l^rYor

1;^

THE

Newsletter of the Pioneer Bible Translators

JAN.-FEB.-MAR., 1978

VOL. 3

NO. 1

Bluffton, Indiana

Church Responds
to Need
The First Christian Church of Bluffton,

Indiana (G. Edward Geans, minister)

designated its February mission offering
to the Pioneer Bible Translators to help
defray indebtedness on the purchase of a
house trailer for office space. The Bluffton
congregation responded to this need with
an offering of $700.
Last

November,

PBT was

able

to

purchase, on contract, a year-old house

trailer from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Adams of

Lincoln, Illinois. The trailer was appraised

for $7500, but the Adams offered to sell it

for $5,000 and a receipt for the difference.

PBT paid $1,000 down and signed a con
tract to pay the balance, at simple interest,
over the next three years.

Air New Guinea Complex up for sale in Madang, Papua New Guinea

The house trailer is 12 x 65 feet, with two

bedrooms which are now offices and a 12

X 20 foot tip-out area which serves as a

reception area and secretarial office. The
trailer is located on the Lincoln Christian

Temporary Headquarters in Papua

College campus.
PBT is thankful to the First Christian

Church of Bluffton, Indiana, as well as to

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Adams, for their

generous help in obtaining office space.

PBT is growingwe now have eight mis

sionaries in Papua New Guinea plus some
15 recruits in trainingand we need this
office space to perform those tasks
necessary to accomplish our goal of
translating God's Word into the minority
languages of the world. We are likewise
thankful to Lincoln Christian College for
allowing our office to be located on her
campus.

If you are in the vicinity of Lincoln,

Illinois, please feel free to stop and visit
the PBT office. In the meantime, there is

still indebtedness amounting to $4000, on

the trailer. We ask that you contribute to

help us liquidate this remaining debt.

David Pryor, PBT missionary in Papua

New Guinea, reports that a complex of
houses has been rented in Madang city to
serve as PBT's headquarters until more
permanent arrangements can be made.
There are six houses plus warehouses in
the complex. David writes that with the
coming of so many PBT missionaries to
Papua, finding this complex came none
too soon.

However, this is only a rental, and tem

porary, arrangement. The owner, which
happens to be Air New Guinea, the
national airlines, may decide to at any time
not rent out this complex any longer. At
which time PBT would be headquarterless
again.
There is one bright spot in this, though.
The complex is up for sale! PBT is

negotiating with Air New Guinea to

purchase the complex, but this has just

begun, so we have nothing definite to

report at this writing on the progress of the
negotiation . . . except for the price. The
complex has a selling price of U.S.
$165,000.

David Pryor also writes that, should PBT

be able to buy this property, it will be a
good base from which to reach into the

minority language groups of the surroun

ding area with the translated Word of God.
And, because it is close to these language

groups, the complex will provide a con

venient location in which to do linguistic
analysis, translation and production of
literary material.
Will PBT be able to buy the complex? It
is too early to say. But, we are praying that
God will open up the opportunity to do so.
Please, pray with us concerning this op
portunity also. We will soon let you know
whether PBT can buy the property.

Pioneer

f! -'J-k

Linguistic Institute
The 1978 Pioneer Linguistic Institute will
be held at Milligan College {near Johnson
City, Tennessee), May 21-27. Registration
will be on Sunday afternoon. May 21.
Classes begin Monday morning and will
carry through to Friday. The schedule of
classes, including instructors:

8:00 a.m.Cultural Anthropology {Dr.

Charles Taber)
9:00 a.m.Chapel
9:45Coffee Break

10:00 a.m.Semantics and Translation

Theory
(Dr. Rondal Smith)

11:00 a.m.Syntax {Dr. Susan Higgins)

NOON

T:00"~p.m.Phonology (Dr. David

Filbeck)
2:00 p.m.Phonetic Lab (Staff)
3:00 p.m.Reading
4:00 p.m.Sports
This year the chapel speaker will be Dr.
Barton McElroy, Academic Dean of
Manhattan Christian College, former mis
sionary to the Philippines and member of

A village of the Giri Tribe

submitted by David Pryor)

week's study will be granted through

Milligan College.

mation and application forms, write to:

Dr. Susan Higgins

Cost for the week is $75, which includes

room, meals, and tuition. For more infor-

Milligan College, Tennessee 37682

Box 643

the Board of Directors of the Pioneer Bible

Translators. Professor Wallace Wartick of

CORRECTION
Ozark Bible College will serve on the staff
teaching Phonetics.
In the last issue of the Pioneer, the
PLI will end Saturday noon. One of the
editor wrongly edited Al Hamilton's article
more interesting features of PLI is that
on his trip to Papua New Guinea of last
students have a chance to elicite and
October. We made the article to say that
write, in phonetic script, words from native
the Australian Churches of Christ mission
foreign language speakers as part of their
in Papua had no missionaries working in
final test. One hour of college credit for the
Bible translation, which is not true. There

are Australian missionaries engaged in

M Send your contributions to:

M

Pioneer Bible Translators

Box 628

Lincoln, IL 62656

Bible translation work. In fact, Mr. and

Are you moving?

