Home safely

Praise the Lord, the team (except for Nick, of course) made it home safely yesterday. I haven't actually seen or talked to any of them yet, but I saw on facebook that they are back. :) Praise the Lord for His protection and blessings on them!
Janice

The way home...

On Saturday morning, Pastor Pavel wrote:

Our mission team shrunk by one yesterday evening. Nick flew to work in California. Praise the Lord that we were able to serve together to the end of the program. We have begun our trip home. We are leaving the village of Vane and the Avatime people, but we will not forget to pray for them. We are headed for Accra, the capitol of Ghana, where we will be till Monday.

A difficult parting

On Friday, Nick wrote:

My time in the village of Vane has come to an end. An hour from now, Chingi and I should set out by minibus and travel to Ho, then to Accra – 4 to 5 hours of travel, if we're lucky – for me to catch a flight at 22:05. I have to leave early for work. I'm flying directly to San Francisco - for another week of separation from family.

It is very hard to part with these people who have become so dear to our hearts. Over the last two and a half weeks, our team, the missionaries, and the local team of translators have become very close.
During this time, God really helped us get to know each other well, learn from each other, and encourage each other. I am very grateful to Him for all this time - it is His gift to me.

I was very happy to work with the team of translators here. There are 5 adults - Janet, Jacob, Walter, Manfred & Edward. Given that their level was zero (almost everyone's), it was a joy to see their commitment and patience. Although they are all adults, they are like children with a desire to learn something new. By the end of our time, they had all learned to type in a special program for setting biblical texts, and they even got used to some key commands.

Thanks again to those who donated laptops. Without this, it would have been impossible to teach them practical skills. And now, coming to the office, they can actually help Sasha (Alexander, the Wycliffe missionary) with editing texts that have already been translated. Some of the challenges that I had to help with demanded all of my skills. Not all of these tasks are completed yet, but I hope Sasha and I will be able to finish them soon. There is a lot of work to do to reach their goal of translating the entire New Testament by 2015. Pray that God would give Sasha, Lena, and the whole team strength in the work.

Here are some of the best videos of our trip:

The children singing in the school where we remodeled
http://qik.com/video/21236678

Fellowship at the missionaries' house (salvation testimonies)
http://qik.com/video/21235828
http://qik.com/video/21235182

The children Anya worked with

http://qik.com/video/20730136
http://qik.com/video/20729952

At the local church on Sunday
http://qik.com/video/20588684
http://qik.com/video/20589431

the waterfall and mountains
http://qik.com/video/20588112
http://qik.com/video/20588053
http://qik.com/video/20587947
http://qik.com/video/20452048

singing with drums
http://qik.com/video/20056134

Please pray for my flights throughout the week. I will return home December 11.

С Богом! (The typical Russian farewell, which literally means “with God.”

The last day of the program and the beginning of farewells

The last day of the program started early in the morning, as usual. The team went to the last village where they presented the Gospel of Mark to the people. After the program, they went to school where they finished painting. A special program of thanks was prepared by the village people there, too. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony, and Pastor Pavel prayed a prayer of dedication.

They had dinner with the translation team in the renovated office. After giving the translators the notes from the Sunday School children in Zelenograd, Anya ran off to school for her last lesson. They had a farewell meeting with the translation team after lunch. Divine, the team leader, thanked the group for their work in the office, and for the computer lessons. Nick reminded them that the most important aspect of translation is not the technical part, but their attitude towards the process. Pastor Pavel reminded them that translating the Bible into their own language should change their lives, first and foremost. Please pray for the team of translators!

Wednesday

The next to the last day of the program. The team visited the village of Beeakmu, presenting the Gospel of Mark and sharing with the people the importance of reading the Bible in their native language. Pastor Pavel also reminded everyone of how important it is to obey the Word of God after we have received it.

As a thank you, the village committee gave the team two tubs of coconuts, oranges, bananas, and plantain -- a special kind of banana that should be fried before eaten. The team now has a "rule" that each person must eat a banana for breakfast, dinner, and supper, and some other time during the day as well. :)

During the afternoon, they finished work on the office. Now they have light, outlets for the computers, and windows. Kolya taught computer skills to the translation team, and Anya taught the last lesson at school. They planned a review of the lessons for Thursday, and giving gifts to the children.

Tuesday

Pastor Pavel wrote that the day started at 5:30 and went till around midnight. He and Alex worked in the office some more, Nick taught computers to the translating team, and Anya had her lesson in school. That evening, they prepared gifts and handcrafts for the school children.

Alex writes that so much has happened in the last few days that it's difficult to process it all. But they are seeing more and more the real need of the African people is spiritual. A lot of people know a lot about God but don't know Him personally. Praise the Lord that there are ministers there who love God and His Word, but they are too few. Please pray for God to work among these people!

Don't forget that you can see pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/djemlike

Monday

On Monday morning, Pastor Pavel, Nick, & Alex worked on construction in the Bible translation office, while Anya prepared her lesson for school that afternoon. Later they went to a neighboring village to visit some poor families, pray for them, and give them gifts of humanitarian aid. The people live in great physical poverty but more importantly, they are spiritually needy. They need the Word of God and those who will teach them how to have a living relationship with Him. Please pray for these people.
That evening they had a good time of fellowship with the missionaries, sharing what God had done and is doing in their lives.