We have two health needs which require prayer. This is concerning Mary's need. In the spring (sometime in Feb. - April), Mary needs to travel to the States to have her hematologist evaluate her condition. It is time now to schedule this and to purchase plane tickets. Please pray God will show us how this may happen.

We have two health needs which require prayer. This is concerning Mike's need. He needs to have an implant made for a broken tooth. The nearest and least expensive way to do that is to travel to Jakarta. At present, we are unable to plan for this. Please pray that this need will be met, both materially and in the scheduling of the work.

Pray the Lord will give wisdom to another translation team concerning suggestions from different dialect speakers. The team is considering changing several common words into words that can be spoken and understood by speakers of 4 different dialects. They are striving to be accurate in conveying the correct meaning of the texts.

This is the time of year when a spirit of unrest comes over this land. There are already whisperings of that. Please pray for peace so God's Word may go forth unhindered.

One student from the Auyu workshop wrote, they understood [the workshop] very clearly. One church leader from a different dialect area said that he became able to preach in Auyu.

A recent linguistic workshop for this work had these needs met:  10 Auyu literacy workers were trained. The literacy team ) trained all the students (more or less 70 students) to read and write Auyu words and stories for 4 days. Praise the Lord!

The translator requests prayer for these needs, "[After being away for so long, this] was a rough beginning. No one i count on was here to help. No water in the kitchen. Most of the termite eaten flooring not replaced. I couldnt figure out how to replace the solar regulator. Praise God i had lights from another set of solar panels. I have water. We are working on the electrical things. Also i can start working Monday."

A long-term translator has finally returned after being stuck in the US for almost 2 1/2 yrs.  She writes, "It feels really good to be here."

Papua is rife with all sorts of snakes. The majority are deadly, including the death adder. Praise God that the wife of a local translator was healed of a bite. This is not normally the case; death adders live up to their name!

We have made aware of colleagues who are suddenly leaving the field due to personal issues. While this is not within our sending organizations, moral failings do happen from time-to-time. Please pray for these friends as they return to their home country and deal with the situation. Please also pray for their friends within their organization as their leaving has left a considerable void.  Mike and Mary are not involved in this specific situation, except as praying friends.

Please pray for our foster boys. They are pre-teens and have a few more opportunities open for them. Sadly, they are not always making good choices, smoking, vaping, and chewing betel (a mild narcotic which is indigenous to this area). Please pray for wisdom for us as we have not dealt with these issues before.

Oh, goodness! We seem to have all contracted colds back in the middle of September and just can't get rid of them. Mary has been sick the most, and the boys and Mike just seem to be trading off illnesses. Please pray that we become healthy and stop sharing the germs!

As the "S" translators work through the Book of Luke, they plan to record a native speaker reading it. This is so people can listen to it on an app on their phones. Pray this recording can be done before the New Year.

Translators for the "S" people tell us that they should be finishing the Book of Luke this autumn. Please pray for that. Pray especially that a workshop where they train native translators in methods of translation will be well attended (up to 8 people). The workshop is being planned this month and will be held in October.