A Time For Reflection

Between having to delay our plans to build our house in Enga and having to wait for months for parts and repairs to get our car running right, we have stayed in Ukarumpa longer than we ever have before. As we've been settled in one spot and as we've been reflecting during this season of Lent, God has revealed many things to us. I (Adam) thought I would take the opportunity to share some of those things with you.

Asher and Adam

Martha and I decided to give up watching TV shows on DVD at night for Lent. We decided to give up TV shows at night so we could focus ourselves more on seeking God together. But what I found was that I was too tired at night to be very spiritual, and I also found that I was too tired in the morning to be very spiritual either. I recognized that I could be starting to feel the effects of burn out. Then I felt the Holy Spirit gently speaking to my heart about my diet. He allowed me to see that I had been fueling myself on a nonstop diet of sugar and caffeine, which is not a sustainable mode of operation. So I decided to cut way down on sweets and wean myself off of coffee. After a few days, I found that I had more energy than I remembered having in a long time, and I was able to get into God's Word and prayer without this feeling of complete exhaustion hanging over me. It's funny how God works, we went into Lent giving up one thing, and God showed me that I really needed to give up something else.

During our time in Ukarumpa, God has also allowed me the joy of seeing the Enga translation team working independently in Wabag. They have been so faithful, working five days a week and uploading their work to the internet so that I can review it from Ukarumpa. Since November, they have drafted the first 20 chapters of the book of Luke, which is truly amazing! I have been reviewing their work and providing my comments, which they have been reading and responding to by making changes in the translation. It is hard to fathom that the elder members of our translation team, who were born at a time when stone axes were still in use, are now uploading their translation work to the internet via the WiFi hotspots on their cell phones! Praise God for the technology He is giving us to speed the work of translation.

Bella and Martha

As the Enga translation team has been working in Wabag, I've been working in my cubicle translating the book of Luke back into English so it can be checked by a consultant. During that time the Lord has also revealed to me that I should not be the one doing the work of back translation. Because the team is moving so quickly in the translation work, I am becoming a bottleneck in the process. Rather than doing the back translation myself, I feel God leading me to train an Enga speaker who knows English well to do the back translation. This would not only speed up the process, but it would get a fresh set of eyes checking the text. As much as I have learned Enga in the past three years, I will never know it as well as a native speaker. And while I am able to offer many good suggestions (and will continue doing so as I review the text), having another Enga speaker review the text and translate it back into English will only serve to improve the translation as the person doing the back translation catches problems with the translation that I would never be able to see.

As I feel God leading me more and more out of the day-to-day work of translation (although I will still be involved in reviewing and checking the work), I feel that he is leading me more in the direction of promoting the use and awareness of the Enga Scriptures. One of the sobering realities that we have discovered while working in Papua New Guinea is that it isn't enough just to do a good translation of the Bible. You also need to be active in the community, making people aware of the translation work that is happening, distributing books and audio recordings as they are completed, and most importantly, teaching people how to apply the Word of God to their daily lives. As expat missionaries in Enga, we have the unique blessing (and sometimes burden) of drawing people's attention wherever we go. This puts us in a unique position to be able to raise awareness, distribute Scripture portions, and teach people how to apply the Scripture in their daily lives, and I sense that God is increasingly wanting to use us in those ways. As a result, we are planning and hoping to be able to spend a much greater amount of time in Enga during our next term (once our house is built).

Jacob (whom we love but didn't get a good picture with that day)

Often people talk about a missionary's first term on the field as being about survival. During that first term, it is enough if someone just learns the language and how to live in a foreign culture. God has blessed us by enabling us not only to survive but to see the first fruits of the work He has called us to. During our next term, we hope to build upon that foundation. God has made it clear to us that our job is to train our Enga coworkers to do the work of translation, in a sense working ourselves out of a job. At the same time, God has shown us that we should be operating in the areas where we are uniquely qualified. So please pray with us, that God would continue showing us what our next term is to look like and how we can best use our time and abilities to train our Enga coworkers while focusing on the areas where we ourselves are able to have the greatest impact. As you pray, we would love to hear your feedback, so please feel free to share your own reflections with us about the direction in which God may be leading us.

