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November 1, 2011
On November 1, we flew to Cairns, Australia, to start our furlough with a week's vacation. This is a tourist spot in Australia closet to PNG. Most of the time we spent there was to rest.After the business of the last few weeks and the travel it was great to have our own schedule. We did spend a couple of days doing tourist stuff. One day we went into town to look around a do a little shopping. We even were able to learn a little about playing a Didgerido. (If you like to hear what it should sound like you can follow this link. Didgeridoo Australia.)
October 12, 2011
October 12, 2011 was the start of NITI 11. This was different for me to be there without Gertrude. She did not have plans to teach a literacy class this time. I was a little disappointed that all the Notsi translators were not able to attend. One of the translators learned of his daughter passing away the day after he arrived at NITI. Others were not able to come because of other obligations. Shirley was able to spend time working on editing some of the text and practice her typing on the computer. I was kept busy working on computers to make sure things were updated.
When he came time for us to have consultant check of the books of Philippines and I Timothy I was glad that Matthew was able to come down with two others. As we checked I Timothy there were only a few problems that needed to be corrected. As we worked on Philippines we found that it required more work so it was not approved. As we are now on furlough the translators are working on the corrects of Philippines. They are reviewing and editing the Gospels of Luke and John.
October 2011
For the longest time Gertrude has been training to a number of ladies in the village to teach an adult literacy class. At long last they started a class the every Wednesday morning as part of the Ladies fellowship weekly meeting. It was well attended by 14 ladies with a few from other villages. There were two ladies from other villages who expressed interest receiving training so they could start literacy classes in their villages.
By the time that we left for furlough they had completed 3 of the 12 classes. Please pray that they will be able to complete the full course for the ladies. There is also plans for them to do the same course for the men and young adults.
September 9, 2011
On Saturday, September 9 is when Father's day is celebrated in Papua New Guinea. That morning one of our neighbors came by to present me with a lobster for Father's Day. This was only the third time we received lobster. This was the biggest one we have received.
For church that Sunday there was a big celebration for Father's Days. Before the service started there was a procession with the fathers coming into the church. Just before we went into the church the children and mothers were sprinkling flowers and other little things for decoration over the heads of the fathers as we entered in. Family members would also put flower leis over their shoulders. I received a very fragrant lei from our "adopted" village son. It was very special for me to be included with the fathers. During the service different groups sang songs and read Scriptures related to Father's Day.
After the service there was a big feast where all the different families prepared a meal which we all could share. It was a great time of fellowship with other men in the village that I don't often get time to visit with. As much as I struggled I would try to speak Notsi. I would make mistakes, but it was good practice for me.
August 24, 2011
Another month has flown by. It is hard to believe in just under 3 months we will be on our way home. We are looking forward to seeing everyone very much. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide the funds that we need for our furlough. Our airfare is more than we expected because of the weak dollar, and we have a number of unexpected expenses. We are so grateful for our faithful supporters that the Lord has given us.
Since our return from NITI we have been busy at Lossu with Language learning and relationship building. Here Gertrude is in our kitchen with Shirley (one of the translators) and Kathy. They are helping Gertrude prepare some pumpkin tips (greens). Gertrude spends a lot of time in the kitchen cooking or baking so that we have something offer people when they stop by as well as take good care of me. It is such a blessing to have both a stove and refrigerator that runs on LP gas. A glass of cold water and a little snack goes a long way to make someone feel welcomed.
When it comes to the work of translation it is never at the pace I would like to see it at, but progress is still being made. During the last NITI session we reviewed the translation of 1 Timothy. Since then the translators have been doing village checking for this book in three different Notsi villages. They would read the passage to a group of people and ask question to check for clarity and accuracy. I Timothy is now ready for consultant check which will take place in October during the next NITI session.
August 20, 2011
One morning as Gertrude and I were having breakfast, Bishop Salot Taran from the United Church called asking if I was going to be home. He said something about 10:00 A.M. I was thinking that he was going to call me back at that time. To our surprise at 11:00 he pulls up to our front door. He was needing help on his computer. I was able to install the cellar modem for him and set him up with an email account. He was only given this computer about a month ago so all this is very new to him. I would say that he is getting the hang of it very quickly.
We are both making progress in language learning. I have been surprising myself with how much Notsi that I can speak. It just comes so slowly that by the time I figure out what I want to say it is too late. It all comes with practice. Having this time in Lossu has been an encouragement for the both of us that way. Gertrude has a much better ear and is picking things up more quickly though I may have a larger vocabulary than she does. She picks things up much quicker in conversation that I do.
This is a time for me to be working on the house. There are no end of things that need to be done before we leave for furlough. One of then things that I was happy to finish was to install a couple of lights in the back of the house. I was able to get use of a long ladder that would reach the roof so I could get the lights in place. I then ran the wires from our battery for our solar system to the lights in back. I was most happy with the results. On a dark moonless night it is a great help to have those lights.
July 30, 2011
We are very pleased that Gertrude was able to share about the work of Literacy and Bible translation that is happening through NITI. The translators for the Notsi-Madak were bringing together a group of people to review the translation that has recently been completed. They had planned a meeting to encourage the involvement of the different churches in the area. There were able 100 people who attended. Gertrude shared some highlights from the Scripture in Use conference where many church leaders for the province gave their support for Bible translation.
