“Thank you God for blessing us with your Word, Thank you God, Thank you God, Thank you!”
This was the response of our “grandma” here in Tobo when she heard the testimony of Welson, who recently attended the translation workshop with us here in PNG. He took some time to share his experiences in the believer’s meeting when we returned. He could have talked about all the good food he ate, the nice bed he slept in and all of the new exciting things he experienced, but he chose instead to talk about the thing that impacted him most: that God’s Word was translated into English & many other languages and is now being translated into the Tobo language. He started off by asking everyone “Do you think God’s Word has come to us through an easy road or a through a hard road?” No one knew. He continued, “ God’s Word has come to us through a hard road and now after hundreds of years God has used these missionaries to bring His message to us into our language so we can understand it.” Welson gave examples using the stories of Martin Luther and William Tyndale and how they were both persecuted for translating God’s Word. He encouraged the other believers not to lose heart in the face of persecution from friends and family, because God has used persecution in the past to further the spread of His Word.
Ambox, the other Tobo believer who attended the workshop came down with Malaria when we returned home from the trip. He has been sick for almost a month despite the treatments we’ve given him. A few weeks ago when we went to visit him & his family, we told him how sorry we were that he got malaria from our trip. He said “We went to do God’s work and it’s okay that I got sick. Even if I die, it would be okay because that’s God’s plan.” Please pray for Ambox that the Lord would restore his strength and that he will be ready soon to continue helping with translation. Jason has been meeting with him regularly to keep him up to date on the teaching, to pray with him and to encourage him through God’s Word. We are praising the Lord for how He has used the workshop to encourage these men who may be leaders in the Tobo church one day.
We have moved our furlough up to November 10th so that we can have an earlier return date next year. Please continue to pray with us for a place to stay, car to drive and the approximate $4500 we’re lacking in travel expenses. See you in 4 months! Thanks for your partnership in getting God’s Word to the Tobo people and seeing His church grow here at the ends of the Earth.
Your Hands and Feet,
Jason, Nisae, Kadynn, Judah & Eden Williamson
