Tag Archives: missions

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Racing Towards the Finish Line

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Building Up to the Production Phase

Translating the New Testament in Papua New Guinea is, for most, a lifetime endeavor. Angela and I started learning the language and culture of the Somau Garia people in the late 1990s. Life in the late nineties was analog, so language learning was done with a little notebook and a cheap Bic ink pen. Photos were developed from my 35mm Ricoh SLR camera. Evenings were spent reading to our children from printed books, like Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. Computer work was done at desktop computers in the city of Madang, at the Barton McElroy Translation Center.

Much has changed since then. Technology has provided better solar panels, batteries, and communications. Life is digital. The cell tower a mile, line of sight from our house on the slopes of Mount Somau allow us to access internet, email, etc. while in the village. Laptop computers last all day on a single charge. Software has made the task more efficient.

Production by the Numbers

After the pandemic we entered the most productive phase of translation we have known in 28 years. In 2022 – 2023 we brought Luke’s Gospel and his history, Acts of the Apostles, through all the checks necessary to print and circulate those books. Those two books comprise about 27% of the New Testament. During those years the Lord added many young people to our team, many of whom revived and pushed the literacy program forward, writing and producing Somau Garia reading materials and primers.

A portion of Acts Chapter 1 in Somau Garia …

In 2024 we brought 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1,2, & 3 John (13 books comprised of 1039 verses comprising 13% of the New Testament) through the checks necessary to print and distribute those books.

By March, 2025, we had checked Matthew’s Gospel, comprised of 1071 verses or 13.46% of the New Testament through the checks necessary to print and distribute that book.

As I write this post, Romans is in process and is scheduled to be checked in June. John’s Gospel is on the schedule for late this year–a further 16.5% of the New Testament.

Giving Meaning to the Numbers

But Bible translation is not simply a matter of managing data and producing material. Bible translation is about building people through education in using the Scriptures. It is about showing them how to follow Jesus as his disciples. This ministry equips local leaders to use the Bible in their churches, communities, and families. Translation is concerned with transformation.

The further we move toward the finish line, the more we see this kind of godly, positive change happening. God the Father, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, is raising up a generation of world changers, compelled by the love of Christ, to take God’s word to their people.

For example, two of the young men on the translation team were once, not all that long ago, feared for their violent, murderous behavior. These young men were children when Angela and my children were growing up in the village. Over the years, being exposed to God’s word in their heart language (the various portions made available bit by bit), they began to soften to the message of the gospel. Our head translator confronted them and then invited them to follow Jesus. They both surrendered to the light and life found in Jesus.

One of them is a firebrand preacher. He memorizes Scripture and passionately preaches. The other is meek and gentle and draws others through kindness and grace. Both are deeply committed to helping us finish the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament.

Please Pray With Us

Angela and I would appreciate your prayers as we move toward the completion of the Somau Garia New Testament. As you pray, please pray:

  • Pray that we will be wise and discerning in our oversight of the translation program
  • Pray that we will be well provisioned in the coming months:
    • Spiritually for
      • inner resources to both grow and remain spiritually vital throughout the intensity of the coming months
    • Physically for
      • healthy bodies, protection from sickness or injury
    • Psychologically for
      • flexibility through almost continual transition and travel
      • peace in each situation
    • Financially for
      • adapting to the inflation Americans have known over the last few years
      • travel expenses
      • the coming expenses involved in printing the Somau Garia New Testament (in 2027)
  • Thank God for loving us and providing for our deepest need: to have our sin dealt with and to be reconciled to Him.

Thank You

Angela and I appreciate you giving your valuable time to reading through this brief update. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you also for praying. It makes a difference.

Click here for a Photo Gallery of Uria Village
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As the pandemic continued to interrupt international travel and the months dragged on, Angela and I had some weighty decisions to make. When should we attempt passage to Papua New Guinea? What risks were involved in returning to a developing nation amidst a global pandemic? How could we help when we did return?

