70 years of God’s faithfulness…

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3: 22-23 (NIV)

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) work in Bible translation in Papua New Guinea. Established in Ukarumpa in 1956, it has served as the main center of operations for SIL’s work in PNG, serving over 400 remote language communities around the country. We are part of an ongoing team of thousands of missionaries who have come to live and serve here over those 70 years. As members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, we are seconded to SIL when we are in PNG, and SIL obtains our work permits and visas, enabling us to serve. SIL works with many different ministries, bringing together people from Wycliffe Canada, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, and other organizations. JAARS, SIL Global and Wycliffe USA were all founded by the same man, William Cameron Townsend, with the vision of bringing the Bible to every language on earth and seeing it transform lives and communities. Those partnerships continue, with JAARS now running aviation operations here in PNG. It is humbling to see what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done, but we trust in the LORD to complete the good work He began here so many years ago. Pray that we would remain faithful in our service, doing our parts to see the Good News of Jesus Christ continue to reach the ends of the earth. Thank you for your love and support of this amazing work!

Praise for another birthday…

Scott will celebrate his 58th trip around the sun on March 8th! He exemplifies what a lifelong learner looks like: he is always willing to try new things, from taking on his role as Child Safety Director to serving the Ukarumpa fire department as a volunteer firefighter. He continues to go deeper in his faith and study of God’s Word, and is working on his Master’s degree in Theological Studies with Nations University. He also regularly challenges Kathy to games of Scrabble and often wins. :-) She is frequently encouraged to try new things because of his example, and considers herself blessed to have such a wonderful husband and best friend.

Prayer Points:

• Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for PNG leaders and for PNG as a nation to continue to trust God and seek His will.

• Bible translation: Pray for the biennial Interact conference for Language Programs and Services on March 10-13 to be encouraging and insightful for each attendee.

• Our roles in PNG: Pray for a good finish to Term 3 at UIS and for our March 9-13 accreditation team meetings. Pray for wisdom and discernment for Scott and the SIL Global Child Safety team.

• PNG missionaries: Pray for new families who are completing their orientation training and will be living in remote villages for the next two weeks. Pray for the SIL biennial Conference in Ukarumpa to be glorifying to God.

• God’s provision: We pray for you always and thank you for your faithful partnership with our Wycliffe ministry as you enable us to continue serving faithfully.