pryor john bonita 1993 png

7/24/2019 Pryor John Bonita 1993 PNG

1/12

N WGUINEA

N WS

ForwnrditiK Aftenta:

Mr and Mm >bIp Dunlap

Route 16 Rhea Road

Knosvilk TN 37920

John and Bonita Pryor

Happy Holidays a n d Best Wishes to

a l l

of you. ^y__199^_^the very

b e s t y e a r o f y o u r l i f e . W e a r e p r a y i n g

t h a t

o u r L o r d wTTTsu^ly y o u

wtth all

the joy, peace, excitement and challenge you can h o l d and u s e

to His

glory.

The translation work is going

well.

O u r language h e l p e r s continue

to be faithful to the task

and

our co-laborers (PET) continue to

be

ex

tremely

helpful i n providing

expert ass istance.

Soon we

expect to com

plete the transl ation of Luke and

then move

to

another book.

W e stay quite bus y or

occupied

with

helping

th e c h ur c h .

And

it is

growing

numerically a n d

spiritually.

B o n i t a

a n d I are e n g a g e d i n lead

i n g

Bible

stud ies, conducting l eadersh ip

training

sessions,

preaching

and

leading

devotions, etc. Just recently we were blessed with some of

the fruit

of

labor

in

th at

20

people were baptized into

Christ,

Other

villages a r e beginning to request

that w e s e n d

preachers

t o their

villages

Please pray that

w e will be able

to

always

fu lfil l

these requests .

Please forgive

u s

for waiting so

long

between newsletters. It is our

intention to do better in

1993

You are never out of our minds or

our

prayers.

We

love

you

and

appreciate

more

and

more

your

participation

in

this work

THE FIGHT

T h e m o s t

m e m o r a b l e

e v e n t o f t h e p a s t y e a r

w a s

t h e f i g h t . D u r i n g t h e

y e a r s w e h a v e

b e e n

i n S a m b a n w e h a v e

w i t n e s s e d

a n d / o r

b r o k e n

u p s e v e r a l

fights. But t h i s one w a s the grandadd y of them a l l

S o m e

y o u n g m e n

f r o m t h e n e a r b y

P a n y e t e n v i l l a g e

c a m e

t o

S a m b a n .

A

few

p u n c h e s

w e r e thrown at

each

other over some issues

that

were never

m a d e c l e a r

t o u s . T h e n e x t

d a y

t h o s e y o u n g

m e n

r e t u r n e d w i t h r e i n f o r c e

ments,

a n d

t h e r e

w a s a

b i g

f r e e - f o r - a l l right i n o u r f r o n t v a r d . S e v e r a l


2/12

people

were hurt.

The

next day some men

from the

W o r n

village were

vis iting the j ^ e o p l e

of

Panyeten.

Upon learning about one of

the

Panyeten men being

injured,

a

cousin

from among the

W o r n people led a

group

to Samban

for retaliation. But

their

battle

plans

were

not

successful They

vowed,

however, to return that

night

and burn down

Samban

and

ravage the women. Something

h a d

to

b e

done

quickly.

The liaison officer asked us to call

the

local riot squad at Angoram.

We tried to make the contact through our support

people

i n

Madang but to

n o avail.

We h e l d an

impromptu praise

service a n d

emphasized

God's p r o

tection

of

those who trusted in Him. In the

meantime,

one

of

the men

of

the vi llage, Mi chael,

our

workman, followed the men

from

W o r n back

to

their

vi llage to talk

peace with

them.

Our

men followed the

praise

service with

an

all-night

prayer meeting and decided

they would

not

fi ght any more.

It

was

reported, however,

that because

had tried to call in

the police on

them they were

coming back

to get

me.

They did return. The

men

from the Wom village came with their spears

and

other

weapons for

fighting. The

leader of

the g roup ca me up

on

our

porch and assured

us

that they did not hold

anything

against us. I n fact,

they

h a d

assigned some

men

to

protect

us during the

fight.

But

the

men

of

Samban

would

not come out of their homes

to

fight.

While

all of this was

happening

i n our

front

yard we noticed

the

young

m a n

who

had

been

injured the d a y before. W e called him up to the porch

and

redressed his wound

and

shared with

h i m

the

Scriptures

about man' s

anger

not achievin g God's

purposes.

