MICHEALS’ MEMOIRS November 2017 Update
What Were You Doing During November 1988? We know that for a number of you reading this newsletter, 1988 was before you were born! For others, that year might have seen the birth of a child, the death of a family member or the change of a job. For our family, we had just come back to the USA after spending 2 ½ years in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and were living in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Chuck had taken on a job at a local lumber company that his cousins owned and Barb was working part time at a local downtown bakery. All of our four children were going to a Christian school and we were praying about returning to PNG again, but this time long term. By the summer of 1989 we had made the decision to return to PNG and had begun to raise funds to return there.
By January 1990 the decision was reached about where to serve and they arrived in PNG with their baby Rachol. Shortly after arriving and going through PNG orientation training, they made it out to the village of Musula where the people speaking the Kasua language lived. The Kasua language was spoken by 600 people and until that time, no one had thought enough of them or esteemed them enough to want to live with them, learn their language and translate God’s Word into it. That was about to change!
Tommy and Konnie Logan and baby Rachol during their first village visit to the Kasua language community
Our children in Papua New Guinea
Little did we know that in November 1988, another family was also considering if they were headed to PNG. Tommy and Konnie Logan had just joined Wycliffe, but were first going to spend the following year getting the needed linguistic and Bible translation training needed to begin work as Bible translators.
Arriving back at Ukarumpa, the Logans prayed and then decided this was where they would begin their Bible translation work with the help of the local people. Over the next 27 years, the village of Masula would be their home. Eventually another daughter Laura would be born and between those years there were furloughs back to their home in the USA and many, many visits to Ukarumpa where we worked to provide support services to keep them going. At Ukarumpa they attended
various translation workshops and training events for the local villagers who came there for training. Their children went to school at Ukarumpa and by that time we had arrived back in PNG and resumed our work there. Barb served them in the high school library and Chuck supplied the family with food and clothing at the store he managed at Ukarumpa.
personnel, the Logans continued their Bible translation work in PNG. And now the New Testament work is finished!
27 Years of Work – The Kasua New Testament is Finished and Now Distributed to the People Last month the Kasua New Testament was dedicated and distributed to the people. What a day of celebration it was on October 26, 2017 for these hidden people! Not only was the New Testament available in print form, but also in audio form on Mega Voice devices and on SIM cards for mobile phones.
Barb at the high school library at Ukarumpa
Chuck at the store at Ukarumpa
Over the following years we served not only the Logans doing Bible translation work in Kasua, but hundreds of other families involved in other Bible translation projects. Little by little, God’s Word was being translated and delivered to the people of PNG. Eventually, we finished our service in PNG in 2000 and have devoted the past 17 years to the onboarding of new mission staff as full career missionaries, volunteers, interns or short term mission trips. Many of them now call Ukarumpa home and have been are serving the missionary families there as Wycliffe members. However, while we have been recruiting new missionary
Looking back on your past 27 years, those years may have led you through many difficulties and hard time. The Logans had those days too and so have we. Yet, for those who have put their hand to the plow and not looked back and worked for things that are eternal, a harvest of souls is sure to come as God’s Word does not return void, but accomplishes all it set off to do. For all those who have partnered with us in the work of Bible translation through your sacrificial giving and prayers for our work, you too share in this great success! Thank you so much. We value your continued support as we look for others to join Wycliffe in this task.
Prayer and Praises Prayer Back in 2014 when we led a GET Global trip to PNG with a number of young people, we had an opportunity to meet Tommy and Konnie and hear of their work. What a delight now to see that they have now reached this Bible translation milestone. Yet, there is much work yet to do with the spread of the Gospel message in the Kasua community and they still lack the full Canon of Scripture. Will you pray with us for the salvation of souls and the growth of the church in Kasua and for the remaining work of translating the Old Testament? Will you also pray for new workers? The saddest thing in life is to meet people like we do from time to time who are members of the church, but tell us they have spent their life living for themselves and for the things of this world. More than once have we met people who also will not get involved because they are unwilling to leave their homes, horses or material ease to serve in missions. Some have even made shipwreck of their souls and know nothing of what true faith is or how a person is saved and yet say they love Jesus and yet find no place in their lives for the church. It is hard to believe that a person would want to waste their life and yet many stay steeped in various addictions. It is so sad for us to see how many people are captivated by pornography. While I don’t have exact numbers to quote, a good number of men I talk to struggle with pornography. Help and victory can be found in Christ, but the addictive nature of this sin has lasting consequences. Will you pray that young men and young women could steep their lives in Christ and His Word so that they will be able to say no to sin and temptation when it comes to them?
Will you continue to pray too for our financial need? We are at around 87% of our needed monthly ministry budget. We still need many new people and churches to support our work to bring us to 100% of what Wycliffe says we need to raise. While new supporters have come on board, a church recently informed us they will have to cut back on their support this coming year. Another supporter who has been so faithful by giving to us through their work place matching funds program, was informed that the company no longer gives matching funds to causes such as ours.
Praises Our two children and their spouses and children who work with Wycliffe overseas are home on their year-long furlough and living in the Wycliffe apartments near our Wycliffe office. We have had lots of enjoyable times together already and are looking forward to Christmas when our whole family (now 22 of us) will be all together for the first time since 2011. We also give thanks to God for our newest grandchild Saylor who came to Florida with her mommy. Rachel (and Saylor) came to attend a women’s conference at our church in Sanford, Florida. Our daughters and Barb had a great time together. FOR PRAYER SUPPORT / OUR HOME ADDRESS
Chuck & Barb Micheals - 5167 Poinsetta Ave Winter Park, Florida 32792-7229 Tel: (321) 278-2225 Email: Chuck_Micheals@wycliffe.org, www.cbmicheals.ning.com FOR SUPPORTING US FINANCIALLY
Wycliffe Bible Translators P. O. Box 628200 Orlando, FL 32862-8200 Mark on separate sheet mark: “Preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Chuck & Barb Micheals, Account # 221879.”
Online Giving: http://www.wycliffe.org/Partnership.aspx?mid=0A1 84A (See photos on the following pages)
Kasua Bible Dedication
The Kasua New Testament
At the dedication – selling and distributing the Bibles
Tommy and Konnie Logan today At the dedication – purchasing the New Testaments
Micheals Family Photos
Family get togethers
Three quarters of our family together
Ryan and Kody - Time with Oma
Enjoying our children (Isaac and Maria) and two of our 12 grandchildren (Ryan and Bryn)
The day the Mishler and Micheals arrived in Orlando!
Ryan and Kody attend a youth confernce at our church
Barb, Jenny, Saylor, Rachel, Maria
Cousins getting to know each other again
Family birthday party time
Fun times – Yes, we also celebrated the Reformation!
Saylor gets measured on the family growth chart!
Oma, Isaac and the newest Detroit Tiger fan, Ambrose!
Hurricane Photos
After
Before
Clean Up
Return to normal