Since the last update much has happened. Our partners the Kunzers have gone back to America for “home-assignment.” They will be doing a lot of traveling through the mid-west this summer so you can pray for them as they catch up with family, friends, and churches. Just prior to their departure we all attended the annual conference for the islands region missionaries. That was a good time to fellowship, catch up with fellow missionaries, and get the latest information to help in our ministries. We have now been back in the tribe continuing to teach and work with the two groups of Patpatar believers. I will tell you more about that in the next update, but wanted to also share about our literacy program.
Last week Diane and Annette, two literacy consultants, came to help us layout and develop the Patpatar primers for the literacy course. They were a great help to give suggestions and methods for what letters and sounds to teach first and how to go about teaching them. Lori is taking a bulk of the responsibility for the literacy program and so had spent months gathering materials, creating word lists, working with the Patpatar dictionary, and getting things ready. When the consultants were here Madonna (our other partner) was a huge help in cooking meals and watching the kids. The rest of us (including some of our Patpatar friends) spent long days putting everything together in an orderly fashion and writing stories in the Patpatar language for new readers. The books include new sounds to teach and then stories to reinforce those sounds. Like the Dick and Jane stories, they start out simple and get more complex. Here is an example of one of the early stories from the first primer:
Tata kana?
Tata kana.
Tata i tuntun ku?
Tata i tuntun ku.
Tata i kanakana.
Nana kana?
Nana kana.
Nana i tuntun ku?
Nana i tuntun ku.
Nana i kanakana.
The above story means very little to those who don’t speak Patpatar, but when the Patpatar read it they understand exactly what is being said because it speaks to them in their heart language. Our desire is that many will become literate so they can read the Bible in their own language and that they will understand exactly what God’s Word says because it speaks to them in their heart language. Pray for us, and especially Lori, as we finish the primers and begin to write teachers manuals and get everything together to start the first literacy school.
See Aaron and Lori.
Aaron and Lori say good-bye!