ONE… TWO… READ!
We’ve been working on the recording of the audio version of the Palawano New Testament for about two and a half weeks, now. Whew! Praise the Lord for good progress and for health and stamina. This job requires a lot of concentration, day after day.

Bill and Terry on the rooftop of the hotel (yes, the view is amazing)

This past week, we also hosted a video team from California who are documenting what is involved in getting the Word of God into another language and published in printed and audio formats.

We were even able to film the steps of the printing process, from stacks of 700-pound rolls of Bible paper to printing plates, to printing machines, assembly, sewing, binding, trimming… quite a interesting field trip. We felt a lot of emotion to think that our translation will soon undergo this process and be available for the Palawanos.

RECORDING: EACH ONE DOES THEIR PART
We are working with several Palawanos, Luke and Kristen Rider of Cross Connection Outreach, and a volunteer from one of our churches in San Diego.

Susing is our reader and reads the Palawano New Testament into the mic hour after hour.

Luke and Kristen

Luke monitors the computer which is recording the audio, and Bill follows the text on another computer to make sure each word of each verse is read correctly.

After that, Donna and Giyang listen to each section, checking for any errors which might have slipped through. Susing, Luke and Bill then have to rerecord each of those.

Terry edits to audio to strip out background noise and unwanted silent spaces, etc., and he splices the rerecorded parts into the main audio file. Kristen will help with rerecording and editing when Terry flies home to return to his job in San Diego.

SAY IT AGAIN… AND AGAIN
Susing is very patient. If he stumbles over a word, we have to ask him to repeat the verse (or sentence). If someone hits a hammer upstairs… repeat. If an airline flight goes over the hotel (the whole city is in the flight path)… repeat. If Susing gets too far from the mic, or too close… repeat.

A recording studio not unlike Abbey Road

Susing remains cheerful throughout it all. In his interview for the video he explained, “It’s hard, yes. But it’s worth it to see God’s Word completed and done well, so that people can listen to it and come to know Christ.”

TECHNOLOGICAL MASHUP
Our equipment is a combination of high tech (Macs, sound mixers, top-of-the-line microphone, cables and software) and a jerry-rigged “sound studio” made of mattresses and duct tape. Please note, however, that these mattresses are not just any old cloth-covered cushion. Some of them are the world-renowned, sound-enhancing, echo-diminishing Hello Kitty mattresses (available in pink).

The Uniquely-Acoustic Hello Kitty Mattresses

KEEP PRAYING
Although we have to do retakes because of intermittent noise, we are making good progress. We’re over halfway through the NT. The hotel staff remain friendly and helpful. We thank the Lord for this, and realize that your prayers are a big part of this effort.

Please pray that:

• the relationship with the hotel owners and staff will continue to be smooth
• we will be able to have a relatively soundproof recording situation
• stamina, health and clear thinking for each member of the team

Thank you for your part in this ministry!

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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THE RECORDING BEGINS… ALMOST
Today we were shopping around in Puerto to find what we needed to build our “sound booth” for recording the Palawano New Testament audio version.

While jet-lagged and busy with all that, we were hit with two situations that remind us we are in a battle. Our enemy does NOT want the Palawanos to have the Word of God in their language in any format. At the same time, we are reminded that God is sovereign and nothing takes him by surprise or presents any difficulty to him!

DISTRACTING HEARTACHE
First, as soon as our Palawano helpers arrived in the city, they received a text informing them that their nephew’s wife had committed suicide. On top of the heartbreaking sadness of this situation, we know it will be weighing on their hearts and and could be a distraction as we work on the recording.

UNSETTLING CHANGES
Not long after learning about the suicide, we went to the hotel where we had booked rooms to do the recording and were faced with some potential concerns. The friendly manager who had given us such a good deal on the rooms and was bending over backwards to accommodate us in the recording venture is no longer with the hotel. So we will be dealing with the owners whom we have not met. Some loud music was playing throughout the hotel (which would be picked up by our microphones) and so we needed to ask them to please turn it down (for the next 6 weeks), and we also wanted to ask for extra foam mattresses to soundproof the room, and we weren’t sure how cooperative the owners might be.

GOD IS FAITHFUL
After leaving the hotel, we were able to find some foam mattresses that would do the job, and before we even finished typing this update, we learned that the a staff member at the hotel (who is a believer!) had come up with some additional mattresses for us. Just what we needed to finish the job!

Please pray that:

• the relationship with the hotel owners and staff will continue to be smooth
• we will be able to  have a relatively soundproof recording situation
• that God will comfort the family in the loss of the suicide
• our helpers here will not be adversely affected by the whole situation

Thank you for your part in this ministry!

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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2012 has certainly been the most exciting year in our 30+ years of service in the Philippines. We are so thankful that the translation of the Palawano New Testament was completed.

WHAT’S THE CURRENT STATUS?

The translation is now at the Philippine Bible Society for printing, and we are waiting for the final mock-up copy to proofread before it goes to press.

Please pray that:

• the proof copy will be done quickly
• it will the correctly formatted and error-free
• the NT can be printed with minimal delay

WHAT’S NEXT? THE NEW TESTAMENT IN AUDIO…

Many of the Palawanos cannot read. And those who can read, often prefer to listen.

So, in addition to 2,500 copies printed copies of God’s Word, we will produce an audio version of the entire Palawano New Testament. Rechargeable audio Bible players will be distributed throughout the tribe. Let us know if you would like to sponsor one of these players!

