Fruit of Long Labors
Faimpat (l.), Jason Stuart (middle back) and Jonathan (r.) check translated Scripture.
“Our life link.”
That’s how church planter Jonathan Kopf describes aviation service. He and his wife, Susan, have worked for 23 years among the Hewa people of Papua New Guinea, and they have depended on aviation service the whole time.
“Whenever we hear that airplane … coming, we get so excited, knowing that, thank the Lord, our supplies are coming. … We’re able to keep going, keep staying out here in the jungle, keep our nose to the grindstone, keep working because of the team.”
That teamwork of church planting and aviation brings fruit in marvelous ways.
Translation Fruit: “The entire Hewa New Testament is now complete and consultant approved!” rejoices Jonathan. Many others, including co-workers Keith and Angie Copley and consultant Jason Stuart “have patiently helped us make sure every single verse of the New Testament is both accurate and understandable to the Hewa speakers.”
“We also owe huge thanks to you who have walked side by side with us each step of this 23-year journey,” continues Jonathan. Though you personally may not have supported aviation for the last 23 years, you are part of the team now, making sure that Ethnos360 Aviation supports teams like Jonathan’s. Thank you!
Flight service is still needed, though, because Jonathan’s job is not finished! “We are now able to move into the final phase of the New Testament translation process where we will comb through each verse again with Hewa speakers, looking for typos and terminology that needs improvement, before submitting the manuscript to translation veterans who can take it toward final type-setting and printing.”
Whew! Sounds like a long process! And it is. So thanks for your faithfulness in making sure the team has consistent, affordable aviation.
Outreach Fruit: First some history. “After learning the language,” says Jonathan, “we presented a six-month overview of the Bible in 2005. Our efforts were sadly interrupted by murders and ongoing warfare that forced us to leave and move to an entirely different area of the Hewa mountains.”
“In … recent years,” says Jonathan, “that same group of Hewa people have been sending men to our current ministry location asking for someone to come live with them to teach them the Bible.” But who would go to a group that had been murderous and warlike?
“After much prayer, last December one of our young pastors named Faimpat took his wife, Ailam, and daughter and moved there with a passion to bring his relatives to God. Since then, he and two other young men have been teaching the story of the Bible, finishing [in early May] with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.”
In a call with Faimpat on the HF radio, Jonathan heard the good news: “[M]any people are now professing faith in Jesus for forgiveness of sins! He said 40 people have successfully finished the literacy program and can now read the Bible we have been translating, and there have been between 70 and 100 people coming consistently [three days a week] to the Bible teaching.”
As Faimpat has been talking with the people, “he is very pleased to hear that they are trusting Jesus’ payment for sin on the cross to give them a new relationship with their Creator!” The people want to hear more, so Faimpat is continuing on with more in-depth teaching and discipling of the baby believers.
Eager new Hewa readers can follow along in newly printed portions of the translated Scriptures.
The faithfulness of God's people over the years translates into the ability of church planters like Jonathan to keep on the task of translation. Donating to Missionary Flight Sponsorship also gives him time and freedom to disciple someone like Faimpat, who is now a missionary to his own people, making even more disciples! These kinds of “fruit” do not happen in short term commitments, good as they may be. It takes the long-term faithfulness from the missionary and long-term faithfulness from the prayer and support partners. That’s you! Thank you!