Civilization Strikes Again

Over the years we've been working with the Palawano people a lot of
things have changed. The outside world has come nearer and nearer.
The government has still not put in the long-promised road to this
spot in the 'jungle.' And I put jungle in quotes because when we
moved here, most of the land around us was forest. But over the
course of the years, many outside settlers have moved into this area
among the Palawanos and cleared rice paddies. So now much of the area
looks more like farmland. The Palawanos have also learned how to grow
rice in paddies and many of them now own the requisite water buffalos
to do so. Last night, when Bill and I were walking the airstrip, we
counted four water buffalos grazing along the sides of the strip.
There didn't use to be any. The people have more food now, since you
can harvest a rice paddy three times a year, while their dry rice
fields only yield one harvest a year, which was never enough to last
the whole year through. That's a good thing.

Electricity still has not reached us. But cell phones have. We don't
have good cell phone coverage at our house, but up on the hills
around us, people can send and receive text messages. But how do you
charge a cell phone when there is no electricity? Simple, take it to
the missionary's house. We often have one or two of the peoples'
phones plugged into our outlets, charging from our solar panel/
battery system.

There are lots of little stores now, out of different people's homes.
It is easier for the Palawanos to get the things they need or want.
That's a good thing. But after shopping, both adults and kids often
just drop their candy and cookie and snack wrappers anywhere on the
ground or along the trails. We didn't have a litter problem here before.

And the government finally got a school going in here, after years
and years of the Palawanos requesting it. Which is a good thing. The
Palawanos want to learn, they don't like being taken advantage of in
their ignorance. But---the school has its downside too. The teachers
are not Palawanos, and they are bringing in things in from the
outside world that are contrary to the Palawanos' customs and
culture. Traditionally, Palawanos are peace-loving and modest. The
current teacher has a TV and video player. Every night she shows
Tagalog movies -- think violent action films and over-dramatic love
stories -- for a small fee to any one who wants to come. And lots of
people do. And now she has instituted a Friday night dance. Last
Friday the Christian Palawano girls didn't go, but one can't help but
wonder if they will continue to stay away from the fun. The church
leaders are very concerned about the influence of the movies and
dances on the young peoples' morals.

Speaking of TVs and videos, not just the teacher, but a number of
Palawanos and the non-Palawano settlers have those too. They aren't
hooked up to satellite, but can watch and show movies, too. The
machines run on batteries, and a few people have small generators to
charge those batteries. Where before, people used to sit around the
fire at night and tell stories, now they hike over to one of those
houses with a TV and watch Tagalog movies. We are seeing kids play at
fighting, karate kicking and punching at each other. That is
something they never used to do.

These changes are inevitable. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are
neutral. We can't stop progress. We can't hold on to the past and
make the future go away. Ecclesiastes says, "Don't long for the 'good
old days.' This is not wise." (7:10) But there are good things that
don't change. We are in the process of translating 1 Peter right now.
It says, "For you have been born again, but not to a life that will
quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from
the eternal, living word of God. . . the word of the Lord remains
forever." (1:23-24) Our new life in Christ, and the word of God will
last forever. That is our hope for ourselves and for the people here.
That's why we are here, to put this Word of God into the Palawano
language.