Beasleys' Backlog

of news from

Papua New Guinea

Forwardir>g Agents:
Larry & Dottle Taniisiey

Field Address:

Wes & Alts Beasiey

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators
P.O. Box 997

Madang, Papua New Guinea

112 Stone Cove

Clinton, MS 39056
Phone (601) 924-0299

Jan. Feb. March, 1984

Vol. VII, No. 1

PLANS TO EXTEND FURLOUGH

After

much

consultation

prayer,

with

P.B.T.

consideration,
officers

we

and
have

decided to extend our furlough for six months.

We had originally planned to return to Papua
New Guinea in June of this year. I had already
decided before coming home that I wanted to
get further training at Fuller Theological
Seminary in California after finishing my
Master's degree in Linguistics this year. After
being on the field and determining that our
Kurti language program would involve training
and working with national translators, I knew I
would need more training in preparation for
this. I plan to do that during my next furlough
but have decided to start that training while I am
home now for several reasons. One reason is

that my Veterans educational benefits will

terminate at the end of 1984. I can take my first
term this fall having it financed by the V.A.

Another reason for beginning the training is

that

Fuller

offers

extension

courses

at

Christian Leadership Training Institute in

Papua New Guinea which I had planned to take
advantage of during my next term on the field. If
I have already had my first semester at the
seminary in California then I will be able to
receive credit toward my degree for the courses
I take in PNG. Of course, these plans are

about which I feel a little rusty.

Our plans for this coming summer and fall are

shaping up fast. We will be leaving the Dallas
area the first of June and will travel to Cincinnati

where we will be the missionary speakers for a

Daily Vacation Bible School. We will go on to

Michigan where we will do the same thing in a

youth camp and visit some supporting
churches there along with Alta's family. Then,
we will visit Christian friends and supporters in

New Jersey, South Carolina, and Georgia and

attend

the

North

American

Christian

Convention. In August we will visit our home

church. Southwest Christian Church in
Jackson, Mississippi, and other friends and
supporters in Mississippi. At the end of August
we will begin our trip to California visiting
supporters in Colorado.
Alta will begin
teaching the boys again this fall with our
correspondence courses in preparation for our
going back to PNG. Also, while we are in
California this fall we will finish buying and

crating supplies for our return to PNG. We plan

to return in January of 1985. We are already
getting anxious.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you

during our visits this summer and ask for your
prayers for our safe journeys and that we will be
the Lord's ambassadors wherever we go. Thank

contingent on my passing my comprehensive

exams for my M.A. in Linguistics here in Dallas
in April. If I don't pass, then I will stay here in

you for your continued prayers and financial

support of our Kurti translation project. Please

Dallas and take the exam again this fall. Please

be in prayer for me during this time. I will be
tested on material I learned five years ago and

work or our plans.

write us if you have any questions about our

In Christian love, Wes

AN UP TO DATE ON OUR ACTIVITIES

We had a VERY cold and beautiful vi/hite

will have to leave them soon but also mention

Christmas at my parents' home in Michigan.

Jonathan and Adam v^ent sliding almost every
day but "Mom and Dad" stayed inside and kept

how much they miss their friends back in Souh.

We celebrated Adam's birthday last week - our
baby is ten years old now. It seems impossible
that we will have to buy three adult tickets when
we return to Papua New Guinea in January
because Jonathan will be 12 in August.
I am in the process of making lists of items we
need to purchase to take back to Papua New
Guinea with us and have begun buying some
things. I have to buy our clothes for the three
years we will be there now since all the summer

the fire w/arm most of the time. The 20 below

zero temperature was a long drop from the

temperature in the tropics. We did brave the
elements a few times, though, to go sliding with
the boys and loved it. I even got to show them
some old tricks and games for playing in snow
and ice. It brought back so many memories of
good times when I was growing up. I always
love to go back to northern Michigan and am
thankful for my parents and friends there and
our heritage. It was good to have all my sisters
and brother and their families together again for
the first time in about 5 years. We enjoyed
renewing acquaintances again with our
Christian friends in the churches there too.
We are all in school this semester. Wes has a

class in Sociolinguistic Aspects of Language

Programs which is proving very helpful to him
in planning our Kurti language strategy. He is
also studying for his comprehensive exams for
his Master's degree which he will take in April.
We're all cheering for him. Iam taking a class in
Cultural Anthropology which will be very
helpful to me in writing up our anthropological
data on the Kurti people when we return.
Jonathan and Adam are continuing to do well at
Brookhaven and have made many new friends.
They are already lamenting the fact that they

clothes are on sale in the stores.

