Open Doors

The work among the Loron and Lobi people groups is entering a new phase. This month, evangelism outreach will be taking place in two new Lobi villages where some folks have expressed an interest in hearing the Gospel. 

Pray for the Loron Bible teachers as they engage with village leaders, and as they endeavour to communicate the love of Christ to those who have never heard. 

The Loron and Lobi peoples have a very similar culture, but their languages are completely different. A number of Loron believers have Lobi and Loron parents, so there are openings to bring the Gospel to new families and locations. 

The Lobi are a large ethnic group of around 180,000 people scattered over three countries: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Ghana. We praise the Lord for the expanding work among the Lobi people. 

Donald, the lead Loron Bible translator, together with the other members of the translation team, continue to make good progress on the Loron New Testament project. 

There are numerous steps in Bible translation, and it’s encouraging to have a large and enthusiastic team involved. 

Pray especially for Donald, Samuel, Joel, Gerard and Victor as they methodically work with others through the various steps. 

The book of 2 Corinthians has gone through all the necessary checks and is now ready to print. The team is currently preparing for the final verification on the books of Philippians, Colossians, and 1&2 Thessalonians. The check with a Bible translation consultant is scheduled to take place in June in Burkina Faso. 

Our daughter, Laura, and her kids helped us last week to put together some copies of Galatians and Ephesians in the Loron language. We hope to bring these, along with other Scripture and literacy materials, out to Ivory Coast later on in the year. 

Both Marina and I have received the first part of our Covid vaccination. We are due the second part in May. We keep busy with developing Bible teaching and literacy materials, as well as being involved in various aspects of the Bible translation checking processes via an internet-based translation software programme. 

We are in regular contact by phone, email, and WhatsApp with the believers in Ivory Coast. Despite the distance, we still feel very much part of what the Lord continues to do among the Loron people.

Thirty Five Years in West Africa

 

Thirty five years ago, just before noon US Eastern Time on January 28, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

At that same moment, Marina and I, and our children, Peter (6), Laura (3) and Kyle (6 months) were on an Egypt Air Airbus A300, flying over the Mediterranean Sea on the first leg of our very first journey to Ivory Coast, West Africa.

We spent that first night in Africa sleeping on a rickety old bed at Cairo airport, Egypt. The following day we continued our trip south, along the River Nile and across the Sahara desert, to Ivory Coast.

Looking back over the past 35 years, we praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us as we have lived in three different countries in West Africa and ministered in several others across the continent. We thank Him for His care, and for all that we have witnessed as He builds His church among many African people groups.

We are disappointed that we cannot be in Ivory Coast at this time, but we are thankful for several means of communication that enable us to continue to be actively involved in various aspects of the work among the Loron people.

The Loron Bible translation team recently had a successful check on the book of 2 Corinthians. They are now preparing for another check in June when they hope to get four of Paul’s shorter epistles verified and ready for printing.

Crazy Year

2020 may have been a crazy year, but the work among the Loron people continues to move ahead!

We had a wonderful time among the Loron in our Ivory Coast village from January to March of this year. We are so thankful for the things we were able to accomplish during that visit which, unknown to us at the time, helped prepare for the rest of the year, when we could not be there in person.

Despite the problems with Covid, a violently disputed presidential election, and the growing threat of Islamic terrorism in Ivory Coast, we thank the Lord that the work among the Loron people is growing and maturing.

Here’s a brief summary of some of the main events…

Bible Translation The books of Galatians and Ephesians in the Loron language were completed in March, and copies were printed and distributed among the believers. Lord willing, the Bible translation team will travel to Burkina Faso in January, 2021 to do the final check on 2 Corinthians with a Bible translation consultant.

Evangelism Loron evangelists and Bible teachers continue to be engaged in Gospel outreach to unreached areas. Pray especially for the village of Keero where the people are from the Lobi ethnic group, so the message has to be translated into their language.

