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Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Obedience is better than Sacrifice

Posted in General on February 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

One of my favorite times of the church service here in Papua New Guinea is testimony time. This is the opportunity for the church to stand up and give praise, thanksgiving, recite a Bible verse, sing a song or simply testify. Some weeks there are four or five and other weeks there are none, but usually there is at least one testimony.

One of my favorites comes from a regular attender and you knew the Holy Spirit had been working on this particular morning. When he got up to speak he honestly said, ‘the Spirit has awaken my soul this morning so I had to get up and say something about it.’ I love to hear what God is doing amongst His people.

This morning at church a man from out of town was visiting Madang. As testimony time approached the song leader provided the lead in for anyone to come forward and testify. The visitor quickly rose with his pocket size New Testament in hand that was coverless. His message and encouragement to the church was obedience is better than sacrifice. He went on to explain that following Jesus is better than any offering or sacrifice that we may bring to him. Jesus calls his disciples to ‘follow me.’ As he called Matthew the tax collector, the four fisherman, etc…Jesus simply said ‘follow me.’ To follow after Christ we are called to obedience in Him.

There are often times at church my mind wonders or I don’t understand what is being said or I am simply overwhelmed with the surroundings but this morning there was only one testimony from a visitor which spoke to my heart.

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The Holiness Bus goes to Ono

Posted in General on June 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

A couple weeks ago we left town and headed to the village of Ono. It is about 1 hour 15 minutes drive on the Ramu Highway. The Ono Church of the Nazarene is situated along side the dusty, bumpy highway. We were drawn to this church because one of the PBT workmen, Frank, is from this area. (He actually lives about 2 hour walk from Ono on another mountain ridge.) The Ono church resides inside on of PBT’s language groups, Somau Garia. We not only used this chance to visit and encourage Frank but we encouraged the people to use vernacular scripture and hand out a few books of Mark in their local language. It was a pleasant trip to meet the people, pastor, and worship with them in Spirit and in song.

Pastor Titus is the church pastor. He is not from the area but from the Southern Highlands Province. He is a recent graduate from the Nazarene Bible College and has been at the Ono Church for five months. As I anticipated him asking me to preach I politely declined replying I wanted to hear his message. He did give Emily and I a chance to speak following the message.

Pastor Titus like most Papua New Guineas gave an illustration relative to their culture to that of Biblical reference. He referenced the story of Joseph when the King of Egypt granted Joseph permission to take the King’s wagons and bring Joseph’s family to live with him in Egypt. (Gen 45). The imagery in Tok Pisin was a car or perhaps a bus. He stretched the story to tell about the Holiness Bus is coming. Not a Greyhound bus or school bus or some kind of taxi, but a bus destined for Kingdom of Heaven. This bus is one way, direct, and without any stops. The best part is there is no fee for the bus ticket. The ticket can be found within scripture and anyone can ride the bus. “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” John 5:24.

It was a joyful day to see a village church with over 90 people (men, women, and children) worshiping the Lord. Emily and I both shared the ministry of PBT and encouraged the use of their local language. They currently have the book of Mark and have drafted portions of the New Testament. Please pray for the Somau Garia people that their lives will be transformed through God’s Word.

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Scripture App Builder–Demonstration

Posted in General on May 10, 2015| 3 Comments »

The future is here! The ability to put translated scripture onto smartphones and like devices is now here thanks to a brand new SIL application called, Scripture App Builder. While attending a recent conference in Australia, I learned how to create and develop many types of scripture related apps. I would like to give a quick demonstration of what the app would look like on your smartphone or Android device.

First let me tell you the sequence of events to the short video clip:

– You will see scripture text (Gospel of Mark) from the Mborena Kam language. The app opens to Mark 1 and it is demonstrated how you scroll up/down the page.
– Next, select the chapter number which opens a chapter selection box. Chapter 2 is selected.
– This screen is different because there is accompanying audio with the text. You will notice a speaker icon in the top icon bar. Once you unmute the speaker and press play you will notice each portion of the text is highlighted and synchronizes with the accompanying audio. After a few portions are read, the text is advanced by pressing fast-forward. The screen scrolls automatically along with the highlighted text.
– Chapter 2 audio is paused then it is demonstrated how you can swipe to the next chapter as an alternative to selecting the chapter selection box as before.
– Last you can also change text size and background color of your choice.

This application is currently only for Android devices. The reason being that most smartphones in developing countries that nationals are purchasing are Android based devices.

Scripture App Builder is not only a Bible or scripture app but it can be tailored to other uses as well. It can be used as a picture book for oral Bible stories, it can create a song book or hymnal, plus others. The neat thing is both the text and audio can be synchronized with a matching highlighted area to easily show the reader where to follow along. In a highly illiterate country this feature will play an integral part in fluency and literacy rates amongst language groups.

