Beasleys' Backlog

of news from

Papua New Guinea

Forwarding Agents;
Larry & Dottle Tanksley

Field Address;

Wes & Alta Beasley

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators

112 Stone Cove

P. O. Box 178

Clinton. MS 39056

Madang. Papua New Guinea

Rione (601) 924^299

March/April 1981

Vol. IV, No. 2

MANUS ISLAND:

Kurti people

.. and Father, we ask that you would direct our activities on this survey and give us guidance as we
seek to know your will concerning the Kurti people. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen." With these words,
we concluded our time of prayer as our family waited on the "Totol" to sail to Manus Island. It was
Thursday, March 26,1981 and, as we moved out of Madang harboron the 60 ft. ship which would dock in
Lorengau 27 hours later, I began to ask myself a familiar question: "Will this be the people with whom
God will have us work? And, if so, how will

Altaand I know?" Wehad discussed several

ingredients which would be important to us.

We both want to work in an area where there

..

is a definite possibility of training national

co-translators.

We both want to avoid

placing an additional burden on our

^ .

loremgau

manus

HAN us

**

IS.

"o

overworked support team. I want to work in

an area where I might be able to do

concurrent translation programs in several

4
AomiRai-TY
A O M R A L TY

closely related languages. In other surveys,

we had not been able to find a place which fit
these "specifications" and I was beginning to
wonder if we would. Sowiththesequalmsin

*h.

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s

L A

D s

o'

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our mind (and others in our stomach), we

"

sailed across the 250 miles of open water

!I

(the Bismarck Sea) and docked at Lorengau,

the capital city of Manus Island. We spent

several days initially discovering what
facilities were available in Lorengau and

meeting with several government officials.

Then, we took a two-hour, ocean-goingcanoe ride to Liap, the closest village of the

ly
C

Kurti people.
The Kurti people live in nine villages which
are located on the north coast and inland
some 35-55 kilometers from Lorengau.
During our limited stay, we visited only two
of the coastal villages: Liap and Derimbat.

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We rode out to the village of Liap on this ocean>going

motor-driven dug-out canoe with outrigger.
They're
fascinating.

We spent the night in this little grass hut on the seashore.

However, we spoke at length about the Bible translation work we would like to do and received an
enthusiastic and positive response.

April 3rd, we returned to Madang via SIL plane. Wewere pleased with the survey and impressed with the
Kurti people. Basically, everything we looked for was evidenced in the area and the people. Of course,
there were some negative items but our overall impression was predominantly positive. We then took
two weeks to study the situation objectively and to seek earnestly God's guidance. After that period, we
decided that we would commit our lives to the Kurti people and work in God's power to translate the Bible

into the Kurti language. We ask that you join us in prayer that God will bless this commitment and
provide His power for this work.
Until the end of June, 1will continue working in PBT administration. During July, we will go to Ukarumpa

again with the other PBT members to complete the PBTworkshop house. Lord willing, we will begin our
Kurti program the first of August. We also pray that we will be able to find and meet any Kurti speakers
living in Madang, Please pray with us!

WHAT SHALL WE

NAME THE BABY?

Last Fall when we went back to the village of Garati to visit the Pryors and the family from Tung with
whom we had lived for six weeks, we had a nice surprise. Our "village family" had a new addition a baby
girl about 3 months old. When I asked her name I was
told that she hadn't been named yet. "We have been
waiting for you to come back to give her a name." Iwas
quite surprised but began to remember something I
had been told about the custom in some areas of

asking the expatriate missionaries or other workers to

give children a "Christian" name. They give their
children a name in their own language but some want
their child to have a "western" name. I felt honored that

they wanted me to choose the name and that they had

waited for so long. I named the baby"Irene", after my

mother in Michigan.

"Little Irene" Is about eight

months old now.

|^a

. ,

When we were on Manus Island a,few weeks ago I met

a young couple who had a small baby about three

months old. After a couple days they came to me and

Alta with "Little Irene". She was fascinated with my

Aita
with "Little Irene". She was fascinated with my
glasses.

asked if I would name their baby. So, now there is

Juanita" on Manus Island after Wes' mother in Missishave been taken
an

guess
names

run

have to

on our

In some

requires you to actually change your name if a child is

named after you. You literally "give" the child your
name. William Butler was talking to Wes the other day
on the transceiver from his village in the East Sepik

Province. He told Wes that a new little boy had been

born in the village and he had been named "Yangves".

