History Of The Work In The Simbari
Our co-worker Dennis Best started working in the Simbari (pop. 4000) in 1967. Steve Carruth and his family joined the team in 1976. About 10 years later, after learning the Simbari language, Steve prepared Bible lessons while Dennis started translating Bible portions. in 1988 Steve taught through the Bible and presented the Gospel to a small group of Simbari people. A few believed and the Simbari church was born. The Carruth family moved on shortly afterwards. We joined the team in 1992 and have been studying the Simbari language ever since we have been here. Lori Morley and Ching Yun Hwang joined the team in 1997 but Ching had to leave soon after due to health problems. Lori is still here and is also studying the language. Dennis & Jeanne Best returned to the U.S. in 1998 to care for Jeanne’s mom. There are still just a few believers and only very little of the New Testament has been translated. The Simbari ministry has been tough from the beginning, however, the Word of God has begun to penetrate this area that has been held in darkness for so long.
David’s Language Check – Feb. 2000
The language check had 4 main parts: oral speaking, oral comprehension, grammar written exam, culture written exam. Three of those sections: oral comprehension, grammar written exam, culture written exam I passed with no problems but our bilingual language informants were freezing up due to information overload which shut down the oral speaking part of the check, The consultant will need to recheck my Oral ability in about a month but with a new language informant with a more advanced academic background. He thinks I am up to par on language but cannot be absolutely sure until I retake that one part of the check. So that leaves me close but not quite there, hopefully by the time you get this I will have retaken the oral speaking check and passed.
Here And Now
My schedule has been adjusted some and I am now spending more time on translation and literacy. I have translated my first Bible lesson and am translating some books about Jewish customs. Translating these books gives us practice before we actually start translating the Scriptures. I have also finished with the new alphabet for the language and am getting wordlists together for preparation of literacy materials. It is mind-boggling how many things there are to juggle all at the same time. (Have I mentioned we could use more help?) Before I begin to teach, Bible teaching lessons need to be translated first. When I catch up on the things mentioned above I plan to start translating the Gospel of Mark.
Tractor Has Arrived!
Wooo-wooo-wooo-wooo! was the what the 30 or so Simbari men chanted as they marched off with a 900 pound piece of tractor on their shoulders. In several pieces it was loaded onto a twin turbo-prop “Twin Otter” with a forklift. It was unloaded here in the bush by a big group of very eager Simbari men. A mechanic from our regional centre came in and put it back together for us. It was in service the same day. Thank you all for your prayers and gifts towards this project. The other day I mowed about one-third of the airstrip in a little over an hour. It used to take days with a normal lawnmower. People have been coming from all over to catch a glimpse of the tractor which is the first “car” in Simbariland.
Gwandambiyal
We just sent out Gwandambiyal to the Goroka hospital. He is one of the few that we know for sure is saved and he has been the Bible teacher since our co-worker Dennis Best left over a year ago. He has been my “right hand man” since we have been here; He has been my main language-translation helper and my best friend for many years. A couple weeks ago he started complaining of stomach pain and it just got worse. So we sent him out and he was diagnosed as having advanced liver cancer. He also has tumors in his lungs, It has been a sad time since he returned home but we look forward to how God will use him. He has already been sharing his faith with friends and family who are coming to visit, Please pray for him and his family.
Serving Him in the Simbari, David & Shari Ogg