We trust your summer has been a time of refocusing and renewal for you, as you continue to look to Him, our Almighty Counselor, to be your guide and your nourishment.

When Aaron left Sivauna village, there was still some hesitation about whether or not the translation work should continue. It is now rainy season there, so we will not be able to communicate with them again until the rains have stopped. So we wait. We are not shocked that the enemy wants to cause chaos and block this amazing community from having access to the freedom and guidance found in understanding Scripture. So while we have an abiding peace, we are deeply burdened for our Mamusi brothers and sisters. Our hearts keep pouring out our prayers and thoughts to God on their behalf. Thanks for being on this journey of prayer and waiting on the Lord with us. He is eternally and uncompromisingly good. We are just as eager to grow and learn while we wait as we are to see what God will reveal after we’ve waited for their rainy season to end.

I (Rebekah) have been excited to take on my new role as Regional Director for the Islands translation teams. I’ve been learning and investigating how to serve these invaluable souls as Christ would. Thank you for praying that these amazing individuals, who are enduring many challenges, would be nourished and protected in their service.

I just returned from a week-long conference with SIL Papua New Guinea and SIL Global. SIL is the Linguistic Institute whose umbrella we serve under while we live in Papua New Guinea. SIL was started by Cameron Townsend, who eventually also founded Wycliffe Bible Translators, US, to send the Bible translators he was training to mission fields all over the world. My family loves space travel, so the following metaphor keeps coming to mind: think of Wycliffe as being our launch and landing pad, while SIL is our International Space Station. While we are here in PNG, we serve under SIL-PNG, as is everyone else who was sent here by various sending organizations from all over the world. Meeting with SIL Global helped me better understand how our context and work here in PNG fits into the current worldwide growth of language development. I was also deeply encouraged. Please e-mail me if you have more questions about how and why WBT and SIL exist in parallel.

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us while we pray and wait for guidance for our Mamusi ministry. The kids start school on Tuesday (Monday evening for most of you)! They will be in grades 11, 9, 8, 6, 5, and Pre-K. It is not lost on any of us that we only have two more years with all of our people in one nest! We praise God for providing enough teachers for each of our kids to have a complete schedule this entire year! That is a miracle. Please pray over the teachers and students as they start this week, and for ongoing strength and health to the fullest measure.

I (Rebekah) leave on Wednesday to attend the Vitu language New Testament Dedication in West New Britain! I am beyond excited to attend this meaningful celebration and feel like I might be pinching myself every few minutes to make sure it’s really happening. I am slightly nervous about my first speech as SIL’s representative, but it will definitely be brief. I will take lots of photos and videos for you. Thanks for your prayers over my plane and boat travel, as well as all the logistical challenges that pop up in The Land of the Unexpected.

Following the NT Dedication, I’ll be visiting some teams and citizen translators on the island of New Ireland. Please pray over the travel logistics for this as well. Air travel has become increasingly difficult. Please pray I’ll be able to encourage and help our brothers and sisters while I’m there where they work.

When I return, Aaron will be in his final preparations for a Grammar Writing Workshop here in Ukarumpa. In September, he has plans to make a brief trip to Sivauna to do some work on the translation house and lay groundwork for two more trips later in the year when he’ll be surveying the entire Mamusi-speaking area. Meanwhile, please pray for him as he runs the household for another couple of weeks without me.

Friends, if you’ve read this far, we’re so grateful. We truly need your prayers over our ministry here. Will you also pray that our monthly financial needs will be met each month? These are hard financial times for most people. Many of you are giving sacrificially, and we’re indescribably grateful for your partnership. Blessings on each of you.