Worth the Trip

by Karen Weaver

Papua New Guinea

Vine bridge over the Yuat River Photo by Markus Melliger

What would you be willing to do to hear God's Word in your language? Would you hike for half a day? Would you cross a rugged mountain? Would you navigate a vine bridge suspended over a raging river?

That's what Wapena Mei did in order to obtain a small solar-powered device that has a recording of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts in the Pinai-Hagahai language. You see, Wapena knew it would be worth the trip because he had already been listening to the oral Scriptures for more than a year. But when his family's player broke and they learned that 70 more would be distributed in a village across the mountain, his wife gave him the charge, "Go and get us another one of those MegaVoice units."

Wapena was successful in his mission and he and his wife Makome will again be able to listen to the Pinai-Hagahai Scriptures in their small dwelling as they go to sleep at night. Wapena also uses it as a resource to prepare sermons for preaching in area churches.

Wapena Mei listening to the Scriptures in his language Photo by Karen Weaver

Convinced that God's Word is applicable to every area of life, Wapena is eager to share the truth with others. Because hospitals are not easily accessible to everyone, the Papua New Guinean government trains people to work at Aid Posts in remote areas. Wapena is one of those aid post workers. As he does his job, he does not forget the Scriptures he's heard. When he hands out medicine he tells the men, "You can swallow these pills, but they won't do you any good if you take another man's wife."

Hearing God's Word daily keeps it in the forefront of Wapena's heart and mind. Now that he has a way to continue hearing God's talk, Wapena will keep sharing that Good News with others in his home, his church, and in his work. Yes, it was definitely worth the trip.

This story can also be found on Wycliffe.net

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Ethnologue entry for Pinai-Hagahai| Ethnologue: Languages of the World is an encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,909 known living languages.

PNG map of language group

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{Metzger Ministry Update} Christmas 2011 | “Fragrant Aroma”

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to wish you a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with joy! We are rejoicing with the Nehan, Ata Kume, Agarabi, Bola, Saveeng-Tuam and Saveeng-Oov that received the New Testament in their own language this year, 2011. Now these people groups can learn of and understand in their hearts the joy that our Savior, Jesus Christ, brings. What an incredible Christmas gift that is!

(New Testament Dedications in Papua New Guinea)

We thank God for a very fruitful year since we have returned to Papua New Guinea (PNG). You, our partners, have been a blessing to us encouraging us through prayers, notes, and giving. Thank you!

 

(from left to right: Matthias, Lukas & Kassia)

At the beginning of December, Kurt was able to travel once again to the Sepik Province of PNG (North West Corner) where he went to in October. This time he was in Wewak, a small town where SIL has a regional center. This center is also a main hub for many of the translators located in the Sepik province.

While in Wewak, Kurt was able to install a VSAT (satellite dish) and networking equipment to bring the regional center online. He also trained one of his co-workers in the installation of the VSAT system. At this regional center, they used to depend on two different internet providers that they accessed via a USB broadband modem. One of the providers would be down for weeks at a time and the other was so slow many of the workers at the center couldn’t even download their email. They would have to wake up a 3 or 4 am to connect and get a decent connection to check email. Now they have a faster and more reliable connection. The connection is still very slow compared to what most of you have in your homes, but it is fast for PNG standards. This internet connection will enable translation and support teams to be much more productive while they stay at the center. They will also be able to upload and backup their translation data much faster now.

 

(Wewak Center VSAT installation)

The Pehrsons are a translation team that works in the Sepik with the Aitape West multi-language cluster translation team. We are their support team while they are in the village. Please pray for the Pehrsons as they will be in the village for 5 weeks starting in January. Please pray for Ben as he juggles being the project administrator and translation advisor to the Onnele languages. Because there are so many administrative tasks, it is hard for him to find time to do translation advising. Arop translator Emil's son David has TB. Emil and his wife Alexia will be in Aitape town for the next three months with him at the hospital. Pray for the translators as they continue revising the book of Acts. They are preparing for consultant checking. Also, Andy Weaver and Dan Bauman plan to join the Pehrsons for a month to record the book of Luke. Please pray for them.

 

(from left to right: Matthias, Lukas and the moth & Kassia and Johanna)

Thank YOU for being a faithful part of our ministry and the work that God is doing in Papua New Guinea!

Blessings,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, Lukas, and Matthias too!)

