Literacy Class Approved

Earlier this year Rev. Frank Paiyak, one of the Enga translators, received permission from the Gutnius [Good News] Lutheran Church to add Enga literacy to the curriculum at Timothy Lutheran Seminary in Enga Province. Most Enga speakers are never taught how to read their own language. If they go to school, they are usually taught how to read in English. But English is the third language for most Enga speakers, and the spelling rules for English are incredibly difficult, even for native English speakers. Consequently, Enga students have difficulties learning how to read or write well in the English language.

Unlike English, the Enga alphabet has a consistent one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds, making it much easier to learn how to read. And, of course, it is generally much easier to learn how to read your own language than it is to learn how to read a foreign language. Consequently, with just a little instruction and practice, Enga speakers can quickly learn how to read the the Enga New Testament.

Enga literacy class at Timothy Lutheran Seminary

In America we say that nothing is certain except death and taxes. In Enga, we have unfortunately come to realize that nothing is certain except spiritual oppression when good things start happening. Soon after starting the Enga literacy courses at Timothy Lutheran Seminary, fighting erupted in the areas around Frank’s village. His family had to flee, and he was prevented for a time from to going to the seminary to teach. Thankfully, through God’s faithfulness and provision, Frank was able to temporarily relocate his family to the seminary grounds. They are now safe from the fighting, and Frank is again teaching the Enga literacy courses. Recently Frank made a video of the deputy principal of the seminary talking about how much the students and seminary teachers appreciate the Enga New Testament and the opportunity to learn how to read in Enga. You can watch the short two-minute video below.

Translation Work
Over the past couple of months, I have made good progress in checking the Old Testament. I finished checking the book of Genesis in February, and it is now ready to be recorded. After finishing Genesis, I began working my way through Exodus. The first part of Exodus went very well, but I am now checking the chapters that describe everything related to the tabernacle. Most English speakers have difficulty reading these texts in English, and it is quite challenging to translate them into Enga. The translation team has done a wonderful job drafting these texts, but it is some of the most difficult translation work we have encountered. Thankfully, I am making progress, slowly but surely, and I hope to finish up Exodus some time this month.

Graduation Bibles
My friend and coworker Stanley Piokol was recently able to distribute Enga New Testaments to the graduates of the Foursquare Church’s Disciple Leadership Training School in Yaramanda, Enga Province. In the picture below you can see Stanley standing with the graduates, who are wearing the four colors of the Foursquare Church. It is wonderful to see the Enga New Testament being distributed far and wide in ways that Martha and I are not directing.

Distributing Enga New Testaments to graduates

Family Update
My mother Heather has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma (a form of blood cancer). Thankfully, her doctor anticipates being able to treat the disease and keep it under control for a number of years. While we are saddened to receive this news, we are so thankful that it happened while we are here to help her. The initial treatments are the most taxing, and so we are blessed that we can walk with her through the most challenging portions of her treatment plan before returning to Papua New Guinea. Please pray for my mother in the coming weeks.

In other news, Jacob has been accepted at the University of Pittsburgh and has also received very good scholarships to Slippery Rock University and Messiah University. His plan is to pursue an accelerated Master of Science in Athletic Training. Please pray for him as he weighs a variety of factors to make a decision about which school to attend. Please also continue praying for Martha’s work permit and visa applications to be approved. We hope to hear back some time in April. Thank you for your prayers!