Recently, we were able to meet five men from the south coast of Madang Province: Diksi, Henry, Kilez, Pangis and Roman. Four of the men come from the Madi language group. They have no translation of the Bible in their own language. The purpose of their time at the center was to begin to learn translation techniques. The fifth man, Roman, had already worked on a translation for his language group, and was acting as mentor to the other 4 men. The men attended a five weeks of training to begin to learn about Bible translation methodology.Some of the men came from remote villages, and since their was no good roads to Madang, they took a boat to Madang and caught a PMV (public motor vehicle) up to the Highlands. This was a whole day trip.
After their training they were to go back to their village and translate 200 verses of the Bible into the Madi language. If this is accomplished, they are able to to come back next year for the second part of the translation course. While they were in training, we volunteered to "adopt" them. This involved praying for them and having them over for food and fellowship. In the top picture, Doug is visiting with them after some coffee time. The bottom picture was taken a few days before they returned to their village. Pangis had to leave early since he had a death in the family. We considered it a great privilege to get to know these God-fearing men. They wanted to pray for us and our family. They shared how they wanted the gospel to change their village, to change the way people thought and lived. Please pray for the Madi team as they begin to work on their first 200 verses.
