Greetings from the Philippines! It has been about 2 1/2 months since we left the USA for this 5 month stay in the Philippines and high time for a REPORT on our activities and what God is doing here in the land of the Kalanguya people!
After a wonderful three weeks with our family in Cambodia in December, the Consultant Check for the book of Deuteronomy
began on January 6th with the Kalanguya and Ibaloi Translation Teams gathered together at CFM, our center for Kalanguya young people attending college. The check of Deuteronomy progressed well and was completed at the end of January. We are now checking the book of Isaiah and now are in the 13th chapter! Bob says this is the most difficult book so far! Thanks for your prayers for us in this meticulous work of checking the Scripture verse by verse to make sure the translation conveys the truth of God’s Word to these precious tribal people who long to see the whole Bible in print in their own languages.
Teaching Opportunities……..We have had wonderful times of fellowship at several Kalanguya churches already; some where we met with friends we have known for years and others that are relatively new churches that have resulted from the outreach ministries of the Kalanguya churches. One of the leaders from one of new church came by last Saturday and asked if Bob could come and speak to this small group of Kalanguya believers in the village that we had not yet visited. When Bob asked him when he would want him to come, he replied, “Tomorrow between 8 and 9 am!” So last Sunday, after driving an hour and a half up a steep mountain “road” (sometime
s even paved), we came to a very impressively made little church the believers had been working on for about three years. We had a great time of worship and fellowship with these dear people. Bob has 
opportunities to teach every weekend when we are not checking translation. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of these believers in meeting together and being aggressive in their outreach to the villages in their area! What a blessing and encouragement to us!
It is enormously encouraging as well to see the spiritual growth and enthusiasm among the Kalanguya young people who are the FUTURE of the Kalanguya church! The leaders of the Youth Group met last week to plan their Intertribal Youth Conference – when tribal youth from different tribal groups in our area meet together to fellowship together. After the leaders’ meeting last week, we received a request from them asking for some very practical help in their planning and preparations for all their activities…….could we help them acquire a LAPTOP computer and a PRINTER! We wish we could help them! So
we are passing on their request on to you or one of your small study groups that might be interested in partnering with the Kalanguya Youth ministry to help them meet this need. Many of them know some English and would love to correspond with you. They are well versed in the use of computers, cellphones and whatever other technology is available to them! What a contrast from the Kalanguya folks we met 45 years ago!
Leaking Tile Roofs! Even though our staff here at CFM does a fantastic job of keeping the premises looking neat and clean, there are always maintenance issues that need extra attention whenever we come. Right now, we have roofs on two of our buildings that really should be replaced but for lack of funds, we are just repairing them instead. Bob has hired Billaw, one of our lighter weight tribal believers to climb up on the rood, identify the cracked tiles and replace them without cracking any more in the process! Billaw has been scraping the mold off the other tiles all week and now is in the process of putting a coat of paint on both roofs. We hope this helps the roofs last for a few more years!
Prayer and Praise!
- Praise the Lord that the finances needed for this trip to the Philippines have been supplied! Thank you, Lord, and thank you to those who gave!
- Pray that our health will hold out during these next months. We, including some of the translation teams, have been plagued with colds and cough and resulting tiredness these past few weeks but at the same time, we are grateful for the cooler temperatures these days though it is beginning to warm up!
- Kalanguya Ministry Project Needs:
- Regular monthly supporters are needed to help pay the salaries of our mother tongue Bible translators. We have not been able to pay 2 of our translators and they have had to get other work. Yet they are still helping when they can.
- Support is also need for the maintenance and expansion of CFM dorm facilities. We have had to turn away several boys who wanted to stay here last year while they attend college because of lack of space. We hate to miss the opportunity for our CFM staff to continue to disciple and influence these young people for Christ during their college years
How can you help?
If you or one of your Bible study groups wish to partner with the Kalanguya people in ministry, either with the college age youth or in translation, please write a check in any amount payable to New Tribes Mission and send to: New Tribes Mission, 1000 East 1st Street, Sanford, Florida 32771. On a separate slip of paper (not on the check) write: “For the Kalanguya Project, Philippine Field Fund.”
If you want to partner with our Kalanguya believers in these special ministries of translation or youth discipleship, please contact us personally through our email to let us know this so we can also have some of the believers report to you directly.
Thank you so much for your part in our lives and in the ministry to the Kalanguya people!