Ezekiel and Hosea are checked!

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised. Psalm 145:3a (NKJV)

Greeting from our jungle home.

We hope this finds you doing well and that you are encouraged by all God is doing in your life.

Checking progress:

We arrived in the village on January 20th and after spending just two days settling in, Lance got right to work with the translation team checking Ezekiel. Ron had prepared 41 chapters to check. If you’re wondering why we stopped there, go look at those last chapters. They are especially difficult. Because of that, Ron is postponing checking those chapters. We finished everything through chapter 41 and went straight into Hosea. Many of you have been praying for clarity and wisdom as we have been checking, and we thank you for those prayers.

We finished the final check of Hosea Wednesday afternoon. During the last day, one challenge we had was with Hosea 14:5 which says, “I will be like the dew to Israel…” We learned that the Higaunon don’t like dew. It’s cold and wet! That’s not the picture we want to portray in their minds when they read this. So, we made a slight change for clear understanding. The English looks like this: “My care for the people of Israel is like the refreshing morning dew in an arid land.”

Our coworkers:

In our last update, we asked you to pray for Ron and Michelle. They are scheduled to leave the village on Saturday the 22nd, heading for Australia. They aren’t sure how long it will take to do what they need to, but they’re hoping they can return before we leave. In the meantime, we’ll be working on the initial comprehension check of the book of Job.

Problems:

One of the church leaders stopped by the other day to chat. As we sat on our porch talking about different things, he asked me if other churches have problems like the ones they are experiencing. They are facing some attacks from Satan on several fronts. I assured him that they were not alone in this! Please pray for the Higaunon church. With growth comes persecution, which, as we know, brings more growth.

Praise:

Oh, and before we sign off, praise the Lord with us that we have not seen any evidence of termites this year. The ladies who cleaned our house before our arrival did find six dead rats! We had a couple of rats making noise one night after we arrived but none since. We’re praying that it stays that way.

Thank you:

We are so grateful for your continued partnership with us in prayer and financial support of what the Lord is doing amongst the Higaunon.

Secure in Christ’s love alone,

Lance & Laura

Here’s the link to our last update if you missed it: January Update

Here’s a link to a video of the approach to the village.