Funny How Things Work Out

It's funny how things work out. Back in November as we were getting ready to build our house in Enga, we realized that we would need to have a vehicle at our disposal for the four-week period when we would build our house. The cost of renting a truck was high, but we really didn't have much choice. At that same time, a 1989 Toyota Hilux became available. The vehicle was in relatively good condition and had just 65,000 miles on it. We decided to buy the vehicle because it would allow us to invest the rental costs of a car into the purchase price of the vehicle. Since the cost of renting was nearly 25% of the cost of purchasing, it seemed to be a wise investment. The vehicle just needed a new clutch and pressure plate, which the seller agreed to have put in for us.
 

Our 1989 Toyota Hilux

Four days after buying the car, we received the news that missionaries in Enga were being deported due to the back room dealings of a corrupt bishop. After much prayer, we decided not to proceed with our plans to build our house in our chosen location. On December 3, I (Adam) drove up to Enga to try to find a new place for us to build. The Auto Shop had installed the new clutch and pressure plate the day before, so I was able to drive the car up to Enga along with three of the Enga translators who had just finished computer training in Ukarumpa.

We left at six o'clock in the morning for the ten-hour drive to Enga. As we were driving along, the car was backfiring on a few occasions and the fuel gauge was bouncing all over the place so it was hard to tell how much fuel we had or if there was a leak. As we stopped in Goroka (two hours away from Ukarumpa) to refuel, I considered letting the translators take public transportation the rest of the way and turning around to go home. But I decided to keep going.

After leaving Goroka we went through Simbu Province, which is the worst part of the road. After a particularly rough patch, we started to hear a rattling noise. We stopped but couldn't find the source of the rattle, so we continued to Mt Hagen (six hours away from Ukarumpa). We then discovered that the rattle was due to a problem with the front left shock absorber, which had lost its rubber bushings. Also after we refueled, the car had difficultly starting. Again, I gave serious consideration to just letting the Enga translators go the rest of the way without me. With problems like that, it seemed a bit unwise to continue driving farther away from help knowing that I would also have to return at some point. But we kept going.

The car made it to Enga and I took the car to Maniosa's house the next day. (Maniosa is our lead translator.) One of his relatives is a mechanic, and Maniosa had the necessary tools to access the shock absorber. I was amazed when he went into his house and brought out a bag full of rubber bushings. He didn't have quite the right size, but he instructed his relative to cut one of the bushings to size (with an axe mind you) and smooth it (with a stone). He installed the bushings for me and the shock absorber was now working again. He also assured me that the other problems with the car would not prevent me from driving back safely to Ukarumpa.

Fixing the car at Maniosa's house

After a couple of days in Enga, in which I searched in futility for another piece of land where we could build our house, I set out again for Ukarumpa with my friend Max. I took it slow over the bumpy roads and the car did fine…that is until we got to Daulo Pass. Daulo Pass is a mountain pass located at an altitude of 2,478 meters (8,130 feet). There are good road-side food stands there, and Max and I stopped to get some food. A couple of the locals asked us for rides, but we sort of ignored their requests because we didn't know the people well.

Daulo Pass Summit

Right after ignoring their requests, we got back into the car to get moving and avoid any awkwardness that would arise from further requests. I turned the key and the engine turned over but would not start. I tried it again…no luck. One more time…no luck. I decided to let the car sit for a few minutes and try again. In the meantime, I also decided that I better become fast friends with the locals. So I started asking them how to say various things in their language, and they enjoyed hearing me try to repeat what they said. I told the two men asking for rides that if we got the car started again, then I would take them where they wanted to go.

So after a few minutes I got back in the car and tried to start it again with the same result. Having been stranded on the road before, I told myself not to panic even though there is no such thing as AAA in Papua New Guinea. Somebody suggested turning the car to face downhill and push-starting it. It seemed like it could work. However, for someone who had never tried it before, the thought of pushing the car downhill from a mountain summit without clearly knowing if the brakes would still kick in was a bit daunting. But I didn't have much choice.