Please send us your new address

along v^ith your old address.

Mrs. Rodney Feldman, whose picture

appeared in the last issue of the Pioneer
are so engaged.
We are grateful to Mr. Rex Ellis, Prin
cipal of Woolwich Bible College in
Australia, for drawing this error of state
ment to our attention. The editor regrets
the error and apologizes to those directly
affected.

IkxKXXXVXSHXXl
THE PIONEER

President
Editor

Al Hamilton
David Filbeck

Published quarterly by The Pioneer Bible

Translators. Box 828, Lincoln, III. 62656.
Printed by the LCC Press, Lincoln, Illinois.

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

Bulk Rate: Non-Profil

Box 828

U. S. POSTAGE
PAID

Lincoln, Illinois 62656

Permit No. 265

Lincoln, IlilnoiB

Clff & Helen Schaub

P.O.

Box 177

Kempton, IN
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

46049

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

AMinistry in Bible Translation and Literacy Instruction
DAVID W. & SHARRAN O'BRIEN PRYOR, MISSIONARIES

Kevin L. & Donna J. O'Brien

Route # 2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana 47660

Forwarding Agents

February, 1978

Volume Ilia Issue 1

HMMM...PRAISE THE LORDl

SURVEY EXPERIENCES

Ity brother John and I have been involved

in the most physically taxing aspect of our
work: the linguistic and allocation surveys.
This involved going into moiintainous re
gions, jungles, and swamps to establish con
tact vdth different language groups.
We
looked over the villages and surrounding
areas to determine the feasibility of locat
ing a translation team there. The main con
sideration is the difficulty involved in

getting the team and their supplies to the

area. During Ihe surveys we encountered our
greatest opposition from Satan, but also
some of our most

exciting

experiences.

would like to share a few.

The day we were to leave for the first

survey I came down with malarial
Although
the hospital test was negative,
veteran
missionaries told us those tests are not al

ways valid because there are many different

strains of malaria.
The tests can only de
tect a few.
They say you must rely on the
symptoms, and mine were definitely those of
malaria.

The morning
with dizziness

we

actually

and nausea.

left I
I

awoke

couldn't be

lieve itI
Surely God wanted these surveys
done so our work could progress. So I pray
ed for strength to make the trip, VJh'en I
didn't get worse I decided to go anyway, and
the diz^iiness subsided after we got into the
boat and started up river.

(cont. on p.

3)

During
where the

our second
Australian

survey

in a village

Church of Christ

has

established a congregation by using Pidgin,

70 people came to see "their language writ
ten down."
I had a great timel
After
finishing the word list and sociological
questionaire, the host missionary and I sat
for a while longer to visit with the men by
conversing in Pidgin.
I understood most of
the conversation, but this one I had to
check out to make sure I

understood correct

ly. After i t was over I told the missionary

that from the bits and pieces I understood
it sounded like they were talking about ny

"bits and pieces" 1

Sure enough, they were
talking about former days when white men or
strangers from other villages would come,
and they were afraid. They would assure them
of their friendship and proclaim a feast and
celebration in honor of their visit.

Mean

while, a message of a different kind of

fe^t was spread throughout the village. As
soon as the visitor could be cau^t off
guard, he was killed and became the main
course!
The missionary asked them if they
would need to fatten me up before they ate
me.
They said I would be fat enough just
like I was. There was a lot of laughing and
joking, but one of the Christians remarked
how good i t was that we could all sit and
visit without fear of each other.
Everyone
agreed^ especially meI

SHiBRAN'S SHARING

PRAISE & PRAIER

From December 16 through January 30 John

Ainy, and I have been on holiday.
This is
one teacher who is really enjoying school
break!
This is our only big break for the

year as

John and Amy

go to school

38 more

days tham children in the states.

Christmas was a wonderful experience
away from home, thanks to
T of you. Your
letters and Christmas

cards made us realize

we are not here by ourselves j we are here

representing you; and you love and support
us in many ways. We had an artificial tree,
but no snow.
e sang Christmas carols in
summer clothes and sweat, and it sure seemed
strange! I made Christmas cookies, but dif
ferent ones

than in the

Pray that...
...God's choice of oxir language group
...the money for the housing compltx
...our health will remain good.
Praise God for...

...the Augsburgers quick arrival,

...His strengthening and care for David.
...the Power in us that is greater than
He that is in the world.

states as we can't

get all the ingredients here.

I did get to
make snickerdoodles for Dave, though. That*s
his favorite.