The future is not only here but it is bright and alive.

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Online Shopping as an Overseas Missionary

Posted in General, Newsletters on April 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The internet is great! The chance to browse Amazon.com for the next great purchase while sitting on the sofa in own home has its perks. Living as an overseas missionary you can’t walk to the big box stores such as Wal-Mart, Lowes, Best Buy, etc. to purchase the gadget you need to complete a project or task. Living overseas takes planning and patience when it comes to online shopping. The biggest hurdle is not the purchase but how to get it from point A to point B in this case from the USA to Papua New Guinea. The easiest option is to find a friend to hand carry the item in their luggage across the ocean to you. There are many other hurdles as well that I want to explain.

Recently I made an online purchase from a company in Wisconsin. Hereafter is where it gets complicated and perhaps you can see the complexities of the system. During checkout I declared my billing address is Alaska, my shipping address is Florida, and my contact telephone number is listed in Texas, and I am purchasing the item on my computer from Papua New Guinea. Perhaps this map will give a better picture.

Legend:

Pink – Billing Address (Alaska to Wisconsin)
Red – Shipping Address (Wisconsin to Florida)
Yellow – Hand delivery (Florida to PNG)
Green – Telephone Contact (PNG via Texas to Wisconsin)

As often times when purchasing from overseas the credit card company flags your purchase as fraudulent. When that happens, you have to ring the credit card to verify the transaction. In this case, the company in Wisconsin was trying to verify my credit card with my telephone number I provided. As the story goes, I had to call the company in Wisconsin which was actually a VOIP call from Texas (green line above). The call was breaking up and hard to communicate. The sales rep told me, they were concerned why I was calling from Texas, shipping to Florida, and billing from Alaska. To top it off, the sales rep asked why the phone call was so terrible which I had to reply ‘I am actually calling from out of the country.’

To make long story short, the sales rep approved the purchase as I talked to him on the phone. (Not to forget this was at 1 AM PNG time and normal business hours in Wisconsin.)

So yes, online purchasing is very nice but as the photo shows above it is very complicated and confusing. I am glad measures are being enforced against fraud and I have to learn to be patient and be accepting of the system. Hopefully the item I purchased will soon be coming to PNG with teammates whom were visiting Florida.

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Village Testing Recorded Scripture

Posted in General, Newsletters on March 29, 2015| 2 Comments »

March started out with a bang and a quick one week trip to the Mborena Kam language group. The reason of the trip was to field test recorded scripture from Mark and parts of 1 Corinthians.

The middle part of February three men came to town to record the scripture. I was apart of helping Kevin and Jim setup two laptop computers with a new audio recording program that specializes with translation software. My previous post was about this recording opportunity and using the recording software, HearThis for the first time. It took almost two weeks to record all of Mark and 3 chapters of 1 Corinthians. Once the recording was finished it was my job to do minor editing and cleaning up of the wav files in preparation for joining the files into chapters then converting to MP3. Since we were just testing the scripture and not making a finished product the editing was speedy and quick.

A one week trip was organized for Kevin (Scripture Impact co-worker) and myself to go to the village and test the recording. We planned on going to eight different villages within the Mborena Kam language and hold a town hall like meeting with the leaders of the communities. The plan changed to combine two communities for one meeting and go to four villages instead of eight as originally planned. (#1 rule required to be a missionary – be flexible.)

   

At each community Kevin lead the discussions with questions as the community listened to scripture portions. They would listen to the short parable then answer questions to gauge their understanding. Was the recording natural, was is true Mborena Kam language, were there errors or flaws in the recording, was the parable understood in their dialect. Simply, it was a recording survey of the scripture in a village context.

   

The results were mixed but the simplest explanation from a community leader was the road has potholes. Meaning, the translation is ok but not perfect. We can understand the translation but there are bumps along the way thus not smooth. A final report was written and passed to the Director. I believe the final agreement between all parties were we need to fix the potholes. This may delay the final product from being published but we want a final product that is natural, smooth, and free of error.

Please continue to pray for the Mborena Kam language group as well as Steven and Denny the two national mother tongue translators. Pray for their health and for stamina to continue the process until completion.

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Recording Opportunities

Posted in General, tagged , , on February 15, 2015| 5 Comments »

In the first six weeks of the New Year God has given me opportunities to get my feet wet in recording scripture and utilizing technology such as AudiBible and HearThis.

