sending out Christian songs to villages recorded on memory chips which can be played on their boom boxes.  These are also but a few of the ways modern technology can be used to the glory of our Lord and Savior.  Let’s thank God together for the many resources He provides and seek His guidance for using them to glorify His Holy name.

Diane serves by development of elementary curriculum and assisting in publications.