After ten years of translating, a year of recording and typesetting, and many months of planning, the Enga New Testament dedication will take place tomorrow (July 2) in Wabag town. This is the first of at least six dedication events, and it is the main dedication for the people of Enga. In the last two weeks, I along with four Enga pastors (two of whom are translators) have been traveling throughout the Wabag district of Enga Province to raise awareness and invite people to the dedication. Meanwhile, representatives have gone out into the other districts of Enga Province to raise awareness about the regional dedications coming up in their respective areas. We have visited approximately 75 churches, made public proclamations in town, and passed out two thousand flyers advertising the events. I am proud of the Enga translators and pastors for doing their due diligence to get the word out about the dedication events. This is no small task for a language group of 370,000 people spread across an entire province.
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| Pastor Jonathan Lapan raising awareness in Irelya |
In the course of raising awareness for the Enga New Testament dedication, we drove to the summit of a mountain range near Wabag town, ascending to an altitude of 8,600 feet. We then drove across the ridge and down the other side of the mountain, stopping at each village along the way to tell people about the upcoming Enga New Testament dedication. As we stopped in the village of Tole, I was suddenly overcome by the incredible significance of me being there together with Pastor Timothy Pesone, the Enga Bible translation committee chairman, who was traveling with us to raise awareness. Pastor Timothy is from the village of Tole, an important place in the history of Enga. As I stood there with him, I knew that I needed to get a picture of us standing there together to capture the significance of what was happening.
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| Standing together with Pastor Timothy in Tole village |
Pastor Timothy, the man I am standing with in the picture above, is Pingita's grandson. The place where the two of us are standing is the very place where Timothy's grandfather Pingita attacked the Leahy camp and was shot and killed. But as Pastor Timothy and I stood there together, there was no hostility between men of different cultures. Rather, we were there together spreading the news about the upcoming dedication of the Enga New Testament. What an amazing turn of events, which can only be attributed to the restorative power of our Lord Jesus Christ! Praise God that, in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, and there is neither Engan nor foreigner, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.
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| They Leahy camp in Tole in 1934, hours before Pingita's attack |
Last month I asked you to pray for the collapsed bridge that blocked the delivery of the Enga New Testaments. I'm happy to say that within hours of sending out that request, the bridge was repaired. Just a couple days later, the Enga New Testaments were delivered. Thank you for your prayers! The Enga New Testaments are now where they need to be for the dedication tomorrow. Below is a picture of the bridge as we crossed it on our way to Enga last month. (If you would like to watch a short video of our road trip to Enga and experience what it is like to travel along the Highlands Highway, please click here.)
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| Crossing over the repaired bridge on our way to Enga |
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. 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
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