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 Matzke Mission – May 2014

In 2009, the Solomon Islands National Parliament unveiled a permanent Bible Display.  It houses a ceremonial canoe that was carved to hold the Pijin Bible when it was launched and the display includes all the New Testaments or full Bibles that have been completed since 1978 – the year of the country’s independence.

Today we were blessed to be able to hold a special program at Parliament to place the newly published Kwaio New Testament which will be dedicated on Easter weekend.  Parliament is ‘sitting’ at the moment, so the program was held during the lunch break.

The Speaker of Parliament joined us for the program as well as quite a number of Members of Parliament.  The history of the translation project was shared and Julie Pierce, the translation advisor read some verses from Titus in the Kwaio language and then told how those verses had touched the life of a Kwaio woman when she heard the them read to her in the own language.

One of Members of Parliament placed the Kwaio New Testament in the display case along side the other Bibles. An Anglican priest who is a Kwaio speaker participated in the program and prayed that the Kwaio New Testament would touch the lives of his people.  He said – the Kwiao people won’t have any excuse now not to obey God’s Word, because now they will really understand it!

We then enjoyed cake and coffee with the members of Parliament and the other staff.  It was a wonderful experience and once again we marvel at the amazing support for Bible translation in this country.

This week has brought rain and flooding to the Solomon Islands.  There are about 14 confirmed deaths and many more missing people.  Today Tim and I walked through town and took some photos. The Mataniko River has flooded and trees, houses, people, anything in its way was carried away.

It will take a long time for life to return to normal in this country.  Please pray for the Solomon Islands and those affected by this natural disaster.

In the flotsam and jetsam – pieces of people’s lives. I wonder if the owner of this shoe is still alive.

a piece of furniture in the flotsam and jetsam

This ship was driven into the cement wharf

People on the waterfront looking for firewood and anything they can use. On the far shore a body had just been found.

water soaked furniture and household goods

a man pulling himself across the river

the floor fell out of this house

the water ripped the walls of this house

stores along the river falling into the water

This is all that is left of one of the bridges across the Mataniko River. The bailey bridge that was here was built by the US Marines during WWII.

Here’s our latest newsletter.  Thanks for your interest, prayers and support!

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Matzke Mission – February 2014 pdf1

A couple of weeks ago I flipped on the radio in the car on my way home.  I was surprised to hear an advertisement for a new radio program that would be starting in a few weeks on the topic of “Languages of the Solomon Islands”.

I went down to the radio station the next week to find out about the program and find out if there were ways that we could help provide resource people and information.  My friend Karen and I sat down with Moddie, the host of the radio program.  Moddie explained that it has been on her heart to start a program on languages, but she was happy to have some help on ideas for program topics. Karen has an MA in linguistics and loves to talk about languages – especially from the Solomon Islands.

Moddie asked us to come back to the station today so she could interview Karen for the radio show.  Karen recorded two programs today and they will start airing this Thursday all over the country.

What a wonderful opportunity to be able to share about languages around the Solomons and share about Bible translation work.

One of our translation team members out in the village came down with malaria last week.  She began treatment and soon was feeling better.  But along with the malaria came a case of cellulitis and blisters covered her legs.

The family takes a supply of medicines with them, and after consulting with a doctor by email (sent via their two way radio), she began a course of anti-biotics.  They only had enough drugs to get them through Thursday night, so more drugs were purchased and we began looking for a ship heading in their direction that could carry the package out to them.

A local dive company often takes divers to the beautiful islands where this family lives.  A phone call to the company office confirmed their plans to go to islands and their willingness to take the package. The ship was due to leave Thursday afternoon.

Yesterday I packed the drugs, a few veggies and their mail and took it to the dive office.  Later the woman called to say that the dive shipped planned on getting to the Russells on Sunday afternoon.  I thanked them, but my heart sank as I thought about Joanna’s blisters and the much needed drugs that would keep the healing process going.  What would happen if she didn’t have the antibiotics for two days?

This morning the office manager from the dive company called to say that the ship’s captain had called to say that they had changed plans and were now going to be in the Russell Islands THIS morning (Friday).  The captain said that if the family didn’t get word in time, he would leave the meds in the hands of the village chief and they could pick up the package from him later.

Wow.  The God who calms the seas can also change the direction of a ship full of tourists out on a dive tour. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised, but oh, my heart is happy this morning.

After spending the morning in the office answering emails, at lunch time we headed to town to buy fresh produce for one of our village teams.  This family has not been getting many fruits and veggies from local sources.

Armed with a wish list that the family had emailed in, we headed into the market.

We stopped in a store for some empty boxes, packing tape and a marking pen.  We packed up the produce in old newspapers and packed them in a box with a block of ice.

We headed to the wharf where we found the ship that was heading out to the village where the Gebauers live.  Ship personnel were on the wharf selling tickets and collecting money for shipping cargo.  There was a big crowd around the table and I wondered how long it was going to take to get to table to pay for the cargo.

Luckily, one of the women pulled me to the table.  Soon some of the other people were insisting that they take care of the boxes we brought.  I was able to pay the fee (about $6 USD) and TIm passed the boxes to me and we were soon on our way.

Sometime tomorrow the boxes should arrive in the village and Gebauers will have their produce.

Our latest newsletter is ready!  You can download the letter here: Matzke Letter – Oct. 13

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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.

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.