Dear Friends and Family,
We shared in previous letters that some aspects of our ministry were on hold due to this time of campaigning and elections here in PNG. Our Dom believers, some of whom have been a bit distracted by it all, felt that we should wait on starting literacy, Gospel outreaches and the like until after the elections. One concern was the possibility of tribal unrest and maybe violence among rival clans supporting different candidates for one Parliament seat. The fear of this was very real to all the people in our area.
We are very happy and thankful to report that the elections have come and gone and so far no repercussions in our area. Our local people seem to have relaxed a bit and life is going back to normal. Sadly that is not the case in another Dom clan where we originally worked eighteen years ago and where the other Dom church is and where Kapia Joseph ministers. There are many unhappy people of other Dom clans who are threatening revenge to those who did not vote their way. It appears that the men have sent their families to safer places and the men are camping out in the church waiting on the Lord to see what is going to happen. I know this is all kind of hard to picture without being here to see it. But the Lord does and we ask your prayers for the church where we originally worked and for peace throughout the Dom and PNG.
Even though some ministry projects were stalled by this recent cycle of elections a good deal of translation progress has been made. I, Jim, have kept myself in the office going over drafts of Dom New Testament Scripture, primarily Luke and now John. It is tedious and time consuming but we are working ourselves up to a very good, clear and readable translation of God’s Word in the Dom language. Our Dom Christian brother, Gena, works with me three times a week since he is the expert in Dom, not me. Together I think we make a very good team .
We have also put together a series of Gospel lessons with which we hope to do some evangelism in neighboring villages very soon. We are looking to the Lord for open doors by way of invitation into these villages many of which are of other religious persuasions. It can be a bit of a sensitive matter in that regard so we need the Lord’s leading.
Dom literacy which is so essential in our work here stalled too. Judy started a class some weeks ago but only two people showed up. All due to the election distractions. It was decided that we should wait until calmer times to try again. That should be very soon. We are going to put out the word that classes are starting soon, come one and all. Please pray for this too. We have revised the Dom orthography (the way the language is written) in the hope that it will make it easier to read for new students and we have yet to test it in an actual class setting.
Our old Lister brand diesel generator of many years went kaput twice on us. Thankfully another of the same make and model became available as a loaner to us and it runs well enough (it burns oil ). These generators are really heavy and hard to move. Thanks to our many Dom friends who came and used their considerable muscle power to help us yank the old one out and put in the “new” one.
For those who had not yet heard, we were able to buy a good used truck for a reasonable price for PNG. Thank you to those who gave and to those who prayed for God’s provision. We were able to sell our old truck and between the two funds we had enough to buy it. Sometime in the future when we have the funds, we need to switch out the radial tires and rims for more rugged mud tires. Right now our roads are dry due to very little rain so is not an issue. Please pray about the provision of several thousand dollars to replace these.
Happy news. Our coworkers, Gerolf and Mailis Wuest, currently on Home Assignment in Germany, have been blessed with the birth of their first child, Richard. Welcome Richard to the family and congratulations to Gerolf and Mailis. We are excited about having them back early next year.
Brian got a job he is enjoying. Ilai has had little work but now is working on a job that will be for some time. Heather and Darren both work looking after a disabled young man named Tyler. Please pray for the right vehicle for Heather and for housing. She has had some glitches with getting transferred to USDC in San Diego so appreciate prayer that God would help her know how to get through all the paperwork and hoops.
Always much to tell. Thank you for praying and giving. You are a big part of this work in the Dom (dome) tribe of PNG. We are truly blessed with our support team both here and abroad.
God’s best to you all,
Jim and Judy Burdett Dom (dome) Tribe, Papua New Guinea Partners with Gerolf and Mailis Wuest