The latter part of 2014, men from the Tay language which recently dedicated their New Testament last July were in town to record the New Testament with their advisor. They were not able to completely finish the recording but they left the files and data so I could compile and transfer to the AudiBibles. (The AudiBible is a small digital audio player that includes a solar panel on the back.) I was able to complete this task last month and now have three AudiBibles with much of the recorded Tay New Testament ready to go back to the village. The process was not as complicated as originally thought and went smoothly. Once the whole New Testament is recorded it will be a simple process to transfer the remaining scripture to micro SD and insert into the AudiBible. The Tay people will not only have the printed text but will have a recorded version as well. PTL!

The second opportunity for recording came rather quickly. The Mborena Kam language group are struggling to finish their New Testament. They are very close but there are a few small hang-ups in the text. It was presented to bring in three guys from the village to record parts of 1 Corinthians and the book of Mark. Then we will take the recorded scripture back to the village for testing to see if what has been recorded is true and correct. The neat thing about this is we are using for the first time a new recording program called HearThis. It is a SIL program that integrates with translation software, Paratext.

The photo below shows the text to be recorded in yellow. The speaker records only the yellow text otherwise known as a block. The next line below the yellow text will advance forward and be the next block to be recorded. In the end, you simply click ‘Publish’ and the program will join all the blocks together to form a single chapter of recorded scripture.

The third opportunity will be a training and technology conference in Australia. I plan on traveling to Australia in April to attend the PacTech Consultant. The focus will be to learn more about the program, HearThis as well as other developing technologies such as putting scripture on smartphones like the mobile app YouVersion. The conference is a joint venture between SIL and Every Tribe Every Nation which PBT was invited to attend. It will be a good opportunity for me as well as PBT to learn more about the cutting edge technologies that are changing how we can reach the Bibleless language groups.

It is exciting to see how fast technology is changing and growing that brings new avenues into the arena of Scripture Impact. Probably the greatest impact of the recent years has been the mobile phone and smartphone movement in developing countries. I look forward to learning more about how God can use me to fulfill His promise to the nations.

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Praying for You in 2015

Posted in General on January 3, 2015| 1 Comment »

Happy New Year or Hepi Niu Yia (Tok Pisin)!

One of the new year activities is to toss out the old calendars and hang up the new calendars. Yes, it is time again to roll out the new calendar with the pretty photos and replace 2014 calendars. Your new calendar may already be filled with events, vacations, appointments, and birthdays. Or you calendar simply looks like the one below.

Neither Emily or I are into New Year Resolutions so we like to set goals moving into the New Year. This New Year we have one goal in mind. We both fully believe that serving in ministry requires one thing, prayer. In fact the strategy of Pioneer Bible Translators is exactly that, prayer.

We are both humbled by the continued support by many of you either financially or prayerfully or both. Our ministry with PBT in PNG would be literally a heap of rumble if it were not with prayer. I believe prayer is the grease to the gears which God enables the wheels to turn. We are grateful and honored to those who are faithful in prayer.

This New Year we have committed to praying for those who support us financially. Our calendar is not filled with events or appointments rather with the names of those who regularly give to our ministry with PBT. Each day we will be praying for one financial partner asking God to bless the giver and return blessing in their daily life. If you are a regular financially partner, you can be assured that we are praying for you this year, 2015.

Not to be forgotten, each Sunday we will be lifting up a different church that is a partner with us. As an extension of the church in PNG, we are appreciative of the global outreach each church has demonstrated. We will be praying that God will bless the church’s local efforts in reaching the lost and making disciples.

May God bless you in 2015!

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First Ocean Crossing

Posted in General, Newsletters on May 12, 2013| 2 Comments »

Before I left PNG in Mar 2012 I agreed to purchase a boat. This boat belonged to the person that Emily and I agreed to take over rent payments for his house after he left. Once we returned, it was priority to get the boat back in the water and running again. While we were away, the boat was in dry dock at the local marina. Before the boat could go back into the water, I had to get the hull painted to help fight against barnacles and other salt water creatures. Another thing was to get the motor in tune after sitting for the previous 18 months out of water.

Long story short, three weeks ago I was asked to charter some nationals to Saidor for a cocoa expo of sorts. Being my first big ocean journey I had plenty to think about and lots of questions. How much fuel do I need? What is the water like? Waves? Wind? What to do in an emergency? What is my back up plan? Etc.

I plotted the course on a direct heading and figured it was about 50-55 miles. My boat is 21’ aluminum hull with 140 HP outboard. However it has a small 25 ltr or 6 gallon gas tank. The type you hand carry to/from your boat. It was suggested to bring 120 ltrs of fuel for the trip. I bought 30 ltrs extra for 150 ltrs in total.

I learned a lot about my boat during this trip. I burned about 1 tank of gas (20-25 ltrs) per 20 miles or per hour at 4000 RPM. We would stop and fill up as the ocean swells bobbed us around then keep pushing on. I continued to follow the GPS heading and we finally arrived about 3.5 hrs. later.

