The kids and I (Rebekah) just arrived back in Ukarumpa, after one brief week in Sivauna, the Mamusi village that is the primary spot for translation work. When the kids were younger and I was homeschooling them, we spent many weeks (sometimes months) at a time in this wonderful place. We’ve always been warmly welcomed and supported here. It was important that Evie get back here one more time before she graduates and leaves the country in June. This is another “framily” that she is leaving behind and will probably never see again. It was also good for the rest of us to reconnect after being away for over two years.

Our first village father, or “Tamangku” in Mamusi, passed away during our first furlough in 2019. Since then, the community designated one of Aaron’s village brothers as our Papa. He’s been taking excellent care of us since. To him and to the entire village, one of his daughters is leaving for good. Many tears were shed, but none were wasted. They’ve loved each of us very well over the years.

When our village Mama, the widow of our first Papa, decided to adopt us many years ago, she couldn’t have known that she was inviting so many painful goodbyes into her life. In the end, she and I cried the most. She spoke a beautiful blessing over Evie about carrying this place with her wherever she goes.

After getting stuck in the mud on the way to the airstrip, we finally made it. We were traveling back to Ukarumpa the first day of Term 2, and this might be the kids’ longest commute ever to their first day of school. In the end, most of them didn’t actually make it to school before the end of the day. But it still serves as a first day of school photo, with perhaps the slickest school bus out there.

Thanks for your prayers as the kids all start Term 2 of the school year.

Please especially pray for Aaron as he remains in Sivauna with much to accomplish. He’s already been working with the translation team on getting the final village checks for the Gospel of John ready. After that, they have to do a back translation, so that a translation consultant who doesn’t know Mamusi can study the Gospel, then interview people reading the Gospel for the first time in Mamusi to see if they understand the meaning of the text. If it’s too word-for-word, the meaning will be unclear. If it’s too contextualized, the original meaning might get lost. John is a very theological book, full of deep kinds of teaching. We want God’s Word to impact our brothers and sisters at their very core. We are praying the Gospel of John will be ready for a consultant to come early next year to check this Gospel. This would allow adequate time for corrections, audio recording, typesetting, printing, and distribution, all hopefully before we leave for the USA in June.

While I was in Sivauna, I did some literacy classes in the evenings, using a draft of John 6. These also naturally turned into Bible studies. It was a gift to watch some truths sink in deeply. I had spent some time in Malaysia the month prior for an SIL conference, where I found very cheap reading glasses for people to use in these classes. This allowed older people to participate. By the last class, I was sitting down and letting my outstandingly capable village niece lead the lessons. Please pray with me that literacy classes like this will continue.

In this process of preparation, Aaron will hold a Key Terms Workshop with some leaders from various villages to finalize translation decisions on some biblical key terms that aren’t a part of everyday language use. John is full of them, so pray for good conversations and decisions about this. Pray that the participants will leave the workshop impacted by a deeper understanding of who God is and how much they mean to Him.

Aaron has already had one meeting with the language committee, a group of men and women who provide oversight and put into place the plans for Scripture translation, Scripture use, and literacy. He gave an encouraging report of recent progress. He also helped them see that we simply don’t have time to spend five years on each book of the New Testament. He explained that the primary motivator for work to move forward seems to be Aaron’s presence in the village. Since we have to live where our kids have a school, this limits Aaron’s time there in Sivauna. He has very patiently and carefully taught the translators how to do each step of the process. Your gifts (thank you!) have provided an excellent solar power system so they can have reliable power, satellite internet, and computers to work, rain or shine. Please pray they can find a solution to motivate the translators to continue making progress even when Aaron is absent.

We are truly grateful for your partnership with us through your prayers and gifts. Thank you.