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Wycliffe Bible Translators for Kwomtari / Yalë language groups in Papua New Guinea
Our life these past few months has been somewhat like a roller coaster ride. Your prayers and words of encouragement have kept us from derailing.
The week before the Yalë dedication, Murray’s older brother passed away. David was 81 and had long-standing heart problems. His celebration of life service was the week after the dedication, so we were able to be part of that remotely.
After the Yalë dedication, Murray and I returned to Ukarumpa to prepare for typesetting the Kwomtari consultant-checked scriptures. Having gone through the type-setting process with the Yalë, we know what to expect. Your prayers are appreciated.
Yalë dedication — May 3-5, 2024
Rejoice with us and sing praises to our Lord for all His tender mercies. We asked you to pray and God answered.
May God bless the people of Guriaso who did an amazing job of cutting the airstrip, all done by hand with grass knives. They cut it Monday/Tuesday and we saw it on Wednesday. Our aircraft landed there on Friday bringing 8 guests from Ukarumpa and 1 from Wewak coming to the dedication.
Praise God that 208 of the 391 print and audio packages we took out to the dedication were pre-sold! Another 64 sold at the dedication and James has called to say the sales are continuing.
The dedication committee did an excellent job working together to plan this event. The Nagatiman community took an active part in hosting all the guests and gathering garden food and sago. It’s sort of like being responsible for all the bread at a church gathering, instead of stopping in at the store you need to go out and cut the wheat, and grind it into flour before you bake the bread!
Friday—May 3rd
Murray and I were surprised to find that, since our last time in Nagatiman, the people had built their houses 9 to 15 ft off of the ground. We decided it would be best to have the woman stay with us and the men in the translation/literacy building, much lower to the ground.
Remembering: Time was set aside to remember Carl and Jody and the translators who had passed away. Putting ash or ground on one’s face and body is a sign of mourning.
All of the traditional ceremonies, like the healing ceremony reenacted here, have their roots in their fear of evil spirits and the practice of sorcery. There was also a demonstration of making a fire without matches, the use of a traditional stone ax and a sharpened wooden machete. They do love to reenact their chants and dances, called sing sings. These are now seldom done to appease evil spirits or heal someone.
Saturday—May 4th Dedication celebration
Thank you for covering this day with your prayers. We were blessed with beautiful hot Sepik weather. The service was a time of worship and prayer celebrating the coming of God’s Word to the Yalë people in their own language.
Speeches from numerous people all referenced God’s faithfulness to the Yalë. Murray was asked to share how we came to be part of the Yalë program. Carol shared how you, as supporters of Carl and Jody and us, have been a vital part of making this day a reality.
Pastor Henry challenged the people. The light has come— the darkness is over. Do not hide God’s Word in your string bag or under the table. Let the light come to you and from you shine out to those around you.
As Boaz opened a box and lifted up the first copy of the Yalë scripture portions, he called out Ëhwati Gali (Eternal Word) Ëhwati Gali (Eternal Word), and the people responded with cheers and clapping.
Nicodemus then read from the Yalë scripture. Soon eager hands were reaching out to claim their copy of the Scriptures and the MegaVoice players. We ended the day by showing the book of Mark video, with the Yalë language recording dubbed in.
It was exciting to see people of all ages pick up their scripture copies.
Pray for receptive hearts as the Yalë listen to and read God’s Word.
Pray that the Father continues to produce lasting fruit for generations to come.
Pray for a hunger and thirst to know what God has to say and to learn how to apply it in their lives.
At 11:30 pm I saw a woman listening to the Mega-Voice and trying to follow along. Definitely a high point for me!
There is a Culture Meets Scripture workshop planned for November ‘24. Please pray that the Holy Spirit prompts the right people to come. Pray for open minds and hearts as they look at their traditional beliefs in light of what scripture has to say. May there be a willingness to turn from those beliefs that do not line up with scripture and to trust in Christ alone.
Prayer Update as of August 4, 2024
We were not planning on returning to Manitoba before mid-2025. However, Murray, at the request of our clinic, had a cardiologist assess his heart murmur here in Brisbane. The cardiologist and cardiac surgeon here agreed that Murray needs to have open heart surgery to have a valve replaced. They advised that he should not wait a year until we were done in PNG. They were thinking it would be good to aim to have it done within 3 months. Pray that he can have it done in Manitoba within this time frame.
We are headed home. We plan to return to PNG, hopefully in January 2025, Lord willing.
Please pray that the workshops (Culture Meets Scripture and the Sunday School teachers workshop) planned for November will still go ahead without us.
God is in control - God is good all the time - we are at peace.
Home church: Altona EMMC, Manitoba
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