Toilet Paper

There was a word that I heard every week at church during announcements that always sounded like, “toilet paper” to me. Since the whole service is in Moru, any word that sounds like English always grabs my attention. For the first few weeks, I assumed that maybe they were collecting items for something and they wanted people to donate toilet paper. However, the more I learned about the culture, I realized that people here do not usually even use toilet paper (that’s a story for another day ;)). So, I concluded that this word must have another meaning.

The children dancing before
the message.

Well, last week Will was asked to preach the following week. They announced that Will was going to be the preacher for the next week and I heard (with my little English-hearing ears) that Will was going to be the “toilet paper” next week. Aha!! I had my word! Our teammate Larissa has been speaking Moru for 5 years, so I asked her about this word and it turns out the word for preacher is, “toa-paba”. But I promise, when it is said with a Moru accent, it sounds like “toilet paper” :).

Will preached at the church yesterday. The church deemed Will the “guest of honor” and had the Children’s Church do a special dance and song to greet him. They were so cute! They sang the songs completely in Moru, but my favorite part was that in between songs they randomly chanted (in clear English), “ONE, TWO, THREE, JESUS!!!”. Hehe :). It was so funny!

Will preaching in English while
John translated into Moru

Will did a great job as the “toa-poba” ! He spoke about loving your enemies and about Jesus’ first miracle.  At the end, he discussed how during His first miracle, Jesus does not get the credit for turning water into wine. The bridegroom is given the credit for “saving the choice wine for last”. Will made the connection that this is exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross. He took our sin on himself so that we could have His perfect record. Just like in the first miracle, He did not get the credit, but we are the ones who are now counted blameless because of His sacrifice. What a great God! It was a wonderful message and we pray that it sunk deep into the hearts of those listening.