If I wait until

later all the winter things will be out and we can't

use those in PNG. It's hard to know what sizes
Jonathan and Adam wiil be in the next three
years.

Wes and I are attending the Institute on Basic

Youth Conflicts this week and really enjoying it.
We are thankful that it is being offered while we
are here. We have to drive to Ft. Worth for the

sessions but it is worth it. We have enjoyed our

furlough thus far and are thankful that we have
been able to do many of the things that we
looked forward to while on furlough. We are
missing PNG and especially all our friends in
Souh village and are getting anxious to return.
Thank you for your love, prayers, hospitality
when we come to visit you, and for your
financial support of our work. God bless each
one of you.
Love, Alta

M . [A

Adam opening presents at his party

Jonathan enjoys his fifth grade friends. (Jonathan is in upper

left-hand corner)

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS

WATCHFUL CARE!
While we were driving in southern Michigan
on our trip back to Dallas the first of January we
had a little mishap with our van. We were
stopped along side of the road to take care of a
minor emergency when a large wheel from a
passing tractor-trailer rig came off, rolled down
the road and rammed us in the rear of the van. It

did extensive damage but we were able to drive

the van. In fact, we had to catch the driver of the
truck to inform him of his lost wheel. We were

able to have the body work done at the trucker's

expense and it looks as good as new. Our
greatest item of praise, however, in this whole
thing, is that none of us were outside the van
when this happened. We praise God for His

we had to get away from them so we started

working real hard to get the raft loose. One of
us jumped off and tried pushing while the other
pushed hard with the pole. We didn't make it the guys came along and captured us, tied our
raft behind the canoe, and pulled us back to the
village. Mom found out later that it was our
village Grandpa's idea to take us on this trip.
Adam had some sores on his legs and "Papu"
was worried about them.

He believes that the

water in that river is really good for sores and he

knew we couldn't resist getting in to it. It was
fun anyway. Adam's sores went away but we
think it was from Dad's hard scrubbing. He's
murder on sores!

wonderful care for us.

ANXIOUS TO BE BACK
All four of us are mentioning more and more

Outrigger canoe used for ocean travel along the coast.

often how anxious we are to be back on Manus

Island in the village of Souh and back at our

work and life with the Kurti people. We've been
reminiscing about various things. Here is a
story that the boys wrote about one of their
experiences while we were building our house
and a poem that Jonathan and I composed
during one of his fourth grade language classes

If you live in the village of Souh

in Souh.

When the Northwest Wind does blow,

JUNIOR LUMBERJACKS
The men in our village were working real hard
to get enough poles to build our house. One
day they invited us to go with them to bring a
bunch of logs in from the jungle. We got into a
big dug-out canoe and went up the coast a
ways, about % mile. We came to the mouth of a
river and went up it until we came to the logs
which they had cut the day before. About 20
logs had been tied together with a piece of
strong, rope-like vine. It made a kind of raft
about 5 feet wide and several feet long. They
told us we could get on the logs and begin
taking them down the river while they waited for
another man. We had a pole and a paddle to
guide the raft with. We were going along pretty
good until we came to a place where some trees
had fallen into the river. We were looking to the
side and our raft got caught on the trees. We
were pretending the men were the bad guys and

IN THE VILLAGE OF SOUH

by Jonathan and Alta

You'll find you should never be

Standing under a coconut tree.

ITEMS NEEDED IN PNG

Many of you have asked what types of things
we need to take back to Papua New Guinea and

what types of things the Kurti people would like.

Our forwarding agents have a list of some of
these items which you may obtain by writing to
them. Thank you for your interest and your
willingness to help supply these things.

I'ys.o

Beasleys' Backlog
of news from

Papua New Guinea

Field Address:

Wes & Alta Beasley

Vol. VI, No. 2

Forwarding Agents:
Larry & Doitie Tanksley

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators

P.O. Box 997

Clinton. MS 39056

Madsng, Papua New Guinea

Phone (601) 924-0299

112 Stone Cove

June/July/August

FAREWELL TO SOUH VILLAGE - MANUS ISLAND

We had no idea how hard it would be to leave

village meeting to talk to all the villagers.

our friends and adopted family of Souh village

after having lived with them for 16 months.
We had worked together daily building our
house, learning their language, struggling with
their culture and different ways, crying with

He gave a brief report on what had been done

since our arrival in the village, why we were
leaving and what we would be doing while in the
States, and our plans upon returning after
furlough. Apparently one elderly lady, who is a
very good friend of mine, hadn't realized we
were to be leaving so soon. She heard Wes
talking in the meeting and that was the first she
knew of it. I was teaching Jonathan and Adam
in the house when I heard someone come up
the steps and down the veranda to our front
door and knock quietly. I could hear a soft
crying. I went to the door and opened it and she
came in and took my hands in hers and cried,

them at deaths, and suffering with them

through illnesses. We had played with them,
worked with them and, through it all, witnessed
to them of God's great love through Jesus and
the authority of God's Word as the final say in all
things.

