Computer Time!

Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed for the arrival and customs clearance of the laptops for the translators. The laptops arrived on time and we only had to pay customs fees of 2000 vatu, about $20 USD! Praise God for his provision of the laptops, for the timely delivery, and for favor with the customs officials!

We are also praising God for Bruce and Tami Allen of Pioneer Bible Translators’ IT department who came to Vanuatu to help us get started with the laptops. They installed more software, fixed a malfunctioning laptop, made some improvements to the internet set-up for our team office, and assisted the the translators during the computer training course. Having two extra pairs of eyes was such a blessing to Craig as he taught the basic computer use course during the first two weeks of this module. Praise God with us for Bruce and Tami and for the their willingness to serve. Their computer expertise and their friendship was such a blessing to us!

On June 13, just one day after the Allens left, more visitors arrived! As I mentioned last month, Lindy Pate from Pioneer Bible Translators’ Papua New Guinea team has come to teach the second part of the computer training module: how to use the translation software. We first met Lindy during our internship back in 2008 and we have really enjoyed renewing our friendship with her. She has done a great job with teaching our translators how to use Paratext. Praise God with us for the encouragement and friendship that Lindy has blessed us with. Pray with us as she finishes up with the translation software training, that our translators will continue to work hard and will retain the information.

Top Left: Havai translator Aram learns how to select a file; Top Right: Hano translators Allen and Lorin listen closely as Craig teaches; Bottom Left: Bruce and Tami Allen work alongside our translators; Bottom Right: Morrie, Dick, and Joseph are hard at work with their new computers.

So Many Opportunities

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” -Unknown

This month has presented so many new and different opportunities to be flexible. One of our translators asked Craig to give blood for his daughter and since Craig has O+ blood he was able to say “yes.” In the end, the girl didn’t need a blood transfusion, for which we are very grateful. This was a great opportunity to grow our relationship with this family and Craig’s blood was able to benefit another patient at the hospital.

Below is pictured the cooking class that I (Katy) was able to host earlier this month with some local ladies. We had a lot of fun working together to make 2 different kinds of cake, scones, and no-bake cookies. At the end we devoured it all! The opportunity really stretched my command of the Bislama language and helped me to grow my relationships with the local women.

Also this month the wife of one of our translators has come to town to deal with a severely infected cut. I was given the chance to spend some time getting to know her through visits to the hospital and clinic and I was also taught to change the dressing on her wound. The was definitely a growth moment for me as I am generally pretty squeamish about blood but God blessed me with the ability to help care for my new friend without any problems.

As the interns are working hard to learn Bislama, I have enjoyed taking them on language learning field trips to the fuel station, grocery store, and the handicraft market to practice what they have learned. They have asked some great questions that have helped me to get a better grasp on the language. I am excited and encouraged by their willingness to learn and have really enjoyed the chance to watch them as they practice.

We are thankful for the ways that God is stretching and using us. Please pray with us that he will continue to present us with opportunities to serve his people. Also pray for us as we stretch and grow, sometimes its hard, but it is also good.

Below: Ladies from the church enjoyed both learning some new recipes (left) and eating them (right).

Off to Pentecost

On July 10 we will be headed to Pentecost for 2 weeks to visit with our village family and spend time assisting our partner Jordan in conducting a literacy workshop. The workshop will teach people who are literate in English or Bislama to read in Apma. Please pray that this will be a time of refreshment for our family after the busy VISTA module. Ask God to bless the literacy workshop, that it would go well and that many people would learn to read Apma in preparation for distribution of the Scripture that our translators are producing. Please pray also for the interns as village living can be stressful when you are new. The food will be different and there will be very few English speakers for them to interact with besides our teammates.