It's been quite awhile since I updated the blog. My apologies.
Today is August 13th. Thirty years ago Roxanne and I were at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, doing our training with the Summer Institute of Linguistics. It was at this time we became members of Wycliffe Bible Translators. What a journey it has been for us as we have worked towards completing a New Testament in the Gumawana language. God has taught us a great deal over the years not only through our colleagues in Papua New Guinea, but also from the people of the Amphlett Islands where we have spent many years learning from the Gumawana speakers there. We thank all of you who have prayed and supported us financially over those years. You have made it possible for this to happen. Thank you for allowing yourselves to be used of God in this way.
Roxanne and I made another trip to Papua New Guinea in March-April. We were gone about 6 weeks. The time there was quite productive. The plan was to complete 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Peter. We finished all of these and then did a couple of chapters of Hebews which I had prepared last year. I wished I had had the chance to prepare all of it, because we had the time to complete it. But it was still a very productive time.
This now leaves us with just two books left to complete a rough draft of the New Testament in Gumawana. Those books are Hebrews and Romans. As of today I have already gone through and done my own very rough draft to work from of Hebrews and am already well into Romans.
In November, Lord willing, I will be back in Papua New Guinea for another 5 weeks. This time we want to see the completion of a rough draft of the New Testament. It's hard to believe we are this close.
What we have discovered is that by bringing a couple of men from the village to our regional center in the provincial capital of Alotau, we have been able to move forward much quicker. Once the rough draft is finished, however, I will be returning to the village next year to begin doing the checking of the rest of the NT (about half remains). This all has to be checked in the village and then checked by a consultant. We also still have to go back to the early books and make revisions and do a great deal of editing before the NT will be ready for typesetting and publication. So there may be yet another 3-5 years before it is ready for a dedication in the village.
So that is where we are at the moment. Thank you for being part of the team.
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