''
^

Wes spent a month in that village last Summer helping

William build his house and had made a lot of friends

Adam admiring
admiring "Little
"Little Juanita"
Juanita" on
Manus Island,
Island.
Adam
on Manus

there. It took Wes a while but finally the light dawned

they had named the baby after him "young Wes". They have no "w" in their language which accounts for
the "v" in "Yangves". We love these people and continue to askforyourprayersthat we will not fail them
in the task God has sent us to do. Thank you for your prayers.

PRAISE AND

PRAYER

Praise the Lord! Jan and Eunice Messersmith with their son, Hans, have arrived safely in PNG (April 12,
1981) and are beginning their orientation.

Praise the Lord! Roger Quarton and Judy Glaze have successfully completed the center phase of their
field training. Pray that God will give them an especially meaningful village living experience (from MidMay through Mid-July).

Please pray for the following new PBT members and their families who are preparing now to come to
PNG: Dave and Alice Parrish (translation), Dennis and Barb Davis (translation), Bob and Dawn Baird
(support), Steve and Rhonda Hayward (translation), and Mike and Eunice Herchenroeder (support).

Pray also for John Pryor and family as they return to PNG from furlough. John will be picking up the

responsibilities of the Branch Director.

Please pray for the following PBT families who will t)e going on furlough this year; David and Sharran
Pryor (March), Ron and Lisa Augsburger (July), Da n and Rosalind Wilcox (August), and William and
Robin Butler (December).

Pray for the Papua New Guinean government leadf rs who are now considering how to deal with two
social problems which have great potential for cjamaging the moral fiber of this developing young
country: alcoholism and pornography.

Praise the Lord for a successful survey to Manus Island and for giving us guidance and peace in our
decision to work with the Kurti people. Pray for the Beasleys as we prepare in many different ways to

meet the challenges before us in the Manus Island iwork. Pray that God will provide peace, wisdom,

safety, and strength.

Praise the Lord! God has provided faithful partners w 1o support us regularly with prayers, contributions.

and encouraging letters.

NOTICE:

We will have ttwo

short slide programs narrated

by Jonathari iwailable the last part of June. If

you would lifo to see them, please contact our

forwarding agents. One is entitled, "Life in

Papua New (guinea" and the other is entitled, "A

Trip to Likan't.

&

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to ^

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Beasleys' Backlog
of news from

Papua New Guinea

Forwarding Agents:

Field Address:

Wes & Alta Beasley

Larry & Dottie Tanksley

c/o Pioneer Bibte Translators

P. O. Box 178

Clinton, MS 39056

Madang, Papua New Guinea

Phorw (601) 924-0299

112 Stone Cove

Vol. IV, No. 3

May/June, 1981

'Which Church?"
"Without equivocation, tell me now to what church do you belong?" It was a serious question which
demanded an equally serious answer. The man posing the question had stood up in the back of the
crowd and made his way to the middle of the room. He was six feet tall and weighed about 230 pounds
and all the assembly was nodding in respect and in agreement with the sentiment underlying his
question.

For the last hour, I had been speaking to the men and women of the village of Derimbat, trying to explain
to them the nature of PBT's ministry of Bible translation. I was also seeking their reaction to the idea of a
Bible translation program in their own Kurti language. I had tried to speak clearly and state both the
intended goals and the means I intended to utilize to accomplish these goals. Nevertheless, to most of
them, it was a completely new concept and many of their questions remained unanswered. Confusion
and suspicion were evident. "Is this 'white-skin' trying to divide our village by starting a new
denomination?" "Don't these 'Evangelicals' know that this is a Catholic area?" "Why does he keep
talking about the Bible?"
As I finished my prepared talk, the people began to voice their doubts. I answered questions for another
half hour before the big tall man walked forward and delivered his ultimatum: "To what church do you
belong?"

Then I realized that some of their confusion and questions were present because I had consciously
refused to categorize my Christianity. In all my talking, Ihad not given them the necessary clues to place
me in a specific "pigeon-hole". And Ithought, "My! Eleven thousand miles and a cultural world apart, yet
these people are reacting in the same way as people I've known in the USA. Both attempt to re-make God
in their own image and try to understand God's church according to their own rules rather than
according to God's own word, the Bible.

