We are well into 2022 now and, while Covid still attempts to dominate our lives there are other more interesting things to talk about. PTL!
The translation project in Malaumanda started in earnest in 2006. I was able to make some progress over the next 4+ years until the Lord led Bob and Noby Kennell to join the team in 2010. For the next 4 years Bob and I both translated and we were able to finish the New Testament 2014. Of course, this is a gross oversimplification of a huge task. 2014 was the same year that we moved out of Malaumanda to Goroka. In 2015 we had the initial Malaumanda Bible dedication where we handed out 200 copies of the New Testament.
Since then we have been working on some minor revisions to the text as well as the formatting for the final version of the Bible. This has been a long process that I am happy to say is basically done. One copy of the final version has been printed as a test case and reviewed. I have a few tweaks to work on and then we will be sending the files off to the printer.
As we hit this milestone in the church there in Malaumanda we do want to thank each of you who have so faithfully prayed for the translation project over the years. Now that we are at the place where we will be printing we do want to communicate with you concerning the financial needs related to the printing of the Bibles. Instead of printing 200 copies we plan to print 2500 copies. This will allow all the believers (present and future) to have a Bible and which can be replaced as it wears out. I will put all of the particulars related to this project below.
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel, and Timothy
Translation Project
So what does it cost to print and ship 2500 Bibles? The short answer is about $10 per Bible or $25,000. The good news is that we already have $10,000 raised for the project so we are trusting the Lord for an additional $15,000.
For anyone who is interested in giving toward this project please send your funds to Ethnos360. The checks should be made out to Ethnos360 but with a note stating that these funds are for the “Malaumanda Ministry account”. The Ethnos360 address in the US is…
Ethnos360
312 West First Street
Sanford, Florida 32771-1231
If you have any additional questions then please contact us via email.
One more thing…
Later on this month we will be attending the Sepik regional conference in Wewak. We are very much looking forward to getting back and getting caught back up with everyone. That will be 5 days of conference and then right after that, we will be traveling to Malaumanda as a family. We’ll have 6 days there. Please be thinking of Stephen during this time. This will be his last time down in the Sepik and in Malaumanda before he leaves for the US. The Sepik and Malaumanda are his home so this will be bitter-sweet.
Prayer and Praise
- Praise that we continue to be able to function here in PNG in the midst of Covid. Omicron is definitely in the area but thankfully it isn’t much worse than a bad cold.
- Pray for the church in Malaumanda.
- Pray Specifically for Alen and his wife Kosaliya. Their marriage and family need the Lord’s intervention.
- Pray for Jak and Loni as well as Japiti and Lopime as they seek to serve the body there in Malaumanda.
- Pray for our 3 boys as they have just a few more months of school. Pray specifically for Stephen as he will be graduating in May.
- Pray for us as a family as we travel back to Oregon in June to transition Stephen into Moody Aviation in Spokane, WA.
- Pray for the international flights that will take us to the US and then back to PNG at the end of July. Things are getting a bit easier but it is still complicated.
- Pray for wisdom as we make the final plans for the printing of the translation.