FONTANA — A 22-year-old Fontana woman has returned from a six-week missionary trip to the island country of Papua New Guinea near Australia. Brittany Spragg recently recounted her experience at the Fontana Christian Church. The Miami County Republic reported Spragg usually attended missionary and language training in the mornings and walked to villages to meet residents. The language training was important because Papua New Guinea has more than 800 indigenous languages and nearly every tribe has its own language, she said.. However, many on the giant island know Melanesian Pidgin English and she said she learned to communicate with locals. She also stayed in buildings with woven walls in a mountain village that was accessible only by airplanes. Ironically, although bathrooms or plumbing and other modern conveniences are non-existent in many parts of the country, almost everyone has a cell phone, she said. She said it’s weird to walk through the jungle and hear a cell phone ring.
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 3 p.m.