A native pastor’s wife had her seventh girl tonight

View from Malalo Hill looking south. Can see the isthmus of Salamaua

View from Malalo Hill looking north toward Lae. Busemang village is located on the first peninsula. Buakup is the village seen in the foreground. What looks like a second peninsula is actually the mountains dropping into the lowlands around the Markum river and Lae. Could almost see Lae in this photo.

Photos from the FB page of ELPNG Malaloc Circuit in which I have contributed a number of our photos from the 1960’s

1962 September 19 to Beryl

Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Malalo Mission station to Beryl and Bruce 2314 So 7th Ave S Minneapolis, MN USA

Dear Beryl and Bruce,
Congratulations! I haven’t heard your good news yet, but I’m quite sure it has arrived by now. I am awaiting the details. You never have told me who your doctor is. How much you gained or any of those tidbits. Bruce must have found his calling I’m really glad he enjoyed his sermons so much. Now back to the dull books or does he find school interesting and challenging? How soon will you be going back to work?

A native pastor’s wife had her seventh girl tonight. He didn’t seem unhappy about it at all. Just thankful all was well. There were two other ladies due one month ago and the other two months ago. The others are the ones I told you about. The teachers wife who we practically had to drag to the hospital. She would have died if she hadn’t. The other was our work boy’s wife, who I told about almost bleeding to death. Well! Everything looked OK for our pastor’s wife so I didn’t think it was necessary for her to go to the hospital. Yesterday she came to me and said her baby ‘wasn’t walking around very much inside’. I explained to her the baby seemed OK. Then that evening, her husband came and told me she was having small labor pains and I was wondering if it would be all right if she had trouble, if he could wake me up. I left my lamp burning all night, but no one came. Then in the morning I saw the pastor. He hadn’t shaved and looked so worried and tired. He hadn’t slept since his wife’s pains hadn’t gotten any better. So I kept an eye his wife all day and all seem to go well. Tonight she delivered a nice healthy girl and no laceration and no retained placenta and all is well. Pastor came and thanked me so much. He said my wife kept saying she wanted to go to the hospital, but I told her if Missy, that’s what they call me, say you’re well then you are and you don’t need to go to the hospital unless she says you have to. Did that ever take me down a notch, what do I really know about what might go wrong. But I have been praying for wisdom and it seemed OK. Thank God it was, such confidence really scares me.
By the way you can tell mother that I’m not pregnant and that I’ll tell her before the baby comes if I am. I forgot to add that re-assuring note to my last letter.
How nice to have the Westphal‘s clean your apartment for you. All three of us girls are so lucky to have such swell in-laws. Is Bruce’s mother teaching this year?
Al is off on a tour of all the higher schools, hospitals, Bible schools and seminaries for this district. He is supposed to see what complaints people have and if everyone is doing his job. He will do a thorough job as he knows so much about it. This job was thrown at him in Jabem so he didn’t fully understand what was going on. He thought this was done every year. But come to find out it wasn’t and so people through this young punk had some nerve poking into their business. This included other missionaries and mission stations- he was supposed to inspect. It will be interesting to see what happens when he gets back. It seems like all our work is thrown at us and it’s up to us to figure out what it is all about and how to go about doing it. I guess it’s not hurting us any sense we’d like to be independent. But there is a limit. God’s blessings, forgive the complaint.
Thanks so very much for faithful letters- you’re busy sweetheart. Love Ina.

Below are some of the families and folks that lived at the Malalo station

Gideon from Buakap and his family. He was main teacher at Malalo. His daughter Naomi holding baby, Yanum, Christian, Micheal and Lois. Lois was one of Paula’s playmates at the station. Paula has recently connected with her cousin Andy Maie from Buakup through Facebook.

Jandeng and his family. He was the manager of the entire Malalo circuit. Salamaua pennisula in the background. Everytime Alvin traveled to the south coast of the Malalo circuit they had to go around this 5 mile long pennisula.

Metegameng, our Victor boat captain which means Gospel came. Came from Logui. Reuben to his right. Micheal a playmate in red.

Abolie with Paula, Tom and Kristin

1962 September  27
Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Malalo Mission station to Durward and Estelle Titus Box 224 Route1, Carlos MN USA 

Dear, mom, dad, Willa, Martin, and kids
Well what’s new with the Tonn’s? Did you find a job in Alex Martin? -or another house? How does work go Willa? Can surely understand your anxieties. I always felt the same when starting a new place and I hadn’t been out of it at all. May God strengthen you in separation! (I think the family moved to Alexandria but Martin has not found work there so is still working in Minneapolis)
How is teaching going mom? Thanks for your letters.
The little basket is a polished coconut shell. I haven’t seen it done, but from what the original coconut looks like it is a big job. The seashells came from the water all shiny. The bug that lives in it has a membrane over it while it is alive. After it dies or leaves the shell and the membrane wears off then they get dull and limey. The bug in most of them are very ugly. Some are good eating though. We made some chowder out of some of them. The natives dip them in boiling water to kill the bug for eating and then the shall loses it’s luster.

Ina mentions carving a polished coconut shell in this letter.

Ina mentions seashells with their organism - a bug as she calls it. Some are edible and some poisonous. The New Guineans generally knew which ones were safe to eat. She bought seashells from them and sent home to her family and friends as gifts.

Al was assigned to visit the hospitals and schools in the Jabem area. He’s been gone for three weeks. So will be glad to have him back on Saturday. He had been informed of the undertaking in Jabem, so didn’t quite understand that it wasn’t a usual affair. He’s had to take church elders from each of the district in the area, about 14. Since it hasn’t been done before, people don’t quite know how to proceed, and he has spent most of the time trying to scrounge for food and transport for all these people, which is no easy task with our boat out of commission. Many of the miles are by sea. But then that’s New Guinea. He should be able to enjoy it anyway.

Tommy seems to be allergic to food! Everything I feed them almost doesn’t agree with him. So now I have him on milk and a food supplement. I get enough milk down him so he isn’t hungry for meals. Then there isn’t such a problem when I’m not letting him have everything. He’s picked up some and gained about 1 1/2 pounds, in the last five weeks after four months of nothing. His stools are pretty good if he hasn’t more than eggs, cheese, and milk. Glad to have gotten to the bottom of it.

How are Claude and Lois taking Bette’s second baby? How will she pay for it? And will Lois take care of them while she works?
You might help Elsie a little and give her some spiritual support with all this about Keith coming back and wanting custody of Larry and Cheryl. as important as it is at Keith gets the kids, I know it will be a trial, Elsie, and pray for wisdom, and helping her see God‘s love.I surely hope that someday Frank to accept God love and forgiveness. That alone can change a man’s heart. While we must condemn him, we must love the sinner.

Paula says Mickey real plain and gets unky Martin for uncle Martin and Bero for Beryl and Bruce is pretty plain, but Willa seems hard yet.
She keeps surprising me with words. Her power of observation seems to be quite acute- often to my dismay. She knows in what order I’ve done some, and becomes quite unhappy if I try to digress. She seems happy and sings her own songs, while playing a cross between Jabem and English tunes – with Paula words.

We love you much and miss you all and pray for God keeping. Love, Ina.

A typical scene on the coast in the Malalo circuit