A few days before we were scheduled to leave

individuals came by the house, sat on the

veranda and talked quietly. "You're going to

leave us". "You have to go see your father and
mother and family". They could understand
that. It is very important in their culture for a
person to keep in close contact with his family,
"When will you come back?"
In all the
questions we could sense the fear in their
voices that we wouldn't come back. They had
expressed several times that they couldn't
understand why we would leave our nice homes
in America and our families and come to live in a

"pies nogut" (a no-good place). Although we

always tried to convince them that we were

happy there and that they had helped us to build

"You're leaving". 'You're leaving". I felt terrible

and asked her if she didn't know already. "No

Wes is telling everyone that you're leaving". I

could hardly keep from crying myself and I
proceeded to tell her that I was very sorry that
she hadn't been told and that we thought
everyone knew. I calmed her down and got her
some tea and cookies and explained to her why
we had to go and that we would be back in about
a year. She said. "What wilM do? If Simon (her
eldest son) leaves and you're gone too, what will I
do?" I told her that Simon was not going to leave
and she would be all right and that we would be

a nice house and we had all the food we needed,

back and would think about her while we were

we could sense what they were feeling: "Now

that they see what it's really like to live herewith

gone and would pray for her. I was thinking, "How

hard it was to leave our family and friends in the
States," and now, "How hard it is to leave these new

us they won't come back."

We had been very busy tyring to go extra fast

with the boys' schooling, getting the house in
order to leave it for a year and making travel
arrangements. One day Wes had gone to the

friends with whom we have become so close",

thought, "How great heaven will be when we don't

have to say 'good-bye' again!"
Two nights before we were to leave, the villagers

prepared a big farewell feast for us.

They fixed all our favorite local foods; sweet
potatoes and yams with coconut, taro with
coconut, chicken boiled with greens and
coconut, lots of bananas, papayas and
pineapples and our "not-so-favorite" possum.
I had fixed some of their favorites: popcorn
kool-aid, rice with meat and lots of rolls and

biscuits. We were fed first along with the head

men of the village. Then the young men were
fed followed by the children, the women and,
last of all, the young girls. (I never have felt
comfortable with that arrangement as it seems
the young girls do most of the work at these

feasts -,they never complain though.)

After the feast each of the big men of the

to get in the canoe and they all began pushing it

out into deep water. As the water got deeper
and deeper they continued beside the canoe,
mothers carrying babies, old men and women,
young people, and they began singing another
song of farewell. Whenthewaterwasupto their
waists and chests most of the people stopped
and began waving while the teen-aged boys
and girls continued on swimming and pushing
the canoe. After the motor was started, they
jumped on and rode out into the deep water
about '/j mile, said good-bye, dove off and swam
ashore. It was a very touching farewell and left
no doubts as to our welcome

back into

the

village upon our return to PNG.

village gave a speech. In the speeches they

mentioned how happy they were that we had
come, everything that had happened since we
had come, and that they understood why we
had to go home. We had to go see our parents.
One old man said, "If you had come a long time
ago we would have eaten you, but now God has
shown us His way and we know you have come
to do His work". We got a laugh out of that.
Several people and groups of people presented
us with special gifts of money, handwoven
baskets and grass skirts, and necklaces of
carved dogs teeth, shells and beads. We felt
humbled and in awe as we realized that some of

the gifts were very old and valuable in their

culture

and

traditional

dress.

