Home Assignment in May!
We are planning to arrive in California around May 2, 1997. We are still waiting on our tickets, but that is the day we are aiming for. Please pray for our need for a vehicle and an affordable place to live. We will be settling in Calif. then in June we will be attending meetings for a week at our NTM Language School in Missouri. At this point we have no other planned meetings yet. We really want to see you if possible. Let us know if you would like us to visit you or share in your church about God’s work among the Simbari.
Simbari Literacy
The first Simbari literacy school is finished. The class started strong in attendance but over the months some grew weary of coming to school five mornings per week. But the ones who stayed with it to the end are reading and writing in their own language. Our co-workers are continuing to revise the materials and lesson plans. In future classes we hope to make some changes to encourage people to keep coming and also we want to start training some Simbaris to do the teaching themselves.
Language Check 3
After a lot of hard work we took our third language test. It took five days and went well. David passed the check and Shari just has a little more work to do and then we will both be moving on towards the fourth and final language check. Also we are thrilled to know how close we now are to beginning full-time teaching and translation in the Simbari language! We are thankful to God who has been our sufficiency.
“Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations…and lo I am with you always” Matt.28:19-20
Shari’s ‘new’ sister, Peggy
“Thirty-five years ago, a very scared, lonely, and mixed-up teen-ager gave birth to a beautiful little girl. It seemed there was no other option then but to place her up for adoption…” That little girl was Shari’s sister. After years of searching, on November 19, 1996, Peggy Salzburg was reunited with her mother, Judy Dolash (Shari’s mom). Since then Peggy has spent two weeks with the Dolashes at Christmas time and Shari has exchanged letters and pictures with her big sister. We are thankful that God has brought Peggy back into our lives and we are excited about meeting her face-to-face when we return to the U.S. in May.
Tractor Update:
Over the last several months some special gifts have come in for the purchase of a tractor to maintain our airstrip. The total is up to around $5000 now. That is about half of what we need to purchase a used tractor in the U.S. Thank you for the gifts. Please pray we will be able to find and buy what we need while on home assignment.