Greetings from Enga Province, where I (Adam) am in the midst of our final consultant check for the Enga New Testament. I am here for three weeks by myself as we check 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.
While the check is going very well so far, I wasn’t sure if I would even make it here. Last weekend (Sep. 25-26), I was serving as a counselor for the annual youth retreat in Ukarumpa (which Jacob and Bella attended). It was an intense weekend with a full schedule. I was scheduled to fly out to Enga first thing Monday morning, Sep. 27. On Saturday, Sep. 25, however, we received news that our province was imposing new restrictions on Sep. 30. These new restrictions would make return travel to Ukarumpa more difficult (but not impossible). I had very little time to decide whether or not to cancel my trip. Not knowing how long these restrictions might last and having a strong desire to finish this final consultant check, I decided to press on and come to Enga anyway. And three days after arriving I found out that we had been granted travel exemptions that will make my return trip easier.
During our first week of checking we were able to complete 1 Corinthians, which is great progress. I give credit not only to the translation team, who have done a great job in preparing these books, but also to Pastor Joe Perai (pictured below), who is helping us with the check. Pastor Joe is a highly gifted individual with an incredible ability to read Enga, process the meaning, and translate it back into Tok Pisin on the spot. Having him involved in this check makes my job so much easier. He is not one of our translation team members, but he is a member of the community who is reading the translation for the first time and helping us make sure the translation is clear, accurate, and natural. He has already suggested many changes to help improve the translation.
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| Pastor Joe Perai |
Translation Progress
Once we finish this consultant check, we will have finished the consultant checking process for all the books of the New Testament! It is the last major hurdle for us as we draw near to completing the New Testament. We still have some final checks to go through, but at this point they are relatively minor. As of now, our plan is to completely finish the checking process by March 2022 and begin recording the Enga New Testament in April 2022. Please pray that nothing would hinder our progress.
Encounter
As I mentioned above, last weekend (Sep. 25-26) was the annual youth retreat, which is called Encounter. Nearly all of the high school students from Ukarumpa International School participated in this event, which included times of worship, powerful messages by our guest speaker, prayer, quiet time, games, and other fun activities. As the weekend progressed the kids seemed to be more and more open to the Holy Spirit, culminating with a powerful time of prayer on Sunday night. Many tears were shed as students were hugging one another and experiencing a great sense of unity. One ninth grade girl commented to the group, “It is good that this retreat is called Encounter, because that is exactly what we have experienced.” I thoroughly enjoyed being a counselor for Encounter and was sad that I had to leave early to get on a plane to come to Enga. Needless to say, I was quite tired for the first few days after my arrival in Enga.
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| Jacob, Bella, and I playing games at Encounter |
COVID
The Delta variant has now arrived in Papua New Guinea and is spreading rapidly. Since arriving in Enga I have heard many reports of people dying. While the translation team members and I are fully vaccinated, we know that there is still a chance that we can contract a less severe case of COVID, which would not put us at great health risk but would impede our work. There is also a chance that the government could impose restrictions on public transportation, which would make it difficult for us to get to work each day. Please pray that God would allow us to stay healthy during this time and that our progress would not be hindered by any government restrictions. We are so close to finishing now, yet it seems like there are so many things that could potentially stand in the way. But your prayers are powerful and effective!