 

The view from Daulo Pass

A couple weeks prior I had seen a friend push-start a car in Ukarumpa, and so I knew that I needed to turn the key to on, put it in second gear, keep the clutch in, and then pop the clutch once I got a little speed. I tried it and to my utter delight, the car started up. I picked up the men whom I had promised rides to and we were back on our way. I decided right then and there not to turn the engine off again until we got to Ukarumpa, and we made it back safely.

The mechanics at the auto shop in Ukarumpa determined that the car needed a new distributor and carburetor, which they ordered from Australia. After waiting a month or so for the parts to come in, they were installed, but the car still wasn't running right. After 10 more days in the auto shop, the mechanics finally determined that the person who sold them the carburetor actually sold them a used carburetor (but marketed it as new), and so we are now waiting for another new carburetor to come in from Australia (probably another month's wait). It takes patience to live in Papua New Guinea!

The good news is that since the building of our house got delayed until after our furlough, we have plenty of time to get our car in good working order. Without the delay in building the house, we would have had to rent a vehicle anyway even after buying our Hilux. It's funny how things work out! We thank God that He has a plan even though we don't always know what it is.

Repay Evil With Blessing

1 Peter 3:9 teaches us that we should not repay evil with evil, but rather we should repay evil with blessing. Recently, God gave us a chance to do just that with our neighbors in Ku’ina.

In September we shared a story about shaking hands with a man who we knew had robbed our house. We had encountered this man in Ku’ina village, which is adjacent to our backyard but separated by a fence. Although in our hearts we had forgiven this young man for his crime against us, we still had difficulties forming relationships in Ku’ina. Over the past few months, some tensions in the local villages made it difficult for us to visit Ku’ina. But they were resolved in early January and we were able to visit again. A couple of weeks ago Martha and I brought the kids along with some other missionaries to Ku’ina to attend their church service. The people were interested to see us but not overly welcoming. At the end of the service the pastor invited me to pray. At the conclusion of my prayer, I shared about the translation work that we do and also invited the local community to come to an area near the fence to receive some gifts.

We had recently cleaned out our house and had a lot of garage sale items. But instead of selling them for just a small amount of money, we decided to give them to the people in Ku’ina village. I prefaced the event by telling the people that some among their community had stolen from us and that if I followed traditional Papua New Guinea customs I should pay them back for what they had done. I went on to explain that God’s way is not to repay evil with evil but to repay evil with blessing. I also told them that I had forgiven the wrongs that had been done to us. Although a bit taken aback by my speech, the people received the gifts gladly and we received a much warmer welcome in Ku’ina than we ever had before.

Bella sitting with an elderly woman in Ku'ina who gave her a bilum (net bag) to show appreciation for our efforts to reach out to her village.

Teach in PNG
The Ukarumpa International School that Jacob, Bella, and Asher attend is currently experiencing a teacher shortage. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Jacob’s teacher had to leave over the recent school break, and so Jacob’s fourth grade class is being taught by committee since there is no full-time teacher available. If you would like to serve as a teacher in Papua New Guinea, please let us know, and we can connect you with the right people. We can’t do our work of translating the Bible without others serving alongside of us in important roles such as teaching. The need is greatest for grades 3–6, but teachers and administrators for positions at all levels are welcome.

 

Come to PNG and teach missionary kids like these!

Enga Imperatives
I (Adam) recently had a paper entitled ‘Enga Imperatives’ published through an online journal called Language & Linguistics in Melanesia. Enga’s use of imperative (i.e. command) forms is quite rich. In fact, imperative forms are such an integral part of the Enga language that it is hard to make sense of even basic Enga without an understanding of how they work. While my primary focus is on translation work, I was amazed to discover just how much the process of writing a paper helped me to understand how the Enga language works. Of course, this deeper understanding of the language helps me to do a better job as a translator, and so it is well worth the effort. If you would like to look at the article, you can access it online at tinyurl.com/luvvfbr. (Although I do not recommend doing so unless you really like linguistics!)