After their meeting and selling of supplies to the locals, we boarded the boat to return back to home. I was a bit upset and concern since we were leaving so late. We left the beach at 2:45 pm. One thing I knew was I did not want to come back at dark. I heard rumors that this trip could take 6-8 hrs. depending on the weather/waves. Plus in the afternoon as the wind blows out of the north, the waves pick up causing more issues. Nonetheless, I was eager to get going. If all was well we would arrive just before dark cutting it way too close for me.

The first three hours back were perfect, flat, calm waters then the last 30 minutes or 12 miles out the waves picked up. Sure enough the afternoon winds were hitting us directly. The splash and overspray were getting us all wet as I continued to push through as the boat slapped the water. We were so close and I did not want to back off the throttle. We arrived back in port just before 6:00 pm. Glad to be back.

The fuel estimate was right and we used 120 ltrs of gas. Everything went without problem and I enjoyed a great day on the open water. Though the next 12 hrs. I felt dizzy from the constant motion of the boat. I came home with a huge sun tan even though I was under shade all day. The water has a funny way of reflecting sun rays.

My first major ocean adventure is finished. 110 miles round trip and lots of 20 ltr empty gas cans to prove it.

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Symbolism of a FROG

Posted in General, Newsletters on April 28, 2013| 4 Comments »

This past week has been a challenging week filled with constant prayer. My heart broke and my thoughts were directed elsewhere. However on Friday, God again reminded me about a frog.

One of the workman was cutting grass at a PBT property and I was there to pick him up after a days work. While I was checking his work and walking about the perimeter of the house, my eyes were drawn to a frog. Most frogs I see come out at night when it is cool and moist. This was a different frog, is was bathing in the heat of the sun.

frog

What does a frog have to do with anything? Frog is an acronym for Fully Rely on God. Throughout the week I was troubled, I was down but not crushed yet God turned my eyes to a frog.

Over the recent weeks I have been reading through Isaiah. This past week while being troubled with a heavy heart, the prophet Isaiah had many comforting words. The theme was do not fear, do not be afraid, I am with you, I will rescue you.

Lord, be kind to us! We depend on you. Isa 33:2

Cheer up! Don’t be afraid. Isa 35:4

Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Don’t tremble with fear. I am your God. Isa 41:10

Do not fear, I have rescued you. I have called you by name, now you belong to me. Isa 43:1

In the middle of those chapters, chapter 40, we read the Lord gives strength for the weary. God never gets weary and He doesn’t get weary of those coming to Him in times of weakness. God understands our little strength and when we call on Him, He quickly runs to help or rescue when our lamp of faith burns low.

The Lord gives strength to those who are weary. But those who trust the Lord will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired. Isa 40:29,31

When the Israelites walked across the bottom of the Red Sea between walls of water that may have crashed on them at any moment…did they fear? What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace…did they fear? What about Daniel in a pit of hungry lions…did he fear? What about Jonah in the belly of a fish for three dark days…did he fear?

It is comforting to know when I lay down at night that God gives strength, though I must first FROG (Fully Rely On God) because Immanuel, God is with me.

Pray for God’s perfect peace, deliverance, and for His protection during times of trouble.

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Scripture Memorization – A Tool for Warfare

Posted in General on April 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This week we were scheduled to contribute a blog article for the pbtpng.org website. The following is what Emily wrote and is posted on the PBTPNG branch website as well, if you follow the link.

In 2006, before coming to Papua New Guinea for the first time a friend and I decided to memorize James 1 in preparation.  I never imagined what an impact this challenge would have on my life.  On a daily basis a verse from that chapter crosses my mind.  In the daily struggles against cultural stress or just daily living in a developing country, the words of James 1 apply some way of encouragement.  The past few weeks I have dwelt on the verse:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

It brings perspective on the daily struggles. What happens when we develop perseverance? We are not lacking anything.

book of james

Another verse from this chapter that has deeply affected my ministry is verse 7:

“but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

I have to believe and not doubt, so when I pray for God to start a spiritual revival amongst the Mborena Kam language group here and for it to spread all cultural and language barriers to the Abu, Kire, and Akukem languages to join with what He is doing amongst the Aruamu I must take it to heart that He will hear my prayer and answer in a way that glorifies Him most.  When I pray for more teammates to join our team here in Papua New Guinea to complete the task I must believe and not doubt that He will answers and rejoice when He does.

Friends as you dig in Scripture I challenge you to take it to heart, memorize it, cherish it and believe the truth God has given us through it.  Don’t hold it to yourselves though.  Pray scripture, share scripture with your friends as you discover more and more the greatness of our God, and be challenged by it let it impact your life.  Strive for the development of perseverance, so that it might finish its work making you mature and complete!

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