Nevertheless, the question remained: "To what church do you belong?" Icouldhaveanswered that Alta
and I are part of a brotherhood of Christian Church/Churches of Christ but that would have

communicated very little in real information. So. I said a short prayer for wisdom and replied something
like this: "The Bible only speaks about one church; I am a member of that church. My work of Bible
translation will not create a new church and divide this village between old and new. The Bible in your

Kurti language will enable youto see more

a i ^

clearly what God says about His church."

How about you, to which church do you be-

long? Ifyou can only answer in terms of labels, then consider these facts. The Bible
tells about the foundation and growth of

.\

"

the church. Only the Bible contains HolySpirit-inspired teaching regarding the
nature of Christ's church. The Bible speaks
of only one church. The multiplicity of
"churches" which exists today represents
Satan's work in encouraging both false

KWI*TI
LORENGAU
MANUS
IS.

doctrines and division.

In both villages, the people began to

understand our intentions and gave us a
very positive response. We were excited by
their offers to help us build a house. Before
we decide where we will build, I will return

in August for an extended survey to all ten

villages of the Kurti area. Then, Alta and I
will decide which of these villages seems to
be best for housebuilding. Our whole
family will live in this village utilizing local
housing until we are more confident that
we have made a good choice.
Please pray that God will grant us wisdom
in choosing our house location. Pray that
all who seek to know about God's church
will seek direction from God in His Word

and through prayer. Also pray that we will

be able to communicate clearly as we begin
the Kurti Bible translation program.
In our next prayer letter, we will tell you
more about Manus Island and our plans.

ouCAi^rvtui

SOlOMON ISLAM)!

Map showing Kurti area where we'll be working.

FROM ALTA
We apologize for being a little late in getting this newsletter to you. These past two months have been

hectic with packing and moving twice and our annual branch meeting. We only missed three days of

school in the process soyou can see why it was hecjtic. We moved out of the house on the harbor when
our Director, John Pryor, and his family returned frojrji furlough. We moved to alittle house PBT rents in
downtown Madang. Wewere there the month of Juneiwhen we packed up again for the trip to Ukarumpa.

We're spending the month of July in Ukarumpa wip the other PBTfamilies trying to finish the group
workshop house. Instead of flying this time the boy nd I drove up with Wes. It is a five-hour drive from
the coast to about 5,500ft. in the Southern highland It was a beautiful drive and is good to be in a cooler
climate again. The house is progressing nicely and e guys hope to have it "livable" when we have to go
back to Madang in August. The boys and I contin
to have classes so don't get to help much on the
house. We plan to take the last two weeks of our t| e up here off to help and to have a little vacation

before returning to Madang. The boys are anxious ifor Mom and Dad to go with them to "blackberry"
hill. Idon't know if that's the real name for itor ifth^ named itbecause ofthe occasional blackberries

they find there. As soon as classes finish each day thfey ask ifthey can go to "blackberry" hill. They take
pieces of cardboard and slide down the grass with the national kids. They love it - it's almost as fun as
sliding on the snow in Michigan.

We always appreciate your letters and have received some nice goodies in packages lately and want you

all to know how much we appreciate your thoughtjf^lness and prayers. Many ofyou have expressed
excitement and interest about our allocation plans. We hope to be in the village on Manus Island before

the end oftheyear buthave no specific dates yet. {I'jll try to tell you ourtentative plans. You might be

wondering, "Why are their plans always tentative?" jlihe reason is, there are somany things that can alter

your plans here. We plan to return to Madang the rniddle of August at which time Wes will prepare for

another survey trip to the Kurti language area on Majr us Island. He will be gone two or three weeks while

the boys and I stay in Madang. The purpose ofthis trip will
be to visit the rest of the villages of the language group we
were not able to visit on the first trip and to try to determine
which village will be the best village in which to settle.
When he returns we will then begin making plans for the

family to move to Manus Island. We have no idea how

long this will take and ask for your prayers. We will take

enough of our household things to get along with until we

can buiid a house. The remainder of our things will be

stored in Madang. After we have lived in one of the

villages for a couple months we will then be ready to begin
building our house. We will try to use as much of the local

buildmg supplies as we can but will have to come back to

Madang or Lae for some materials. This will be another

hectic and trying time and we ask for your prayers.

Many of you have asked about transportation to Manus

Island and how we will travel to our village and receive

X'
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ir ^

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supplies. I'll try to answer some of those questions now

but I'm sure I'll be able to answer much better in about six

months. Most of our supplies and personal travel from

The-jungle
The "jungle telephone".
telephone".
Madang to Manus Island will be on a small cargo ship
which makes the trip every two weeks. This is about a 28-hour trip. There are also two Air Niugini flights
each week and occasional JAARS flights. Both the flights and the boat will put us close to the main town
on Manus Island which is Lorengau. This town has two main stores from which we will be able to buy
most of our supplies. We will also buy many bulk items in Madang and have them shipped to Manus.
These will be items that are either unavailable on Manus or are very expensive there.