The Augsburgers had Christmas dinner

with us, and all the Australian Church of
Christ

missionaries

came

for refreshments

Christmas Sunday evening. That really help

ed make it a happier Christmas.
This year
for the first time ever, Madang had a few
toys.
They were nothing like U.S.A. toys,
except we did find Matchbox cars which John
collects. We got John some Matchbox cars

and Amy a doll that wets her nappy (that's

Australian for diaper). We were happy to be
able to do that, but we all realized in a
wonderful way that Christmas was really
Christ's birthday alone, and we have come to
soaeday be able to tell that Christmas story
in a new language.
We are beginning to get some packages
now. talk about excitement! Something from
home is really something!
We have received
several of the boxes of tupperware you have
told us were coming. By the time it all ar
rives I will have plenty of tupperware for
our house here and our bush house, too. So,
thank you everyone who provided for our
needs in this way. With the weather here it
is the only way to keep things nice. We will
even be putting some clothing in tupperware
to slow the mildewing process.
The middle of January, Dave, the kids,

and I are going

to Brmepagi

(the Australian

Chiirch of Christ Mission Base)

for an
anthropology workshop on Pspua New Guinea.
While there we will be hiking to several of
the villages that are of the GIRI language
group,
group.

which may possibly be our lan^,\iage

There are several little villages of

SHARRAN & AMI SOPPING AT THE MARKET

their language.
We are praying that if it
is God's will we will receive our leading
from the Lord to go to the GIRI group while
visiting with them. We know you are praying

for us in this

tt^^iggest

decision of our

the GIRI group in Madang, and we are already

lives, and it gives us peace to know we are

not alone in making it. \Je are so close, but
can't afford to decide prematurely now.
We

visiting

must wait on the Lord.

with

them

and

learning

some of

(cont. from front page)

After traveling up river for forty-five
minutes, we got out of the boat and began
hiking through the jungle, I began perspir
ing profusely, and within half an hour my
clothes were soaked, and the perspiration

was still pouring

legs.
Within an

down my face, arms, and

hour and a half, lass of

body fluid had me exhausted.

I was humili

ated and disgusted.

I knew I was in shape,
but when I sat down to rest, I knew I had to
stay there a while.
I took off my pack and
just sat there, using what little energy I
had left to brush away the mosquitoes.
I
kept thinking I only needed a little rest,
but rest wasn*t making any difference.
My
strength was gone, so I prayed for enough
strength to make it to the next village. As
it turned out, that was how it was to be for
the entire survey.
CXir pace slowed considerable, and it be
came i^^)erative to stop more frequently to
rest.
Though exhausted, I felt very close
to God.
I was totally dependent on Him for
strength.
We were behind schedule, but at
least I made it to each village. The follo%f^
ing df^ brought an even greater trial*
A man from one of the villages volunteer
ed to guide us to the next village which was
supposedly only
minutes away. He took us
on a trail that went up and down and all
around.
After an hour and US minutes of
hiking, I knew I was in trouble.
We came to a little shelter

PICTURES

Above; The family ready for hiking.

Below: Opening packages from "home".

someone had

built for shade aid cooking, so I sat down.

I was feeling faint, nauseous, and iny arms
were going numb and beginning to tingle.

layed down and elevated vy feet which helped

some. I had again lost a lot of body fluid,
and it seemed ugr whole body was crying for
scmething to drink. I told the fellows, and
they decided that my brother John should
stay with me, and oxir guide and the Austrar-

lian missionary would go on to the village

and send some

coconuts back

for me to

eat

and drink. While they were gone I 1^ there

thinking that if I was going to get out of
that jungle, it would have to be by helicop
ter!

But after

some coconut meat and milk

and some rest I was able to

to the next village.
They
back home instead of going
jungle.
At that point, I

go on - but not
decided to start

deeper into the

didn't feel like

arguing 1

I can*t begin

to tell you how exasper

ated U was shen our guide led us back to his

village by another path through a sago swamp

that had no hills except the one we walked
down to get to it I thank God, though, for

His strength and that I?m back.

3very time things start going wrong,

wonder what is so important that Satan would

want to hinder.
doesn*t want

In this case, we knowl

these tribes

of God in their language.

He

to have the Word

But God does.

BOARD APPROVES PURCHASE

If you are

interested

in more informa

tion, contact A1 Hamilton,

The Board of

Pioneer

Bible Translators

voted to piirchase the Air Niugini Complex in

Madang, providing that no indebtedness wouDd
be incurred by the organization. This means
that the money must be raised by faith:
faith praying and faith giving.

As far as

"ic^al facilities"

are

President of PBT

at this address or phone niunber:

1.-. i

P.O. Box 811

Bedford, Texas

0^

76021

, >

Phone: (817) 267-U131 or 267-79614 ^ ^

ctn-

cemed, we couldn't ask for anything better.

It
already built, ^ich will save one or
two years by not having to go through the
long, slow process of buying land and then
building the houses.

It has a small ware -

house and workshop which is ideal for build

ing and storing goods to be taken to the
Tillages.
It has Xour domestic quarters
which can be used for housing language help
ers when

translators

come in from the vil

lage for work.

There are^s^. houses in the
conplex; two 3-bedroom and four J^-bedroom.
All of this gives us a head start in begin
ning our translation ministry.
Translators
can have living quarters when they first ar
rive, while their village homes are being
built, when they need to come out for exten

sive work, or 'tiien they need a rest.

By purchasing something like this now we
will also be saving money.
Real estate is
already expensive in Madang, and the costs
continue to increase.
If we don't piurchase
this now, there is no place to live here in
the city until our village homes are built.
/
In faith we have already cleaned them,

mo'^b in7" and made some iirprovements on the

houses and property. In faith we look to God
to supply OUT need

and ask that you join us

in prayer for the money to be supplied.

