Thanks to God and to all who prayed. We completed the consultant check of Acts!

We faced many difficulties… for one thing, the check went slower than expected (and Acts, as you know, is a BIG book!). 1007 verses, to be exact.

Also there were heavy storms the whole time, so the river was usually a raging flood. This makes it difficult (and dangerous) to cross. It is deep, turbulent, murky brown, and branches (and at times, whole trees) are floating past. And of course, the consultant, Ginny Sharp, was staying on the other side of the river with our partners (Tim is her son and so Tim and Monika’s girls are her granddaughters.) Nili, the Palawano helping us with the check lives on the other side, too. Some days they could not cross at all. Other times, we had to wait for the river to go down and we could only work a half day. So the check stretched over ten days total.

So with the flooding, there were exciting moments shuttling them across in a small dugout canoe, which had the interesting “design feature” of sitting low in the water and filling up as you paddled! Tim’s dad Dwight grew up on rivers in Brazil (he’s an MK) so he know how to handle a canoe. But this “lowrider” canoe was a lot safer with a 90 lb Palawano guy paddling it.

But, praise the Lord, in spite of all that, we were able to finish the last verse of Acts just at as it got dark on the night before Ginny left!! And, we’re thankful, too, that the weather allowed Ginny and her husband to fly on as planned, so they didn’t miss their commercial flight back to Mindanao the next day.

The check produced good results. It did confirm that most of the book communicated well. But it also turned up a number of passages and words that did not communicate clearly, especially to the younger generation. So we’re thankful for discovering those issues so we can fix them! I’m going to write a blog soon about some of the kinds of issues we discovered.

Another fruit of the check was that Nili asked a few other ladies to sit in on the check as her “companion.” Out of that we discovered another young woman who is willing to help… not too shy, doesn’t mind sitting there thinking all day(!) and has a desire to help us with the translation. Her name is Nursalin. She’s a young mother of 22, and we’ve known her since she was born. Her father is Susing, one of our church leaders. After she helped with the check one day, I asked her, “So, Granddaughter, it wasn’t too much of a headache, was it?”

With a sweet smile, she said, “No, Grandfather, it wasn’t hard. And I think it’s good to learn more about God’s Word.”

We’re glad that she even sees the translation process itself as a chance to learn and grow. And we’re challenged to keep pressing on to see God’s Word in Palawano… clear and alive, communicating and touching hearts among the Palawanos far and wide.

Yes, “It’s good to learn more about God’s Word.”

Yours for Reaching Palawanos,

-Bill and Donna

After weeks of frantic work and preparation the week of the translation check is here! Our consultant Ginny Sharp (partner Tim Sharp’s mom) is here to take us through this last step in the process of translating Acts.

The check will probably take close to a week (yep, 6 or more 8-hours days!) Acts is 1007 verses long and around 13% of the New Testament. That takes time.

The main prayer requests would be for…

God’s Word in Palawano. It’s happening… a verse, a chapter, a book at a time. Pray with us!

We were blessed today by the power and grace of God.

There is a young couple in our church (~30 years old) whom we have known since they were 5 year old kids. Now they are grown up, active in the Palawano church and have 3 children of their own. The wife is Karing, who was one of Elisa’s playmates in the 80’s. The husband is Rinard, a brother of another of Elisa’s friends; a boy who use to color our Bible story pictures we used in the evangelistic outreaches.

For a number of months, Rinard has had a cough and felt weak. Antibiotics didn’t seem to do the trick and we were afraid his childhood tuberculosis had returned. So we had him taken to town to see the doctor, who had x-rays done. His lungs looked a bit cloudy and the doctor prescribed stronger antibiotics. But the greater concern was a mass in his left lung. The doctor wanted him to come back later when more tests could be done and the other doctor would be there to help make the diagnosis.