If you will look at the map of Manus Island in this newsletter you will see that Lorengau is on the
Northeast side of the island and the Kurti area is on to the west on the North coast. We will most likely
settle in one of the coastal villages of the Kurti area. Travel from Lorengau will, of necessity, be by
oceangoing craft along the north coast. The trip takes about two hours by motor-driven canoe or less
in a speed boat. Our travels will
mostly be by motor-driven canoe

necessity of buying our own boat. ^ i

perhaps only once a month for
supplies.
We will have radio
contact both with our missionaries
. ,
in Lorengau and with our PBT

.u

Outrigger canoe used for ocean travel along the coast.

personnel in Madang. Medical facilities are available in Lorengau and many of the villages have aid
posts. We'll try to keep you posted on our plans as they materialize. We especially ask for your prayers
during these next few months of major decisions, travels, and unsettled state. Pray that we will have
peace and assurance during this time. Thank you for your letters and prayers. The boys send their love
too. "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall," Psalm
55:22. I claim this verse for these next few months perhaps it will help you too.

MAILING

TIPS!

We look forward to hearing from you and have really appreciated receiving your letters and packages.
Here are some tips on mailing to Papua New Guinea.

Letters: Send only via Air Mail. Regular air mail letters to PNG are 40$ for each half ounce. Cheapest

letter rate is obtained by purchasing "aerogramm^p for 30<P each from the Post Office. Please note: No
checks or cash should be sent directly to us in PNG Send all contributions (checks made to: Southwest
Christian Church, with a note on the memo line ^ for Beasleys) to our forwarding agents, Larry and
Dottie Tanksley, whose address appears on the front of this prayer letter. They will then transfer the
funds we need each month by the proper procedure to us in PNG.

Packages: 1. Goods (such as gifts for special occasions) can besentto usduty-free if thevalue ofthe
contents does not exceed $50.00 per package. 2; ISurface mail ischeapest. It isdependable but may
take 2 to 4 months to arrive in Papua New Guinea. 2 Air Mailpackages arrive in 10-15 days, but are very
expensive. A five-pound package could cost $10.OOto send via Air Mail. 4. Please take wrappers, price

tags, etc. off all packaged goods. 5. The numbjg r of

pieces in the package must correspond to the

number on the package customs list. This label is obtained from the Post Office, is filled out and glued on

at the P.O., and also lists the value of the goods.

gifts", "Not for re-sale".

6. Where appropriate, label the contents, "unsolicited

Please note our field address and our forwarding ajgents' address on the front of this prayer letter. Let us
hear from you!
'

Are you moving? Whenever you move, we would like to continue sharing our news with you. You can

save us 25cents bysendingyournewaddress to Mip>ion Services, Box 177, Kempton, IN 46049, Thanks.
Note; From now on "Beasleys' Backlog" will be pi blished quarterly instead of bi-monthly. Our next

"Backlog" will be for July, August and Septembek

Please pray for:

Ron and Lisa Augsburger and family. They are leaving for a one-year furlough July 3, 1981.

Dave and Alice Parrish and family as they come to Pa pua New Guinea July 13,1981 to begin their work as
Bible translators with PBT.

Rondal and Jan Smith as they begin their

involvement in administrative duties with PBT-

USA as Vice-President. They will be moving to

Dallas in July.

The successful completion of the construction

of the PBT Workshop House at Ukarumpa.
Wes' extended survey on Manus Island in the
Kurti area in August.
More translators and support workers for
Papua New Guinea. Last July, we prayed for
five

more translation teams and two more

support teams. Since then, four translators

(Judy Glaze, Roger Quarton, and Dave and
Alice Parrish) and one support family (the Jan
Messersmith family) have arrived. God is
answering our prayer. Please pray with me
again for five more translators and two more
support workers by next July.

Praise the Lord for:

A productive PBT/PNG Branch meeting.

The Bible in English which communicates
God's Word to man in the language which we
understand best.