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{Metzger Ministry Update} 10/2011 | "Internet in the jungle"

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6 NIV)

Dear Friends and Family,

How time flies! We have been back in Papua New Guinea for almost a whole year now. God has been faithful as always and given us above and beyond what we asked for or imagined. Thank you for being such an encouraging team to us as we serve here in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

October has already been a busy month. Last week Kurt was in the Sepik province of PNG (North West corner). Thank you for your prayers for him as he was working in Arop village. He and his co-worker were able to install a VSAT (satellite) internet connection for the Aitape West Translation Project (AWTP) running off of 12Vdc power from solar panels. The AWTP is a multi-language cluster translation project with up to 11 language groups working at any one time. The new satellite connection will allow the teams to backup translation data via the internet and make Skype calls with their advisors. The teams will be able to keep working together, even when team members are in other parts of the world.

 

(left to right: PNG Map with Aitape located; Kurt with the AWTP manager and co-worker Wayne Ferris)

Kurt really enjoyed being at Aitape West where our good friends Ben and Mandy Pehrson work. We are the Pehrsons’ support team while they are in the village. When they are there and need something from Ukarumpa, we help purchase it and get it to our aviation department so they can receive it quickly.

I (Johanna) was able to attend Encounter (the retreat for our youth in Ukarumpa) from October 1^st through the 5^th. I really enjoyed being able to deepen my relationship with my 10^th grade Bible study girls. Our speakers theme was The Gospel and he took us on a journey through Romans 1-3. Please pray that the Lord would continue to teach and challenge the students as they return to normal life and routines in Ukarumpa.

 

(left to right: Johanna with her Bible study; Kassia and Lukas on his first day of pre-K)

Thank you for standing with us in prayer!

Blessings,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, Lukas, and Matthias too!)

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{Metzger Ministry Update} August 2011 | "There is no law..."

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! -- Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

Dear Loved Ones,

First of all we would like to thank you for being a part of our ministry team through encouragement, prayer and partnering with us financially. We have now been back in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for 9 months and feel much more settled than when we first arrived. Kurt has been busy at work and he continues to enjoy what he does. In mid-June, he took a work trip to Madang (a town on the North coast) to help install a 8.5 km wireless link from the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) Center into town. POC is the training center where all new SIL/Wycliffe field members in the Pacific area come to receive basic culture- acquisition and language training. Kurt was gone for 5 days and it was a very effective trip.

 
(right to left: Kurt installing the wireless link at POC; our family on Matthias’ first birthday)

At the end of June, Kurt and Kassia were able to attend the Agarabi New Testament Dedication. This took place about 30 minutes from Ukarumpa (where we live) and it was a privilege for them to attend this life changing event for the Agarabi people.

(Agarabi New Testament Dedication) – for more pictures see our facebook album: Agarabi NT Dedication

Near the end of July, I (Johanna) began leading a small Bible study for a group of 10th grade girls from our community. I have really enjoyed getting to know these girls and am looking forward to growing with them in our knowledge of the Lord and in loving Him and each other more.

Kassia started 1st grade a few weeks ago and she stays in school until past 3pm! She loves computer class, music, and art. Lukas is starting to play more with his little brother and asks us to bring him into his room in the mornings. Matthias is 1 year old as of August 8th and he is crawling all over but not quite walking yet. We thank God for the gift He has given us in our three precious children!

(our family on vacation in Madang)

Kurt will be taking another work trip this coming October. This time he will go to the Sepik region of PNG (North West corner) where he and coworker will install a VSAT (satellite) internet connection for the Aitape West multi-language cluster translation team and a second one for our SIL regional center in Wewak. Kurt is really looking forward to going to the Sepik, specifically to Aitape West where our good friends Ben and Mandy Pehrson work. We are the Pehrsons’ support team while they are in the village. When they are there and need something from Ukarumpa, we help purchase it and get it to our aviation department so they can receive it quickly.

PRAISE:

• Kurt’s trip to Madang went well and his computer skills were much appreciated.
• For YOU our great partners who pray and support us so faithfully.
• Kassia is enjoying school and our two boys are doing well.
• For the girls’ Bible study I (Johanna) have the opportunity of leading.
• For the Agarabi New Testament Dedication in June.

PRAYER:

• For Kurt as he travels to the Sepik in October. For his work to go smoothly.
• For me (Johanna) and the kids as we stay home without Kurt for 8 days.
• For our relationship with the Lord to become deeper and stronger and that we can be an example to those around us.

(Matthias and Lukas)

Once again, thank YOU for being a faithful part of our ministry and the work that God is doing in Papua New Guinea.

Blessings,
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, Lukas, and Matthias too!)

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The Word | Old and New

Greetings from Papua New Guinea!

“The Word” is a weekly photo and caption detailing the impact of Bible translation.

