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Interview December 15, 2014 · 50:37 · 10 min

Mary Wastee interview, part 2: Papua New Guinea logistics and support

The interview with Mary Wastee continues on practical questions about Papua New Guinea: it is politically welcoming to missionaries, but some tribes are hostile to outside religions and there is syncretism between animist/spiritualist beliefs and Christianity. Travel is hard — dense jungle, poor roads, sometimes flying in with no landing areas. She explains her survey work: gathering 100–500-word lists through the Tok Pisin trade language, comparing language similarity percentages, and running sociocultural surveys to decide which dialect area a translation should serve so resources aren't wasted or skipped. A host plugs wycliffe.org/give and her missionary account number (stated once as 227552 and once as 22752), suggesting listeners give up one Burger King run a month ($5+) for monthly support; comic banter follows about a 'pop addiction' and turning a 'pop addiction into a Papua addiction.'

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