0)

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(rt JS E

2(S^

Beasleys' Backlog
of news from

Papua New Guinea

Field Address;

Wes & Alta Beasley

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators
P. O. Box 178

Madang, Papua New Guinea

July/August/September, 1981

Vol. IV, No. 4

BONG! BONG! The village leader used a large wooden pole to pound the "garamut" {GAH-rah-moot, a

targe hollowed-out log), signaling to the people of Sou that two "white-skins" had arrived. Soon a large
crowd of men, women, and children had gathered at the meeting house and I began to describe what we
were doing there and the work I wanted to do in their Kurti language.

Roger Quarton and 1had experienced some delays in Madang, but finally we boarded an Air Niugini jet
and arrived 25 minutes later at Momote airport, Manus, September 17,1981. The goals of our survey
were threefold: to see if there are different dialects within the Kurti language; to assess the need and

desire of the Kurti people for a Bible translation program; and to determine which of the nine Kurti
villages would be the best location to build the "Beasley bushhouse" and do our work.

After contacting several government officials and speaking to the Education Department head in
Lorengau, Roger and I caught a ride to the Kurti village of Loemoi on the 35-foot copra boat, "Henry
Martin." The rated capacity of the boat was fifteen passengers but it was carrying thirty-five! We ft^nd a
spot on the roof and sat in the open for four hours as the diesel engine coughed out clouds of black
smoke. Thank the Lord, we were in front of the exhaust and it was an overcast day. Around 4:30 P.M. we

stopped off the shore from Loemoi and a young girl in an outrigger canoe brought us to the beach. Right
away, we met the head teacher who offered the use of a spare teacher's house for our overnight stay.
Our survey was profitable and enjoyable. The Kurti
people are very hospitable and in every village we were
welcomed and well taken care of.

We found out that

there are no dialect differences, that the Kurti people are

/^

definitely interested in translation work in their

language, and that the village of Sou (pronounced "so"
in "so what") is the best location for us to work.

A tot of preparation remains before we move out to Sou.

Alta and I must buy a gas stove, a large battery, and

supplies for six weeks. We must also sort and pack the

/O

items we want to take to Sou now. I will also need to

build wooden crates to ship our things in. We will be

buying, packing, and preparing for 2-3 weeks until I

leave for Manus October 2^h on the boat. Iwill take care

/
v..

of off-loading our goods in Lorengau and putting them

in temporary storage. Then I will travel to Sou to make

arrangements for temporary housing. Then, back to

^
Man pounding "garamut".

"w Jj

Lorengau where 1will call Alta and tell her to bring the boys. When they arrive, we will charter a canoe
and transport our goods to Sou and set up housekeeping.
Our first stay in Sou will last from the last week in October to just before Christmas. During this time, we
hope to make a significant beginning in language learning. Ifeel that this is a very important time and will
help us to keep moving forward in language acquisition even while we build our house.
After Christmas holidays, we will be attending the PBT General Meeting in Madang in early January. We
plan also to use this interval out of the village to purchase our housebuilding supplies and other goods.
Then, Lord willing, we will begin building our house in February,
Later in the New Year, we plan to attend two workshops; an Anthropology workshop in May and a

Phonology workshop in July. These workshops will enable us to obtain expert help for our problems and
questions in these two areas of research.
Thefirst six weeks in our allocation will be an important time. We will besetting precedents and making

first impressions which will be difficult to alter later. Also, we will be hearing the language with a clear
and un-prejudiced ear which will all too soon begin to be influenced by our intuitive but unsupported
conclusions about the nature of the Kurti sound system. We ask that you support us with your prayers

during this crucial period. Pray that we will develop constructive habits of witnessing to and working
with the Kurti people. Pray that we will make significant strides in language learning and analysis. Pray
that we can be "ambassadors" for Christ rather than just representatives of another mission. Your

prayers and your concerned financial support are important to us and we thank you for your faithfulness.
The people of Sou listened to my talk and asked several questions. Finally, it seemed that everyone was
satisfied and the headman said that they would be very happy for us to live in their village if we chose to
do so. Now that we have looked at the advantages and disadvantages of each village, we have decided to
accept their invitation.

The boys grow taller every day.

Jonathan and Adam have a puppy now. Her name isMitchie.

-/

Alta and Robin Butler sanding the table she and Wes made.

We were able to use the "joinery" at the canter to make some

of the furniture and trimming for the house.