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

David & Sharran (O'Brien) Pryor, Missionaries

c/o Kevin L. & Dorma J. O'Brien, Forwarding Agents

2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana

"Our House*' at the Madang complex

Excitement is growingI Many good things

are happening.
God continues to remove the

many hindrances that Satan puts in our way,

and we are victorious through His powerI
How thankful we are for those of you ^rtio
pray
fervently and
faithfully for us!
Through the events of

the last

month and a

half we know that your prayers are making a

difference here.
Partnership
with the
Almighty and loving brethren who support us
financially and prayerfully is both magnifi
cent and humbling in its scope and power.

U.S. Postage Paid

Non-Profit Org.
Permit # 7
Oakland City, In.

U7660

., V
y

"V-

aV

RETURN ArDPJ!:GS Rj'iClE^TED

I/'Icl>
BUX-MONT CHRISTIAN CHURCH NEVvS

Ivyland, Pa,

VOLUME IX^^j^mber 4

Charles E. Fordyce,

Mari^17, ~1978^

MISSION

Minister

corn;^k

Excerpts from a letter from the^^TORSjfa New Guinea,,,

r- :ar Christian Friends at Bux-Mont,

We had a big surprise in the mail this morning. V/e re

ceived your two huge packages of Tupperware. Thank you

all veiy much. The large containers were really what I

needed as we have to buy large quantities of food at a time
and only Tupperware will keep it fresh and free from bugs
until we use it.

We now have our language group - Giri. There are about

seven different villages in the bush and about seven villages
that have moved in near town. We have begun gathering all
the building supplies We will need for our bush house. Mean
while we have already been learning the language. We have
an excellent language helper. We try to learn a new phrase
every day. That might hot sound like much, but to be able
to do that for an unwritten language is much more difficult
than having a book to study the language from. Dave works
from 9 to 12 am. illiciting words and culture. I work on
the dictionary and card catalog in the afternoon after I
finish teaching John and Amy in school. Needless to say we
are thrilled and excited to know our language group and be

doing the work we trained and waited so long to do.

Our present prayer requests are: 1) that Pioneer Bible
Translators will be able to raise the money needed for the

complex we are living in in Madang. It has six houses for

continued next page, please

translators to live in when we come out of the bush, four

language helper houses and a big shed. It is all PBT will.

need In Papua New Guinea for many years, 2) Wisdom for
all four of us to learn and remember the language, 3) That
we would always have a good language helper, 4) That Da
vid would have the help of the village men to get our bush
house done quicker and 5) that our health will be good.
This is the mildew, wet season and fungus grows everj^here,
even in any little cut, WeWe had bad sores that require us
to take anti-biotics and I've also had parasites, so we need
prayers for our health constantly.
We thank you for your loVe, support, the Tupperware and

mostly your prayers. They make such a big difference.

Let us hear from you. Our address isi Box 178, Madang,
Papua, New Guinea,
Love^

Sharran, Dave, John and Amy

XQ.uth__ne_ws

The grou^shave adopted Jose Ortega who iS/froiii the home

at Ninos de ^w4co, Jose is attending Ccjlgio Biblico in

Texas and travtlihg^ack into Mexico tc/attend college

there in the afternoon>s^e collected^28,00 for him in

February to help with hisfc<inS^z^sts,

:Jet Cadet News: Jennifer MHls ea^^s^her Bible; Jennifer

Souza made rank of Airm^ Recruit; ^^ysoTull made Air
man Apprentice; Maykuibson reached 2nd Lieutenant;

Tammy Steamej>^rned her Navy Medal and Airba^n badge

and Matt Gil^cJ^ received his Ensign rank.

The Sryfii Youth will have charge of the Evening Worship

Serviee on April 2,

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

A Ministry in Bible Translation and Literacy Instruction
DAVID W. & SHARRAN O'BRIEN PRYOR, MISSIONARIES

tJ Vr VI .''

Kevin L. & Donna J. O'Brien

Route # 2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana 47660

Forwarding Agents

April. 1978

Volume IIIj Issue 2

FHAL AfiBiNQEHEHTS FOR VHUUS

REJOICE WITH US I

Since

God

first

translation ministry
prayed for

called

us

^ years ago,

His guidance and

into

the

we have

wondered v^ere

He would lead and to what language group He

would lead . us
Can you imagine our excitnent nov that we finally know?!

The language group is named "Giri". It

is special not only because it is \^h^re God
wants us, but it has a special significance
to the Australian

Church of Christ

with whom we are working.

Mission

The Giri language

group was the group who first invited the

Australian mission
to work among their
people about twenty years ago.
So it is of
special significance to many of the veteran
missionaries that the Giri people be among
the first groups they are working with to
receove the scriptures in their own lan^iuage.
Though there has been a lot of evangelitring and teaching done among the C-iri, it
has all been done in Pidgin.
As one of the
Australian missionaries said, "l\o one has
ever heard

until

he has

heard in his

I just returned from an exciting visit

Jn Which pei^ssion was given us to live at

Qarati^dth the Giri people*

inents

were

made for

the

Final arrange^
location

of our

house in the village* Though they still had

some questions about om* work and our coning
they understand our iuin purpose for wanting
to live aaong them^ leam their langaage^
and are very excited about having the Bible
in their own language*
There also seens to
be a great deal of interest in literacy and
having other materials such as health and
agricultural booklets translated for thoM.We

praise God for the receptiveness of the

people, and that we have progressed one step
closer to our goall

own

language." Many still cling to the old ways

of their people, but there is a tremendous
potential among the young people i^o are be
ing educated in the Australian
mission
school. There is also hope that many of the
older ones vdll turn to Christ if they can
hear the mensage in their ovtj Jrnguage.

