Our team captain is retiring

News from John and Bonnie Nystrom -- June 10, 2020
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Our team captain is retiring

Emil Ninkure was a young man when he joined the translation team in 1992.

He became an excellent translator and often taught other translators.

As the translation team has expanded, Emil (here with Malol translator Petrus Brere) has continued to mentor the other translators when administrative responsibilities weren't pulling him away. As he retires, he will leave not just one big hole in the translation team, but many.

Leaving some big holes

If our translation team were a sports team, I would be one of the coaches and Arop translator Emil Ninkure would be our captain. Last week he let us know that he intends to retire soon.

When he leaves, we will all miss him dearly. Because he is such a unique talent and is so integral to the team, we may have to change our translation process when he leaves.

I will really miss working with him. I have never worked with a more eager learner or a more capable translator.

Please pray that the Lord would give us all wisdom as we adjust to losing our team captain.

Since April Emil has been unavailable to work with me on the Arop draft of John 15-21, so for now my Plan B is to continue helping the Arop, Sissano, and Malol teams improve the earlier chapters of John and all of Philippians.

Serving our King together,

John Nystrom (& for Bonnie)

Praise and Prayer

Praise the Lord with us for

* All the ways so many people in many language communities were blessed by Emil Ninkure's Bible translation ministry these last 28 years.
* My many very blessed years of working with Emil Ninkure.
* A safe trip with my Mom to her home in Wisconsin.

Please pray for

* Our team leaders as they develop strategies for adjusting to Emil's retirement.
* Emil, that the Lord would guide him regarding his specific retirement date and in whatever he does next.
* Pastor Peter Marokiki as he becomes the only experienced Arop translator, recruits one or more Arops to work with him, and switches from from focusing on the OT to the NT.
* Bonnie, now in FL, helping her family with many medical appointments and other things.
* Bonnie as she drives my mom's car from FL to WI next week.
* My mother, Marilyn Nystrom, as she experiences new health challenges.
* Bonnie and me as we juggle our home, ministry, and family responsibilities.

Partnership

If you would like to partner with us financially, we have two options below.

Give to our Wycliffe ministry online

If you prefer to send a check, Wycliffe contributions should go to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
PO Box 628200
Orlando, FL 32862-8200
(Please include a separate note expressing your preference for the Wycliffe ministry of John and Bonnie Nystrom #221253)

What we do
Since 1987 we have been training local Papua New Guinean church leaders to translate the Bible into their own languages and coaching them through the process from first draft to publication.

We serve in the Aitape West Translation Project, which is producing and distributing Bible translations in 11 languages in print, electronic, audio, and video form; training local people to use the translations; and training the local translators to help other translators do the same in still more languages.

To learn more
We have written about how a tsunami changed the face of Bible translation in Papua New Guinea in our book, Sleeping Coconuts. It is available here on Kindle or here in paperback.

Click here to hear us speaking on this topic at a partner church.

Wycliffe has released a short film called "Arop" about this amazing story. The one-minute book trailer is here.

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