Literacy During our time in the village earlier on in the year, Marina had another training week with a large group of literacy teachers. They returned to their villages with new or updated teaching courses, and several newly-made blackboards.

Please pray for literacy classes as they continue in 18 locations throughout the region. Marina is developing new books and teaching materials for the literacy course while we are here in NI.

Loron Church Leadership In September, two of our African missionary colleagues travelled many miles to our village to give a group of Loron church leaders some Bible and missionary training. We are so thankful for their involvement and interest in the growth and welfare of the Loron church. We keep in regular contact with the Loron believers by phone, emails, and, with some, by Facebook!

Bible commentaries in the Loron language During our time in Northern Ireland, I have been working on writing commentaries in the Loron language for the books of Galatians and Ephesians. The one for Ephesians has already been printed, and we’re hoping to complete the one on Galatians sometime early in the New Year.

Security We are currently unable to return to our village in Ivory Coast because of the growing threat of violent attacks and kidnapping of foreign citizens by Islamic terrorists. The British and French embassies have placed our village in their Red Zones, and the Ivorian authorities have put the region under military control.

God’s faithfulness Despite the obstacles of a rampant pandemic, political instability, and the threat from extreme jihadists, the Lord’s work continues to go forward in Ivory Coast. Christ is building His church, and nothing is ever going to stop it.

Loron Legacy Photos

Video: Loron Folks 1985-2010

Gaeltacht Ireland

Marina and I spent five wonderful days exploring three counties of western Ireland which have Irish-speaking communities: Mayo, Galway and Sligo. 

We didn't actually hear much Irish spoken, but the scenery was stunning.

Hope you like the photos.

New Commentary for Ephesians

We have just received 100 copies of a new 250-page commentary on the book of Ephesians in the Loron language.

It has taken years of work to get to this point, and we are thrilled that the Loron Bible teachers now have another resource to help them as they teach biblical truth to the Loron people. We are trusting that the Lord will use this effort to help the Loron believers grow and mature in their walk with Him.

The book is entitled 'The unsearchable riches of Christ', taken from Ephesians 3.8, where Paul says: unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

We are hoping to be able to make a trip to Ivory Coast in a couple of months to deliver these books, along with lots of other Bible and literacy materials that we have been developing.

Thank you for your prayers for this project. We are now working on a commentary for the book of Galatians. 

A Dander up Doan

The weather forecast said it would be a nice day on Thursday. We risked it, and they were right!

Video: Dander up Doan

Forty two years ago...

Marina and I were married on June 20, 1978.

The Lord has been so good to us, and we thank Him for His grace in our lives as we have served Him. We are so thankful for our four children and seven grandchildren.

'It's the Lord's doing, and it's marvellous in our eyes.'

How many commentaries on the book of Ephesians?

I just did a search on a local online Christian bookstore* for 'commentaries on Ephesians'.

I got three hundred and thirty seven results. That's right, 337!

Over three hundred and thirty books in English explaining what the book of Ephesians, or portions of it, is all about. To be honest, I'm amazed. I had no idea that there were so many books available to chose from.

Last week we put the finishing touches to the very first verse-by-verse commentary, in the Loron language, of the book of Ephesians.

It's been a thrill to see this project come to completion after so many years of study and preparation. We are now waiting for the copies to come back from the printers. Can't wait to get them into the hands of the Loron believers in Ivory Coast.

The work has already started on the first commentary in Loron of the book of Galatians.

Yes, I just checked the online store for available commentaries for Galatians. In English there are only 75 commentaries available locally! Still pretty good, wouldn't you say?

Please pray for missionaries all over the world who are translating God's word, teaching literacy, bringing the Gospel to the lost, and developing Bible teaching materials for hundreds of ethnic groups, for the very first time.

Facebook links, NTM blog (2014-2020) ...

Facebook pages: Paul, Marina

For NTM blog posts, 2014-2020, click here.