(cort. rifixt colmm)

(cont* froM left colxai)

The area

150 niles

we'll be

working in Is

froai the city

of Madang up

about

the

northern coast of Pepua Hew Guinea, and then

about twenty miles inland.
Our village of
rarati can be reached by "road" with our
4-irtieel drive vehicle if the weather is good*

SHAERAN'S SHAKINGS

Mora Praises

Prayers For Learning Giri & Pidgin

We praise the Lord and thank you that we

already have all the money we need to build

We have been here

nine months

month brings more joy,

in the work

God has

and each

peace, and happiness;

called us

here to do

Because of Daranpul we have been given a bi

head start in the language, but there are n
short cuts to learning a language. It take^

many hours of listening, mimicking, tracking,

analyzing,

and most inportantly,

Again we need your prayers.

learning Pidgin, too.

our bush house.

talking

We can carry on a,

once we are in the village.

All the other

things we need are on order, and we have the

money to pay for them idien they arrive.
Thank you so much for being a part in how
God provides for our every need.
Devaluation of the Dollar Hits PHGl

\ie are still

conversation with anyone in Pidgin, but it

is still at a simple level, and we need a
major grasp of the language. That vjill give
us a bilingual opportunity to learn Giri

We have our refrigerator

and stove here and paid for.

When

we came to Papua New Guinea nine

months ago we realised 77i of every America

dollar. Now we realize
of every dollar!
Some have asked for a financial statement.
We thought those i^iould be interested to know
that out of $5000 American dollars we had

sent to pay for our bush house,

School Days

K36U6. GULP!I

Just a note about John and Amy. They are

both growing every day as all children have
a way of doing.
They both still enjoy cor
respondence school even though the work load
seems quite hard at times, but they really
miss going to school with other children.
Since we told our people we would be learn
ing their language children and adults are

here quite often to visit us, so at least

they have a few children to play with.
John had an article he had written pub
lished in the "Outpost", his sishool magazine
and was very pleased about that. He stays

even see it!

TBS Materials Available

If we know ahead of time we can send you

plenty of materials, slides, displays, and
souveniers.
But please let us know as soon
as you know vdien you need the material so we
can get them to you on time.
You've heard

of the saying,

ties.

It is rare

to see her

without

her

most delightful and entertaining kitten. The

second one is a "Dusty", too.

"It's coming on a slow boat

fran China"? If^'ll, that's not just a saying

here!

busy reading everything in sight, drying

dishes, taking care of the trash, and raking
and helping around the complex.
Amy is al
ways busy plsgringdalls and having tea pai>

we realized

That's quite a loss before we

PRATKR REQUESTS

...Guidance of His Holy Spirit in His wisdom

in all our relationships with our people.

...Guidance in stewardship

as we construct

our village hoii.

A NOTE OF EXPLANATION

Once in a

while we get

a letter

from

someone asking us if Jcdin and Bonita Pryor,

Dave'a brother

and his wife

idio

are

also

here to do translation work, will be working

with us on the Giri language. NO I They will
be working in a separate place on an entire-

rly different language. Our fanily will be

the only family working x^ith the Giri*s, and

Bonita the only ones

the ^amban people.

working with

...Guidance in stewardship of our time as we

work on language learning and try to ful

fill all other responsibilities, too.

...Guidance so that our

lives give evidence

of Christ and His love within.

...Remaining good health.

...God will help us meet John and Any's

needs, too.

IRE lOUR PRATERS REALLY EFFECTIVE?

'

11

As most of you ^11 recall, we always

left a prayer request when we presented our
work to your congregations. After explaining
that much of our success depends upon a good
language helper, we asked that you begin
praying that God would prepare a language

helper for us*

Let me share the results of
God*s answer to your prayers in the life of
our language helper, Daranpul,
About three years ago a young man from
the Garati village had come to the city of
Madang to find a Job.
He had been educated
in the

Australian Church of Christ

Mission

school through grade six; had a year of

training and a year*s experience in an agri
culture programj but was not content
in
the rural areas at that time.

He found work

in the city learning the electrician's trade

and his future looked good.
But he had a
problem that was threatening his future and
causing problems for him: alcohol.
His re
putation had gotten to his people, and they
were ashamed of him.