We

were

wondering why they weren't dancing and

dressed in their traditional dress and singing as
they usually do at feasts and which we love to
see. Finally it dawned on us that they were too
sad. They were truly sorry to see us go.
Early in the morning of the day we were to
leave the village, people started to come by to
help us carry our things down to the beach and
to help us with last-minute things in the house.
They shook their heads and clicked their
tongues as we closed the windows and locked

Ready to leave Madang on our trip home

(This letter was given to us by a group of Souh

villagers during the farewell dinner they
prepared for us two days before we left.)
Worship Community Group Souh
c/o fvlark Keleh
P.O. Box 165

Lorengau, Manus Province

13 April, 1983
Mr. & Mrs. Wes Beasley & Sons,

We the small group of what we call Worship

Community Group plus the whole people of

the doors. When we arrived down on the beach

Souh:

the entire village was gathered there with the

canoe waiting. As people began shaking our
hands and telling us farewell the school
children, who were gathered to one side began
singing:
"Now is the hour that we must say good-bye.
Now you are going far across the sea.
While you're away, please remember me. .
That was too much! We began crying along
with everyone else and just about changed our
minds right there. People began touching us
and hugging us (not very common in that culture)

We all assemble here tonight to say farewell

to you. You are leaving us so soon to go up your
way. And when you feel down hearted listen to
us as we say it a long way to America it a long
way to go.
But we thank you very much for your great
work you have started among us. We don't
recognize (comprehend) your living with us.
So Wes, we have not enough thing to give
you, but this is only K10.00 (about US $11.80)
for this small group. We know that it would be
turn into a hundred fold. So don't forget us

and shaking our hands and crying. We managed

all from now and then.

May the Heavenly God bless and protect you

and your family through ail your voyage to see
your father and relations.
Best regards from us to all your Fathers,
mothers, relatives and friends from us here. We

Yours always in Christ.

Pray meeting group and
Christian people of Souh
(This letter is just exactly as it was written, in
English, with only the parts in parentheses added
by us for your better understanding - Beasleys)

after the light had flashed "WALK". About

halfway across the street the light naturally
flashed "DON'T WALK". Jonathan, in a panic,
grabbed all three of us and shouted for us to go
back because the light said, "DON'T WALK".
Jonathan

and

Adam

were

fascinated

with

elevators and escalators and automatic doors.

They had forgotten about them while we were

gone.

What things have impressed us?

- clean, well marked streets
- neat haircuts on men

- lots of American flags waving every day

- all the food in the stores

Saying good-bye to our friends in PNG

ARRIVAL

IN

THE

USA

After short stops in Hong Kong and Honolulu

we arrived in Jackson, fvlississippi on May 1st.
We were thrilled to have our church family from
Southwest Christian Church waiting there to
welcome us. There were posters, greetings and
hugs, flowers, pictures and lots of fun for us in
trying to guess which children were which (they
had all grown so much in S'/z years-some of the

adults had grown too).

welcome

It made us feel so

and loved but left the airline crew a

little puzzled.

Several people have asked us what things

have changed or what things seem different to
us after having been gone for a while. I'll

- lots of new houses being built

What things are a joy to us?
- a fresh fruit and vegetable counter in every
grocery store that is always full (especially
with cauliflower, broccoli, grapes, peaches,
plums, asparagus, spinach, radishes and
lettuce)
- crisp cereal
- shoes that fit and in a wide variety
- roadside parks and public toilets
and for the boys
- McDonalds and video games (we have to
limit these)
What things were hard to remember at first?
- that the steering column is on the left side
of the car and the signal lever is on the left
side of the steering column
- that you turn the light switch up for "on"
and down for "off" (just the opposite in
PNG).
- that we didn't need to buy two months'
supply of groceries at one time (the stores
are all close by and some are even open 24
hours a day)
- that the bank is open on Saturday
and for the boys again
- you absolutely must wear shoes to church!

CURRENT NEWS ON THE

BEASLEYS
After a quick visit with our home church, Wes'
family, and my family we settled into an
apartment in Duncanville. Texas. Wes began an
eight-week course in Biblical Hebrew on June 6
and is still involved in that. Several people in the
area churches have loaned us furniture and we

mention a few.

have bought some things - enough to make do

In Papua New Guinea we had not been in a

town large enough to have a stop light, let alone
pedestrian signal lights. When we were in
Honolulu, we were crossing a street on foot

and to be comfortable.

God has blessed us. I

have had some medical tests, all of which have

been negative for which we are grateful. I have

some more to be done and am feeling quite well.

The boys and I have both had dental work done.

residence as follows; Wes and Alta Beasley, 700

Jonathan and Adam will both be fitted with

W. Center. Apt. 116. Duncanville, Texas 75116,

some type of orthodontic device in a few weeks.

They have been in summer school for two
weeks and will finish this week. The purpose of
this three weeks was to determine where they
are in their education and in which grades to put
them this fall. They are enjoying riding their
bicycles and swimming in the pool at the
apartment complex.
After attending the North American Christian
Convention next week, we plan to go on up to
Michigan visiting churches in Indiana and
Michigan and spend some time on my folks'
farm. We are looking forward to that as we have
been quite rushed since our return to the States.

phone; 214-296-0335

It's been a long time!

