Dear Family and Friends,
Our Pioneer Bible Translators colleague Wes Beasley has been working during August in the town of Madang, Papua New Guinea with a team of 4 Aruamu men to do the final consultant check on some Aruamu Old Testament books which our entire team has been working on. Wes wrote this about one touching interaction with the Aruamu folks when they were checking the book of 1 Samuel:
“One day we were talking about Samuel’s parents and how they responded to their recognition that they had been speaking with the angel of God. I said, ‘Why don’t we fall down with our face to the ground when we have been with God?’ “And Martin said, ‘But we do! God has touched our hearts, and when we feel His presence in a special way, many of us will lie down with our face to the ground. Since God has become more real to us, this happens often now.’ Praise the Lord for their sincere and humble response.” Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support for the many ministry efforts that are on-going amongst the Aruamu people. The 2 Aruamu translators, Pais Asefi and Robin Namai who have been here in the US for the last 6 months to focus on exegetical checking with me have arrived safely back in their villages. (Photo to the right: Pais, Robin, and Marsha at their good-bye party this last
month!)
Bobby Joe and Sue Ellen Wrenn accompanied the 2 Aruamu men back to PNG. They are staying on in PNG for the next 2 months to record the Aruamu books of Genesis and Jonah. They are currently out in Tiap village, and this exciting task has begun. They just completed Genesis chapter 1 yesterday!
I have emailed to my colleagues in Madang the final version of the Aruamu Lectionary Year A (which Nathan Miles typeset for our team.) It will be printed in Madang, and the copies put in podium-friendly, loose-leaf notebooks, and carefully wrapped for the journey and then transported out to Aruamu villages. In the meantime, the Aruamu Literacy Committee has held reading fluency classes for church leaders in 14 different village areas.
Wes Beasley, working with Martin Ases, Simon Aroro, Michael Sagumai, and Lawrence Beradim in Madang, has completed the final consultant check of 6 books: Judges, 1 Samuel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Micah, and Zephaniah. Praise God!
Praise God for the tenderhearted, face-to-the-ground worship response of the Aruamu Christians. May we all have tenderhearted, face-to-the-ground worship moments often!
Blessings to you,
Marsha Relyea Miles
(for Nathan, as well)
You are invited to partner financially in Bible Translation ministry. You can give online at the link below to my ministry, and also the Aruamu Translation Fund, the Aruamu Literacy Fund, the Aruamu Scripture Printing Fund. www.pioneerbible.org/MarshaRelyeaMiles
(Of course, the normal “check” method listed below works great, as well.)
