MICHEALS’ MEMOIRS Winter 2014 Update
Dear Friends and Family, In our last newsletter we shared with you stories and photos of our trip to Papua New Guinea with seven young people. Now we are asking that you continue to pray for each person who went on the trip with us that the Lord would show them how they might be involved in our work in some way. So, please pray for the trip participants Bonnie, Katie, Jonathan, Taylor, Lexi, Leah and Brianna! In that newsletter we told you about the recordings our GET Global team did of some of the Tairora Scriptures and a number of Tairora Christian hymns written by the Tairora people. We want to update you about how those recordings are being distributed to the Tairora people. The efforts bore fruit much quicker than we anticipated.
The Tairora Bible and AudiBible (Photo Courtesy of Brandy Ingle)
Tairora Men with the Tairora AudiBible (Photo Courtesy of Ivan Dishman)
The Tairora AudiBible Dedication at Ukarumpa (Photo Courtesy of Lindsey Alexander)
The recordings we did in Tairora took place in June of this year. On September 4 there was a dedication of the Tairora AudiBible which included the recordings we did! It was a blessing to hear about all the people who gathered at Ukarumpa from all over the Tairora language area along with many people from SIL.
A sea of faces filled the Ukarumpa Training Center (where our GET Global team stayed), hearing about the Bible translation work that Alex and Lois Vincent and their Tairora friends have done since 1958. They also heard about how cooperation across the Tairora area enabled the AudiBible recordings to happen during the last year. Church leaders from several of the main denominations expressed their support, and thanks for God's Word in Tairora, both in print and audio versions.
When Alex and Lois Vincent lived in Suwaira village from the late 1950’s onward, they made many friends among the Tairora people. One of these was Rauvarai, who they knew for the last 15 years of their time there. They were impressed by his perseverance in walking uphill though he needed a cane to navigate the uneven road. He usually arrived with an agenda, such as asking a question about a Bible passage so he could understand it more clearly before teaching it to others.
We were glad we were able to see our good friends, Gware and Arina Nanong and their son Ngabi. We were also able to give them a book Chuck wrote about them and their family.
Sadly, in 1997, Rauvarai incurred an illness that left him permanently blind. Even though he cannot see any longer, he trusts God and continues teaching the young children in his community. He enjoys listening to preaching, but no longer can read God’s Word for himself. In early September, he and his daughter came to the Ukarumpa Training Center to join hundreds of others in celebrating the dedication of the Tairora AudiBible. The raised circles on the front of the audio player make it easy for Rauvarai to manipulate. His wrinkled fingers quickly find the button for turning on the recording of the Tairora Scriptures, forwarding to a new chapter or book of the Bible, or playing one of the Tairora Scripture songs that are also on the AudiBible. Rauvarai no longer needs to ask others to read God’s Word for him. His face alight with a smile, he exclaimed, “Now the children and I can listen together to God’s Word being read aloud on the AudiBible!”
What a blessing it is to support the work of Bible translation. Thank you for being part of God’s work!
Chuck & Barb Micheals- Gware & Arina Nanong with book
PRAYER NEEDS
Please continue to pray for our recruiting work with Wycliffe. Pray for Barb as she again plans short term trips for young people to places where Wycliffe is working.
FOR PRAYER SUPPORT / OUR HOME ADDRESS Chuck & Barb Micheals 5167 Poinsetta Ave. Winter Park, Florida 32792 (321) 278-2225 or (321) 695-0281 (cell) Email: Chuck_Micheals@wycliffe.org Barb_Micheals@wycliffe.org VISIT OUR WEB SITE OR ‘YOU TUBE’ CHANNEL: www.cbmicheals.ning.com http://tiny.cc/youtube-cbmicheals