Rinard just went out to the doctor when we fly in (read my last two blogs for more on the travel circus to get us home!) That’s the last we knew until today…

…after church Karing came running over to our house, calling to us from outside (the custom here) and crying her eyes out. When we went out to greet her, she said that Rinard had come home and that a second x-ray showed that the mass was gone. That’s right, GONE. She was crying for joy, not sorrow, and kept praising God for how he cares for his children and hears our prayers. Read Donna’s blog for more detail on what Karing was saying.

Praise God with us for his grace and healing of Rinard. Pray, too, that this will touch hearts of believers and unbelievers alike, and bear fruit for the gospel.

Yours for Reaching Palawanos,

-Bill and Donna

Just a quick update here…

We have been working full blast on translating the book of Acts, in order to meet the deadline for our scheduled consultant check in mid-September.

There are good things happening in the church, with a couple of the men (Abil and Susing) taking more and more leadership there. They need lots of wisdom, boldness and encouragement from the Lord. They are facing many difficult issues (as pastoral ministry always involves.)

We’re grateful for the beginning of rainy season, which means that at least some of the time, the weather is a bit more bearable. May-June are the worst months as the peak of hot season meets the humidity of early rainy season (think: outdoor sauna.)

The implementation of new procedures and the incorporation of new helpers brought into the translation process has gone well. We’re hopeful for both the improved quality of the end product, as well as for a more rapid pace as we work toward the goal of completing the entire New Testament.

Thanks for your part in Reaching Palawanos for Christ!

Reaching the unreached of the world is a team effort, with many people using the unique and various gifts God has given them. This is the “body” principle, as described in 1 Corinthians, in action.

We just returned from several weeks in Thailand. While there, Bill fulfilled his responsibilities as the chairman of a conference focused on helping language learners and those who help language learning. He was also able to attend another workshop called the “Language Coach Workshop.”

The trouble is, of course, that learning another language to a high level of fluency is one of the most demanding tasks that can be undertaken. So learner need as much help as possible. This is where “coaches” (language consultants, teachers, tutors, school directors, etc.), along with those giving oversight to new missionaries, come in.

But it’s not easy to “coach” or help others learn a new language, either! So the workshops are to help those who must help others.

Praise the Lord we had a very profitable couple of weeks where language coaches, etc., from a wide range of evangelical organizations, could interact, discuss issues, ask questions, listen to presentations by others with more experience, and look at each other’s materials.

Bill has handed over the chairmanship of the next Asian conference to someone else, so we can continue to focus on the Palawano translation.

It was a good feeling to head home from these workshops knowing that literally hundreds of missionaries will be helped to learn to communicate God’s truth… learning more quickly, and communicating more effectively.

After a nice Christmas visit from Donna’s sister and family, we’re headed back to the tribe.

Bill will dive back into translation, which is now his full-time activity (much to his delight) at last!

He has set up a Translation Committee of about 6 or 7 Palawano men, all believers, most of whom are teachers in the church here. They range in ages from 26 to 45, so bring a variety of perspectives to the translation process.

The youngest man, Arnel, is the “youth pastor” in the church here. He was a member of our “Emmanuel” youth group in the village back in 2000, along with Arlyn, his wife-to-be at the time. He has a keen mind, a love for the Scriptures, and he gives good insight into how certain words and expression might (or might not!) be understood by the younger generation of Palawanos, as the language is changing.

The other men are older and help Bill to access a broad range of vocabulary. Bill is so thrilled to them all helping, quite a change from working with one 22 year-old guy back in the mid 80’s (although that young man, Arturo, is on the committee now, at age 45!) All the guys have a good grasp of what the Scriptures are trying to say and that is a help in discussing how to render that meaning in Palawano.

Many others will be used to check, revise and confirm comprehension of the translation… and they are ready to roll! Right now, Bill is working on Acts, Luke and Ephesians.

Donna will resume her role of helping with some of the translation process, while continuing her language study, which will enable her to have a more extensive role in a wide range of the steps involved in the translation process.

Please pray with us as we labor to see God’s Word translated and published for the Palawanos!