We are exceedingly pleased to announce the printing of the Dom language New Testament! Some of you have already seen our posting on Face Book. Thanks for all the kind and encouraging words. We started the translation process some time back in 1985. It was an on again off again effort fraught with setbacks and discouragements. But God in His grace saw us through it all. Praise and thanks to the Lord for His accomplishment. Many, many thanks to all of you who stood by us for over 30 years as we have labored in the Dom not only translating the New Testament but ministering as church planters, evangelists, teachers, mentors and seeing to the medical needs of the Dom people.
This is what we are calling a “provisional” printing; a limited paper- back edition of the Dom New Testament (150 copies) that we will have distributed among our Dom Christians. The idea is to allow time for readership and feedback (typos, improvements etc.) before we print the hard cover, stitch bound edition that will need to last for many years to come. Other missionary translators have taken this approach and it seems to work well.
Some have asked us, “What now”? The answer to that is more of the same for as long as God allows. We plan on returning to the field in October for another term. This time with a full volume, cover to cover New Testament to minister with instead of home printed portions and handouts of Scripture. We are trusting that this will be a new era for the Dom as Bible readership spreads and the Word does its work among His people. We pray that having a printed New Testament (and eventually however much of the Old Testament) in their mother tongue will equip and empower the Believers and the local church leadership in a whole new way. It will certainly make our job a lot easier.
We had planned to have the dedication this year, but for a variety of reasons have postponed it, Lord willing, to August 2016. We hope to have the more permanent copies done by then. In the meantime, God provided a way for the NT’s to get to PNG in June and then one of our missionaries and Martin Lamb, the son of our first partners, will be taking them to the two Dom churches to pass out to about 25 of our core readers for now. Wish we could be there, but we are thankful that they can receive them now and not wait for our return in October.
Word from our partners is that church in our village is lagging, but there is a small group at BM continuing with Gena teaching, and the outreach at A continues with Gena also. There is a core group of 10-12 attending. Pray for the new believers at BM to grow, Gena will soon be teaching Acts to them. Pray that more men would catch the vision to help with these outreaches. Another village has asked for the teaching but Gena is flat out as he is also the head of Fellowship for National Bible Churches in our area so that keeps him busy traveling.
April 13-17 there will be an area conference for believers in the village where our original church is. There will be one New Guinea speaker and one of our missionaries speaking. Pray for spiritual growth and encouragement for the believers and open hearts.
Our partners depart for Maternity leave and Home Assignment the end of April. They will be spending most of their time in Germany. Pray for a safe delivery in July and refreshment during their time home and away from Dom.
In a couple of weeks we will begin a trip visiting family and friends in the Northwest. Appreciate prayer for safety, chances to share missions, and time with family and friends. Pray the van has no issues.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we are so blessed by you. Your prayers have kept us going all of these years as God has given us the strength to continue though at times it was very difficult. We look forward to another four years in PNG returning in October.
With Thankful Hearts,
Jim and Judy Burdett Dom (dome) Tribe, Papua New Guinea Partners with Gerolf and Mailis Wuest
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