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"Great joy to ALL people!" | December 2010

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today...” -- Luke 3:10b-11a (NLT)

Dear Loved Ones,

We want to wish you a blessed Christmas and a new year filled with joy! Right now we are rejoicing with the Malei people of Papua New Guinea (PNG) who have just received the New Testament in their own language this past weekend. Praise God! Now the Malei can learn of and understand in their hearts the joy that our Savior, Jesus Christ, brings. What an incredible Christmas gift that is!

(Pictures of the Malei NT Dedication celebration)

We are back in Papua New Guinea! We arrived safely in Ukarumpa (our home and place of work), without any delays or complications, on November 19th. We have had many things to do since we arrived and are still settling in. One setback we have experienced since getting here is our bodies getting adjusted to the stomach bugs that are so prevalent here. Our family, all of us except Matthias thankfully, has been sick at one time or another (several of us are sick as I write this update). Please pray with us that God would return us all to health quickly.

(from left to right: Matthias and Kassia; Luke helping to set up our Christmas tree)

I (Kurt) started back to work with the network team at the Communication and Technical Services department and am getting up to speed on the changes that have been made while I was on home assignment. I have been able to put to good use the experience and training I gained while working with the network team at SIL’s Dallas offices. We are in the midst of virtualizing almost all of our datacenter in order to more effectively and reliably provide the services we do to translation teams and support personnel.

Johanna is busy, at home unpacking our belongings that have been in storage and organizing our house. We have been blessed with a home here so the transition has been easier than when we first came to PNG in 2007. Kassia has started kindergarten and was already involved in the primary campus’ Christmas presentation.

 

(from left to right: Kassia’s Christmas presentation; Kassia and Johanna in our back yard)

Thank YOU for being a faithful part of our ministry and the work that God is doing in Papua New Guinea.

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! – Revelation 22:20 (NLT)

Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

Kurt (for Johanna, Kassia, Lukas, and Matthias too)

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Finding His Words Again

Papua New Guinea {2010}

It was three in the morning and the lights were on. Someone was walking around the guest house

Taitus, a national Bible translator, was staying at the Bible Translation Association (BTA) offices in Ukarumpa, along with his sister Fesi and her husband Rumu, far from their village home in Somba Siawari.* They had completed a week-long translation workshop and planned to spend extra days in town.

That night in the guest house, Taitus was suddenly awake, and aware of a thief.

A man had broken down the door and was now inside. Upon seeing the intruder, Taitus thought first to defend himself and his family members. But the man’s face was covered and he seemed unafraid. In his hand, he clutched a machete. Taitus backed away.

Rumu and Fesi came into the room and the man charged at them. They fled and hid in the bedroom. Undaunted, the intruder grabbed two laptop computers and left.

And just like that, in the dark of night, all their hard work was gone.

A year of translation work was on those computers. Several books of the Bible were drafted and ready to send for checking. Now they were lost. Discouragement overwhelmed the small translation team. They felt like a part of them had been snatched away.

Together they wondered, what is God showing us? Even though they were afraid, they thanked God that none of them were hurt and prayed for the man who stole the computers. Maybe God would bring the man to Jesus through this. They also prayed that somehow God would bring back their computers.

He answered in ways they never expected.

A year before, some colleagues who had worked with Taitus, Rumu, and Fesi had noticed their decade-old computers. Unknown to them, these colleagues had already sent new laptop computers in the mail, to be delivered to a translation team in need. Only three days after the robbery, the translation team learned of the gift and their colleagues’ wishes for them to have the new laptops. All they had to do was go to the post office to pick them up. Shocked and amazed, they realized God had answered their prayers months before they had even prayed them!

And He wasn’t finished.

They took the new computers to their IT department to install all the programs they needed, and while they were there it was discovered that an even older computer they had turned in for a data transfer still had all of the past year’s work on it! Miraculously, it had been preserved and all of it was recovered.

Their hearts filled with praise to God! Together, the translation team reported, “We thanked Him for giving us more than we ever imagined was possible. And now, we can’t wait to get back to work, translating His mighty Word so that people in our village can know His power!

“We can’t stop praising our Lord…we just can’t!”

* Taitus, Rumu, and Fesi are national translators and literacy workers with the Bible Translation Association of Papua New Guinea.

-- by Jon Bilbro

This story can also be found on theWordisLife.net

Ethnologue | Languages of the World entry for Somba-Siawari (also known as the Burum-Mindik)

Map of where the Burum-Mindik live

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A New Way to Work Remotely

An open letter from Wycliffe USA President, Bob Creson | October 2010

Dear Colleagues,

Board a plane in Dallas, Texas. Travel for four days on 8 flights far into Southeast Asia. Now climb into a truck and journey up into lush green mountains on a deeply rutted, often muddy road. Hike over slippery landslides if necessary. Eventually you'll come to a little village nestled into a mountain valley, where the local language is Yawa, but where the people have traditionally worshipped in the national language.

