Hi Friends
I have been spending allot of time lately with the Mengen leaders and will send some news about this soon. The really good news is that our translation is coming to its end!
Wow so many years of hard work starting to come together. I have not done much on this and most of the hard work has been done by our co worker, Rebecca Preheim! She is a single lady who gave her life for this ministry. She has been diagnosed with MS a while back, but this has not deterred her from finishing what she has started! Our other co-worker needed to leave the work a few years ago but still helps out with much of our content checks and “Back to English” translation. Rebecca is on the left and Keri is on the right. Please know that these ladies are SUPER HERO’S!
She writes:
“In my last update I asked prayer for 4 Mengen ladies who would be coming to help me with Bible translation. However, the Lord had other plans and in the end, I had 4 helpers come out, but not the ones I expected. Praise the Lord for Anton and Masi, 2 young guys and also for Bruce and Apite, a married couple and their toddler who have spent the last 2 weeks here at our support centre. They have worked beautifully together as a team in spite of the fact that none of them had helped me with translation in the past. I am so thankful to the Lord for the wisdom and clarity He has given these guys as we work together to make God’s Word clear and accurate in the Mengen language. I am happy to report that we managed to work our way through BOTH Matthew and John. Both books were incredibly difficult and strained my brain to it’s limit, but I am thankful to have made huge strides in seeing these books come to completion. There are still several hoops to jump through, but I am feeling encouraged and thankful for what has already been accomplished.”
Brus and Apite is one of our missionary couples working in Bologo, and Anton is a young man growing into a solid believer and will soon become a literacy teacher. Masi is a young believer but already starting to show some potential.
Please continue to pray for Rebecca as she will me working very hard during these next few month on getting the last books checked and completed.
She says,
“This week on Friday, my helpers and I will be returning to the village!!! For me it has been a year since my medevac out of the tribe and I am anxious to see my friends again and to continue on with my translation work. I’ll be in for 3 weeks and I know the days will be long. Plus no internet or email, so I’ll be going through withdrawals!! I appreciate your prayers for me, that I would be an encouragement to the Mengen believers, especially my friend and main translation helper Kariang. She is gong through some deep waters these days, so pray that the Lord would work in her heart and she would desire to walk closely with Him.”
Lots of love and thanks for your support!
Lourens
ps: Bevky writes, “These days are truly a blur, just working like crazy 9+ hours a day on translation. Seeing some good progress happening but still a tremendous amount to accomplish. My first major check is coming up in about 5 weeks, so the brevity of time shakes me! However, I almost have to laugh in amazement at how the Lord has sustained and carried me through so far. Truly, He deserves so much glory and honor and praise! And don’t forget to pray for Keri as she is working as hard as I am from Texas, checking and critiquing my drafts. You can’t believe how labor intensive and draining that is. Trust me, it is HARD! We both need tremendous help and strength in the weeks ahead! …if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God… Precious promise!”