FROM ALTA
"Come on, Mom and Dad", the boys called down to us as we climbed several grass-covered hills in the

highlands at Ukarumpa. It was all Icould do to keep on walking with the thin atmosphere. 1was still not

feeling well at the timeand Wes stayedbehind with line. Theboyswould actually runupthe hill. Theview
from the top was thrilling. Wecould seethe valleys.| Ukarumpacenter and mountains inthe background.
We enjoyed our stay at Ukarumpa again and, with tne help of the other PBT teams there, were able to
finish our group house to the "livable" stage. There is still inside work to be done, but we all had other

jobs calling us back to the lowlands. The most exciting "Job" calling us was preparing to allocate! While
Wes was doing the final survey of the Kurti area on Manus, the boys and Ifinished their school year. As
soon as our new curriculum arrives we will begin second and fourth grades. Jonathan had a special

request at the end of third grade. He loves lemon ^ebox pie and asked me if 1would make one for him

when he finished third grade and let him eat the who e thing. Imade ityesterday and he has eaten %of it.
He will probably finish it off today. Now, while the boys are enjoying a vacation from school and I am

enjoying being free from teaching, Wes and Iare ba^ in the middle ofsorting and packing again. We will

onlytake the bare necessitiesto the village now andiwill take the remainder of our thingswhenwe have
our house built. Theseare exciting months for us anld the realization of our purposeincoming to Papua
New Guinea is here. We thank you very sincerely for all your prayers for our guidance, good health,
wisdom and strength. Thank you for your letters and for your love. We love each of you and definitely

feel you are a part of this work too.

'

Love.
Alta

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Beasleys' Backlog
of news from

Papua New Guinea

Field Address:

Wes & Alta Beasley

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators
P. O. Box 178

Madang, Papua New Guinea

Vol. IV, No. 5

October/November/December 1981

SOU: The First Six Weeks

"Manus Diary ~

October 29,1981: Icompleted my tripon theTotol (a small ship) to Manus and arrived in Lorengau. After
storing some goods, I caught a canoe to Sou.

November 2, 1981: The Sou people have provided a house for me and my family. Today I go to
Lorengau, pick up the stored goods and return to Sou. While in Lorengau, I call Alta and teli her to come
with the boys on the next plane.
November 12, 1981: Alta, Jonathan and Adam arrive today and we go straight to Sou. Alta and I both
started our day at 5 A.M. We were met at the beach by a crowd of people who welcomed us
enthusiastically. The boys were welcomed officially by one of the village leaders in an interesting
ceremony (the significance of which we still have not determined). He came out to the canoe, picked
both the boys up, and set them down about waist-deep in the water. Then, while making a long, detailed
speech, he splashed sea water on them with a branch until they were both soaked. As he finished, the
people ran out to the canoe and carried our suitcases and other goods into our house. We began to get
unpacked and rested a bit before the evening feast. That evening there were speeches, gifts, feasting,
singing, and dancing until 3 A.M. the next morning.

November 13 - December 14,1981: The balanceof our first stay in Sou was taken up by several activities.
Most importantly, we got acquainted with the Sou people and they got to know us. They are different
from the Ramu-Sepik River people we came to know on the PNG mainland. The Sou people are more

out-going, less shy with newcomers like us. They have overtly expressed their desire to help us learn
their language and they go out of their way to teach us a new
word or phrase. Because of their help in language learning, we
were able to learn all the normal greetings and some small talk.
On the State Department's Language Acquisition Scale, we
would be rated at "zero plus". As the rating implies, we still have a
long way to go in language learning but we thank the Lord for our
progress. Anthropology research is one way of describing what
we do as we inquire and learn about the culture of the Kurtis. In
the short time we were in Sou, we witnessed a wedding and a
death plus seeing everyday life. The Kurtis are a fascinating
people with an intricately woven tapestry of lifestyle and culture.

We look forward to discovering more. Houseplanning took a

wes speaking with one of the sou village

significant amount of time.

leaders.

At the insistence of the village

C " T l e a d e r s , Alta and I planned our house to the extent that we could provide

ItJl'Vl'iiik' -1^^1
V '|^^||l|A|||d
H^

materials we would use in our bush house.

December 15,1981: For several days we have been praying for good weather

for our trip out. This is no casual prayer for our comfort because this is the
"northwest" season. The winds shift from the mild, gentle breezes from the

Northeast to the wild, gale-force winds from the Northwest. The people stay

L^^EI
r^jm

close to home and coastal traffic is severely limited. The coconut trees bend
some friends came by who had been waiting two weeks for good traveling
over at a ridiculous angle and the winds test each house. Just yesterday,
weather. However, today, we wake up to clear, sunny skies. Thank you,

B ^
I

Father. The trip to Lorengau is not the best but we arrive safely and on

schedule.