Then about two and one-half years ago he

married and changed jobs.
These two events
weren*t significant at that time, because he
still had a drinking problem. However, they
proved to be significant in bringing
our
lives together about two months ago.
A little over a year and a half ago, an
other key event took place.
A missionary
family with the Australian Church of Christ
Mission moved to the city of Madang to es
tablish a congregation among the different
peoples they had worked with along the Raimi
River who had moved to Madang to find work.
At first Daranpul would not attend the ser
vices or even visit the missionaries, though

he knew them well,

because he

had too much

Knowing by this

time that God wanted us

to work with the Girl language group, we

asked the Australian missionaries if they
knew of anyone in the Church at Madang who
spoke the principal dialect of the Girl
language who could help us. As it turned out
we.

were of mutual benefit to each other. We

are required to p^ our language helpers

minimum wage, and we had facilities for
language helpers here at the con^Jlex. He is
helping us learn Giri, and we provide him an
income and a ^^Ace for his famlily to live.
Now the really exciting thing is this.
As a result of his conversion to Christ, he
is planning to attend the Christian Leader
ship and Training College here in Papua New

Guinea next year.

years) he
translate

plans
the

After

graduation

(in 3

to continue helping us

New Testament

into his lan

guage!
With his knowledge of his own laitguage and an increased knowledge of
the
scriptures, this should greatly decrease the
time i t will take to ccn^lete the transla^

shai^.;
Then one. deft -he wen!b to :their hotee
and asked for a Pidgin New Testament.
He
began attending the services, and on Easter
Sunday, 1977 he and his wife were baptized
into Christ.
His changed life has been and
is a tremendous witness to his people and

Because he can
Daranpul has already

speak some
English,
been a tremendous help

those who know him.

in our learning

language,

About four months ago, Daranpul lost the

house in whiih he was living.
Subsequently

been able to give us some valuable insights

into his culture. We definitely have a head
start in our language learning program and

he had to take his wife and baby daughter

back to live with her parents on
Karkar
Island. The compai^ he was working for could

find no housing

for him,

and he

could not

keep up with the strain and financial burden

of having his family separated,

so he asked

for a three month leave of absence

could find a place in

family to live.

until he

Madang for he and his

tion.

very

encouraging

his

prospects

and

for a

he has

quicker

con^jletion and greater quality translation

of God's Word into another language.
Your prayers definitely are effective,
and we thank you sincerely for your faith
fulness in praying for us and our work. You
are vital to our ministryi
We couldn't be
here without you!

FORWARDING AGENTS' UPDATE

Sincf=' receiving the infori'iation "or this

newsletter, we have learned of news concern
ing the complex mentioned in our lost issue,
Because of a lack of funds from the ststes,
the coiT5)lex where the Pryors were living and
had hoped PBT' would buy has been
an
other .parly, They had been there since Dec
ember paying no rent, so as soon as the com

plex sold, PBT owed $6000 back rent by Hay 16,

Funds have been coming for this emergency, &
it looks like there will be sufficient by the
deadline.
Because there are no other houses avail

able for rent in Kadanjj,

family will move directly
from the complex.
Their
the land lor their house,
Australian

Church of Christ

helping David build

by May 16,
DAIHATSU: U-WHEEL DRIVE
To travel

the roads from

Sharran and Tavid's

to their
village
people have cleared
and four
of
the
missionaries are

it so they can move

Please be in prayer for

in

them as

they work that things will go well, and also

that all the rent money will be available.

Madang to our

village four hours away on rough, muddy

roads, we needed a four-wheel drive vehicle.
We traded our blue station wagon for a new
Daihatsu and hope it will serve us as long
as we are here in PNG, We are in the rainy

season now, so we got it just in time for

Dave's trips back and forth to our village
while he is building our buch house.

THANKS FOR TUPPERWARE

Many thanks again to all of you who have

sent tupperware.
Little by little, box by
box we will have more than what we need, but
none of it will go xinused as we keep every tiling in tupperware from shoes to clothes to
food!

c/o Kevin L. fit Donna J. O'Brien, forwarding Agejrits

U,vS Postage Paid

Non-Profit Org.
Permit # 7

R.R. #2, Box 19

Oakland City, In.

PIONliiER BJBUl TRAi^JSLATORS

David & Sharran Pryor, Missionaries

Oakland City, Indiana

I4.766O

0LIFFCKJ3 aCJAW
30iC 177

KHlPTONj XXiil

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

A Ministry in Bible Translation and Literacy Instruction
DAVID W. & SHARRAN O'BRIEN PRYOR, MISSIONARIES

Kevin L. & Donna J. O'Brien

Route # 2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana 47660

Forwarding Agents

Volume III, Issue 4

August, 1978

HOUSE BUILDING PROGRESS - SLOW!

MAP FROM MADANG TO GARATI

Here's the news on the progress we've

made on the house as of July 3. Housebuild
ing week is over.
One man was sick and
never make

it to Garati;

one couldn't come

Hounso.

until Tuesday; and two could only work twothirds of the day. It rained half the week,
so, sorry

to say all that

posts, braces, and floor.

was done was the

Progress is even
^

SeA-

slow!

We have only the

week of July 3 to

work

on the house this month as we are anticipat

ing the visit of the President and Vice
President of PBT for the remainder of the

month.

[60310.

We need to get the roof up this week

so the rains

won't ruin

the floor.

House

If

building will resume the first of August.

