Farewell, Judy and Patteson

Last Friday, we said goodbye to some dear friends who have worked at SITAG (Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group) and BTLPSI (Bible Translation & Literacy Partnership Solomon Islands) just as long as we have.  Their kids have grown up alongside ours, participated in races with ours, made airport runs with us, and helped us get on and off our ships.

So in the traditional Solomon Islands way, all day Friday was spent cooking in preparation for a farewell feast.  

Aaron has a reputation as an expert coconut scraper and squeezer, so he was quickly put to work preparing the thick coconut cream that would go inside the pumpkins and on top of the trays of slippery cabbage and chicken.

The girls and I helped in any way our friends asked.

Sometimes, I was too helpful and tried to put dishes away before they were cleaned!

Working together was a sweet reintroduction to Solomon life and helped my girls find their new places at two years older than the last time we lived here.

Cooking together was fun and exhausting.  But even with all that AMAZING food,

saying goodbye to this servant hearted couple who keeps SITAG and BTLPSI running smoothly reduced us all to tears. 

Thank you Patteson and Judie for your friendship and for your service to Bible translation.  You and your family will be missed desperately.

Our hearts are still raw.  Wednesday afternoon, the word quickly flew around SITAG that our friend and colleague, David, was rapidly declining at the hospital.  In the wee hours of the morning Thursday, David went to be with the Lord that he loved so much.  In the midst of the grief and in wanting to fully support our SITAG and BTLP SI families, we have decided to delay our return to the village by a week.

 

 

David Tago

1967-2016

 

In 2013 David and his wife Ribeka completed their studies at the Christian Leaders Training College in Papua New Guinea.  David obtained his BA in Biblical Studies, while Ribeka received a BA in Mission Studies.  When they returned to the Solomon Islands, David and Ribeka began to oversee the translation work of the Old Testament in their own language as part of the Isles of the Sea translation group.

 

In 2014 David was selected to lead Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership, Solomon Islands (BTLP SI).  He worked hard to promote the importance of Bible translation in the languages of the Solomon Islands as well as to present the realities of the Solomon Island translators to partner organisations. (from the memorial service program)

SITBLP Workshop

Lots is always going on at SITAG ! In an SIBTLP (Solomon Island Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership) workshop, almost twenty independent translators are meeting with a translation consultant this week to finalize the dialogue of the story of Abraham.

The words will be paired with graphic art and printed in an effort to get parts of the scripture into people's hands before the entire Bible is translated.

We even ran into our old friend, Reverend Bea (on the right), whom we met for the first time on our trip to Munda! This is the third week in a row that SIBTLP has held a workshop here at SITAG. We are so thankful for the men and women who are willing to leave their families and come to receive training.

SIBTLP Workshop

For the last two weeks, men from all over the Solomon Islands have met here in Honiara to learn more about the Psalms and how to translate them into their own languages. Thursday morning, Sarah, Benjamin, and Olivia sang some Psalms they had memorized. I was really proud of them as they faced a group of unknown men! Sarah also baked goodies each afternoon to share with the men during their afternoon teatime. Thanks for praying for this workshop as SITAG continues to equip and encourage translators.