We will come back south the third week of

August.

Wes will begin his studies at the

International

Linguistic

Center and

the

'

'5?

-.0 y,

-rorc.s:

University of Texas at Arlington to finish his

Masters degree in Linguistics and Bible
Translation and I will take some courses at the
I.L.C. Jonathan and Adam will be enrolled at
Brookhollow Christian School in DeSoto.

'

We plan to travel on week-ends some this fall

to speak to churches in the south-central area.

We will visit all our supporters sometime this fall
or next spring. We are working on a schedule
for these visits but do not have all the details yet
School will limit our activities quite a bit and we
will plan to spend next summer traveling to visit
those churches and individuals we aren't able to

visit during the school year. We have enjoyed

our reunions with many of our Christian friends
and are looking forward to seeing the rest of
you. Thank you for your faithful support to us
while we were in Papua New Guinea. Thank
you for all the prayers you have offered up for us
and for your letters, cards, gifts and offerings.
You are a blessing to us and we constantly pray
that we will be worthy of your trust and will be
faithful servants. Please continue to remember

the Kurti people on Manus Island in Papua New

Guinea while we are away from them. We would
like to ask you to pray that their enthusiasm for
God's Word in their language will remain high
while we are gone, that they will continue
to realize the authority of God's Word and that
God will be preparing a man. or men, to work
with us in the translation. These are our prayers
for the Kurtis while we are away and we ask that

you join with us. Thank you for sharing with us

in this work.

Alta for Wes & boys

NOTE; While on furlough we may be reached

through our forwarding agents or at our

It B great to be loved!

(e> */2.C>

Beasleys' Backlog
of news from

Papua New Guinea

Field Address:

Forwarding Agents;

Wes & Alta Beasley

Larry & Dottle Tanksley

c/o Pioneer Bible Translators

P.O. Box 997

Clinton. MS 39056

Madang, Papua New Guinea

Phone (601) 924-0299

112 Stone Cove

November, 1984

Vol. Vli, No. 2

BACK TO P.N.G.!

The time is getting close for our return to

Papua New Guinea and we are excited. We will
leave Jackson, Mississippi on January 7, 1985
to fly to Los Angeles. We will leave Los Angeles
on January 8 and will arrive in Papua New
Guinea on January 15 with layovers in Honolulu
and Hong Kong. We will lose one day as we
cross the international date line. We will arrive

in Madang just in time for our annual PBT/PNG

branch meeting which starts January 16. As of

this writing we have our visas, our flights and
lodging in Honolulu and Hong Kong are
confirmed and we are working on last minute
packing and details. We praise the Lord for
working out ail the arrangements. Please be in
prayer for our safe travel and our return to the
Kurti people and our work.

HOW WERE OUR TRAVELS THIS PAST SUMMER?

We had a great summer visiting all our
supporters and seeing parts of the country we
had never seen before. We were grateful that
some of our supporters were in areas where we
had never visited or we had to go through areas
we had never seen to visit them. These travels

took us through Niagara Falls which was very

majestic and beautiful. While in New Jersey,
friends from the Hunterdon church took us into

New York City where we visited the Museum of

Natural History and the Empire State Building
and experienced riding thesubway, Onourtrip
from New Jersey to North Carolina, we spent an
afternoon in Philadelphia (which wasn't nearly
long enough) and two days in Washington, D.C.
We were in Washington, D.C. forthe 4th of July
and it was a sight to see. The crowds tended to
intimidate us a little, but we pushed through and
visited the Smithsonian Institution, most of the

thankful the boys had this opportunity to visit

our nation's capital -- they were really
impressed and it made their history lessons
come alive.

After a three week stay with our home church

in Jackson, Mississippi and visiting supporters
there, we began our journey west. This trip took
us through Colorado where we have friends
who support our work.
They showed us
beautiful Colorado and we have to admit that

we were very tempted to try to find some lost

tribe there who needs a translation of the Bible.

It was a very refreshing time for us and we thank

God for it. Time and space do not permit us to
tell you of all the great and refreshing times we
had with all our Christian friends and loved

ones but we are grateful for those times and

thank each of you who had a part in our summer
travel and in welcoming us into your homes.

memorials and the capitol building. We are so

HOW DO WE LIKE CALIFORNIA?