We have

really been

amazed at

all

the

extra expense we've had in building the

house. We thought we had plenty of money to
pay for it when we had $3200 sent for house
building.
By the time the dollar finished
devaluing we only received $2500.
That
didn't go far when buying $3200 of timber, a

$1600 water tank, and roofing tin, plumbing,

sinks and shower tub, and piping, etc. cost
ing over $2500! We also payed $500 to truck
our materials

to the

Ramu and

about $80 a

week to Garati men for all their help.

By
law we must pay them each 65 toya an hour
for anything

can do is take

they do for us.

GULP! All we

out a loan because

wants payed as soon as possible.

everyone

NFcrtK c.oas1 roa*l

lOwvoJ
*Ou,rKoc

We send you our love and thanks for

continuing to remember us with cards, let ters, support and prayers. To be here with
out your support and encouragement and love
would be impossible.
IN HIM,
Sharran for David

John and Amy Pryor

SHARRAN'S SHARING

PRAY FOR US...

a^^oAd a pZat^oAm upon

ivfUch God can 4^iom; H-anA^Z^. WMiout thm w

... patience and endurance.

... safety as David works on the house.

almighty oo/l God Xa.

A kouse. too tWttt to
clean; oven too Utttz to cook; broken sew

scratch
heal.

ing machine;
to do than cvcK.
lUhy?
God ha^ btm totting me, {^e.a&t on me.
ieX
zveJiythtng cli>c go.
Lean on me, Ica/in my

... progress on our house.

... rain to fill our 5000 gallon water tank
when the water system is hooked up so we'll

caZlcd

move as soon as possible so we can get to

our work and stop paying high rent.

could mvc/i know how tcndcA,

^cuth^uZ, and

my6 now Bej^o^e you can go on to what I've

you

to do.

LeaAn to tn.u&t

me tn

eveAything, even my time table!

Time to
p/iay; time to Aead my BtbZe; time to q^ow
How I've ^ea/Lched my^eC^ and {^oand it
necz^^iOAy to Kecommit my tl^e to the one who
ha& ted me heh.e.

We aZJi have

... continued

good

gets

health.

/nfected

a d

have water and can move in.

(any

sore or

taKes weeks to

We

need

to

... our growing relationship between PBT/USA

and PBT/PNG.
... funds to pay the loan for our house.

ouA own idea

0)i what would be be6t, but only when we ^itback and let God'6 timetable woAk, no matter

how -ilow it 4eem4, can He teach tM HXa peAiect way4).

I'm Xea/ining, and I can only
pKatiie God
loK Hij> love
and
patience with me Hi^ weoJiy ckitd.

constant
It ii> 60

much ea6ieA to lay youA head on Hi^ ^houldeA

and Ae^t and let Him woAk things out than to
woAAy about "why?".
youA pAayefU aAe helping God to mold me
into what He needi> me to be in oAdeA to
allow the GiAt'6 to -iee ChAZ&t in me.
Wo-

thing in theAJi tile ij> "ina huAAy".

All 0^
that hoi to be gone in me be^oAe I can tAuty
love and undeJUtand theMe people that God
love6 moAe than we eveA can.
Keep pAaying
oa oujl &pijvitual ieaAck {^oa God. NeveA can
we know enough about Him whom we all AeAve.
A6 long 06 ouA ^eoAch ^OA Him neveA ends we

can become moAe tike Him evoJiyday.

I've told you tki6 60 maybe you can do
a6 we've leoAned to do.
Rejoice and pAaii>e
God anyhow! In 6pite 0^ all that appeoAA to
06 (Aom a human 4>tand point, to be going any
way but how we planned, it i6 God'^ plan.

<

"5*

ifr

DAVE & BEGINNING STAGES OF HOUSE BUILDING

John and Amy have iini^hed one yeaA o

coAAe^pondence school.

OuA tM) week&* -iem-

e6^e^ bAeak came ju&t at the night time ^oa

05 to pack and move ^Aom the complex.
John
Aeceived ^ive awaAd6 duAtng the yeaA, and
Amy and John both did extAmely well.
I'm
glad we made it thAough a yeoA: it givei me
hope ^oA getting thAough anotheA one! It i6
di^^icult to teach you own childAen,
ayid
hoAd loA them not

go to

school with.

to have otkeA childAen to

Tape6

and

NEW SLIDE PROGRAM

For thoses of you who might be interested

we now have an updated slide program showing

progress being made as well as the people
and village of Garati.
If you desire to use
any of these slides for presentation to your
congregation, send your requests to:

letteA6 to

John and Amy peAionally Aeally help them to

at least have pen pat& tkzJji own age.
John wants you all to know he has
puppy again, and Amy still hm, heA cat.

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

c/o Kevin L. O'Brien

R.R. 2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana

A7660

(cont. from right colvrain)

HOUSE MOVING?