Translation Progress
This month Adam finished back-translating the book of Matthew from Enga into English so that it can be checked by a consultant and approved for publication. In the meantime the Enga translation team continues their work on drafting the book of Luke. They are now more than halfway done. We hope to record the book of Matthew before our furlough begins in July.

Furlough Plans
We will fly back to America on July 7 and stay until June 2016. If you would like us to come to your church or home to share about our ministry, please let us know so that we can be sure to schedule a visit. We look forward to seeing you all again in a few months!

Holding On Loosely

Recently an experienced translator told us that you have to hold on to things loosely in Papua New Guinea. Life here is very unpredictable, and things can change dramatically almost overnight. These sudden changes can cause unforeseen challenges that require major planning adjustments, so you can't cling too tightly to any plans that you have.

When we learned of the orders to deport our missionary friends in Enga, it became clear that it would not be wise to cling too tightly to our plans to build a house in January in Birip. One of the missionary families who received deportation orders was living in Birip, and their residence there was cited as one of the reasons for their deportation. Although I (Adam) had accepted that we could not build our house in Birip, I was still clinging tightly to the idea of building our house in January, so I took a short trip up to Enga in December to try to identify another location to build. An opportunity presented itself to build in the village of Rakamanda, and I quickly jumped at the opportunity because the area would provide us with a wide open piece of land for our family, which is what we wanted. Martha did not have a chance to see the land, but I assured her that it would be a great place for us.

A political cartoon that was published in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier depicting Foreign Affairs Minister Rimbink Pato trying to deport the Lutheran missionaries (who serve in Enga) and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill blocking the deportation.

After making the decision to build in Rakamanda, I received warnings not to build there because the tribal fighting in that area had not yet been resolved. Years ago the whole area had been burnt to the ground in tribal fighting, including church and school buildings. Although the fighting has now subsided, the underlying problems and tensions have not yet been resolved. This means that the fighting could flare up again at any time and that our home (and potentially our family) could be at serious risk. Although it initially appeared to me that God had provided this piece of land for us at the last minute, I realized that, by clinging too tightly to my own plans, I had not done my due diligence in investigating the area nor had I spent enough time seeking wisdom from the Lord and others about the decision. Thankfully, God did not give me peace about the decision to build in Rakamanda, and others spoke up warning us about the potential dangers of the area.

After spending time with the Lord in prayer and seeking counsel from others, we have decided to wait until after our upcoming furlough to build our house. Our prayer is that the deportation orders for the missionaries will be reversed by that time (and it is looking like they will be) and that the underlying leadership problems in the Lutheran Church will also be resolved. That would enable us to build our house at the original location we had chosen in Birip, which would be a wonderful place for us. Please pray that God would again open the door for us to build in Birip after our furlough. Please also pray that the construction department will find a good place to store the parts of our house that have already been assembled in Ukarumpa. Pray as well that the corrupt church and government officials who actively oppose God's work in Enga will be removed from power. Finally, please pray that God would give us the grace to hold things loosely in our hands, listening closely to His still small voice as we navigate the ever-changing and unpredictable world that is Papua New Guinea.

Some of the walls of our house that have already been constructed in Ukarumpa and now must be kept in storage until we return from furlough.

Basic Skills

During our very first village stay while we were completing our training in Madang, it very quickly became clear that I (Adam) was very ignorant about basic village living skills that even young Papua New Guinean children had mastered. For example, on our first walk down to the river, I was carrying Asher in my arms. As soon as we started walking down the slippery downhill path, however, I slipped and fell on my back and dropped Asher. (Fortunately, wet ground is also soft ground.) So we decided it was best to have a young boy carry Asher instead because we knew he wouldn't fall. Similarly, when people watched me try to chop firewood, they would feel sorry for me and volunteer to chop the wood for me. They would very quickly have the large log chopped up into perfect pieces of firewood, while it probably would have taken me all day to have various and oddly shaped pieces of firewood. The people in Papua New Guinea grow up with these skills, and so they are second nature to them.

