Coffee!

Did you sample any of the Kamano Kafe coffee that we took with us on our travels last year? 

I (Clare) recently accompanied a class trip to the hut where the Kamano Kafe Bible Translation Team produces it:


First, a hand crank hulling machine is used to remove parchment (a thin, paper-like membrane) from the dry beans.  Next, five kilograms of coffee beans are put into the roasting machine (see picture below), where they are constantly rotated to prevent burning.  A window in the machine means that the operator can see when the desired roast has been reached. 



Finally, the coffee is poured into bags and sold.  The profits are used to fund the continued work of Bible translation into the Kamano Kafe language. 

High School Graduation Day

In the 2005/6 school year, I (Clare) taught grade 2 at Ukarumpa International School (UIS):

Tonight, many of those students will be graduating from UIS.  This is what they look like now:

It has been wonderful to watch these children grow up into young men and women.  It's also very rewarding to think of all the ways their parents have been able to support Bible translation in the eleven years that I've known them.  Some did this by being directly involved in the completion of four New Testament translations.  Others supported the work in other ways: Planes that carry translators to remote locations were flown and maintained, students were taught, cars were fixed and the infrastructure of the Ukarumpa centre was maintained. 

Next month Heidi will begin Kindergarten in the classroom shown in the top photo.  Levi will move to grade 2.  Just like the parents who have gone before us, Andrew and I will continue to support Bible translation in Papua New Guinea, knowing that our children are receiving a great education at UIS.

Thank you for the part you play in helping us to continue serving here.   

Video of us, plus Financial and Drought Update

We put a video together to show you what we do here in Papua New Guinea:

We would appreciate prayer regarding our financial situation.  It has become clear lately that our income has dropped to around only 90% of our needs.  The Wycliffe UK Personnel team are concerned for us and have recently been in touch and advised us to bring this to the attention of our supporters.  If you would like more information about this please let us know or visit our website.

We know many of you are concerned with us regarding the drought here.  This unusually dry period is expected to peak between now and December.  Please continue to pray for the people of Papua New Guinea at this time.   

What's in the Box?

The box below is carried on the back of the 'Jesus Video Bike', a motorbike that Andrew often works on.  The Papua New Guinean book-salesman has travelled over 50,000 miles in the last few years distributing hymn books, Audibibles and school supplies to speakers of the Kamano Kafe and Agarabi languages.  Recently a waterproof Kamano Kafe New Testament has also become available to purchase - with a banana leaf design on the cover.  (It's been discovered that if Bibles are simply given away they tend not to be valued; so they are sold for a subsidised fee, which also helps to cover the printing costs.)

We are having a very busy year so far.  Andrew has been attending many meetings recently (last week he had one set of meetings in the mornings and another set in the afternoons!).  Next month, we also have the biennial conference for all members of our organisation here in PNG.

I am enjoying teaching Levi's Kindergarten class.  Heidi and Eowyn are being well cared for by our cleaner/babysitter one morning a week and at the Ukarumpa daycare on the other morning that I teach.  I'm also keeping busy with teacher recruitment.  Recently this has involved facilitating trips being taken by student teachers and other visitors who want to investigate opportunities to teach here.

Eowyn and I will be back in Brisbane from 11th - 16th March for a check-up with the the kidney specialist.  I'm looking forward to that little break!

We greatly value your prayer.  Here are some pointers:

* The Jesus Video Bike travels on lots of remote dirt roads. When it rains these roads quickly become dangerous mud pits. Pray for safety for Franky our book salesman and wisdom and creativity for Andrew in finding parts to maintain the motorbike.

* Pray that those people who are hungry for God’s Word would have the money and see the motorbike as it travels to 22 different open air markets.
           

*Pray for wise decisions to be made at our conference, including the decision about whether to re-elect Andrew to the 'Executive Committee'!

Supporting Translation

One of our roles in PNG is as 'support team' to Beth Fuller, a translation adviser in the Aitape West multi-language project. Men from twelve different language groups have been working hard to translate the book of Luke into their own language. Now, the work on this book is almost complete. These books are being taken into the villages where the languages are spoken, so that others can read them and give input into whether any final changes are needed.

In this photo, you can see Jonathon (from Onnele language), Clement (Bauni Pou), Joe (Baunti Barupu) and Augustine (Bauni Pou) binding the books they helped to translate. Beth has been advising these men at each step of the journey; we've been able to support her in small ways by doing things like keeping in touch via radio and email, and running errands for her back here in Ukarumpa. Levi likes to pray for 'Auntie Beth' before he goes to sleep each night!

Time to Celebrate