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The Journey Back by Emily Hinebauch
Storyboard The
published by the Papua New Guinea branch of Pioneer Bible Translators
Summer 2010
Are we there yet? In the past three years I have found myself asking God that question, wondering when I would be able to return to Papua New Guinea.
I left Papua New Guinea in July of 2007, after spending seven months as a short-term assistant, making PNG my home and learning as much as I could about life and needs in the country. When I left, I felt a strong pull to return. I wished I could close my eyes and fast-forward through all the preparations I had to do in order to return as a Pioneer Bible Translators
long-term member. I was not able to close my eyes and fast forward, but I was able to endure the journey back.
My journey consisted of graduating from Ozark Christian College…never wanting to go back to school again… moving to Dallas to start training for something…finding out what that something was...moving to Montana to raise support…arriving and discovering God had already taken care of those details… and waiting for my work permit and visa to be processed…followed by many goodbye’s…and, at long last…being
greeted with many hello’s when my feet finally set foot again on Papua New Guinea soil in May of this year.
The journey has brought me back to PNG to work in the area of Scripture Use, and I am happy to be here. I am excited to be able to partner with language projects in order to encourage people to use their translated Scriptures and to celebrate the life God has given each and every one of us. My dream is to invite as many of my Papua New Guinean friends and families as possible to join me in heaven, by living life with them and taking opportunities to open the Word that has
been translated into their language and helping them to understand it. What that entails I am not entirely sure yet, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that God is on His throne directing me, and as I follow His lead He will reveal it all in His perfect timing.
Also in this issue: God Is Not Finished With Me 2
Serving God by Making Peanut Butter Sandwiches 3
Absentee Advisor 4
The work of Bible translation involves a variety of ministries and ways Christians commit their service to God. The traditional missionary steps off
a plane and commits to working long-term overseas. This commitment is still extremely important to the work here. But there are also other ministries with terms of service that range from a few weeks to a few years. This Storyboard issue highlights three ministries that are “out of the norm” from the traditional long-term service, and one which began with short-term service. God is very creative in how His work is accomplished—all He needs is willing servants.
Edito
r’s Notes
From left, Emily (long-term in Scripture Use) with PBT ladies Jill Riepe (long-term in translation),
and Sarah Back (short-term in logistics).
Page 2 Storyboard
I live in Canada with my wife, Jill, and our second son, Glen, but every time I come over to Papua New Guinea, it is like coming home. Our family did live and work in a remote village in PNG from 1997 to 2002, when our first son’s diagnosis of leukemia resulted in us moving back to Canada for his treatments. We praise God that Eric is now cancer free.
My experiences in PNG, as well as in Africa (2006-07), gave me a good handle on how to translate the Bible into other languages. What was disappointing was the long wait for translated books to go through their final checks before publication because of a shortage of translation consultants.
So, I returned to PNG in 2007 to train as as a Bible translation consultant. I learned how to keep both biblical exegesis and cultural
relevancy in balance. At times, creative ways have to be found to capture and express biblical truths into the translated languages. But in every case the ultimate question is, “Is this true and accurate to the original Greek or Hebrew text?”
This leads me to my present involvement with PBT in Papua New Guinea. For the last three years, I have averaged two major trips per year, each about seven weeks, to help with final checking
of vernacular translations prior to their publication. God has allowed me to work at length with the Waran, Tay, and Akukem languages, as well as some minor involvement with a few other languages.
One of the biggest challenges for me in this work is simply traveling to PNG from Canada. Not only does it take at least four separate flights, with the longest one being up to 14 hours, but also I have a physical handicap. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare muscle disease which almost eliminates my ability to walk.
So how do I manage? With wheelchair assistance, a good wife, and very supportive coworkers in PNG. Once I get there, I sit in a comfortable recliner chair close to the table to work on my laptop. It is difficult and long work, but seeing the joy on the faces of the national men and women when they hear well-translated Scriptures in their language, makes it all worthwhile. And when people ask me about my disability, I just respond by saying, “God is not finished with me yet!” And so, I continue to come back once or twice a year to help do Bible translation consultant work in PNG. In Madang, from his recliner chair, Norm works to check scripture
with the Akukem translation team.
Up at Ukarumpa, Norm works with William Butler and the Waran translation team to check Waran scripture.
God Is Not Finished With Me Yet by Norm Weatherhead
Summer 2010 Page 3
In the past two years God has been showing me what it really means to follow Him. I have, I’m ashamed to admit, grumbled over the various tasks He has put before me. I mean, when I used to sing, “Follow Jesus, I will follow Jesus…anywhere He leads me I will follow,” I had a different picture of service in mind.
