Bob and Debbie Clark Spreading God's Word in Remote Areas of Indonesia Our son Steve has had a couple of major events in his life these last couple of months. He left to be trained for serving his country in July, and nine days later his wife gave birth to twins, their 2nd- & 3rd-born girls! Our daughter Michelle has started her college career at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. She is really enjoying her time there and has made many new friends.
Please pray for the second translation check of the Punan Scriptures – from Jan. 27th through Feb. 5th we will be checking over 700 verses, including portions of Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Mark, & Luke.
January 2009 Update!
_img.jpg)
Ni tuhi longaam jo’ Ake’ Tingai ure tana mo’ habun nin, ure sokala ni hana nong tana mo’ habun. – Genesis 1:1 in the tribal language of the Punan people on the island of Borneo.
The Punan people now have several hundred verses of Scripture from Genesis in their language, the very first of which is above. Over the next two weeks I (Bob) will be on Borneo as we plan to check another 700+ verses, including more portions of Genesis as well as parts of Matthew, Mark, & Luke. Please pray that the translation check would go well and that the Word of God would have a tremendous impact on the Punan people’s lives.
Recently I completed the first step of translating the book of Daniel into the Tugutil language, and look forward to being able to discuss and revise the draft with translation helpers who are native speakers of the tribal language.
Debbie has been busy with helping oversee the culture- and language-learning process for one new missionary family and four new single missionary ladies who arrived toward the end of November. She also continues to give language proficiency evaluations for missionaries who are still working at gaining fluency in Indonesian before moving on to their ministries in other areas of the country.
Michelle is now in her final semester of high school – hard to believe how fast time passes! She continues to do well academically, and is excited about basketball season, which is now in full swing. She is a starter on the varsity team, and they are 3-0 so far. Yesterday they had their most challenging game yet, but pulled away with good defense to seal the 12-point win.
We are making plans for furlough, which begins just a few days after Michelle’s graduation at the end of May. We look forward to seeing many of you again soon!
1st Punan Translation Check!
Beginning June 30th, Bob will be checking about 12 chapters of Genesis in the Hobongan language of West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. These chapters will include the story of Creation, the Fall of Man, and the life of Joseph. Please be praying for this first translation check for this language group. The native speakers are not used to sitting down for long periods of time, so this will be taxing for them, in addition to the fact that they will not be ‘at home’ in the jungle but rather out in the provincial capital city for these five days of intensive, verse-by-verse checking. Our goal is to ensure that the translation of God’s Word into the Hobongan language is accurate to the original and also clear and natural-sounding to the native speakers of the language. So please be praying for clarity of thought and stamina for not only the native speakers, but also the translator and the translation consultant!