December 16,1981: As wetake care of business in Lorengau, weremember

that two years ago today we arrived in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to
our

term

service.

December 17,1981: Today wefly Air Niugini to Madang. There is quite a lot

Paul tells us interesting stories of

his experiences during World

War 11.

to accomplish before we return to Sou. Christmas at Ukarumpa, PBTAnnual

Meeting in Madang, buying trip to Lae to obtain house materials, and odds
Qpjjg which always come up. Lord willing, we will return to Manus Jan
uary 29th, 1982 to begin building our bush house. Again Lord willing, our
house will be completed by Alta's birthday, April 1st, 1982. We request your

prayers for safety for us and others involved in travels and building our bush
house."

FROM ALTA
Our first view of our new and temporary home was through a lot of special "bilas" (the Pidgin word for
decorations). As the entire population of Sou' village met the boys and me at the shore and guided us to the
house they had decorated for us we felt that this was another new beginning. Wealsofeltalotof loveon the
part of these people and an intent desire to please us and to make us feel welcome. Our house is set back
from the shore about 120 feet and is a small two room grass hut built on poles about 4 feet off the ground.
There is a small front room which is the boys' bedroom, a slightly larger back room which is our bedroom
and a five foot open area between the two rooms which serves as our

kitchen. We quickly settled in as the villagers brought usfresh fruit jCy

and gifts. The boys' correspondence courses were delayed in jn^

customs in Port Moresby so I wasn't able to begin their new courses

as planned. This gave both the boys and me a time to get acquainted
withthepeople,iearnnamesandbeginourlanguagelearning. Souls
a very peaceful village and we feel we are going to be happy there.
Wes had the refrigerator going when I arrived with a cooler full of

frozen meat, butter, and cheese. We had also sent several boxes of

cannedgoodsaheadand,ofcourse,lotsofflourandsugar. Iwasglad
I brought plenty of baking staples and was able to keep cookies or

cakeon hand forourvisitorsthroughouttheafternoonandevening. I

Jonathan
being
Jonathan and
and Adam
Adam have
have enjoyed
enjoyed being

did run out of cooking oil, however, and several of the ladies "rallied"
by making several bottles of coconut oil which is no small task. Our

close to
to the
the ocean.
ocean.
close

favorite time is when we sit out on the small front porch of our village
house and drink tea and talk with our neighbors. This is a good

language-learning time too. Everyone is so eager to help us learn the

language, even the children. One of my favorites, the little three-year
old girl of Andrew, has noticed the adults speaking to us in Pidgin and
then telling us how to say the word or phrase in the local
language. One day when she brought me something she very
seriously repeated it several times in "Kurti" so I would learn it. I'll try

to get a picture of her in one of our newsletters. Andrew, her father, is

one of the village leaders who has been so helpful in getting us settled

Aita enjoys visiting with her newfriends.

and keeping us informed of village affairs and etiquette. In our future

bobe-io-be???

newsletters we will try tointroduce you tothe Sou people with whom

iiij

we
TVC. work.

ihoiier. MUr po*r

<n4 *r(9iiUr kttclwn'

We were only in the village a month when we began preparations to

come to the mainland again. The two-hour boat trip in to Lorengau
was quite rough as this is the time for ocean storms in that area. In

Lorengau we boarded an Air Niugini jet to return to Madang. As you can see, modes of travel to and from our
allocation go from one extreme to the other. Sometimes we make the Madang-Lorengau trip in a small car
go ship which takes 26 hours. In Madang we sorted through our mail and Christmas packages, loaded them
into our Nissan and drove to the highlands. This trip was quite interesting because the rivers were up with
the heavy rains. Wes had to walk across each large ford to see if we could make it with the car. The water
was about 6 inches above the top of the wheels in the two largest rivers. We were happy to finally arrive at
Ukarumpa and settle into our group house for our three-week stay. We began decorating the house and
tree for Christmas and baking all sorts of goodies. I had purchased a smoked ham in Madang to have for our
Christmas dinner. This is the first smoked ham we have had since our arrival in PNG. They are shipped in
from Australia for the holidays. In the middle of all this excitement and preparations for Christmas Wes
came down with what we thought was a very bad virus but which turned out to be malaria. He was sick
through Christmas and New Years and is just now on the road to recovery this first week of January. His
malaria was a chloroquine-resistant strain which, of course, the eradication dose of chloroquine didn't

phase. He had to switch to a four-day treatment of quinine and fanzidar which has finally helped. He was
unable to do the work on this house that he had planned to do but we're thankful he is better now.