James says this of weighty decisions:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:5, ESV

Ignore this exhortation at your own peril. We gave it due diligence. After prayer and discussion, we decided that our daughter should remain in the States and that Angela and I should return to Papua New Guinea.

We juggled translation responsibilities (including final exegetical checks of Acts via video-conferencing), preparation of the stacks of documents needed for travel during the pandemic, purchase of necessities for the move, and, of course, moving out of our house.

As our To-Do list dwindled, our excitement (and silent dread?) swelled. The silent dread was for all the good-byes, the inescapable change, adjustment, and the deep dive into the unknown. Our excitement? We were returning to friends, co-workers, and worthy work.

I will spare you the finer details of the trip. It was 50+ hours, involving five major airports and a few hours in a bush plane over jungles, oxbow lakes, and rugged mountains. Then there was the 14 days of quarantine at a mission base above 5,000 feet in the New Guinea Highlands.

View from the Kassam Pass into the Ramu Valley of Papua New Guinea
The view from the Kassam Pass into the Ramu Valley, at the junction of Eastern Highlands, Morobe, and Madang Provinces.

Crossing the Planet

Hopes and Plans for 2022

Proverbs 19:21 reads: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” The person seeking to follow in the footsteps of Jesus must pray, plan, and push on toward the upward call to which they’ve been called.

Henceforth, we’ve put some major way points on the calendar for 2022. We invite you to pray with us as we attempt to achieve these things in Jesus’ name.

  • Comprehension check of Luke’s Gospel
  • Comprehension check of Acts of the Apostles
  • Train translators and pastors on the translation of and pastoral application of Hebrews
  • Consultant check Luke and Acts
  • Train translators and pastors on the translation of and pastoral application of Revelation

Pray with Us

We invite you to pray with us regarding moving this proposed milestones ahead. As you pray, consider the reality that the completion of work on Luke and Acts constitutes 27% of the New Testament. By the end of 2022 it is possible that over a quarter (more) of the New Testament will be accessible to Somau Garia speakers!

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Fear’s Funeral Dirge

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“Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”

Revelation 1:17-18, NLT

What is your experience like when you sit down with a hot drink and an open Bible? Why do you go there? What do you hope to draw out of the word?

Sometimes I come to the Scriptures hungry and needy and melancholy and desperate. I have waited too long and now I come, realizing that I am not enough. Ever. I come wondering if my lingering delay has damaged intimacy with Him. I come realizing that the depth of my own dysfunction clouds my thinking and incites fears that need not persist.

Pushing my fears aside and choosing to believe the Truth, I open my Bible, and then . . .

There is a tremor in my spirit. All my longings are concentrated into a single moment and I am confronted with holiness. I am in the presence of the Ancient of Days, the One Now Living, and the One Who Is to Come. There is no other like Him.

In His presence, I am completely exposed for who I really am. There can be no pretense. It is risky to try to pull the wool over the eyes of the God Who Sees Me. I must come to Him honestly, candidly—nothing to hide—ready to admit all, confess all, release all. He is the Lord. I am His servant. It must be so, for I am a missionary who lives from day to day in a country not my own, living and working in someone else’s culture and language, trying desperately to make it possible for them to come to the Scriptures and experience God through the word in their heart language.

Yet sometimes fear sings fortissimo. I need it to sing fortepiano. I need my spirit to not be overcome by the volume and painful pitch of fear in a situation, but to immediately quiet it to little more than a whisper in the background. Fear sings its loudest dirge when death is at hand, like in the days following my oldest brother’s death a few months ago. A mere fifty-six years old, he died in the night, sitting in his favorite chair, alone, of a heart attack. I am not much younger . . .

The Scriptures teach me much about life after death, but the experience of death remains a mystery. Before I moved to Papua New Guinea I had images of this beautiful land fixed in my mind. There was something magical about the imagined New Guinea. But the imaginary New Guinea lacked the intense heat and suffocating humidity, the pungent smells, the sounds of a thousand tongues and the complex relationships that must be cultivated in order for Jesus to be known here. It was but a dream. Even though I had talked often with others who had long lived here, the experience was still not my own.