But when it comes to computers and technology, many Papua New Guineans handle computers the same way that I handle an ax. They have never before touched a computer, and they have no idea how to make it work. And just like I needed very basic training regarding chopping firewood and walking down slippery paths, so they need very basic training regarding how to operate a computer and basic software programs. For the first couple of years of translation work, I have always been present with the translation team, and they have always asked me to sit down at the computer because they know how quickly and effectively I use the computer. But now with our furlough coming up next July, it is important for the Enga translation team to develop skills in using the computer themselves. So three of the Enga translators are currently in the midst of a two-week training session on Paratext, the software that we use to enter, edit, and check the Enga Bible translation.

Frank Paiyak, William Walewale, and Nete Talian at the Paratext workshop.

After two years of working together, the Enga translation team now has a very good understanding of the translation process, including common errors to avoid and strategies for creating a translation that is accurate, clear, and natural. As they develop their skills in Paratext, they will have all that they need to continue working on the translation even when we are on furlough. What's more is that they also have the ability to send their work to me via the internet using their cell phones, which means that I can continue checking and back-translating from America during our one-year furlough. It is an exciting world that we live in where even the most remote parts of the globe can communicate and send files instantly at the push of a button.

Please pray for Frank Paiyak, William Walewale, and Nete Talian as they continue learning Paratext. Pray that they will gain the basic skills and competencies necessary to effectively use the program to translate the Bible into Enga. And pray for all of us as we continue learning how to walk on slippery paths in Papua New Guinea without falling down!

Enga Missionaries Deported
Two weeks ago some of our fellow missionaries in Enga received notices that they were being deported. These missionaries are our good friends and have committed no wrong. Their deportation is the result of persecution against them and it is not the first time that this has happened. The missionaries are fighting this decision and not leaving the country, so please pray that this decision will be reversed and that the missionaries will be allowed to stay in the country and continue their work. You can read more about their situation in a recent article published in The National newspaper. This situation indirectly affects us as well. We were planning on building our house on the grounds of a seminary campus, where one of the families currently resides. Their residence at the seminary is one of the reasons cited for their deportation. It is a very complex situation, but the key point is that we do not want to find ourselves in a similar situation in the future where we are facing similar persecution and deportation. As a result, we are now seeking other options for where to build our house. Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom and provide a good place for us to build our home in January.

The First Fruits of Translation

The first fruits of the Enga Bible translation project are now in the hands of the Enga people. Until last month, the vast majority of Engans had very little access to the Word of God. What access they did have was most often in the form of short Scripture quotations in English or Tok Pisin heard during church services. I (Adam) am a fluent Tok Pisin speaker, but I can tell you that when I hear the Bible in Tok Pisin it goes in one ear and out the other. I understand the words, but they have no impact on my life. It is the same for the people of Enga. While many can understand Tok Pisin, it doesn’t touch them at the core of who they are. But after listening to the new Enga translation, people were saying, “When we read the Bible in Tok Pisin, we never read a whole chapter at a time. But we can listen to an entire book of the Enga Bible in one sitting without getting tired!”

Over the course of six days, we had nine events to promote and distribute the Gospel of Mark and the Abraham Story in Enga. In that time, people purchased approximately 220 Audibibles (solar-powered audio players) and 110 memory cards. We also installed the Enga Bible app and Enga Jesus Film for free on about 60 phones.

It was just as exciting to see all of the church denominations come together to celebrate the Bible in Enga, take ownership of the project, and commit to seeing the translation through to completion. At one event, church leaders stood up one-by-one and pledged to support the project financially. At the end of the night, their pledges totalled nearly K25,000 ($10,000). The Bible in Enga is taking hold of the Enga people.

To see a video of the distribution produced by Newbreak Church, please go to https://vimeo.com/110512024.