We will fly from Los Angeles on Feb 6th and head back to Palawan for about 7 weeks to do the recording. We will stay at NTM’s Guest House in Puerto Princesa. And we have rented quiet hotel rooms to use as a recording “studio.” A team from the USA is coming over to handle the technical aspects of recording. Susing will be our Palawano “voice.” And Donna and I will work with several other Palawanos to double- and triple-check the recording for accuracy. It will be a intense process to get that much material recorded error-free. Please pray with us through this project!

Another team is coming over to Palawan for about a week to shoot video, to produce a documentary of “The Making Of The Palawano New Testament.” We admit we’re reluctantly non-photogenic. They are planning to illustrate the benefits of people groups having the Scriptures in their heart language.

Please pray with us for:

• health and endurance for all of us
• quick and accurate recording
• logistics of the two-day trip into the tribe

Stay tuned… we’ll keep you posted during the recording trip.

Meanwhile, we are thankful that in between all the holidays and family events, we got fairly well settled for our Home Assignment (furlough) here in San Diego. The Lord has provided a car and much of the furniture that we need. We will finish getting set up when we return to the US in late March.

Thank you for your part in this ministry!

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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CHECK THIS OUT…

We’ve finished up our month of working with the typesetters here in Davao. A few more details remain, which will be handled by email. But the Palawano New Testament is pretty much DONE (the actual translation part, at least).

Rejoice with us!

How to describe this past month? Apart from the thrill of reaching this milestone, and thankfulness for God’s grace, it has simply been a lot of work and eyestrain. Fun, but tiring. Bill says it was like having a new term paper due every day for a month straight! Now we’re thankful that’s behind us.

We thought we would give you a sneak preview of what the pages will look look like, then a quick overview of our next few months…

Pretty cool, huh? We love how it looks and are so grateful to Meriam and Dennis with SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators) for their expertise and gracious help!

WHAT’S NEXT?
Our next few months at a glance:

• OCTOBER: Back to Palawan, pack up and get ready to head to California
• NOVEMBER: Our Home Assignment (furlough) begins.
  • Move in and get settled.
  • Find furniture and anything we need to “play house.”
  • We’re praying for a vehicle to use while on Home Assignment.
• DECEMBER-JANUARY: Enjoy the holidays with our kids and grandkids.
• FEBRUARY-MARCH: Back to the Philippines to record the audio of the New Testament
• APRIL… Back to the USA
  • Wait for the New Testament printing to be completed.
  • Visit supporters and friends
• SOMEWHERE IN THERE… we will need to check the final proofs from the printers.

BIG PICTURE…
When the New Testaments are finally printed, we will head back to the Philippines again to physically check each copy. Upside-down pages and out-of-order pages happen sometimes. We will also host dedication services in Puerto Princesa and in the Palawano village. That is also when we can coordinate with teams who will help distribute the New Testaments and audio players far and wide to every Palawano community.

We had hoped the printing would be done by May 2013, but from what we hear, it will be later in the year. Will you pray with us that the printing gets done sooner? and accurately?

We’ll keep you posted about the dates. If you are interesting in helping with distribution, let us know! Or if you would like to join us for the dedication, there will be a couple of options:

• Comfortable event in town (Puerto Princesa) hosted by our church friends. Everyone welcome!
• Dedication in the village for the few, the brave and the hardy. Travel logistics will make this event more challenging, and fewer people will be able attend.

PLEASE PRAY WITH US NOW AND LOOKING AHEAD:

1. For the New Testaments to be printed quickly and without errors
2. Energy and wisdom as we pack up and travel to California
3. Getting settled, and all that means
4. A car for our Home Assignment (beginning Nov 5)

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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…A BIBLE!

Maybe you thought this would say, “like Christmas.” Well, it IS “Christmas” in the Philippines as soon at September 1 comes around. But we’re talking about the Palawano New Testament formatting, here.

We’re in the city of Davao on the island of Mindanao, working with the typesetters. And it’s been thrilling to see the Palawano New Testament slowly begin to look like… well, a Bible! Two columns. Subtitles and footnotes. Pictures and maps. The works.

It’s funny how it’s still called “typesetting,” but everything is being done on computers with sophisticated publishing software.

Here’s some of what we’ve been doing…

• Checking for consistent formatting in the text.
• Adding and formatting footnotes (to provide extra help on meaning, pointing readers to the glossary, etc.)
• Formatting cross references (which point to O.T. passages cited, parallel passages in the Gospels, etc.)
• Proofreading (yes, still doing this; not finding many more errors, but some still remain.)
• Translating the text for maps (This has been fun! Jerusalem, the temple, Paul’s journeys, etc.)
• Finishing up the glossary (which explains words like “lion, bear, donkey” and clarifies meanings; did you know that there are FOUR men named “Herod” in the New Testament?)
• Writing book introductions.

ANOTHER FUN MISTAKE
This one might just take the cake.

For the want of a single letter ‘a’, Matthew 27:40 no longer read, “If you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross.” With that letter ‘a’ left out, the text read: “If you are the Son of God, your body is a cat!” (How did that happen? Well, puasa in Palawano means “save,” and pusa is “cat” in Tagalog.)

Yikes. We’re glad to find all these crazy goofs now.

FULL OF THANKSGIVING!
We are very thankful for Dennis and Meriam, the two people with SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators) who are working with us full-time for this whole month to get our typesetting done. They are very skilled at this. Meriam has been doing it for over 30 years!

PLEASE PRAY WITH US NOW AND LOOKING AHEAD:

1. All the details related to completing this typesetting
2. Health and energy in these final weeks
3. Finding all mistakes and getting them fixed
4. Everything involved in packing up here and setting up in the USA
5. A car for our Home Assignment (beginning Nov 5)

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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