Our first house in the tribal village, circa 1983, before the water tower or any solar panels were installed

 

THE WAITING CONTINUES… but God is keeping us busy. We wanted to give a quick update and to encourage you to keep praying with us.

 

NEW TESTAMENT PRINTING

The Christmas season slowed things down with the printer in Manila. But this week we learned that the second “print proof” copy of the Palawano NT translation is done and being sent to us. The printer should have fixed the errors we found in the first copy. Lord willing, when we check this copy, we will find no errors and can give the go-ahead for printing 2,500 copies for the Palawanos. 

 

Meanwhile, we were so blessed to enjoy the holiday season with our kids and grandkids, and Donna/Mom/Ma/Grammy was happy to host all the special meals.

 

TRAINING NEW MISSIONARIES

Bill has kept busy preparing materials and teaching a few language learning seminars. He is coaching some members of a supporting church here in San Diego on how to learn a language and how to cross cultural and relationship barriers in order to have a ministry.

 

He is also preparing for a ten-hour block of teaching in March for the Radius International missionary training program based in Tijuana (http://radiusinternational.org — check them out!) Some long-time friends from our church in San Diego, together with some New Tribes missionaries, have started this training program where missionary trainees live in Tijuana for a year while they learn how to be effective cross-cultural missionaries. Since we are nearby here in San Diego, the Radius board asked Bill if he would teach some classes related to language learning, and we were happy to say yes.

 

As we have said before, once the Palawano New Testaments are printed, we will head back to the Philippines to host a few dedication services and to kick off distribution to the Palawanos scattered all over the southern part of the island. The earliest that might happens looks like early April. Then, we will travel around the USA to visit friends and supporters to celebrate what God has done in getting his Word into Palawano.

 

Meanwhile, we are following up on opportunities to share about our ministry as we trust God to raise up more people who will partner with us in prayer and support and we work together to reach the unreached.

 

NEWS FROM THE PALAWANO CHURCH

News from Palawan is that there is a revival going on in our area, starting with the young people and spreading through evangelistic outreaches. God is preparing ministers to use his Word once the whole New Testament is in their hands!

Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,

– Bill and Donna

 

Pray with us:

• that our eyes catch any remaining errors in the Palawano NT
• for a quick printing schedule
• for error-free printed NT copies
• as we train students who will reach unreached people groups
• for opportunities to share about our ministry

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
Bill and Donna on Facebook

There are three questions people keep asking us, so here are the answers all in one place!

1. Did the Typhoon Affect  The Palawanos?

The answer to that question is “No, the Palawanos were not affected. That area was too far to the south.”

But this has been a sad and sobering week with the news of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)’s destructive rampage across the Philippines. The pictures and news are beyond heartbreaking. We know people in other regions who were affected. Some are still not accounted for. See the map here to get an idea of the various locations and the distances involved. We also know a Filipino pastor’s family on the island of Panay (middle of the map, just below the red line) whose home and church were damaged. Our partner Lynn Bright’s parents and siblings were on an island just north of the red line–safe, but affected.

Path of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and Affected Areas

2. What is the Status of the Palawano Translation?

We sent the Print Proof copy back to the Philippines. It arrived, but… it looks like it was thrown under the wheels of the DHL truck (see the photo). The pages of the book are all broken apart and some of the pages look like they were run over a few times in a wet street! We’re working that out with DHL as far as the poor service after the (exorbitant!) shipping costs. But meanwhile, we’re thankful that Bill listed all the errors in a document which the printers are using now to make all the needed corrections.

DHL. Our Motto: “Ya want the insurance with that, right?”

So we’re waiting to hear when the printer will send us the follow-up proof. Once all the errors have been corrected, the book can go to printing.

3. When Are We Traveling to the Philippines?

We (still) don’t know. Once we learn the projected completion date of the printing, we can make plans to travel to Palawan for dedication services and distribution. We are praying that might be sometime in February or March. After that, we would return to the USA and travel around the country to celebrate this exciting milestone with our supporters and to praise God together for what he has done!

Meanwhile, we’re staying busy with some speaking opportunities. Our time at the International Congress on Language Learning in Colorado was amazing. It was an encouraging time and we had some really profitable and helpful times of interaction there. Recently, Bill has been invited to teach some seminars on language learning. He had the pulpit for one Sunday of our church’s Missions Conference. We will be volunteer poll workers for San Diego’s mayoral election. It looks like Donna might have jury duty. And then, of course, there’s those awesome grandkids…

Praise the Lord with us…
– for the great time at the ICLL
– for this refreshing season with family and friends
– for good health

Please pray with us…
– that the errors in the New Testament would be quickly taken care of
– for those thousands of Filipinos who have lost their homes and loved ones
– that God would lead us to others who might partner with us in reaching the unreached

Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,

– Bill and Donna

Thank you for praying. So far, Donna has caught 30 errors in the Palawano New Testament proof copy:

• 20 crooked pages
• 4 blurred or smudged pages
• 1 missing page, and
• 4 sets of pages in reverse order (e.g. pg. 116 coming after pg. 117)

So we’re going to give it a few more really careful checks before sending it back to the printers.

We assume (but aren’t sure) that they have to correct the mistakes and send us another copy to approve before actual printing begins.

ICLL…
Bill continues to work on his workshop presentations, and to communicate with the other members of the steering committee as they finalize ICLL plans.

