My part of the translation process in Malaumanda began in earnest in 2006. Judith and I were the last members of the original church planting team and translation was a major need for the young church there. I can’t say as I began translation with an abundance of confidence. It just needed to be done. And the Lord had used all sorts of people to write it originally and even spoke his Word through a donkey so I must have met the minimum qualifications.
Over the years we made slow steady process until John and Christina Hutteman and Bob and Noby Kennell joined the team. Progress took off at that point in time as Bob started translating and we were able to finish up the New Testament about 4 years later. We had our first Bible dedication in 2015. For the next several years the Malaumandan believers spent time reading God’s Word which allowed us to make a few more spelling revisions and prep for our final printing. This process took much longer than I thought it would. The end result though has been worth the effort.
To the best of our knowledge the 1700 Bibles will soon be shipped to PNG. They are expecting it to take roughly 2 months so they should get to Wewak in April. We won’t have the opportunity to immediately do another Bible dedication. The details are still in process but we are hoping to get in to Malaumanda right after Daniel graduates in May and spend 3-4 days there. This will give Daniel the opportunity to see Malaumanda again and allow us the chance to spend some time with the church there before we leave for home assignment.
Now if that was not exciting enough we also want to let you know that the Malaumandan church is in the midst of a evangelistic outreach to a village called Minim. That group of people asked Jim and some of the other church leaders to come and teach them the Gospel. They took a large tarp up, their Bibles and teaching materials and made the trip up to Minim. There is a bit of cell phone service in that area so Jim has been able to contact me fairly regularly. During every call has been telling me how excited the Minim people are to hear the teaching. In fact, he asked me to buy them an additional tarp as the first one was not big enough to keep the sun and rain off of the crowd. They sent a couple of guys to the nearest airstrip to pick it up. it would be so fun to be a part of this outreach though I am so thankful that they don’t need me to be there in order to share the Good News to this village.
We are thankful for each of you who have supported our ministry here through prayer and financial gifts.
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy
Featured image: The newly printed Malaumanda Bible open to Mathew (Matiyu) chapter 1.
Daniel’s 18th Birthday
Prayer and Praise
- Praise for God’s faithfulness to us as we get to the end of this current term on the field.
- Pray for Eric as he has a very full month of February. I have a consultant trip to the bush, consultant meetings here at Lapilo, leadership meetings and a leadership workshop. And of course I still have all of the normal management tasks.
- Praise that the boys are into their final semester of the school year. Pray for Daniel as he is about to finish Spanish. Pray also for him as he is showing some of the early signs of Senioritis.
- Pray for Stephen as he is quite busy with his schooling at Moody Aviation. He is doing well though we pray that he can get a few more hours at work to help with his bills.
- Praise for the Malaumanda Bibles that just about done being printed. Pray that they will get to PNG well before we leave for home assignment.
- Home Assignment-
- Pray for the funds needed for our trip back to the US, for a vehicle for home assignment and a place to stay for that year.
- Pray also for wisdom as where we will stay. There is a possibility in Oregon and one possibility near Stephen though nothing is clear quite yet. A major goal for this home assignment is to help Daniel to get established in the US so this plays into the decision.
- Pray for us to be able to finish this term on the field strong.