Adam explains the Enga Audibible while Asher looks at the crowds who have gathered to receive God's Word in Enga

Thank You Newbreak Church
We would like to thank Newbreak Church for your continued support of the Enga Bible translation project. Because of your help, we were able to sell the Enga Audibibles at a discounted price that people could afford. Thank you as well for your pledge to see the Enga Bible translation project through to completion. Your support blesses and encourages not only us but the people of Enga. You are truly planet shakers! We would also like to thank Pastor Darrel Larson, Matthew Nelson, and Eric Edmonds for coming all the way to Enga Province from Newbreak Church to participate in the dedication and distribution of the Gospel of Mark and the Abraham Story in Enga. You guys were an incredible blessing to the people of Enga and a wonderful encouragement to us as a family.

Pastor Darrel Larson with two Assemblies of God pastors.

Translation Progress
In addition to dedicating and distributing the Gospel of Mark and the Abraham Story, we also completed the naturalness check of the Gospel of Matthew and began drafting the Gospel of Luke. As you read this, the Enga translation team is continuing drafting of the Gospel of Luke. This is the first time that they have attempted drafting without me (Adam) present, so please pray for wisdom. This is a good step as the goal is to empower the Enga translators to take on more and more of the responsibilities of the translation work upon themselves. I will still be checking their work daily as they upload it to the internet from Wabag using their smart phones for internet access. Isn’t technology amazing!

What’s Next
In November, William Walewale and Frank Paiyak, two of the Enga translators, will be attending the Paratext training workshop. Paratext is the computer program that we use to enter, edit, and save the Enga Bible translation. This will be an additional step toward helping the translators work more and more independently. This will ultimately speed up the translation process and free me (Adam) up to spend more time on other parts of the process such as back translation into English, checking, recording, and production.

Thank you for all of your prayers, encouragement, and support. We hope that you share in the joy of seeing the first fruits of the Enga Bible translation project. Please know that you are making a difference among the people of Enga!

Enga Bible App

When we launch the book of Mark and Abraham Story in Enga the week of October 12, our primary focus will be distribution through solar-powered audio players called Audibibles. Most Engans (and Papua New Guineans for that matter) have never learned how to read in their own language, and often they are not interested in learning because reading is not a strong part of the culture. So if you hand an Engan a printed Bible in their own language, they will likely never read it. If you hand them an Audibible, however, they will listen to it over and over, as will most everybody else who lives in their village. In the oral cultures of Papua New Guinea, audio recordings are the best way to share God's Word. And when the battery runs out, they can just put the Audibible out in the sunlight to charge!

In addition to the Audibible, Enga will also be one of the first languages in Papua New Guinea and the world to have a smart phone app. The smart phone app highlights the text of the Scripture sentence-by-sentence as the audio recording plays. We have found that the same people who would never read a printed Bible will immediatley engage with the Enga Bible App and try to read along with the recording. (Engans love technology!) And those who have learned to read in English or Tok Pisin can fairly easily transfer those skills over to Enga with a little practice. So the Enga Bible app not only gives people the Word of God in their own language, but it also teaches them how to read.

Some of you may be thinking, "What good is a smart phone app for people who have no electricity?" Good question! The reality, however, is that even people who live in remote villages without electricity often have cell phones, and they find all sorts of creative ways to charge them. Smart phones are just now reaching the price range ($35) where the average Papua New Guinean can purchase them. We have gone to villages in Enga where there was no electricity only to be shocked to find the villagers taking video of us with their smart phones! While the Audibible is still going to be the most popular way of accessing Scriptures right now, the Enga Bible App is sure to take off in the near future, especially among Engans who live in town. The best part is that the app is free and can be transmitted for free from one person to another. It would not be at all surprising to share the Enga Bible App with one person and come back a week later and find that all of his friends and family now also had the app. Papua New Guineans are good at sharing media on their phones! Click here to see a video of how the Enga Bible App works.

We will also have printed versions of the book of Mark and the Abraham Story available in Enga printed side-by-side with the Contemporary English Version (by permission of course). So those Engans who do want to read the printed Word will also have access.

Please keep the upcoming launch of Mark and the Abraham Story in your prayers. We are hoping to distribute in four different locations from October 12 to October 16. Pray that many Engans will come and receive God's Word in their own language. Pray also for the team from Newbreak Church near San Diego that is coming to participate in the distribution. We look forward to sharing with you next month about how it all goes!