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.”