As you walk through the village, stop and talk to church leaders. Ask if anyone preaches from the Yawa Scripture portions published over the last 20 years. "Elder Sefnat does all the time," they'll say. Sefnat will show you two small worn books protected by brown paper covers-Yawa translations of John's writings, Acts, and nine epistles. Tucked into the pages are little slips of paper with dated sermon notes, references to Scripture passages in those two little books, and unpublished verses that mother tongue translator Andowa has handwritten for him.

Stop by a thatched-roof home and ask if anyone there reads from the Scriptures in Yawa. Everyone will point to a bearded old man called Grandfather Bertasar. "He read to us this morning," they'll say. "He told us how to apply it to our lives, too."

Walk on and you'll come to the village church. Take a deep breath because you're about to encounter an amazing scene!  In this very remote village, where there is neither electricity nor phone service, translator Andowa sits at a laptop computer. A dozen people cluster closely around him, listening as he reads aloud a Bible passage in Yawa. The volunteer reviewers enthusiastically discuss it, looking for ways to improve awkward or unclear sentences. When they're satisfied with the way it sounds, Andowa revises it on his computer. Then, since his specially-designed software has a send/receive function, he logs onto the internet and "syncs" his draft.

Halfway around the world in Arlington, Texas, Wycliffe translator Linda Jones will get up tomorrow morning, sync up her computer, and read the draft that Andowa has revised. She'll check to make sure the meaning hasn't been altered and send back suggestions for the next round of discussion.

This is how the final revisions are being made to the Yawa New Testament. It's all possible because a new geostationary satellite began circling the equator in early 2009. Just two weeks after it went into service, IT specialists from Wycliffe's Seed Company brought a computer and a small satellite device to the village, showed Andowa how to connect to the satellite, and taught him to use OurWord-the special software for mother tongue translators created by Wycliffe member John Wimbish.

Andowa and Linda have been working together long-distance for 17 years now, ever since Linda and her husband, Larry, had to move away so Larry could take on various leadership roles in Bible translation. Scripture drafts went back and forth by mail and in hand-carried packets. Linda and Larry made trips to the village. Andowa made trips out of the village. Always God helped them find a way forward, but they thought they had reached the end of the road when it came to the final revision process. "We did not see how we could finish the final revisions without greater community involvement," says Linda. "It just looked impossible. I could not go there for any length of time, and they could not come here." And then came the satellite-and IT specialists who knew how to take advantage of the satellite!

There have, of course, been a few maintenance problems with the equipment and satellite connection, but IT personnel have repaired most of them remotely. Only once did a faulty part have to be hand-carried to the city and back. That led to two and a half months without communication, but eventually the connection was repaired and revisions moved forward!

Soon the final draft of the New Testament will be sent to the printers, and the Yawa people will begin preparing for the dedication, set for June 2011. Elder Sefnat, Grandfather Bertasar, and translator Andowa are waiting. Dozens of reviewers and their relatives are waiting. The Scriptures are reaching yet another group of people, isolated, but not forgotten by the God who loves them all. He has conquered space and distance.

Warmly,

Bob Creson

President

Wycliffe USA

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We don’t want to forget what life was like before we had the Word

We don’t want to forget what life was like before we had the Word

June 30, 2010 by Bob Creson

The single-engine plane circled and landed in a remote village in Southeast Asia. As translators Andrew and Anne Sims stepped out, they were immediately surrounded by several hundred Ketengban men and women—all dressed in full celebratory dress with feathered headdresses, and even some with bones in their noses, and plugs in their earlobes. Brandishing bows and arrows, hooting, chanting and dancing, they swirled in and around Andrew and Anne, honoring them by draping net bags around their necks.

Andrew and Anne were caught completely off-guard. Even though they were responsible for the Ketengban translation project and this was Anne’s first visit since the New Testament dedication 11 years earlier, they hadn’t expected such an exuberant welcome. They were further baffled when they noticed that not everyone was celebrating.

Read more at wycliffeusa.wordpress.com …

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Bible translators hope to have every language covered in 15 years (article by the Denver Post)

 
The open Bible is a translation in the Bughotu language of about 4,000 people in the Solomon Islands. The Last Languages Campaign that was set to be finished in about 140 years might be done in 2025 due, in part, to better technology. (Judy DeHaas, The Denver Post)

Bible translators hope to have every language covered in 15 years

Contemporary missionaries, armed with technology and making greater use of apprentice native translators, might now be able to oversee transcriptions of several languages in their lifetimes... (read more of this article by the Denver Post)

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