NTM PNG leases land from the family line next door. Just recently the wife of our landowner passed away. So there was a week of "haus krai" or house cry, or another way to say calling hours, or wake. Except it was every day, all day for a week. It is a custom of the PNG culture that is very different than ours, but also very sad. I went with some friends.
We shook hands of the family sitting around and then we waited.
Another village from a distance away came to pay their respects. We could hear them coming, as they were wailing and crying as they came.
A lot of them had mud covering themselves from head to toe over their clothing to show their sorrow. And they were all carrying food to give as gifts.
They left the gifts of food on the tarp in the middle. The men shook hands and gave each other hugs.
The women sat in a group and wailed and cried together as they got the mud out of each others hair. It was sad to see, as many of them do not have the hope that this relative went to heaven to be with Jesus for eternity. Thankfully someone in our community knew that she has placed her faith in Jesus.
