Christmas letter.All are very precious people.

Al is known as been “Bingsu”. He tries to visit each of his 60 villages at least once a year. Most of them have to be reached on foot.

1961, December 2 Gurakor, PNG

To Gertrude and Lawrence Rasmussen[1] 112 Jefferson, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA

Dear Gertrude and Lawrence,

All are very precious people. Greetings in the name of him born Lord of the nations. Our hearts go out to you and the lives you are leading. May all of our personal fears, problems and joys and still that people Christian blessings in our hearts. (- type is light and hard to read here)  “That God so love the world… Get it came to seek and save sinners.”

Here we are in the magnificent country where we hope to serve. It will take some getting used too. We are learning to drive all over again, on the wrong side of the road. There is the new task of figuring out “now how much would that be worth in American money?” Here we use pounds, shillings and pence and it best be supported by an Australian accent.

All of this, we are catching on to. The country itself will take awhile longer. We live on a very damp side of the mountain, full of thick jungle with raging small mountain streams. Our whole water supply comes right off the roof.

There are million new insects and plants.

The supply of pineapple, bananas and lemons seem seems endless.

Going South the scenery changes, first rugged grasslands, then land that has been dredged up for gold surrounded by beautiful pine. Next a deep Gorge which opens out into a rich mountain Valley at a place called Wau. All of this is the part of our area we have seen so far. Much more lives over the mountain. Of course, the greatest mystery of this land which will challenge us for many years is at people. To mention them is to mention that which reveals them, their languages. In our district which has 15,000 natives, there are about 9,000 baptized Lutherans, representing at least 10 different local languages. An introduced native language, Jabem (sounds like yabam ) is known by most of the people, and is used in church[2]

The most widely known language of New Guinea is Pidgin English. It is a combination of English and Melanesian. We are also trying to learn Pidgin English. One of our 9,000 has reasonable grasp of it. English is the declared official language.

People here are really quite friendly. Everyone is more than anxious to shake hands with us. This is a very new experience to them. They very artificially grasp our hands and give it one good pump. They too are uninhibitedly curious. Our school girls are looking into our windows at every opportunity. When we drive into a village all the people come crowding up, with some smiling, others just staring as they peer into the car.

Most of the people are at small stature, hair color bearing from light Brown to dark black all with black tight curly hair. Some try to bleach it and it comes out reddish brown. A few of the Christian still there at their marks of hedonism, with holes in their noses and ears. The holes in their ears are large enough to admit 2 or 3 pencils. Most of the people do wear clothes, those are usually very dirty. More than a few of the children run around naked. Only occasionally do we see women walking along the road with only skirts on. Paula is getting used to the people. We have 35 school girls on the station and 3 girls that help with the house and garden. When we first arrived, we shook hands with them all. Paula had to, also. She jabbered to them and waved goodbye as we went into the house, then someone tried to pick her up and was there war. 

It is quite an experience trying to train girls who come from poverty and filth to help in the house, especially when it has to be done in sign language. I asked one girl to bring me some tomato and she pulled the vine. Another time I was trying to teach her how to fold diapers and the rest of the clothes. I found the dish towels, dirty clothes, and Al’s handkerchiefs all folded in triangle like the diaper. They haven’t the slightest idea how to use any of our tool. For even silverware is strange.

Al is known as been “Bingsu”. He has turned carpenter, mechanic, mason,  farmer or “cowboy” as everyone who cares for cows is called. Many hidden talents of necessity are coming to light. He has to look after the 40 boys that are going to school on the station and teach some of the English classes. There are native pastors in this area that he is responsible for comment something like district presidents in the states. He tries to visit each of his 60 villages at least once a year. Most of them have to be reached on foot.

As of yet, our  fat roly, poly 5 month old Tommy laughs and let’s the world go by without concern.

Our predecessors were the first white people in several areas and all but sat in a cannibals pot. However, from our perspective as a Christian Shepherd, we feel our area here may very likely be the most decisive one for the New Guinea church. From what we have seen, we believe the Australians’ are governing this country about as wisely and helpfully as possible.  Yet, what happens when a very tightly knit together Stone Age clan, after turning to Christianity, suddenly is bombarded with the thing of the West. Their young people going to big labor camp pounds, money, trucks, gambling, medical facilities, Catholics, missionaries, education, new amusements, new family relationships. Simply understated, these people are being drastically up rooted. This does not mean it is all to the bad, not by any means. We see it 3 pitfalls for these people; sophisticated hedonism, unenlightened Catholicism or meaningless form of Lutheranism.

A very merry Christmas to you all. In Christ name,

Al Ina, Paula and Tom Erickson

[1] The Rasmussens were an older couple that the Erickson’s met while in Stevens Point, Wisconsin during Alvin’s pastoral internship. They agreed to receive letters and type them, copy them, and mail to a mailing list of people interested and sponsoring the Erickson’s work in New Guinea.

[2] It originated in the Finnschhafen area. Early missionaries in Finnschhafen used Jabem as a common language that spread in the area.

1961 Christmas at Gurokor.

School girls at Guroker

1961, December 28, Gurakor, PNG

To Gertrude and Lawrence Rasmussen, 112 Jefferson, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA

Dear Gertrude and Lawrence,

Thank you so much for sending out our letter. We surely appreciate more than you will ever know. We asked Al’s sister to send you money to cover the cost of it. We haven’t heard if she did or not. If the amount was not enough to cover the cost please let us know. We have no idea how much it might have cost.

We all have been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather as we get letters from Wisconsin and Minnesota telling us of the cold, cold weather and all of the snow. We all have been in very good health. Paula has all kinds of room to roam and she takes advantage of it. She can’t be still a minute, always on the go. I cannot make her sit still for meals. Tommy it seems, is going to be the opposite. He seems to take things as they come. He will lay for the longest time on a blanket in the garden rolling around watching the butterflies and leaves. He sits up a little bit and enjoys drinking out of a cup a lot.

Al and I are still plugging away on the language. It takes a lot of time and patience. Our house girls help me a lot. They will repeat in the Jabem what I say in English or sign language. We have a grammar book which helps us a lot. We still haven’t done much mission work yet because of the language, except for the school. Al will be taking his first trip in January with another season missionary. This should take about two weeks.[1]

I’m sorry but I just made a mistake. It seems Al instructed his sister to send a check after he hears from you as to what the amount was. I would have gotten a letter out sooner had I known that. Would you please send them out to Mrs. Helen Mason 206 pine, Glendive, Montana. She is taking care of our finances there in the States. I bet you been wondering what’s going on. Probably by the time you get this letter you will be a grandma again. I am really eager to hear what Ann has and hear how everything goes for her. I wonder how Moury will like a new baby. Paula felt a little jealous at first but now likes Tommy and they play a little. I suppose by now the new building is ready and in use. How wonderful to have plenty of room for everyone. Would really like to see it. We think so often of our days at Trinity. (Stevens Point)  Greet Ada for us we have a few names on our mailing list: (List of names and addresses here -13 in all)

I surely do appreciate the flannel nightgown on some of these cool nights. We use these aerogram letters all the time. They do work out very well. Please do tell the others about them. Thanks again for putting out the letter and for all the thoughtful things you did for us while we were in Stevens Point. Your thoughts and prayers do mean so much to us.

Love,

Al Ina, Paula and To

[1] This upcoming trip will go to Malalo where with Fred Scherle, who is the missionary that recruited Alvin Erickson to New Guinea. The bush trip will originate in Malalo where Ina and the kids will stay with Edna Scherele. Ironically Alvin Erickson will be transferred to Malalo in March. He suspected Fred was testing his abilities on that bush trip.