This may look like just another "men working at a table" photo, but it brings a huge
smile to my face and a tear to my eye for several reasons:
1) I can't be in PNG right now, but
Emil is passing on what I have taught him. Seeing him gesture like that, I can almost hear his loud, clear voice. Like me, he loves to teach. I really miss working with him and the other translators in person.
2) Emil has not retired, as
he said he might do more than a year ago.
3) These
new translators will enable some of the more-experienced translators for their languages to begin
helping translators in other languages.
Summer fruit
Praise the Lord with us for all of that, and the fact that the translators
completed drafting Galatians 4-6 and Ephesians 1 in nine languages at this workshop. Another team finished the workshop one chapter short of that goal.
All of that is
the fruit of the work Emil and I and the other consultants did this summer as we carefully checked those chapters in the Arop language so the other translators could use it as a guide for their translations.
The translators also made important
decisions about typesetting our backlog of completed scriptures in their languages so I can now complete a typesetting training guide for them.
Important things in humble places
They did all of that important work in facilities that many people in my home country would consider quite humble. But we are
extremely grateful for the Lord's provision for the facilities our team needs, and the appropriate equipment to use, from the solar panels on the roof to the laptops on the table--all of it working miles from the nearest power grid.
One workshop ends; prep for the next one begins
Emil Ninkure and his new trainee,
Vianney Pirora, are already blazing the trail in the rest of the chapters of Ephesians. This morning Emil let me know Ephesians chapter 2 in Arop is ready for me to check.
Update on my mom
At home here in Wisconsin,
my mother, Marilyn Nystrom, continues to decline. We had intended to begin travel with her to Florida on Sept. 30 in a rented motorhome, but she is not fit for even that kind of travel now. It looks like she will finish her race here in Wisconsin fairly soon.
Please pray for comfort and peace for her as she does. She knows her future is secure in Christ. Bonnie and I won't start our journey to FL until after my mom finishes her journey here.
Mourning the passing of a dear friend
We are mourning the loss of our dear friend and fellow Bible translator,
Jerry Pfaff, who passed away suddenly last week. We have known
Jerry and Susan since 1986, the year before we went to PNG. Our kids grew up in PNG together almost like siblings.
Please pray for Susan, their children, extended family and friends in the US, PNG, and many other countries as we mourn Jerry's loss. I'll include more on the Pfaffs in a future
ALT.
Thank you for your partnership with us!
Serving our King together,
John Nystrom (& for Bonnie)