I often joke with Martha that whatever book of the Bible I am currently working on is the hardest book of the Bible to translate. This was especially true for the book of Exodus. The first 20 chapters weren't so bad, but the last 20 chapters were incredibly challenging, especially the laws of Moses and the detailed instructions about the tabernacle. It had me pulling my hair out, and at my age I don't have that much hair left to pull! Most English speakers struggle to read and understand the second half of Exodus even when reading from a good English translation. Nevertheless, the Enga translation team did an outstanding job on the book of Exodus, including the difficult chapters. As I checked their work, I was consistently impressed by how well they handled difficult passages. Of course, I made many suggestions for improvements along the way—that's my job—but it is exciting to see the team that I have worked with for thirteen years exhibit so much growth in their translation abilities.
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| Consultant John Miller checking Exodus with the Enga team |
After completing my own check of the book of Exodus, I arranged to have a consultant named John Miller do the required final check with the Enga team. In the weeks leading up to the check, John asked me hundreds of questions about the translation. Once we had ironed out all that we could, John met with the Enga team face-to-face to check the book verse-by-verse. John found that the translation was very well done, and the changes we needed to make were minimal. Praise the Lord that another book of the Bible is complete, one that tells the dramatic story of God rescuing his people from slavery, just as he continues to rescue each of one of us from slavery to sin as we repent and cry out to him for his mercy and forgiveness.
Prayer Requests
As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we have bought our tickets to return to Papua New Guinea in January. I wish we could go sooner, but it would be difficult to move in the middle of Asher's school semester. (School in PNG has already started for this academic year.) Please pray that the final preparations for our return would go well and that God would provide all the financial support we will need to sustain us during our next term on the field. Please also continue to pray for my mother Heather's health. She has made remarkable improvements after being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in March. Pray that she will continue to improve. Pray also for Jacob as he starts his fall semester at the University of Pittsburgh. Entering Pitt's accelerated master's program in Athletic Training is a dream come true for him, one that he has worked incredibly hard to achieve. Please also pray for the Enga people. There is a severe drought right now, and people's gardens aren't producing enough food. Thank you so much for your prayers! We appreciate your partnership in the work of translating the Bible into the Enga language!
