Reflections on the meetings

The SIL Pacific Area meetings at Kangaroo Ground are over and I'm thinking, "How do I communicate the things I've learned this week?  How do I tell the stories that I've heard?  How do I communicate the emotions I'm feeling?"  For the Star Trek fans, this is when the Spock "mind-meld" would come in handy!

Kangaroos everywhere!

First of all, I'm grateful for friends that we served with in Papua New Guinea. The community life we experienced there is something that we haven't replicated here in the US.  We worked, worshipped, shopped, and experienced "life" with the people at Ukarumpa and we do miss this close-knit community!  We were blessed to attend these meetings with special friends too!

I'm encouraged and excited about what is happening in the Pacific in Bible translation. The story of the loaves and fish was often mentioned since at times we feel we have only a few people to serve so many but we remind ourselves to look to God to miraculously use what/who He has given us to meet the needs.

A few highlights:

Translation: Progress is being made in over 200 languages but there are many languages still waiting for a translation project to begin.  In PNG, there are 30 allocations on the priority allocation list. 12 are in the high priority category, two of which are for multi-language projects. Who will go to serve these communities and those in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and other islands?

Enthomusicology: We heard about a music writing workshop that teaches people to write their own cultural worship songs in their own language that speaks to their spiritual needs.  Any musicians want to be involved?

Scripture and Literacy Training: Pacific S.A.L.T. course — an intensive two-week training session designed to equip local church leaders with outreach techniques, encourage the use of the translated Scriptures, and promote an understanding of God’s Word in their own language.
http://www.thesaltproject.info/drupal/  Do you have 2 years (or the rest of your life)  to help?

Nationals involved in Bible translation:

David Gela and Steven Thomas, from PNG-BTA http://pngbta.org/ shared about the needs in Papua New Guinea and their desire to see Papua New Guineans to have Scripture in their own language.

Joshua Lui: Bible translator from the Solomans, "We need more translation advisors in the Solomon Islands".  The Solomans have people ready to translate but they need training.  How about giving 10 years to be an advisor to someone like Joshua?

Pastor Peter Ray: Bible translator from Vanuatu and Chairman of  Vanuatu Bible Translation . He would love to see all the ni-Vanuatu have Scriptures in their heart language.  From Pastor Peter, "Come, just come."

Training: A big part of our work is spent in training. What is our plan and what is the best way to train? I was encouraged to hear about all the training that is going on and what is being planned. More about this in a future blog.

There's support for the work: Project Funding (There's some money available.), Language Technology support (Computers are great! How do we use them?), Communications (Let's tell our stories to others).
 
How can we engage more communities in Bible translation?  Perhaps Bible-storying is the place to start?

These are just a few highlights but I wanted to give you a taste of what I heard in the meetings. I'm so glad I went and came away very encouraged.  God is good and He is able to accomplish His purposes.  Isn't it amazing that He allows us to partner with Him to bring the Word to those that don't have it in their heart language?  When people read His Word in their own language, often a foreign God becomes a personal God.  What a great work to be involved in!

This isn't my last post, in the weeks ahead, my plan is to put more information about the work in the Pacific Area.  If you want to learn more or have questions, please contact me: pacificbible@hotmail.com

SIL Pacific Area meetings