Translation Printing Delay
We concluded the proofing of the translation back in May and since then have been waiting on the publisher. We expected things to happen more quickly, so we are learning patience and trusting that God has a sovereign purpose in the timing. At one point several months ago it sounded like the publisher was working on it and we would receive a sample copy soon but we never received anything and now it sounds like there is some legal paperwork holding up the project. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we try and get to the bottom of the delays.
Road Trip With David’s Parents
In September we took a 3 week road trip with David’s parents to visit multiple states and National Parks. It was a bucket list trip for them and it was so fun to spend so much quality time with them exploring God’s beautiful creation together. David helped with much of the driving and we are thankful for safe travels for over 6000 miles.
Two More Grandchildren!
Near the end of our road trip we arrived in Oregon to meet our second granddaughter the day after she was born! Her name is Talia Claire and she was born September 19th. We all enjoyed a few days together with Esther, Tim, Daniel and Talia before David and his parents headed home while Shari stayed there for another week to help out with housework and babysitting. A few weeks later another granddaughter, named Emiko, was added to the family bringing the total to 6 grandchildren in all. We appreciate your prayers for our growing family.
News From PNG
Last week we got a message that David’s translation helper, Raymond, was out of the bush for a short trip to town and wanted us to call him. He and the other Bible teachers have been teaching the Bible in two villages. The smaller more remote church had been neglected for a while and the believers from that village were traveling up to the bigger one for teaching and fellowship. So the believers decided to fix up the other church and once a month take turns having a central meeting so they could enjoy the worship and fellowship of a larger group in each location. There are two other requests for Bible teaching that the teachers are hoping to begin soon. Since returning to the village Raymond has been translating from Pidgin English some Old Testament Bible lessons with a focus on sanctification of believers. These lessons cover stories that we don’t teach the first time through the Old Testament when the focus is on salvation of unbelievers. Because Raymond has worked with David on all the translation for the last 20+ years he has a solid foundation and his teaching and lesson writing has always been solid. He sent us a copy of his work so far and these lessons are no different. We are so thankful to have Simbari co-workers sharing the burden of caring for the church!
What are we doing?
We get that question a lot these days. We are continuing to work on Simbari ministry materials remotely. Shari is transcribing Bible lessons for the last of the New Testament books that we translated. David has finished reformatting Bible lessons that we talked about in our last update. Now he has resumed drafting Old Testament Bible portions picking up where he left off at Exodus 21. He has also started recording the Simbari Audio Bible. He will split time between drafting and recording. Our next trip to PNG will be for the Bible dedication. Thanks for praying with us concerning resolution of the publishing delays. The Simbari people are waiting eagerly for their Bibles!
