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In late February, Pastor Vusi and I were able to make our translation awareness tour of Pentecost. On this trip we were scheduled to hold two meetings each day Tuesday – Friday. We were distributing Scripture portions of Genesis 1-12 in three languages and encouraging the communities in the formation of translation committees.

We arrived on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning, one of our translators and his brother met us at the beach in a boat to take us to their village. Their village is on the south coast of Pentecost facing the island of Ambrym (and its two active volcanoes.) We met in the bamboo walled, thatched roof community hall. We had heard when we arrived on Monday that there was a land dispute going on in the area.

During the meeting the chief stood up and said, “I have heard about Bible translation going on around us for 30 years. Today it has come to us.” He was so proud to be holding the first bit of Scripture that was printed in his own language. After lunch we heard that the dispute had intensified. One man had been cut badly on the leg and another was killed in the fighting. We were just five miles down the road when it happened.

As the week progressed and we learned more about what was going on, Pastor Vusi told me that the problem was that these people had not had a chance for the Word of God to penetrate their hearts. They didn’t have an understanding that man is made in the image of God and therefore has value to God. It was important that we had brought the words of Genesis to this area because the important message that man is a creation of a loving God can be found there.

I’m so thankful to be a part of this work with you.

Matt (for Angie & the kids too)
Top: Matt’s March sermon was about how the books of the Old Testament came together. He emphasized that the Bible can be trusted as the Word of God.

Bottom Left: This is what lunch during the VISTA modules looks like. There is almost always rice, kumala, and veggies. The main course is usually hamburger meat, chicken wings, minute steak, or in this case – an entire little fish!

Bottom Right: My kids learning all about Noah and that God keeps His promises! Side note: Every Sunday I have at least one and sometimes up to 4 or 5 mamas who stay in class with their pikinini (child) or bubu (grandchild). That means sometimes there are 10 kids and 5 “teachers”! 🙂
 
Not Just Books on Shelves
Our goal is not just to put books on shelves but to see God using His Word to teach, encourage, and transform those who read or hear it. As a sort of final for the Scripture Use course in this last VISTA module, our teammate Jordan had all four teams of translators present plans for strengthening the areas of Scripture use that are weak in their communities. Here are a few pieces of their presentations…
 
~ One team shared that many people in their community believe that God is distant because He is just the god of the white man. The translators said that they think this way because they only had the Bible in English for so many decades. The translators explained that a part of Scripture Use for their community is teaching that God is near and that He speaks their language.
~ Another team talked about the misguided spiritual hunger of their language community which is resulting in more and more young people reverting back to kastom* practices and beliefs. These translators emphasized their need to pray for God to redirect this spiritual hunger to Him and His Word. In addition to a lot of prayer, the translators made a plan for an evangelism campaign among these kastom areas.

~ A third language group shared that this same movement is happening in their community. There seems to be a whole generation of young people who have been baptized in the church, but their spiritual hunger is causing them to revert back to kastom practices. This team of translators made a plan to work with some of these young people to write new worship songs in their language, using the cultural instruments that they like. We pray that more and more people in these communities will begin to worship God in their heart language and in cultural forms familiar to them.

This same team was also very enthusiastic in saying that we haveto teach people to read. There are simply not enough people who read their language, even though many are literate in Bislama or English. Jordan, together with this team, made a plan to hold a literacy workshop in July to teach people to transfer their literacy skills to their mother tongue. (My co-teacher Cristy Yan and I will be on Pentecost with them and also plan to hold two Sunday School Teacher Training days while we are there.)

It is such a joy to hear the translators’ creative ideas and especially their enthusiasm for their people to really engage with the Word of God in their own languages.

*Kastom is the term for the traditional way of life in Vanuatu which includes magic and witchcraft to ensure good crops and health, observing taboos about territorial spirits, and other animistic practices and beliefs. 
Prayer Points

~ This VISTA session was fraught with difficulties and several translators were unable to attend the entire session because of death, sickness, and responsibilities. Through it all, God sustained us and we are thankful for that.

~ Our team is welcoming our first group of interns to Vanuatu in just over 2 months! Please pray for all of the details to come together and that God will use this summer to show these students what He has in store for them!

~ Please pray with us that God will raise up additional support for our ministry. We are at 74% of our monthly budget. If God is prompting you to give a one-time or ongoing gift to our ministry, please go to our giving page. Thank You!
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