By the grace of God, we and the Nukna people have completed the translation of the Nukna New Testament! We began working with the Nukna people in 2004, and started translating the New Testament in 2010, beginning with the book of Mark. We recently completed the final consultant checks of the last two books of the Nukna New Testament – Revelation in the month of March, and Hebrews in April. Several people have asked what it felt like when we finished the last verse – certainly joy and excitement, praising God for his faithfulness (and we celebrated with a special cake Christy made), but also a feeling of relief, after so many years of perseverance and hard work. And lastly we were keenly aware that the work is by no means finished. The end goal of this translation work is not just a book, but to see hearts and lives transformed by the power of God’s Word. That work is still ongoing, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we look forward to seeing this Bible translation used in the growth of God’s kingdom among the Nukna people.
We can’t begin to express our gratefulness to so many of you who have stood by us for years, supporting this work through prayer, encouragement and giving. Thank you with all our hearts! Please continue to pray with us as we ask God to move powerfully among the Nukna people.
Next Steps
Much remains to be done before the Nukna New Testament is fully completed. Our team is currently working on a Bible glossary in the Nukna language to include as part of the publication. In August, a team will come to the Nukna area to teach the SALT course (SALT stands for Scripture Application and Leadership Training). Matt is currently preparing a 100+ page book of Nukna Scripture verses to be used as part of the course. Many of these verses are from recently translated books, and this will be the first time the Nukna people have the opportunity to read them in their own language. In September we begin the audio recording of the Nukna New Testament, which is estimated to take about 12 weeks. Early next year we will begin the typesetting of the New Testament, a process of several months. When Julianne graduates from high school in June of next year, our family plans to take a six-month furlough to help settle her into life in the States. During this time, the New Testament will be sent off to the printers in South Korea. We’ll return to Papua New Guinea in early 2028, with a planned New Testament dedication date in May of that year. So as you can see, even though we’ve completed the actual translation work, there is still a lot to do before the New Testament project is completely finished!
Christy continues to serve at the international school here at Ukarumpa, splitting her time between the primary and secondary campuses. She is also a youth group leader and coaches track and field. She loves investing in the young people of our community, most of whom are missionary kids!