They Call It Progress

We live in the middle of the jungle. We have no roads leading into our part of the world. We don’t have public electricity (we have solar panels). We don’t have a public water system (we catch rainwater), and we don’t have stores or hospitals. But we do have a cell phone signal. It is sketchy, but we can pick up a few bars most sunny, clear days.

Some of our friends have acquired secondhand cell phones over the last couple of years. Communication across miles is a strange and wonderful invention. Little Peliton recently share his thoughts on this progress with Hudson.

The other day Hudson was walking down the trail to church with Peliton, who is three years old. Here is what Peliton had to say:

Peliton: Hudson?

Hudson: Yes.

Peliton: My dad was in the phone; I heard his voice this morning. Remember? He got in the plane the other day, and he flew inside a phone. And this morning I heard his voice in the phone.

Hudson: No, Peliton—it isn’t like that. Your dad went out to town.

Peliton: Is that where my older sister is? (Peliton’s older sister joined their grandmother on an evangelistic outreach to another part of their territory.)

Hudson: No, she is in a different place, and he didn’t fly into the phone. But because he is so far away, he is using a phone to talk to you. He isn’t inside the phone—he has a phone and your mom has a phone, and he talks into the phone to tell your mom how he is doing.

Peliton: No, I heard him. He was inside the phone.

Hudson: Hmmm, ok.

Peliton’s dad is one of our main Bible teachers, translation helpers, and medical workers. We consider him family. He is assisting on a medical evacuation and hopefully will fly back to our village next week.