Some of the images used in this composite are courtesy of www.lumoproject.com.

I talk with Jesus about death. I must. He’s been through it and this is what he says to me about it: “Don’t be afraid! I died, but I am alive—forevermore!” That tremor returns to my spirit. I am in the presence of Someone so holy and powerful that death itself has no hold on Him. I am overwhelmed with awe. But He’s not finished: “I hold the keys to death and the grave.”

Courage, dear friend. Courage! When the deceiver threatens your very life, take courage in the fact that death has no sting and the enemy of our souls is not in charge. Jesus alone holds the keys. You were made that you might shake the foundations of hell by shattering the deceptions and empty threats of a defeated enemy. Let the only tremor you feel in your spirit be in response to the holiness and overwhelming power of the Risen One.

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Get Your Prayer Guide Here

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Prayer is a vital activity in advancing the Kingdom of God. Christians are called upon to be constant in praying for enemies, for governments, for authorities, for fellow believers, for open doors, for boldness, etc. Christians are called upon to be devoted to prayer.

experimental-prayer-guide-book-cover

Even with all the Bible passages that direct us to pray, many of us struggle knowing how to pray enemies or governments or fellow believers or, as in our case, missionaries. Not knowing how to pray often kills motivation to try. Don’t give up! One helpful means of discovering how to pray is to use a prayer guide. Click here or on the image to download a prayer guide to assist you in praying for the people involved in the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament.

 

Thank you for joining us in making the scripture accessible to the Somau Garia people!

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You Can Still Shake the Gates of Hell When Things Don’t Go As Planned

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You Can Shake the Gates of Hell

When Things Don’t Go as Planned

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” declares the Lord.”

– Isaiah 55:8

In the West, we highly value productivity — or at least the appearance of productivity. We Western Christians all too often herald the expectation of productivity as a core value of following Jesus. Many of us believe that our life in Christ is only valuable if there are attendant measurable, attainable results (products)—or the appearance of them. Many of us even stake our identity in this idea.

What happens when God the Father decides that our dependence upon productivity is a huge hurdle to our growth in maturity and Christlikeness? How do we respond when God’s highest purpose for a season may very well be to teach us to deal with frustration, waiting, desperate praying, or trusting that there is real activity in the other realm that eyes cannot see?

I am a Bible translator in Papua New Guinea. My family and I live in a mountain village that gets upwards of 200 inches of rain a year. Mountainsides slide. Roads erode. Floods flow. The nearest city is over 60 kilometers away and is sometimes blocked by all of the above. Used to these realities, the locals here are … patient, easygoing, not concerned with speed or efficiency. Survival is enough.

These realities are disruptive, as are the questions. In the moments when this world is caving in on my expectations and the flesh is tired of waiting, the enemy goes to work on my sense of self-worth and accomplishment. He knows all too well how to use the expectation of productivity against me—and perhaps you, too.

Satan wants us to lean into our efficiency, to depend upon our productivity as a means of earning God’s affections. He wants us to think that if our productivity is interrupted by cancer or car wreck or even living in the developing world, that our faith is worthless and our position in God is null and void.

If you want to shake the gates of Hell, don’t take the bait. Don’t allow the adversary to convince you that the substance of your life is pent-up in getting things done efficiently any more than it is in the abundance of your worldly goods.

My college-aged sons and I were walking between villages a few months ago. We were talking about life and what we had planned for that day. We had made very efficient and productive plans for that day, but we instead found ourselves hiking and talking.

Our original plans thwarted, we asked God for his plan. The answers to that prayer took us to the house of a man who was sick and needed to be encouraged. They took us on a journey that would help establish a program board to streamline the work of translation among the Somau Garia people. God’s efficiency is about building people and his kingdom rather than merely giving us a personal sense of accomplishment.

The enemy hates it when we respond to frustration with prayer; when we choose to trust the Unseen rather than wallow in despair of what is only dimly seen. His designs for our destruction are thwarted when we surrender to our Father and his plans.

