So Much News!

A lot of exciting things have happened since our last newsletter! In February I (Adam) took a two-week course on developing a website for a local language. At the end of the course we launched the Enga Bible website (engabible.org). The website is presented in Enga and English. (The default language is Enga, so click the dropdown menu on the upper right if you want to view the site in English.) The website hosts all of the content we have created related to the Enga New Testament, including audio and video resources.

In the process of building this new website, I learned that the Lumo Project had used our audio recording of the book of Luke to create a Luke Gospel video. The film combines breathtaking live action footage with our audio recording of Luke to create a captivating presentation of the gospel. It is a visual translation, so to speak, designed to deeply engage people with Scripture. I also discovered slide show videos that use our audio recording to share short portions of Scripture with color illustrations and photographs. It is amazing what happens once you have an audio recording of the New Testament!

The Enga Bible website

We have also created an Enga Bible app that includes the text and audio of the Enga New Testament. A great feature of this app is that it highlights the text sentence-by-sentence as the audio recording plays. This really helps people practice reading in the Enga language. This app is available on the Google Play Store. A similar app called Scripture Earth makes the Enga New Testament available for iPhone users. And both Android and iPhone users can access the text and audio of the Enga New Testament with the YouVersion Bible app. It also highlights the text as the audio recording plays.

Using the information I have collected over the years, I have also created an Enga Dictionary app. This app is available on the Google Play Store and has proven to be very popular.

After we launched engabible.org, I began paying for advertisements to promote it on Facebook. The first ad I ran (which cost $30) generated over 10,000 visits to the site in seven days. This ad was written in English and targeted people living in Enga as well as people living in the larger towns of Lae and Port Moresby (where many Enga speakers live). This ad simply directed people to the website. I then ran a more targeted ad, focusing only on people in Enga Province. This ad played a short video demonstrating how the Enga Bible app highlights the text of the Enga translation while the audio recording plays. Although this ad has generated fewer visits to the website (just over 2,000), it has resulted in many more downloads of the Enga Bible app. The most recent statistics I have show that over five hundred people have now installed the Enga Bible app on their phones, and the number continues to rise each day. Years ago, when we first decided to come to Papua New Guinea, I never imagined that we would be promoting an Enga Bible app or that hundreds of people would be installing it. So much has changed in the last twelve years, and technology is making it easier to distribute translations of the Bible.

The delivery of the Enga-English New Testaments

In the midst of all this excitement, we received news that the 5,000 copies of the Enga-English New Testament had arrived. Our neighbor, who oversees the men who pick up shipments from the port town of Lae, was the first to let me know. When I saw just how many boxes there were in the shipment, my first thought was: “How are we going to transport all of these up to Enga?” I didn’t realize just how many boxes it would take to ship 5,000 copies of the New Testament. Our initial plans were to transport them by plane, but now it looks like we may need to hire a trucking company to help us out. We also received news that the regular Enga New Testaments would be shipping at the end of March. That will be 5,000 more copies that we need to figure out how to ship. But figuring out how to get New Testaments to Enga is a good problem to have! Meanwhile the Enga translators are working with church leaders to plan the Enga New Testament dedication. The most recent meeting was attended by 18 church leaders, representing 10 different denominations. We are thankful that the Enga New Testament is a cause for unity among the Enga churches. Please keep us and them in your prayers during this exciting time as we ramp up for the dedication on July 2.

Come teach in Papua New Guinea!

Critical Need
The Ukarumpa International School (UIS) that Bella and Asher attend has a critical need for teachers during the 2025-2026 school year and beyond. The high school needs teachers for English, Social Studies, Math, Religion, Art, Science, and Spanish as well as for electives like Photography. UIS has small class sizes, and the students are well behaved and do their homework. It is an extremely different experience than teaching in the United States. Living in Ukarumpa is like living in a small town or village. There are about 200 other expats here. It is a great place for a teacher who is retired or who no longer wants to teach in the US school system but would still love to teach and make a difference. There is still so much work to be done, and the school is an integral part of making sure that work continues. Please pray for this need and share this information with anyone you know who might be interested in teaching for a year or two to support Bible Translation in the beautiful country of Papua New Guinea. Please feel free to ask us any questions, and be sure to check out the following links for more information. (Please note that Ukarumpa International School is affiliated with TeachBeyond.)

How TeachBeyond Supports Bible Translation in Papua New Guinea

Ukarumpa International School videos

Learn More at TeachBeyond

First Printed Copies Are Here!

On Friday, February 23, we received a DHL Express package from South Korea that contained the first five copies of the Enga-English New Testament! Because Martha and Asher were out of town for an eighth grade field trip, I didn't open the package or share the news until Sunday. After breakfast on Sunday morning, I told the family that I had something special I wanted to show them. I had them gather in our dining room area, telling Martha to film a Marco Polo video message for Jacob and telling Bella to film a regular video with my phone. Martha, Bella, and Asher were all confused, but they did what I asked. I then went into the bedroom and brought out the box. As soon as I announced what it was, Martha was overwhelmed with emotion and tears started streaming down her face. The fact that we were about to hold in our hands what we had spent the last fourteen years working so hard for was a deeply moving experience that touched us at the core of who we are.