Bill will be sharing about the “Top Ten Mistakes Language Learners Make (And How To Avoid Them!)” and a session about the need for learners to focus on language, culture and relationships (not just language). He may also be involved in some panel discussions, plus all the networking and brainstorming over meals.

67 attendees from 30 different mission agencies and schools have signed up for the ICLL. Each of these is involved in helping many missionaries to communicate the gospel clearly in another language. We’re excited about the potential the ICLL has to speed up the work of reaching the unreached.

Praise the Lord with us…
– that we’re finding the errors in the Palawano New Testament!
– for provision for nearly all the cost of attending ICLL
– for opportunities to share about our ministry in local churches

Please pray with us…
– that we would find all the rest of the errors in the proof copy
– for Bill’s sessions at the ICLL to be clear and helpful
– that we would be a blessing to those around us

Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,

– Bill and Donna

DHL.

DHL who?

Well, DHL the document delivery service who arrived today with a very important package:

THE PROOF OF THE PALAWANO NEW TESTAMENT IS HERE!

We are thrilled to announce that it is in our hands here in San Diego. Praise the Lord with us.

And at first glance, it looks awesome. Of course, it needs a second glance. And a third. And… lots of very thorough checking. Way more than just glances. But we’re excited to get started.

The book is quite a bit thicker than the final NT will be, since the proof didn’t use the high-quality, thin Bible paper. Our job now in these next few weeks is to check for pages out of order, wrong page numbering, chapters or verses in the wrong order, inconsistent ink, etc.

Bill is busy getting ready for the ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning), which is coming up in a few short weeks. So Donna will be looking at the NT first while he fine-tunes his presentations and Powerpoints for the workshop. Then he’ll take his turn.

Please pray that we find any and all errors that need to be corrected. We need good eyes and a high level of concentration to check over 1000 pages several times each.

NT Dedications and Distribution…
Once the proof is back at the printers in Manila and they give us an estimated finish date, we will be able to plan and schedule all of this. So once again: Stay Tuned!

ICLL…
God continues to provide for the remaining ICLL costs. We only need about $600 to cover everything.

Praise the Lord with us…
– that the mock-up of the Palawano New Testament is HERE!
– for provision for much of the cost of attending ICLL

Please pray with us…
– that we would find any and all errors in the in the proof copy
– for God’s provision of the remaining ~$600 needed for attending the ICLL
– that we would be a blessing to those around us

Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,

– Bill and Donna

It’s COMING…
Rejoice with us!

Yesterday we learned that the Bible Society has delivered the “print proof copy” of the Palawano New Testament to the SIL/Wycliffe office in Manila. We’re so excited.

This copy will be sent to us in the coming week, and we will have to get busy combing through it for typos, mistakes, pages out of order, etc. Once all the issues are resolved, it goes to print.

ICLL…
We asked for prayer concerning the upcoming ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning) in Colorado Springs in early October, and the Lord has answered.

God has provided several generous gifts and we were able to register and purchase tickets to Colorado. We have what we need for basic registration and travel. Continue to pray with us that God would provide the additional costs involved in attending the conference (approx $800). We know he is able!

NT Dedications and Distribution…
We are closer than ever, but once again, all we can say at this point is: Stay Tuned!

Praise the Lord with us…
– that the mock-up of the Palawano New Testament is on its way
– for provision for much of the cost of attending ICLL

Pray with us…
– that there would be minimal errors (or none!) in the proof copy
– for God’s provision of the remaining costs of attending the ICLL
– that we would be a blessing to those around us

Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,

– Bill and Donna

We’re waiting…
For now, that’s all we can say when people ask us about the Palawano New Testament. The files for the translation have been at PBS (the Philippine Bible Society) for two months already. PBS will assign the NT to a print shop in Manila. We’re waiting for the printer to send us a mock-up copy of the printed NT so we can check for any errors in set-up and page orientation, etc. Once that mock-up gets here, we will have several weeks of full-time, intensive proofreading and checking to do. In the meantime, we wait.

While we wait…
One of the projects Bill has been working on in this interim is to prepare several sessions to present at the ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning) in Colorado Springs in early October.

The ICLL happens every three years. It’s an important conference for those who help missionaries learn language. Missionary consultants, language coaches, teachers, program directors and others from all over the world come to ICLL network, to be encouraged, to learn, to share ideas, and to return home better able to turn new missionaries into skilled communicators who can effectively disciple and plant churches cross-culturally.

Bill has been serving on the steering committee of the ICLL since 2001, and he has enjoyed and appreciated the many like-minded language learning facilitators he has met and worked with. After his first ICLL in 2001, he and others working in Asia started a recurring conference for helping language learners in Asia.

Right now we are checking into travel options for the ICLL. It seems like it might be cheaper to fly there than to drive at today’s gasoline prices, not to mention saving time and eliminating four hotel overnights going and coming while on the road. Whether we fly or travel by land, we’re asking God to provide what we need for travel and registration expenses for the conference.

We appreciate each one of you who partner with us in prayer, and we’ll keep you updated during this time of waiting for the New Testament to be printed. Once we have an approximate date for printing, we can being preliminary planning for dedication services and distribution teams on Palawan.

Pray with us…
– that we would would quickly receive the mock-up of the Palawano New Testament
        so that we can review it and initiate actual printing as soon as possible.
– that there would be minimal errors (or none!)
– for God’s provision of the travel and registration costs for the ICLL.
– that we would be a blessing to those around us.

Reaching Palawanos—and the world—together with you,

-Bill and Donna