1. Did the Typhoon Affect The Palawanos?
The answer to that question is “No, the Palawanos were not affected. That area was too far to the south.”
But this has been a sad and sobering week with the news of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)’s destructive rampage across the Philippines. The pictures and news are beyond heartbreaking. We know people in other regions who were affected. Some are still not accounted for. See the map here to get an idea of the various locations and the distances involved. We also know a Filipino pastor’s family on the island of Panay (middle of the map, just below the red line) whose home and church were damaged. Our partner Lynn Bright’s parents and siblings were on an island just north of the red line–safe, but affected.
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| Path of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and Affected Areas |
2. What is the Status of the Palawano Translation?
We sent the Print Proof copy back to the Philippines. It arrived, but… it looks like it was thrown under the wheels of the DHL truck (see the photo). The pages of the book are all broken apart and some of the pages look like they were run over a few times in a wet street! We’re working that out with DHL as far as the poor service after the (exorbitant!) shipping costs. But meanwhile, we’re thankful that Bill listed all the errors in a document which the printers are using now to make all the needed corrections.
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| DHL. Our Motto: “Ya want the insurance with that, right?” |
So we’re waiting to hear when the printer will send us the follow-up proof. Once all the errors have been corrected, the book can go to printing.
3. When Are We Traveling to the Philippines?
We (still) don’t know. Once we learn the projected completion date of the printing, we can make plans to travel to Palawan for dedication services and distribution. We are praying that might be sometime in February or March. After that, we would return to the USA and travel around the country to celebrate this exciting milestone with our supporters and to praise God together for what he has done!
Meanwhile, we’re staying busy with some speaking opportunities. Our time at the International Congress on Language Learning in Colorado was amazing. It was an encouraging time and we had some really profitable and helpful times of interaction there. Recently, Bill has been invited to teach some seminars on language learning. He had the pulpit for one Sunday of our church’s Missions Conference. We will be volunteer poll workers for San Diego’s mayoral election. It looks like Donna might have jury duty. And then, of course, there’s those awesome grandkids…
Praise the Lord with us…
– for the great time at the ICLL
– for this refreshing season with family and friends
– for good health
Please pray with us…
– that the errors in the New Testament would be quickly taken care of
– for those thousands of Filipinos who have lost their homes and loved ones
– that God would lead us to others who might partner with us in reaching the unreached
Reaching Palawanos (and the world!) together with you,
– Bill and Donna