We arrived in the Los Angeles area on
September 2. We couldn't figure out why It was
so cloudy in the middle of the day and then
realized that it must be the smog we had heard
so much about. We aren't convinced yet that we
would want to live in this big city but it is very
interesting. There are many different ethnic
groups who live all around us and make it a
melting pot community. There are over 100
different languages spoken in Los Angeles
County alone! The seminary also has many
international students and we feel very much at
home with them and really enjoy being with
them.

missionary to Germany, is planning to return to

Papua New Guinea with us to tutor Jonathan
and Adam. We praise God for this answered

prayer and are anxious to introduce you to

Diane.
We hope to do that in our next
newsletter. Meanwhile, we ask that you will be
praying for her as she raises additional support.
We have an added blessing while here in
Pasadena. Two of the Wycliffe families who are
translators on Manus island with us are also

studying here at the seminary. We enjoy

continued fellowship with them and with David
and Sineina Gela who are Papua New Guinea
Nationals also studying at the seminary. David
is the executive director of the Papua New

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways

here.
He provided us with a completely
furnished apartment through Providence
Mission Homes. It is an organization which
tries to provide homes for missionaries on
furlough. We are very grateful to them for
providing a place for us to stay with rental rates

request that you be in prayer for their

adjustment and their two-year stay away from

much lower than normal for this area.

their families and homeland.

Rent is

higher here than in any part of the country. The

Lord also provided the boys with a school 272
blocks from our apartment which uses the
curriculum from Pensacola Christian School.

We had prayed about this all summer and asked

many of you to be praying. If we hadn't found a
school which uses that curriculum, then I would

have had to begin teaching the boys myself. As

it is, I can begin where they leave off when we
leave this area in December and continue in

Papua New Guinea. The only openings the

school had left were in the exact grades the
boys needed. God really answered our prayers
and the boys are enjoying their school and new
friends. Also, concerning the boys' school, we
have another praise item. Diane Miller, former

Guinea

Bible

Translation

Association

with

whom PBT works closely in PNG. We enjoy

taking them shopping and helping them
become acclimated to the U.S. We would like to

I am almost finished buying supplies to be

shipped to Papua New Guinea and hope to have
everything packed and ready to crate within the
next two weeks. By the time you receive this
newsletter we will have left California and will

be back in Mississippi and Michigan visiting our

families once more before our departure for
PNG in January.
We thank you for your
prayers, love, and support and for your patience
in waiting for this long-overdue newsletter.
Please continue to pray for us as we make final
preparations, as we travel, say "good-bye" to
family, and go back to our friends and work in
Papua New Guinea. We love each one of you
and thank God for you.
Alta and family

FROM WES
Thank you for your prayers! In June, 1984, I
was awarded a Master of Arts degree in
Linguistics from the University of Texas at
Arlington. Many of you will recall that we had
requested your prayer support as I prepared for
the comprehensive exams. I passed those and
successfully completed my degree program
there in Texas.

Now, after a full summer of speaking to

supporting churches, I am attending school

again at the Fuller Theological Seminary ~
School of World Missions in Pasadena,
California. My goal at Fuller is to complete a
degree program in missiology concentrating on
Bible translation. However, that is a long-range
goal. Right now, we are here only for one
quarter before we return to Papua New Guinea
in January, 1985. I am currently taking courses

lad Uidings

which will be very helpful when we re

sume our anthropological research
among the Kurti people on Manus
Island.

You may wonder why we have spent

so much of our furlough time in further
schooling or what value these degrees
have for a missionary. In many ways,
missionary work Is the same for us as it
was for Paul. We certainly have the
same message and the same Lord and
Saviour. On the other hand, the role of
the missionary is changing. Today, we
must be prepared not only to preach

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given

... And He will be called Wonderful Coun

selor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

and teach but also to train others to

preach and teach. We must bring

special skills (such as linguistics) to
the field as well as "faith in action". Of

course, these ideas are not new. Paul

instructed Timothy to train faithful

men and he also taught that each
member of Christ's body has special
gifts.
Alta and I view our job as Bible
translators with respect, some fear,
and a clear understanding of the
complexity of the task. Consequently,
we always strive to maintain an attitude
of professionalism toward both our job
and our preparation. Even when we
are not in a university, we are learners.
Keep on praying for us!

Mission Services
PO Box 2427

Knoxville. TN 37901

Our wish for you this Christmas time is that

you will have a very happy and blessed
Christmas and a new year that will be filled
with Spiritual blessings as you serve the
Savior.
The Beasley Family

Non Profit Org.

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