One of our reasons for coming to Ukarumpa at this time was to pick up our house-building tools which we
had been using here earlier in the year. We will need these for our housebuilding on Manus Island next
month. We will return to Madang in a few days for our annual branch meeting and then make atrip to Laeto

buy our house-building materials and put them on a ship to Manus. The men in our village are getting the
bush timber we will need for our house and hope to have it ready when we arrive. This will be a very busy and
probably trying time as Wes will be very busy with the house-building and 1will be teaching the boys and
"cooking for the work crew. We ask for your prayers for us during this time.
We apologize for not getting any Christmas greetings sent to you but we thought of you all and thank God
for you. We were not able to receive any mail or mail any letters during our stay in the village because there
were no available canoes in to town and we didn't want to charter one just for mail. When we arrived in

Madang we were presented with boxes and boxes of gifts from you, our friends and family. This made our
Christmas a special treat and we are really enjoying the new cassette tapes, games, clothes, toys and "good

ole Southern grits". Thank you so much! We are writing to each of you so you will know we received your
gifts but are a little behind in our correspondence.
Thank you again for your love and especially for your letters. Christmas cards and gifts. We are thankful for
your prayers and your part in this work.
'Some of the villagers pronounce the name of our village "SOU" and others pronounce it "SOWU" (Sowoo). Further analysis of the sound
system should give us an idea of which Is correct.

TRANSLATION WORK IN MANUS PROVINCE:

The Manus Island people speak twenty-six different languages; some are large groups (more than 2500
speakers) and some small (less than 500 speakers) and all are linguistically related, at least to a small extent.
At this time, four teams are doing initial language learning and analysis In preparation for Bible translation.
One of these teams, the Beasleys, you already know. We want to introduce you to the other three. All three
are members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics/Wycliffe Bible Translators and very special friends of
ours.

Dixon and Doralice Barthel and their three boys, Vincent (13), Tony (11), and Nathan (4), live on the
northeast end of Manus in the village of Tingou (near Lorengau) and work with the people of the Leie-Masi
language group.

Keith and Ruth Ann Lusk live on Rambutso Island (southeast of Manus Island) in the village of

Langendrowa and work with the people of the Titon language group.
Bill and Lenore Martin and their two boys, Joel (5) and Jason (2), live on theextrenne west end of Manus
Island in the village of Lessau and work with the people of the Lindrou language group.
A commitment that all the Manus teams hold in common is our commitment to the involvement of the

Manus people in the Manus Bible translation programs. Each of us is praying that God will raise up
qualified and dedicated men from the respective language groups to become national translators for
their own people. Please pray with us.

PRAYER AND

PRAISE;

Praise the Lord for so many answered prayers during our initial stay in Sou. The Lord's answer was truly
a "full measure, pressed down and running over".

Praise the Lord! Judy Glaze has allocated in Fulamu village in the Bau language group near Madang.
Praise the Lord again! Roger Quarton has announced his decision to allocate in the Azao language
group on the Ramu River in the Madang Province.

The Messersmith and Parrish families both completed Field Training successfully and are now getting
into their respective jobs.

Please pray for Steve and Rhonda Hayward and for the Mike and Eunice Herchenroeder family who will
be coming to PBT/PNG In 1982.

Please pray for the three other Bible translation teams working in Manus Province.
Pray that our house-building in Sou will progress smoothly and safely.

Pray that God will use us as witnesses for Him. We are constantly praying that God will grant us wisdom
to "speak the truth in love".

We praise the Lord for giving us two years of joy In serving Him in Papua New Guinea. We rest in His
promise that He is always with us.

THANKS PARTNERS!
You can't carry much
with just a piece of
String. The women of
PNG take a piece of
string and weave it to
gether to make a bilum
(BEE-loom: a woven
string bag), which can
carry heavy loads. Our
work is like thatalone

a load or burden, but

when we are woven to

gether with the rest of

the body of Christ we
can carry a big load.
Your prayers and sup
port, combined with
our efforts here, are
being used to bring the
Word of God to some

of the world.

OI

This woman is twisting string for

weaving baskets.

- ;

Hill
O

we can't carry much of

of the Bibleless people