Paul and Bella Gervasi’s daughter and her family recently visited them. Their daughter grew up among the Gerai people of Asia-Pacific, and this will likely be her last visit before Paul and Bella leave. She does not speak Sekadau, the language of the people group where Paul and Bella now serve but could follow what they were saying very well, and mostly they were able to follow what she was saying. They all took a trip to Gerai to see where she grew up. Paul was able to speak to the church in Gerai on their second night there. It was difficult for him to switch to Gerai, but they understood what he was saying. As this would be his last time in Gerai, he talked to them about having a relationship with God, and what that looks like. Their daughter also gave a long testimony that night and sang a special number in the Gerai language.
Paul and Bella have been working on getting the Sekadau Bible translation ready to print. Paul has finished all the book introductions and has been working on maps. Bella has been reading through portions with people. They distributed copies of the different books of the Bible to people to read and make comments. Bella says, “It has been really encouraging to see that many of them are making the same corrections. That makes it clear that we do need to change those things.” They need to finish things by the beginning of July at which point they will send the translation to be set up to print.
There is a church wedding coming up soon. The normal wedding has many animistic ceremonies and other activities that are not honouring to God. Pressure to follow these ways can be intense. In the end, they may have to pay fines for not going along with the “traditional” way of things.
Thank you very much for your prayers for Paul and Bella. Currently, it is dry and very hot and this is much harder on them than it was when they were younger. They are mostly in good health though, and are thankful for that.
Please pray:
- That they will get the translation ready by July.
- That the translation will clearly communicate.
- That they will have God’s measure of health to be able to do the work.
- That the church will continue to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord.
- That the wedding will be honouring to God.