This is Ayan and Sarah, arriving a couple nights ago in Lapoc to join our Lapoc missionary team. Ayan has actually been part of the Lapoc work since he was 12 years as he is the son of Bugs and Elsa, our co-workers there from the start of the work until recently when they returned home to Cauyunan.
This was their
wedding day which Paul was thrilled to officiate at during our last trip there
in June. We didn’t know on
their wedding day that come September, we’d get a skype call from Ayan and
Sarah wanting to talk to us about their joining the Lapoc missionary team as
this is the direction the Lord has been leading them. Their elders in Cauyunan
had already given Ayan and Sarah the go-ahead to talk to Rodil who is now the
team leader in Lapoc, and also to us, to see if we would want them to join our
team.
Rodil told us he
would welcome Ryan’s help and as for us, we were THRILLED!!! We saw this as God
ramping up the translation team so that we can GET THE JOB DONE and finally
complete the Tala-Andig New Testament. As a young teenager, Ayan wanted to be a
Bible Translator, and after finishing high school in Lapoc, he went on to
complete a University Degree and also Bible Translator’s training in Manila. So
Ayan will be a big help to us as we go into over-drive to complete the
remaining 45% of the Tala-Andig New Testament that is still before us.
Please pray for
Ayan and for Sarah as they settle in to missionary life as newlyweds and as
they make the many adjustments that are ahead of them. Especially for Sarah as
she is still very young and she will need courage and strength in the Lord to
endure the hardships that life in Lapoc will hold for them.
Last night she was
exhausted after the emotional roller-coaster of leaving their home and families
and making the long trip. The ladies gave Sarah a wonderful, warm welcome when
she arrived but it wasn’t long after this photo and she had to go to bed as the
day had already held enough for her.
We ask you to pray
for our whole translation team as we prepare for this new stage of translation.
We are excited! We are ready! We need your prayers!!!!
Please pray for
each member of the translation team – ourselves, Nanah, and now also Ayan are
the primary translators. Ann-Ann, Jie-Jie, Lalyn, Hazel and Yeng-Yeng and
sometimes others also help with various aspects of the translation.
Please pray also
for my Dad, Bob Bagley, as he begins radiation treatments tomorrow for his
cancer. Please pray that it will not damage any of his organs and that the Lord
will use the radiation to extend Dad’s life on earth for many years if this is
part of His plan. We would love to have Dad with us still on this journey.
