Answered Prayers….Scripture Translation Evaluation Report!
This time last month we asked for prayers as we were getting prepared for a Scripture translation evaluation. We are very pleased to report that the check went very well. Just getting his feet wet in the translation procedures, Levi had 2 post-literacy stories checked as well as 125 verses of Scripture. Our co-worker, Dan, had approximately 800 verses of Scripture checked as well. In fact, the evaluation ended 2 ½ days early as not a lot of adjustments and changes or explanations needed to be made! Praise the Lord for the men that he has given us as a team to work with in this process for this even to be a reality!
The next steps are to do a final grammar and punctuation check on these verses and then we can prepare to print some scripture booklets. We are very excited to be able to get some printed Scripture into the hands of the believers here, Lord willing in the coming months. Our prayer is that this will be an encouragement to them as they are able to have God’s Word in their hands, in their language. We are also praying that having printed Scripture booklets will encourage the literacy program as people see the validity of reading the printed Word. (If there are any VBS, Sunday School groups, etc., that are looking for a special project, perhaps you might consider helping with the printing costs for these Scripture Booklets. There is a special fund set up for these specific needs. Contact us for more information if you’re interested in helping in this way.)
Fantastic Firsts…The evaluation time was even more special to us as one of the Consultants (In-Training) has played a role in the story of Levi’s life in leading him into this ministry in the first place. We have included an excerpt from her update below:
In my last update, I mentioned that I was headed up to the highlands to participate in my first translation check on the consultant side of the table. What a privilege to be a part of it! Two of the team members were having Scripture portions from the Old and New Testament checked. For Levi, it was his first check. He had recently finished language and culture acquisition so this was his first step into translation. What was pretty cool to me is that when I worked with Destination SUMMIT, NTM’s short-term program, I was part of the team that prepared him for his first mission trip to South America and then helped with his debriefing at the end of it. Then in visits to our Bible school, I saw him there – growing and maturing into a neat young man. And here we are all these years later and I was part of his first translation check! What an incredible privilege! He and his Welsh coworker, Dan had done such a great job that our jobs as consultants were easy. It was so neat to see how well their translation was communicating to the tribal people! The Lord has equipped and enabled these two men to communicate clearly in a previously unwritten tribal language – pretty cool, eh?! So praise the Lord with me for more Scripture available in this tribal language. (~Lisa Kappeler, Wabaku)
Praise for the Promptings of the Lord…On Friday as our co-workers were preparing to leave for their home assignment, Dan felt the prompting of the Lord to go and see his main translation helper, Casper, one more time before they left. Casper is one of the believer’s here and because of how the Lord has used him through the years, he has been the direct resource for most all of the Bible lesson and Scripture translation process thus far with Dan’s portions that he has completed. He has been vital to this ministry and to his own people one day being able to receive the Word of God in their heart language. When Dan arrived at Casper’s house he found him in his bed very ill, severely dehydrated and close to death.
Dan was able to get Casper admitted to the local hospital, put on I.V. and has begun to receive care and treatment. We hear that he is on the road to recovery for which we are so thankful to the Lord for how He chose to answer our immediate prayers on his behalf. A little more background on Casper, several years ago he was injured in rugby game and has suffered permanent paralysis as a result. In addition to the paralysis he has also suffered long-term bowel & intestinal problems. Our continued prayers are for his complete recovery from the illness and dehydration that he has been suffering from as well as that during this time in the hospital the doctors might be able to figure out possible causes and even treatments for his other long-term health issues also. He has been a testimony to us in how the Lord chooses to use the “weak things of this world to confound the wise.” We are so thankful for Casper and he is a very dear friend, co-worker, and brother-in-Christ.