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Daily Scripture
 
"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."

Psalm 37:5

CHECKING VERSES BRINGS BIBLE TEACHING CLOSE

Dinangat people will be learning about God in January 2008.

September 13, 2007

Time was running out. The hands of the clock pointed at 9:16 p.m. The plane would arrive in the morning to take missionary Linda Krieg home.

"I'm sorry. I just can't do good work," said Felix. "My battery is flat."

The Dinangat man in Papua New Guinea had been working with Linda and missionary Ralf Schlegel for the past five long days to check the translation of 636 verses into the Dinangat language.

Ralf assured Felix that he and Linda were feeling the same.

With the plane due to arrive between 8:30 and 9 a.m. the team decided to call it a night, recharge their batteries with a good night's sleep, and meet again at 6:30 in the morning to finish the remaining 50 or 60 verses.

The team returned the next morning and finished the translation check 15 minutes before the plane arrived.

In the process of checking verses the translation helpers even recommended a better way to translate John 3:16 … "For God so loved …." They chose a very strong term for love: "God's true stomach liked them."

"Liking with your true stomach seemed to be 'love unconditionally.' Exactly what we were looking for," wrote Linda.

Linda's job was finished as she boarded the plane, except for about three hours it would take her to write a report later. But Ralf must still concentrate on the changes made and check out the new terms that came up during the week. He has to make sure that the translated scriptures are communicating clearly and accurately, and are ready when he and his co-workers start teaching evangelistic Bible lessons in January.

Please pray for Ralf and Elli Schlegel, Gary and Esther Smith and Jeremiah and April Markley as they continue working on the translation, write Bible lessons, and teach the Dinangats to read and write before January.