Monday was the opening of the general meeting of the Solomon Islands Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership – a fellowship of our national Bible Translators. Twenty translators from around the country are gathered for this event.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Derek Sikua came for the opening which was a great honor. In this photo, Tim is showing the Prime Minister the new piece of property that our group was recently able to purchase with the help of Wycliffe Associates for the building of a new training center for our national translators.

A few blogs ago, I mentioned that we sent a Pijin Bible to Queen Elizabeth. Recently we received this special thank you note from Balmoral Castle. Pretty cool!

In case you can’t read it, it says:

Dear Mr. Matzke

Thank you for your letter of 4 August enclosing a copy of the Solomon Islands Pijin Language Bible which I have passed to The Queen.

Her majesty has asked me to thank the Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group, the Solomon Islands Christian Association and the Bible Society of the South Pacific for sending her such a thoughtful present. I am sure that the Pijin Bible is a very fitting addition to this year’s celebrations of the 30th Anniversary of Solomon Islands Independence.

The Queen has further directed me to send her good wishes to you and to everyone at the Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group, to which I would like to add my own.

Congratulations on a remarkable Achievement.

Yours Sincerely

Edward Young

The Deputy Private Secretary to The Queen

This morning I dropped Tim and our new colleague, Karen, off at the wharf. They are heading to the island of Malaita where Karen will be staying in a village for five weeks as part of her orientation. As director, it’s Tim’s responsibility to get her there and make sure she is settled well.

Karen is from Australia and has been to the Solomons many times. She is a elementary school teacher, but became trained as a literacy specialist so she can train teachers and help produce literacy materials. We are thrilled to have Karen as a part of our group!

In early December we are looking forward to another new addition to our group – The Choate Family from the USA who will be working in translation. We will be busy with helping them get oriented to life in the Solomons when they arrive.