Friday, November 27, 2009

"Well done, Good and Faithful Servant"

On November 20th, we were able to celebrate and rejoice with Alex and Lois,
(one of the first translation teams in PNG) as they returned to Ukarumpa for
the last time from their village. After serving 52 years with the Tairora
language group, Alex and Lois will be returning to Australia. A red carpet
was rolled out to welcome them off the helicopter, and the band played, "To
God be the glory, great things He has done,". We couldn't keep back tears,
imagining the mixed emotions they must have been feeling leaving their
village, and getting off the helicopter for the last time. Alex and Lois
probably would have preferred to quietly slip away, and while we know they
didn't want any credit for anything they did, the community did want to
acknowledge God's faithfulness to them over the years.

They are an amazing example to us. We are so thankful we have been able to
visit them in their village. In the past year, we have often felt, "Are we
going to make it?" There have been times we have felt like we wanted to get
home as quickly as we could. God enabled Alex and Lois to finish well the
task given them, and we know that they will continue to serve Him until they
are called Home.