Have you ever moved a house? That's what

David did for three week.
The process was
preceded by painstaking hours of hunting in
hot, dirty hardware stores for one small
piece for a faucet or standing in line to be
waited on and finding everything you want is

still coming on a "slow boat from China" or

IS en the boat at the dock and not yet un
loaded.
After finishing the last bit of
shopping for house materials

to discover we

didn't leave enough room for roof overhang

sb,iV48 pieces of 8 foot roofing iron had to
be exchanged for 48 pieces of 9 foot roofing
iron and the price adjusted accordingly;
thinking we were done only to discover we
needed one more ridge cap and two more feet
of copper tubing.
The day finally came when we had
putchased all the house materials Madang had
available at that time. That was April. We
were excited thinking we would move right
out of the complex into the village
and
start building, but... the two trucks that
were available to carry our materials were
broken down and the roads to the village
were sO bad from the rains that they were
impassable

except for

vehicles.

small 4-wheel

drive

All we could do was wait; wait on

the roads;

wait on the trucks;

wait on the

Lord.

Meanwhile,

David and our John went half

way to the Ramu River almost to Bogia along

the Bismarck Sea and bagged 30 bags of sand
to

take

cement.

to

Garati

to be mixed

with

the

John got a sunburn that day and got

a fungus in it, and it had to be treated

with a antibiotic powder.
Finally we learned of a truck that would

Then the day came when the first load of

quila wood arrived.
Altogether there were
11 tons to be transported from truck to
canoe and finally to Garati. One 4 by 4, 12
feet long weighed 80 pounds!
The days were
hot and muggy, and the rains were still com
ing. The height of the river had dropped 18
feet from the bank where they would load the

timber pn the

canoes.

We had hoped to

be

able to get bush timber but learned that the

only timber available at Garati would be
eaten by white ants, and we would have
to
rebuild our house every five years.
So we
spent K2000 above what we had planned for
some quila.
It will last longer than it
would take us

to do our

work here.

So...

four men stood on the bank and handed lumber

down the
water who

18 foot

drop to

handed the

four men

in the

timber to two

men in

the canoe stacking it in place.

canoe was loaded to the brim.

ing down the river

about 4 inches

The 65 foot
While float^

the top of the canoe was

above the water.

The canoe

rocked back and forth, and at times the

water came within an inch of the top of the
canoe!
Quila will not float!
Eight trips
were made that day, all full to the brim
with quila. A sneeze could have over-turned

the canoe.
The next day the second load of
quila arrived, and the whole hard process
started again.
Dave had some close calls
and some scratches, but nothing fell over
board.

The timber was

stacked at the baiik

of the river at Bunepas to be picked up and

pulled by 4-wheel drive up the river bank ,
around the mission, through grass, through a
dried up creek, up the hill, and unloaded at
the house site.

take a load of our things to the Ramu, so at

4:30 a.m.

David left in our car

so at 9:00

he could be at Bunepac, the village at the

edge of the Ramu, to unload it.
Moving the
house had begun.
The stove, 96 pieces of roofing iron ,
boxes of nails, ridge capping a shower tub

base, and much more all had to be carefully

carried from the truck down a muddy 18 foot
bank drop to a narrow canoe to be carried up
the Ramu to Bunepas, the Australian Church
of Christ Mission station, which is within

walking distance

of Garati.

trips were made up and down

of which took
in the mud,

Many shuttle
the Ramu.

hours of hard work,

balancing square

All

slipping

and round ob

jects in a narrow canoe, while working in

the rain. That was the easy load.
(cont. next column)

After finishing with the timber there

were barrels, 30 burlap sacks of sand, 15
bags of cement, our beds (ours broke), and a
refridgerator (which we almost lost).
When
the refridgerator was being lowered down the
bank to the canoe it was raining and doubly
slick, slimy, and gooey.
They finally got
it in the canoe, but sideways. As they were
pushing off shore Dave looked and the canoe
was leaning to one side ready to tip our

$800 kerosene

refridgerator

into the Ramu!

He dove on top of it, leaning with all his

weight to the other side and leveled it off.
Then they carefully got back to shore and
turned it lengthwise in the canoe.They made
it, but only because so many of you
have
been praying.
All the materials are now
safely there.

MAP OF GARATI

FORWARDING AGENTS' UPDATE

As you

can see things

expected or shared

have not gone as

in the last

newsletter,

because the supplies could not be transport

ed and the house done as hoped,

the Pryor*s

are renting a small two-bedroom apartment in

Madang until their village house is complet
ed.
They hope to be able to move to their
village of Garati in September.
During the
month of August Sharran and the children
will be staying at Bunepas so they can be
with David and even help with the house
>after. a certain point in its construction.
Please pray that building will go smoothly

H.u)Kecl drift, ^ ^

open rmo-Zycir

and quickly.

With packing, cleaning, shopping, and

moving, language work with Daranpul had to
cease.
After moving from the complex there
was no place for Daranpul and his family to
live, so he went back to the village and had
to find another job.
Please pray that he,
or someone as good, will be able to help the
Pryor's learn Giri once they get to the
village.
A special thank you from us for all your
prayers and support . If you have any ques
tions, or any way we can help you,
please

Chunk of CKrit+

Ste,+iK

feel free to contact us.

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS

U.S. Postage Paid

Non-profit Org.

David W. & Sharran 0. Pryor, Missionaries

Kevin L. & Donna J. O'Brien, Forwarding Agent

Permit // 7

R.R. 2, Box 19

Oakland City, Indiana

Oakland City, In.

47660

Ot-IFFO;iP
p .'V*

'j V

^0-