This afternoon a team of three from the British and Foreign Bible Society climb on a plane to make the long journey back to London. They have been our guests for the past week and it has been fun to show them the Solomon Islands and help them to get more than 25 hours of raw video. This footage will be edited used to produce dvds telling the story of Bible translation in the Solomon Islands. Some of it will be used at a youth convention in England to raise funds for publication of the Pijin Bible.

This week didn’t go as we thought it would – I (Martha) came down with malaria and a stomach flu which meant Tim had to take them on one trip. Later in the week we were not able to go to the western Solomons as planned because of flights getting canceled. The entire week has been gray and rainy, but we hope that the video they captured will tell the story well when they get back.

This story was in the Solomon Star Newspaper last Saturday:

PRIME Minister Dr Derek Sikua has endorsed 2008 as the Year of the Bible.

This was after he met with a delegation from Solomon Islands Christian Association (SICA) and Solomon Islands Full Gospel Association (SIFGA), Wednesday this week.

The church groups met the prime minister at his request.

The endorsement of 2008 as the Year of the Bible coincides with the planned launch of the Solomon Islands pijin bible this year.

Martha Matzke of Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group (SITAG) said the launch of the pijin bible is an important achievement for the country.

“The pijin bible will give many Solomon Islanders access to God’s word in a language that is easy for them to understand,†Mrs Matzke said.

“In addition, New Testaments will also be launched in the Natqgu language of Santa Cruz and Wala language spoken on Malaita,†she said.

Mrs Matzke said SICA and SIFGA have been planning for the year of the Bible and are outlining activities that will celebrate the arrival of the pijin bible.

They were also encouraging bible study and raise the awareness of the importance of God’s word.

“A working group has been formed to carry out the plans,†she said.

She added that Prime Minister Sikua was very supportive of the Government declaring 2008 The Year of the Bible.

Dr Sikua had given his Minister of Home Affairs, James Tora, the task of drawing up a cabinet paper for presentation.

The document is expected to be completed by next week when it will go to cabinet for final approval.

The document, to be approved as The Year of the Bible, is a part of the stated government policy.

The Solomon Islands Philatelic bureau has chosen to honour The Year of the Bible with a stamp commemorating 30 Years of Bible translation in this country.

The stamp will be issued on Independence Day.

Mrs Matzke said during the church groups audience with Dr Sikua, they prayed for him and presented him with the plan for the Year of the Bible.

This is the first time for The Year of the Bible to be declared in Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands has beautiful postage stamps. For the past five years we have been in talking with the Philatelic bureau about producing a commemorative stamp to recognize the importance of Bible translation in the Solomon Islands.

The churches of the Solomon Islands have declared 2008, the Year of the Bible. With the Pijin Bible coming out on July 7 2008 – the 30th anniversary of the Independence for the Solomon Islands, the timing is perfect.

I guess the Philatelic stamp committee agreed. We are finally getting our stamp and the first day of issue will be on Independence Day. Our colleague, Robin, drew this rough sketch which a professional artist will use to produce the final stamp. We are pretty excited about this project which we hope will honor God’s Word and be an encouragement to our national friends who work so hard on Bible translation.

I honestly never thought we would go back to homeschooling Emily, but here we are again. In December Emily graduated from grade 9 at the international school here. Grade 9 is as high as this school goes, so we had to make some decisions in regard to Emily’s schooling. In this photo, Emily is performing a science experiment in our kitchen.

Emily is now enrolled in NorthStar Academy – a Christian online high school program designed to accomodate MK’s (missionary kids) like Emily. Emily’s classmates are literally all around the world. So far she is enjoying it. We are thankful for an educational solution that works for Emily and allows us to continue to minister here.

We are VERY thankful to a friend who teaches at NorthStar who is donating her salary toward scholarships for MK’s like Emily. In fact, all of Emily’s tuition has been met! God’s people using their gifts and talents to help get God’s Word out to those who don’t have it in their own language. How cool is that?