The Enga-English New Testament

As I reached into the box to pull out the first copy, I was deeply aware of the promise I had made to my grandmother in 2010. She was the first person to support us, making a generous donation of $1,000, and I promised her that I would dedicate the first New Testament to her. As I held the New Testament in my hand, I declared that it was dedicated to her memory. (She had died in 2016 at the age of 100.)

Feeling the cover of the New Testament in my hand, I was impressed by the quality of the material. The imprinted title and Celtic cross stood out beautifully, and the cover felt sturdy. The sewn binding allowed the New Testament to lie flat as I placed in on the table, and we began examining the print, illustrations, and color photographs.

The spine and gilded pages with rounded corners

After showing the New Testament to Martha, Bella, and Asher, I explained the significance of the colors we had chosen. Because the Enga flag includes the colors green, yellow, white, and black, we wanted the New Testament to have the same colors. Thus we chose a green cover with a gold (yellow) imprint, gilded pages, black braided bookmarks, and of course white paper for the interior pages. The New Testament also includes a custom illustration to go along with Romans 11:17-21. The original illustration is the printer's emblem used by Robert Stephanus, who produced a beautiful edition of the Greek New Testament in 1550 known as the Royal Edition because of the highly skilled typesetting involved in its production. The emblem shows an olive tree with branches grafted in and other branches being broken off by the spoken word of God. While the original emblem reads noli altum sapere, which is Latin for "do not be high minded," I erased this text and changed it to read Kamongo paka kaeyalapape, which is Enga for "fear the Lord," a quotation from Romans 11:20. 

The illustration accompanying Romans 11:17-21

Soon after unboxing the first New Testament, I told Martha and the kids that the last illustration of the book had a very special meaning for me. Last July we found out that Benjamin Leo, the owner of the land where we had built our house in Enga, had been killed by enemy mercenaries who had set up a road block along the Highlands Highway, some distance from our village. In the wake of my father's death, Martha's father's death, and the death of my uncle, it was hard to take this news. At that time we were in the midst of finalizing the typesetting for the Enga-English New Testament. So I decided to add the illustration below as the last page of the book. It is Jesus with his arms opened wide, and the Scripture quotation is from Matthew 11:28, which says, "Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." This illustration is how I picture Jesus receiving Benjamin into his eternal kingdom, where I believe that Benjamin is now at rest from the trials and tribulations of this world. It is a promise for all of us who put our faith in Christ, and I look forward to one day entering Jesus' outstretched arms and remaining in his presence forever.

 We praise God that we now have the first copies of the Enga-English New Testament in hand, and we look forward to receiving the Enga-only New Testament, which should not be too far behind. Thank you for your prayers and partnership, without which we could never celebrate this day. We are thankful for you all.

Click here if you would like to watch a three-minute video of the unboxing of the Enga-English New Testament.

Update on Jacob
In the midst of the emotion of receiving the first printed copies of the Enga-English New Testament, we also received word from Jacob that he had arrived safely in Costa Rica. He is living with a family in the district of Escazú, canton (which is like a county) of Escazú, province of San José. He is about 15 minutes by bus from downtown San José, which is the capital of Costa Rica. The family he is staying with does not speak any English, so Jacob will have great opportunities to learn Spanish. Please keep him in your prayers as he adjusts to a new country and culture and learns more about his role with Push the Rock doing sports-related ministry.

Dedication Date: July 1

The dedication date for the Enga New Testament has been scheduled for July 1. Actually, the plan is to have a large dedication in Wabag town on July 1, followed by six mini-dedications in the various regions of Enga Province from July 2 to July 7. Please pray for the planning and logistics of these exciting, upcoming events.

In our December newsletter, we asked you to pray for the printing of the Enga New Testament. I am happy to report that we received the signature copies of the Enga New Testament and the Enga-English New Testament in December. A signature copy is not a copy that has a person's signature on it. Rather it is the interior pages of the book without the cover. This is the final check before the binding process is completed. We gave our approval for these signature copies in early January, and just yesterday I received word that the Enga-English New Testament is finished. It is awaiting shipment and is scheduled to arrive in the port city of Lae on March 2. The Enga New Testament should not be too far behind. Praise the Lord, and please continue praying for the timely arrival of both editions.

A look inside the signature copies

Jacob
On January 30, Jacob flew to Emmaus, Pennsylvania, to begin his internship with Push the Rock, a sports ministry. He is scheduled to fly to Costa Rica on February 24 to begin the overseas portion of his internship. Please pray for him as he goes through this time of transition.