Picture of Yall village

Brian preaching during a recent visit.

During our orientation and training to PNG, we were assigned to a family in Yall village. We spent five weeks living with them, learning about the culture and language of PNG. The first day we met our "waspapa" and "wasmama" (adopted mother and father) we clicked right away. They gave us a warm and loving reception despite the enormous amount of cultural stress all four of us were feeling.  

Morning in the village

We decided shortly into our village living time that we wanted to invest in our relationship with Steven and Maria, our adopted father and mother, beyond village living.

They built us a house, gave us food, and shared their every day lives with us in order to help us learn about PNG; all of this they did without expectation of repayment. They have since built us a larger house to accommodate our growing family and we visit as often as we can.

Yall village is in the Kein language area, a language group that already has the New Testament translated. This translation was completed by the people with some help from an established Bible translation organization. They are highly self-motivated and have started work on the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the man most dedicated to this work, Motz, is very sick.

Brian and Motz

He is battling a liver illness that caused swelling in his lungs and two hospitalizations. He came into town where doctors were able to help him drain the fluid from his lungs, but he continues to be physically weak. We stay in close contact with Motz and his family, encouraging them and the community to pursue the Old Testament translation project.