Are efficiency and productivity negative values? Of course not. Ministries like Bible translation are too great a task to finish without employing these values. But we dare not confuse the outcome of a set of work habits with fruit born of the Holy Spirit. Shaking the gates of Hell is done in the Spirit, by fruit born of Him and effort made through the strength of Christ—especially when things don’t go according to our plans.

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Close the Gap

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Uria Village, Madang, Papua New Guinea – Rainy Season, late 1990’s.  It was a season of tragedy. Among other things, the wife of one of our dear friends died in childbirth. The hike to the village where she was to be buried was three hours’ hike away, across a couple of ridgelines, and I (Todd) was sick with what I thought was malaria. Angela would stay home in Uria with the kids and I would attend the gathering.

storm clouds gathering

Storm clouds were gathering as I prepared to leave with my Somau Garia neighbors. I stared at the dark clouds and into the dark jungle and prayed. The bush treks around Uria are stony and slick, narrow and uneven. About an hour into the hike, I was feeling nauseated and dizzy and became disheartened by what I saw ahead.   Before me was huge gap in the path—six feet wide and a hundred feet deep. It was beginning to rain. I stopped in my tracks and considered what to do. It was either turn around and add hours to the journey or take a leap of faith, as it were, and keep going.

Angela and I are in the process of resourcing the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament. We have been hiking this path for a few years now. We’ve just come around a corner and are staring at a gap in the path—just wide enough to be scary, just short enough to be doable.

Fortunately, we don’t travel alone. When I was hiking the path to the funeral, one of my friends leapt across ahead of me in order to “catch” me on the other side. In resourcing the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament, we need ministry partners who will either repair the path or leap across and “catch” us.

During the remainder of 2014, we are asking the Lord to close the gap between the current commitments that have been made toward resourcing the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament and what is still needed.

Would you consider being one of those God is calling to close the gap?

If you are interested in joining the prayer and provision team click here to join the provision team or click here to email us with your name and email address to join the prayer team.

Thank you for prayerfully considering your part in making the Word of God available in the Somau Garia language.

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Breaking Through the Barriers–Day 9

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Breaking Through the Barriers Graphic Day 9

 

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” –1 John 4:18

The long history of false gods and bodange to shamanic religion has created a fatalistic fear in Somau Garia (and many other Melanesian) culture. There is an ever-present fear of reprisal for breaking taboos. Examples of reprisal: being waylaid and consumed by demon monsters en route to the place of the dead, sudden death while sleeping, sickness, or ruined crops. Ask God to break through the barrier of fear to establish the reality of his love for the Somau Garia people.

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Breaking Through the Barriers–Day 8

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Breaking Through the Barriers Graphic Day 8

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions . . .” –Galatians 5:19-20

All mankind has at one time lived in the flesh. Where idolatry (e.g, bush god) worship is present, a priesthood of those gods’ devotees is also present. Among our closest neighbors lived five shamans (people who use ritual to manipulate the non-physical realm)–some claiming to do good, some evil. Ask God to break through the barrier of sorcery and the bondage it creates in peoples’ lives. Ask God to set the Somau Garia free of bondage, freeing them by the Truth of the Word.

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Breaking Through the Barriers–Day 7

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Breaking Through the Barriers Graphic Day 7

“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God . . .” –1 Thessalonians 1:9

Somau Garia culture is populated by numerous “bush gods” who hold many devotees to this day. Fear reigns supreme in many peoples’ lives. Ask God to break through barriers of old bondanges and allegiances to false gods. Pray that through coming into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus, fear will flee and our friends will walk in freedom and joy.

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Breaking Through the Barriers–Day 6

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Breaking Through the Barriers Graphic Day 6

“The word of God is living and active . . . discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”–Hebrews 4:12

Garia Mark for Web

The Gospel According to Mark (see above) has been available in the Somau Garia language since 2007. Ask God to break through the ignorance of his word, his character, his power, his salvation by means of this slender little book. Ask God to break through the barriers of illiteracy  and inaccessibility to his word that these precious men, women, and children might know Him who died for them.