Our normal routine of work has continued over these last two months, with some brief interruptions for our six day Branch Conference, and celebrating Easter.
During Branch Conference we celebrated 35 published translation projects that have been completed over the last three years, despite the upheaval worldwide during this time. In our eyes there have been so many roadblocks and barriers, so many cancellations to plans, and yet through it all, God is still at work!
After two years of life in PNG we are planning on a short home assignment back in Australia starting in October. This is a time for us to reconnect with family, friends, ministry partners, and churches, and we are looking forward to catching up with you all!
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Prayer & Praise
- Praise God for the many new Scripture translations completed throughout this country. Pray that communities will engage with God's Word now in their own languages, and that God will be at work in hearts and lives. Pray for the communities still waiting for Bible translation projects in their languages.
- Previously we asked for prayer that the (then) current wave of COVID-19 would not escalate and shut down services. Praise God, it did not! Similar to many parts of the world, COVID-19 is becoming less and less of a hindrance to normal work here. Pray with us that this pattern continues.
- The Rai Coast gang continues to be active despite a tenuous peace agreement. Please continue to pray for lasting peace and an end to the violence and lawlessness.
- Continue to pray for Robert and the other pilots as they fly, as well as for wisdom and efficiency for the maintenance team as they keep up with the workload.
- Pray that Loralie can continue to help patients through her work in the clinic, and through networking with other healthcare workers in PNG.
- Pray for the health and wellbeing of our family.
- Pray for our plans to come together smoothly for our time in Australia later this year.
- Pray for Ukarumpa, and for the many positions that need to be filled here to continue to support the work of Bible translation. Teachers, doctors, dentists, accountants, I.T., managers, mechanics, engineers...so many positions are required to create the infrastructure that supports the work here.
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Above: The 35 Scripture publications completed between 2020-2022, with their locations marked on the map of PNG in red. These publications include four full New Testaments, one New Testament revision, six books with Scripture portions, 13 audio recordings of Scripture, four oral Bible translations of Scripture, and seven videos (six of which are the Jesus film).
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Above: Hundreds of staff hailing from many different countries, yet all called by God to work here in PNG, worshipped together at the start of each day of Branch Conference.
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Branch Conference normally happens every two years, but this time it had been three years since the last meeting in Ukarumpa. That made this our first Conference here. We enjoyed hearing the reports about translation projects going on in all the different provinces around the country, and meeting some new people who are normally based outside of Ukarumpa. As well as that, worshipping together and learning together from God's Word at the start of each session with such a big team of people was really encouraging.
Outside of the Conference, there were a lot of community events and gatherings. Highlights included a bocce tournament (where Robert and his partner Fred came 3rd after a gruelling SIX hours in the sun), a gathering of all the Australians working here, and a craft market selling some unusual goods (see below).
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Above: Some creative handmade woven string bags (bilums), and a baby crocodile for sale at the market. No Aussie 'bung' (gathering) is complete without a game of backyard cricket, and the kids were happy that some loving soul made them fairy bread at the party!
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In the Air
Robert had a busier-than-usual day this month. Leaving Ukarumpa in the early morning he dropped off one Bible translator in Piyabo, before landing in another village to medevac out eight people. Most of these had injuries following an attack by the Hetwara gang. After dropping them off at the closest hospital, he then flew out to Hamelengan to pick up translator Matt Taylor, who has been working with the Nukna people for 19 years. During the flight Matt shared the encouragement he'd had in this recent trip, seeing how the people have been engaging in literacy work, and really growing in their desire to read God's Word in their own language. After dropping Matt in Goroka, Robert picked up another family involved in church planting to fly them out to their village, Andarum. Finally, he transported another team member back to Ukarumpa. All up, seven hours of flying, 17 passengers and 10 landings. (His record day had 17 landings, but this was still more than an average day!)
As an aside about the medevac, over the last few months this Hetwara gang has left a trail of destruction and violence all along villages in the Rai Coast area. This has continued despite a tenuous and costly peace agreement made earlier in the year. The difficult mountainous terrain means locating these men and bringing them to account for their crimes is very difficult. Robert had flown a team of police a few weeks ago into a neighbouring village, but they were a full day's hike away from the latest attack site! Villagers feel as thought they have no choice but to take up arms themselves to defend, creating an ongoing culture of fighting and violence. Please pray for an end to this, and that the men involved would have a change of heart, and be brought to justice. Pray for the churches and Christians in this area, (some very new believers), to remain strong in their trust in God.
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Above: Pictures from Piyabo, the first stop in a very busy day of flying.
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Tok Pisin Fun Fact
The seat of the emotions in Tok Pisin, the main trade language of PNG, is in the stomach (bel), or liver (lewa). To be brokenhearted translates as 'lewa pen' (liver pains). Meanwhile to be angry can literally translate as having a hot stomach (bel hat), or even stomach sores (bel kaskas). On the other hand, peace is a quiet stomach (bel isi). Similarly, to be worried about something is to have a heavy stomach, and to repent is to turn your stomach!
Jeremiah 17:9, 'The heart is deceitful above all things...' back translates from Tok Pisin as, 'the stomach of all men only knows to think of lies'.
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We are so glad to have you along on this journey,
and for all the encouragement you give us.
With love from Robert & Loralie, Emily & Michael.
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'...one day everything that is unstable and precarious and dangerously volatile - anything that makes us feel insecure - will be removed. And all that will be left will be the rock-solid unshakable Kingdom of God. O how fragile we are in this life! We are fragile against disease, fragile against flood and tornado and lightning, fragile against violence, fragile against mental failure, fragile against Satan, fragile against economic collapse. Life is very fragile. But God promises that all that shakes will be removed and the great unshakable Kingdom of God will remain.'
~ John Piper
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To Contact Us:
Email: robert-loralie_handasyde@wycliffe.org.au
Post to: PO Box 1 (142),
Ukarumpa,
Eastern Highlands Province 444,
PNG
Robert: +675 7077 8307, Loralie: +675 7917 3942
Wycliffe Australia: wycliffe.org.au
If you’d like to know anything more, drop us a line. If you're wanting to mail us anything larger than a standard envelope, please let us know.
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Please do not redistribute this newsletter without permission
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