Phillip and Natalie Hansen’s translation workshop is coming up very soon. For years they have prepared to get to this point. This summer they pushed extremely hard to study the language. God in His mercy helped them pass their tests in August. They still have much to learn about culture and language which will help them teach the Gospel to the Kovol people of Papua New Guinea with greater clarity. Philip is now pushing hard to finish his discourse analysis papers before the translation workshop.
Kovol is not a large language group but people normally visit every day. Recently Philip and Natalie have seen people for medical reasons almost every day, even though they have a designated medical day. People also like to buy soap or worm medicine or share food from their gardens etc. They enjoy hanging out with the missionary families in the village, such a gift. With many Kovol people visiting and no other coworkers in the village, to take turns with them, it is hard to complete the tasks that need to be completed before the workshop.
They are waiting to hear. They know the time is coming very close for the first ones to learn to read and to write.
Phillip and Natalie have asked two Kovol men to join them for the translation workshop. They will be trained in the translation work.
The excitement is rising amongst the Kovol people. They know the team have reached the required language stage to move on to teaching them. They have invested hard sweat and time in teaching the missionaries and it is payback time; they will switch roles. The Kovol people will now be the students. And they can’t wait for that to happen.