It was very encouraging to speak with some of the people. They are so appreciative that the work of Bible translation has started. One old man was to the point of tears of joy as he mentioned that he has been praying for years that the Word of God would be translated into his language.
Update July 2011
NITI (New Ireland Translation Institute)
One of the Highlights of the year for us is the time we work at NITI. I am working the Notsi on translating the Gospel of Matthew. We are very pleased with the progress that we are making. We also are in the process of reviewing the Book of Philippians in preparation for consultant check at the next NITI course. This has been a most productive time for us working together.
Gertrude was able to prepare well and deliver the one-month literacy training course for central and southern New Ireland at the NITI. She worked with 18 participants from nine different language groups. This was building upon the work they had completed in the previous courses.
Update May 2011
Translator's Training Course
I had the joy of helping with the Translator's Training Course 2 that was taking place in Kavieng during the month of May. The focus of this course was to help Papua New Guineans as they worked on translating passages from Genesis and Exodus. I taught part of the Bible background course. It was the first time that I have done any classroom teaching in a while and it felt good to be in front of the class again. The purpose of this class was to help the students develop some tools for personal Bible study.
Village House renovation
We are so grateful for our house at Lossu village. The problem though, is that it is over 20 years old and it is showing it's age. For the last year have been working with men in the village to get timber cut that could be used for the walls of the house. As we have spent so much time out of the village, it was hard to know what was happening. Now, we are so excited at long last the work is mostly done. On Friday, May 27, about 20 men and teenagers came and replaced the old walls with the sawn timber. They worked right up till sunset when then could hardly see what they were doing, but they completed the work. A couple of weeks later much the same crew came together to continue working on the house. They have completed most of the outside walls except for a few places and some finishing work. As we return to the village later this month I look forward to seeing the work completed.
Update April 2011
Gertrude's Ministry at Kung Island
In March I developed an allergy that developed into asthma. Dr. Jeff recommended, "Don't go back to Lossu village until the bat problem is resolved or you might have a more severe asthma reaction." So, I stayed away from Lossu and prayed that the Lord will speed the repairs on the house. I had some idea of how I would occupy myself in Kavieng, but surprisingly, another a special opportunity arose to serve Tungag elementary teachers.
Since the S.I.L. Center where I was staying in Kavieng was at full occupancy, I gladly accepted the invitation to go do a literacy in-service for elementary school teachers in Taskul District, a group of beautiful islands northwest of Kavieng. Over 100 teachers attended the four-day in-service at Kung Island. All of them speak Tungag, the largest language group in New Ireland Province whose population is about 23,000. Although I had trained some Tungag literacy teachers 20 years ago, little had been done to maintain the supply of curriculum materials and instruction in their language. Consequently, their students were not learning to read by grade three! Although much more is needed, I was able to help them develop reading readiness and primer drafts for publication. Their need epitomizes the needs of elementary educators throughout the province and probably the whole country. Read more...
Update March 2011
The month of March we spent time at Ukarumpa in the highlands. As always en enjoyed the cooler weather. We were kept busy with meetings most of the time. The first group of meetings were at a conference called Interact. We heard field reports from colleagues about the progress of translation and literacy work going on throughout Papua New Guinea. Gertrude gave a report on the Scripture In Ministry Conference we coordinated last September in Kavieng. At Interact, my role was setting up and running the PowerPoint presentations. I was glad to be a service in this way. We also gave regional reports at the SIL Biennial Conference later in March.
As we were there we visited with other African American members that are serving in Ukarumpa. A number of times we got together to share meals. A couple of times, Gertrude cooked some collard greens (a little taste of home) which was enjoyed by everyone. In the picture (from left to right) is Yolanda Finney, Deborah Bryant (one of Gertrude's recruits), Estella Trostle, Gertrude, and myself. --Kevin
Update February 2011
February Gertrude lead another Literacy course for the three language groups, the Notsi, and two other languages close by, Nalik and Notsi-Mandak. It was a two week teacher training course to provide training for leaders from different villages to be able to start an adult literacy class. Often people will know how to read English or Tok Pisin (the national trade language) but they struggle reading in their own language. This course with its materials helps them bridge the gap to be able to develop reading fluency in their own language.
Update January 2011
Return to Lossu
We praise God for bringing us safely across the beautiful and not too choppy waters of St. George's Channel by 60 hp speed boat from Kokopo, East New Britain Province to the west coast of New Ireland Province (~2 hours). From there we traveled safely by truck over partially sealed roads to our north east coast village for about 3 hours (120 miles).
We were warmly welcomed back by the Notsi people as we drove through the village to the house we call 'home.' A few more posts under the house had been replaced with a clear commitment from our 'son' Obed and his team to finish the task. The sawn timber under his house was an encouraging sight representing half of what we need to replace the bat-infested outer walls of our house. It was evening and we were too tired to do more than minor cleaning, eat something, dust the beds off and put on clean bed linen. Read more...
Created on July 20, 2011
Last edited July 30, 2011
