Martins' Memos News Briefs |
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| Ukarumpa | Papua New Guinea |
December 2000 |
"A lot of people must be praying!" "Do you think we can make it to town this morning?" I asked Charles half-hoping he would say we should wait till the following day. A steady Northwest gale had been blowing for the previous 36 hours, punctuated with fierce squalls gusting to near hurricane strength for about 20 minutes out of every hour. During the night I slept little as each new squall shook the village house and driving rain pounded on its corrugated iron roof. Although I couldn’t see the condition of the sea in the darkness of the night, the oscillating roar of waves breaking on the distant reef had convinced me that the early morning trip we had planned via motorized dinghy traversing the 65 miles from the village to Lorengau town, would not be very pleasant, or perhaps not even be possible. "It will be a good time," Charles said with unexpected optimism in his voice. It was now 5:00am and we began carrying our cargo to the boat. I took courage in the fact that the last squall had occurred more than an hour earlier and there was a receding tide. As we departed the village about 6:00am a sense of confidence and joy came over me. I thought, "Two hours now since the last squall. A lot of people must be praying!" Although the sea was not smooth by any means, the trip took only 3 hours and it turned out to be a "good time" indeed. Less than an hour after arriving at our destination the squalls picked up again with such strength that they toppled many trees and knocked out all electrical power for the following two days in the Lorengau area. The sea was again impassible. As the fierce wind howled and rattled the roof at our destination we all praised the Lord for graciously providing that 6-hour "window" of relative calm for us to make our trip. We also praise him for raising up our faithful prayer partners who seek God’s blessings and protection on our behalf. Family News Joel and Rebecca seem to have settled in well into their apartment and into life in Nashua New Hampshire. Rebecca now has a teaching job and they both sing in the choir of a local church. A few weeks ago they had a soggy surprise when returning home after visiting friends. Upon opening the apartment door they found a torrent of water coming through the ceiling from the apartment above theirs. Apparently a water pipe in the apartment above had burst while the occupants were also away, which flooded both apartments. Joel says that, fortunately, insurance will cover most of the losses to their furniture and personal effects. By the time you read this Jason will be finished with the first semester of his third year at LeTourneau University. He reports that this year he has grown and matured a lot spiritually, but he asks for prayer for increased motivation in his academic studies. He is majoring in International Business and Marketing but he is considering taking a break from academic studies and working for a while. New Testament Dedication Date Set for July 9, 2002 The Lindrou people have set July 9, 2002 as the date they plan to dedicate their Lindrou New Testament. Even though it is 18 months away, it is not too early to be thinking about travel plans, especially if you anticipate that you may desire to attend the dedication. If you are interested in attending the Lindrou New Testament dedication, and want to have a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience, write to us! We will supply you with information about estimated costs, etc. Last Consultant Checking Completed 22 September The consultant checking of the last book of the Lindrou New Testament was completed at 4:06pm on September 22, 2000. The timing seemed symbolically appropriate as 4:06pm is the time that public servants in PNG finish work each day! The next day all the Manus people at Ukarumpa and the other Manus translation teams working in PNG gathered for a party to celebrate this milestone. Revision work and consistency checking will continue on up to the beginning of typesetting scheduled to start February 12, 2001. Lenore’s Corner I have not done any scripture memorizing for a long time, but a couple of months ago I decided I wanted to memorize Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:14--21. Since we have so many translations to choose from, the hardest part was deciding which translation to memorize in. I decided to use The New Living Translation. I have had several opportunities to pray this prayer for others and two of the ladies that I prayed for have also decided to memorize this prayer so they can pray it for others. As we send this newsletter out we will be praying for you that: "…Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how high, how long and how deep his love really is." (Ephesians 3:17-18) Reading Contests Generate Excitement! Charles and Bill went out to Manus from November 21st to December 4th. They brought with them eight complete copies of the Lindrou New Testament as computer printouts. These were distributed to various church leaders and other reviewers who have promised to review it before February 2001. Bill and Charles also conducted reading contests in 6 villages using the Lindrou Gospel of John, that had been distributed in July. There were about 160 participants ranging in age from 7 years old to about 70 years old. They all had a wonderful time and many increased in their reading fluency as a result of participating in the contests. Many also report having grown spiritually as a result of reading God’s word. A typical comment went like this: "I can hardly wait to get my copy of the Lindrou New Testament. God has really spoken to me through the reading of this Gospel of John!" |
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We thank you for your partnership with us and with the Lindrou people of Manus. May you have a blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year! In his excellent grace, |
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| Bill and Lenore Martin |