As you have read in Norm’s article, his recent physical challenges mean that when I accompany him to our trips to Papua New Guinea, my role in Bible translation is to help enable him do the consultant checking. I thought this would look a little different than it has turned out. I remember specifically one day in Ukarumpa when I got up early and went to the market to get fresh tomatoes and lettuce. Then I baked rolls and made Norm a beautiful sandwich. He looked at me and said, “Sorry, I don’t have the strength to eat that. Do we have any peanut butter, or two-minute noodle soup, instead?” I have had to learn to respond with more and more grace and love than I did on that day.
In the past three trips that Norm and I have made to Papua New Guinea, one of the things God has taught me is what it really looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I am learning that there are a variety of tasks to be done in order to get God’s Word into the hands of the people. I have begun to see that by doing things like the laundry – or even making peanut butter sandwiches – the Akukem, the Tay, and the Waran are closer to having the New Testament in their respective languages.
I do not know what serving God will look like for me in the future, but I do pray that God continues to give me more opportunities to serve Him in Papua New Guinea. It could be typing rough drafts into the computer, scanning files so they can be archived, cataloguing new books for the library, or even simply making soup and sandwiches for my husband.
Follow Jesus, I will follow Jesus…anywhere He leads me I will follow!
shopping...
Yes, as well as typing...
…and scanning.
Serving God By Making Peanut Butter Sandwiches? by Jill Weatherhead
Absentee Advisor by Dave Robinson My wife, Chris, and I first became interested in Pioneer Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea in about 1980. A former student of mine at Platte Valley Bible College had joined PBT, and his family was planning to come to PNG. We followed their adventures in schooling and then we became their supporters. We kept track of them as they came to PNG and began a translation project among the Mborena Kam people. They served in PNG for approximately 17 years. Meanwhile, I began to serve in 1985 on PBT’s board of directors, and in 1993 my family took a five-week visit to see the work in PNG.
Somewhere along the line we began to believe that we could be of use to God’s kingdom by helping out with Bible translation. In 1998 we left Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to go to Dallas, Texas, for additional schooling in linguistics. A year later we came to PNG, where we worked eight years. Then we returned to Scottsbluff, back to the same college where I had taught before, now called Summit Christian College.
But in the years I was in PNG, I became significantly involved with the Mborena Kam translation project. I developed a relationship with the Mborena Kam people; some of them I count among my closest friends. I had the privilege of helping them to publish their first complete books of Scripture: Luke, Acts, and Galatians. The dedication was held in September of 2006. It was a great time of joy for Chris and me, for the Mborena Kam people, and for all of PBT, without whose efforts it would never have been accomplished.
When Chris and I decided to return to the U.S., my deepest regret was that the Mborena Kam translation might flounder. That would be a real tragedy, because at that time almost all the New Testament books were at least in rough draft form. So when I left, I promised Steven and Denny, the Mborena Kam national translators, that I would try to
come back if I could the next summer. As it turned out, I was able to come that summer, and both summers since. The Mborena Kam New Testament is now completely rough drafted, and most of the books have been consultant checked. The vision of a published New Testament is close enough that we can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That is the reason I make the effort to come back to Madang each summer. I really believe that having God’s Word in the language of the people has the potential of making a culture-changing difference in the lives of the people. Technology has advanced to the point that I can continue working on the translation even in the midst of my teaching at the college. So I prepare materials throughout the year and, thanks to the generosity of some genuine Christians in the States, I am able to return to PNG for five or six weeks each summer and work in person with the Mborena Kam people.
At the core, I want to see the Mborena Kam translation finished and used. In some ways I see that as almost the culmination of my life’s work in the Word of God. If I am able, I will continue to do consultant checking for other language projects. But for now,
PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS P.O. Box 178 Madang 511 PAPUA NEW GUINEA Phone: +675 422-2440 FAX: +675 422-2506 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.pbtpng.pg Editor: Lori Witham
Bringing God’s Word to Life!
HELP WANTED Bible Translators IT Specialist Technical Services Specialists (All-Around Handymen) Literacy Specialists Scripture Impact Specialists Administrative Personnel
Contact [email protected] for more information about these
and other personnel needs.
the goal of finishing the Mborena Kam translation is about as far down the road as I can see. I thank God for the amazing privilege of being able to be a part of something so magnificent, and I pray that I will be able to finish the course.
Dave works with the Mborena Kam translation team during a checking session in Madang.
