Dear friends,

Well, greetings from PNG once again!! I’ve been here just over a week and am getting back on my feet after another long trip around the world! Thanks so much for your prayers as I travelled. I’m happy to report that my luggage arrived with me, although I had a few nervous moments. It never ceases to amaze me how my little suitcases can travel all that way and arrive in my tiny airport on our island!

After a few days of getting settled in, I’m now back to work again and am busy with Bible translation. It is so exciting to see some “light at the end of the tunnel” after more than 12 years of hard work. Right now I’m doing the rough drafts of several books. It takes a lot of brain power as I carefully study each book and read various “helps” to help me understand what the verses are saying. Once my own rough version ready, then I can sit down with my helpers in the village and get it all polished and perfected!

Although there are many steps (something like 25 steps) in translation, the hardest part for me is just getting something “on paper.” After that it’s a little easier to tweak it and polish it and make sure that it stays true to Scripture.

One of these days, I’ll be heading back to our village again and will take these books I’ve prepared, and continue on the next steps of the whole process. It’s exciting to see God’s Word coming to life in the Mengen language and to know that Scripture has power to change people’s lives! Lord willing, in 2018 the Mengen people will have the entire New Testament printed into one book. What a happy day that will be for them and for us!! Praise the Lord for His great faithfulness these many years!

The Mengen church continues to do well. It is exciting to know that many new people are hearing God’s Word being taught for the first time. Pray for Vincent especially as he teaches through the “Creation to Christ” lessons. They are nearing the end and will soon present the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Pray for the 30+ people who are hearing this message, that they would place their faith in Christ and be saved from their sin.

Thanks so much for your faithful prayers for the Mengen people. God is certainly at work in their hearts, but there are many who have chosen to reject the Gospel and also many who have never had a chance to hear. Out of the 6000+ people who speak the Mengen language, less than 300 have heard the message.

Please Pray:

• Pray for Vincent and Manuela who are new missionaries. Pray that they would be a good testimony and that they would have grace and strength in their ministry.
• Pray for the village of Soy who have been asking for missionaries for more than two years. Pray that the Lord would raise up a Mengen family who will be willing to move far from home and teach in this village.
• Pray for clear thinking as I continue to press on towards the completion of the Mengen New Testament. It’s hard to spend long hours hunched over a computer, but it is also a real joy to see God’s Word come alive in the Mengen language.

Thanks again for your faithful prayers.

Because He Lives,

Rebecca