Since Sunday I have been in Orlando to attend communication meetings for SIL International.  In a changing world, we are looking at how we need to update the messaging to share about the work we are doing.  As the SIL Pacific Area Communications Coordinator it was really encouraging and energizing to meet with colleagues working in communications.

I started my trip in Dallas where I met with colleagues to discuss how we will integrate pages for the Pacific Area.  After a quick trip to Detroit to see my family, I will return to Dallas for a few days before starting my journey back to the Solomon Islands on Sunday, November 10th.

Besides the planned meetings, there have been a number of unplanned meetings with colleagues that were timely and helpful.

I’m looking forward to heading home, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here in the USA.

Friday 11 October

The ship was scheduled to leave Honiara at 6 pm yesterday and we finally got underway about 6:45. I would definitely rate this as one of the nicer trips I’ve had by ship. The sea stayed calm, with only some gentle swells. I managed to get a few hours sleep stretched out on the wooden bench. We stopped briefly at a couple of villages before dawn and then made a more lengthy stop at Kiu village. A small, protected harbour and coral sand beach made for a nice landing area. And the Phoenix sidled up to the beach and dropped the front ramp. Passengers and cargo streamed off, to be greeted by canoes waiting for cargo and a small open-air market waiting for the passengers.

Feeling a bit hungry, I bought a foot-long skewer of roasted molluscs (think clams). Munching on these, I headed back to the ship. As I was finishing off the last few, a passenger offered me some ‘pudding’. I gladly took a slice, asking what kind it was. “Kakake pudding” was the reply. Kakake is a type of edible swamp taro, commonly used for this dish, and a favorite. There are several ways to make pudding, but one common method is to peel and boil the taro, then grate it and mix it with coconut milk that has been boiled down to a thicker cream. The mixture is then wrapped in banana leaves and baked in a ground oven. The result is a heavy, starchy cake, infused with and covered by coconut cream. Very rich, but tasty too.

Shellfish and ‘pudding’ for breakfast – ah the islands life.

Those of you who follow Martha on Facebook will know that I made a trip to one of the provinces here in the Solomons a couple of weeks ago. During that time, I was out of communications contact, except for some occasional text messages to Martha and very short phone calls.

However, I did do some blogging on that trip, which I thought I’d still share, even though it’s a bit old now. Wo, remember, I’m back in Honiara now and back in the land of electronic communications. Thanks for your prayers during my journey.

Thursday night 10 October

Well, after a long day of scurrying around I’m off to the island of Small Malaita. I’m traveling with Marion Luihenue, the Coordinator for our project, and Jonathan Soiseu, a member of the Solomon Islands Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership, and long-time Bible translation worker.

The airstrip on Small Malaita has been closed for almost 10 years because of a land dispute, so the primary way to reach the island is by ship. We are on the LC Phoenix, the nicest and most reliable ship available (ironically often called ‘Phonics” by many locals).

The ‘LC’ stands for “landing craft”; a type of ship with a flat bottom, open deck for heavy machinery and cargo, and a front drop ramp. A landing craft can sidle up to a beach or low wharf, drop its front ramp, and off load heavy equipment right to shore – essential for heavy construction or, more commonly here, logging. The Phoenix is exceptional in that it also has a large 3 deck passenger section. Perhaps it was a small ferry in its previous life – handling passengers and some of their vehicles. Today, it’s the best available transport for our trip. Fortunately, it’s not very crowded And the sea is relatively calm.

Roni, a fourth grade teacher and Amarasi speaker, lives with his family in a small mountain community in West Timor, Indonesia.  After school and in the evenings, Roni works on translating the New Testament into his own language.

One day, the family’s dog, Jaga, was missing. They looked everywhere for the dog, but he could not be found. Jaga had wandered away and they felt sad.

A while later, Jaga wandered into a nearby village and people asked, ‘Whose dog is that?’  Someone in the village recognized the dog and they said, ‘It belongs to Roni, the teacher.’  Others said, ‘No, it belongs to the man who is translating the Bible into our language.’

Jaga moved on to another village community and people started asking the same questions again and received the same answers.  Jaga moved from community to community.

Word reached Roni that Jaga had been seen in nearby villages so he started to look for his dog.  When he reached the first village, the people told him that Jaga had moved on, but they wanted to hear about the Bible being translated into their language. Roni happily told them about the translation work and that the New Testament in Amarasi would soon be completed.  Everyone was excited to hear the news and some even asked if they could pray for him.

Roni continued to look for Jaga in the villages where he had been seen. In each village it was the same – Jaga had moved on, but people wanted to know about the Bible translation.  At last Roni found Jaga. He was very skinny, but happy to go home to the family.

The Amarasi New Testament is nearly completed.  Pray for Roni and the translation team as they finish the translation. And thank God for Jaga and his missionary journey that helped spread the good news about Bible translation.