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Handasydes & Helicopters

'Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous deeds among all peoples.' Psalm 96:3

June 2021
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The SHORT Version 
We had a first this month: Robert was able to attend the dedication of some newly published New Testament scripture portions for the Binandere people.

We are also celebrating some easing of COVID-19 restrictions, that hopefully will make the pathway to Bible translation a little easier in this country. We rejoice with friends who have been able to return to the villages where they work alongside national translators this month.


Last month, our organisation began a new, ongoing partnership with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) and SDP (Sustainable Development Program) in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. This will see the helicopter pilots on a rotation of working away for one week out of every six, transporting teams of medical professionals and assisting with community development projects, all in remote locations. Robert did two weeks away in the first rotation, and although there were initial challenges to how smoothly things ran, he enjoyed seeing a new (much flatter but more swampy) part of Papua New Guinea, and meeting new people.

Meanwhile, our family has been battling a season of sickness over the last two months, and we would appreciate your continued prayers! 
Prayer & Praise
Praise God for many answered prayers:
  • Travel restrictions within PNG have been eased, making work here a little easier. 
  • The engine repairs on one of the helicopters went smoothly and we again have two functional flying machines (plus the four fixed-wing Kodiaks, but they're not as fun)! 
  • Two of our aviation engineers got their CASA-PNG licenses approved!
  • Tensions within the valley have eased and a formal peace agreement is being drawn up.
  • A shipment from the USA finally got released, containing some clinic equipment that will make Loralie's work a little easier.
 
Please continue to pray:
  • For our family's health and protection, as well as that of our community.
  • For Robert's safety as he flies, and that he can bless the people he serves and visits.
  • For Loralie's work in the clinic, that she will have the knowledge needed to help those she sees and wisdom in juggling the work family balance.
  • For our language learning: we both would like to be more fluent and understand the 'talk inside the talk', as one national friend phrased it.
  • For PNG as they try to control the spread of COVID-19.
  • Pray that Ukarumpa can be a light to the surrounding communities, because of our faith and trust in Jesus.
  • Please pray for the personnel needs of Ukarumpa to be filled. There are many! 
The LONG Version 
'Expect the unexpected', is a phrase you often hear in Papua New Guinea. There are often changes to plans. This was certainly Robert's experience during his first week of flying in the Western province. Very little went according to plan A. However, things ran more smoothly in his second week away. Or perhaps he got more used to it!?
Most of the work involved transport of special medical teams, who were providing training for local health care providers, as well as distributing vaccines and educating about COVID-19. Where they were flying within the Western Province is flat, with large wetlands and swamps. MAF knew that using fixed wing aircraft for some locations was not possible, hence the partnership with our helicopters.
 
Above: The helicopter at Awaba, and crowds outside the clinic in Kamusi, where the medical teams ran health talks and vaccinated some against COVID-19. The swampy lands of the Western Province, showing why helicopters are needed for some of these remote places.
Robert also helped fly translation consultants Jon and Kathy Wilson to Nindewari to attend a dedication of some New Testament scriptures they have recently published for the Binandere people. Dedications don't happen every week, as Bible translation is a lengthy process, and more recently they have been delayed as travel has been so difficult between provinces. So it was exciting for Robert to be able to see one. 
While at the dedication he was gifted a strange necklace by someone's daughter, and remains hopeful that he hasn't accidentally become engaged to a second wife. 


Praise God for the work he is doing through these people. There is now 2/3rds of the New Testament published in this language. Pray that the Binandere scriptures will be well used and that God will speak to the Binandere people through them. 
Above: Jon and Kathy Wilson with their team of Binandere translators, celebrating some newly published scripture in their language. Each translator was given a certificate and a copy of the new Binandere scriptures.
Seasons of Sickness
In April both the kids and Robert became sick with fevers and headaches. But it wasn't until a few days later, when Loralie completely lost her sense of smell and most of her taste, that we became highly suspicious that we had contracted COVID-19. Seems like we can't write a newsletter without mentioning it at the moment (and we look forward to the day when we can)!

The clinic in U
karumpa had us isolate in our home. Every morning, Loralie would stick her head in our bag of freshly roasted Papua New Guinea coffee beans to see if her smell had returned, and for over two weeks was sorely disappointed (and wanted to head straight back to bed again). Thankfully, we did all recover well, eventually. 

We didn't get testing to confirm the virus, but it seemed pretty likely, particularly as we had both had contact with confirmed positive cases. More recently, equipment to run RT-PCR testing arrived at the clinic, as well as rapid test kits, and we continue to see a scattering of confirmed cases in our community and the surrounding valley.


Following that sickness, we have had round after round of other illnesses in the family. We don't think this is an unusual experience for our first year in PNG, but it is wearying to be unwell. Please pray for the health of our family and community.
Holidays and Haus Wins
Above: Robert putting the slide up in our haus win (you can see our actual house behind the slide), and the completed structure.
We have just started six weeks of school holidays here (American school summer break). Just in time, a gift arrived for the kids from some of our Australian family: a new slide! Robert installed it in our 'haus win' (windy house), an area that we use for cooking and entertaining. It has already provided hours of amusement for both our kids and others.
The haus win was recently given a make-over by a team of Papua New Guineans, who were raising money through their labour for a new prayer and fellowship house in the valley for men with drug and alcohol addiction. 
On Repeat
Repetition often signifies importance in Tok Pisin, and other Melanesian languages. If something is worth saying, it's worth saying at least three times, in slightly different ways. We have heard that within one translation project, the national translators initially wanted to translate the same book of the Bible three times. This repetition, they thought, would demonstrate the importance of the Word of God. They were persuaded instead to continue translating the whole Bible (so that it hopefully could be read on repeat by believers)!

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.

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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