Travis and Nikki Ray: The Gimi Tribe

Some of you may be aware of the prayer request we had about going into the Gimi tribe this month. Well things fell into place for us to go and so Oct. 3rd we flew in by Helicopter. This was an experience for me (Nikki) because as much as I don't like to fly, I really enjoyed the helicopter ride! It only took us 15 minutes to arrive. I hear that if the roads are dry enough, you can go by car but it takes 5 hours to get there. It was pretty cool to see all the people coming up the mountain to greet us when the helicopter landed. After getting unpacked and settled in to our tribal guest house we went out to story with the Gimi people. They were so excited to see us and could not figure out if I was Travis' daughter or not, ha ha. Lynne the missionary to the Gimi had to tell them that I was his wife and they all laughed. I have to say that this trip was very good and very challenging! I want to start off with the good things I experienced. I met 3 really neat Christian girls about my girls ages and these girls were so funny with staring at me and touching my skin and hair and telling me my skin was soft and my hair too! Lynne the missionary to the Gimi had taught them to play UNO and so one day I asked her if I could play it with the kids, well after that day everyday became UNO day and all the kids in the village would come up and watch us play. Another day I took some little animals and dinosaurs outside and layed them out and then asked the kids to point to the animal and I would give them the English name for it. This became a great way for me to work on my Pisin as well, so we were all learning. Travis enjoyed his time as well with different guys who took him around the mountain. So now to the challenging time of my Gimi trip. Many thoughts went through my head while I was there and I hope to share them in a very real way that I experienced them. Some of this may sound harsh and disappointing as I say it, but this is how I was feeling at the time and I want to be real with you all. I was looking forward to seeing a new area of Papua New Guinea and a tribe with believers. I always heard that when you go into a tribe with believers you can see such a difference in the way they think and treat you. Well, this was my expectation going in. I knew the living conditions would be rougher than I have experienced here at Interface so I was ready for that but I was not ready for seeing some of the believers the way I did. At first I thought wow these people are different, they are more friendly and reach out to you more than our village up from us, and then after spending a few more days with them I noticed similar behaviors in them. This culture here is one of manipulation and deception. We are dealing with an animistic culture and this is how they operate. Actually when you think about it, sin is the same way even acted out in our culture. Well, after awhile I became uneasy with them and started seeing through the "acts of kindness" when more and more "askings" came and though I felt like I was giving and giving things to them it didn't seem like enough to some. I was already burnt out by the people in our village because of all the steeling that they had done to us; taking not only Travis' shoes but coming back for mine and the girls. Now, all of our good shoes were gone never to be seen again and then they stole Trav's bush knife. I was ready to see a change in these believers in Gimi but I felt the same with them. After spending a nice evening with them eating food and fellowshiping, Travis and I would go back home talk about our time with them and the next morning would come and I would hear something they would say that would be upsetting or one lady would come ask me for stuff all the time and even when I would give things like my soap, a scrub brush, towels, sweat pants, skirts, shirts, etc. she would still ask me for money. I was wore out and told Travis I was done with these people. I know this sounds harsh but I felt used. I felt that they really didn't care if we were there to share our testimonies with them and love them, that they were just interested in getting stuff from us. I remember sitting and crying to Travis and telling him that I just didn't have it in me to Love these people. Then it hit me! It Had To Be God!!!!! I don't have it in me and no one does for that matter, it had to be God that died on the cross because none of us would for people who spit and hurl insults, manipulate and deceive you. It gave me a new appreciation for what God did for me and you because it has to be His love in me to Love these people the way He would Love them. The other thing God taught me was that even believers have the flesh and can choose to operate in it, me included! This culture is tough to live in and I think I see sin more blatantly here where it's just out in the open then when we were back in the States. Cultures play a huge part in the way we see things but God's Word shows us Truth and this is where we need to operate. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go with Lynne White into the Gimi tribe even though my expectations were different. God spoke to me there and I was grateful for it. Thanks for all who prayed in this decision for us to go in and the finances for it.
Below are some of our pics from the Gimi tribe.