We later learned

that

God used

this

incident

to dissolve his

anger.

A s the scene

developed,

Joshua began to

cry.

The leader

of

the group

on the porch with

us

at the tim e began to assure h i m that

h e

was

not

going

to get hurt. Bonita explain ed to the leader that Joshua wasn't crying for

himself

but for

h i s B oti n

friends

a n d

for the men

from

Wom The leaders

shouted to

the

men below, Stop, John's son is crying. This seemed to

defuse their anger

and

within a short tim e they left Sam ban . They

vowed

never

to return

again under

such co n d i t i o n s .

That a fternoon the whole village of Pany eten ca me to

Samban and

per

formed

a

peace restoring

ritual. They

submereged

themselves

several

times i n

the creek

that

runs through the village

and

then rolled

on

the

g r o u n d i n front of t h e p e o p l e of Samban. Later on, the w h o l e village of

Samban

did the sa me

thing at Panyeten.

The

next

weekend, the men

from

W om

came

to Samban

and

performed

the same

ritual

They

assumed we were a

part

of the offended

party so

they rolled on the ground in front of

us

and shook

hands

with

us

I t w a s

a

v e r y

m o v i n g

e x p e r i e n c e f o r

u s a n d

p r o b a b l y

o u r

m o s t

u n

f o r g e t t a b l e e v e n t . B e s i d e s p r o v i d i n g

u s

w i t h t h e

m o s t t e n s i o n - f i l l e d

e v e n t

w e

h a v e

e v e r

h a d i n

t h e

v i l l a g e , w e

b e l i e v e

G o d h a s u s e d

t h e

e x

p e r i e n c e t o

s t r e n g t h e n

o u r

r e l a t i o n s h i p | w i t h W o m

v i l l a g e

a n d p r o v i d e d

u s

w i t h a n e x c e l l e n t t e a c h i n g m o d e l

t o

i l l u s t r a t e f o r a i v e n e s s .


3/12

STATESIDE VISITORS

A m o r e

e n j o y a b l e e v e n t d u r i n g t h e

l a s t

f e w m o n t h s w a s

h a v i n g

L a r r y

a n d

D o t t i e

T a n k s l e y , f r o m C l i n t o n , M i s s i s s i p p i , c o m e o v e r a n d s p e n d t w o

w e e k s

w i t h u s i n t h e

v i l l a g e

i n

O c t o b e r . L a r r y t o o k

c a r e of m a n y

j o b s

I d

p l a c e d

o n t h e

b a c k

b u r n e r , w h i c h

h a s

m a d e o u r l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s m o r e

p l e a s a n t . D o t t i e h e l p e d

o u t

d o i n g

c o m p u t e r

e n t r y

w o r k a n d

clinic

a s w e l l

a s

s e w i n g

f o r B o n i t a .

T h e

b e s t

p a r t w a s t h e v i s i t i n g

a n d

g e t t i n g c a u g h t

up o n news

from

the U S A

Bo n ita

John

Jesse

Joshua

Rona and

Bonita

Ro na is demonstrating

how

to

scrape coconut

Jesse

and

Joshua playing

a

game with rubber

bands

i n

the

kitchen

floor

with

village boys.


4/12

REVIEW/REMINDER

1992

has been

the

year of the

book

of Luke

for

us. Our main focus has

been

centered around the completion of this, our first

New Testament pub

lication.

We have

spent

the

year

studying

the text

with

our language

helpers,

taking their rough

drafts

and

compiling

what we

call initial

drafts, and

presenting

them to the elders for

their

stamp

approval.

These

portions have

then

been checked for

their

fidelity

to the

Greek

text and

then gone

through

a peer checking process

by

other

members

of our

PBT

team.

Once revisions are

made

from

this

check, the portions

are

put through

other

checks

and

laid aside

until

the whole

book

will be checked

by

a United

Bible Society cons ultant.

After

resultant revisions, we'll be ready to

publish

We are

planning for

the

publication

to

take place

in

summer/fall

of '93.

As

we look

toward the

end

of

this

year,

we

are

again reminded of a news

worthy event that occurred

2,000

years

ago.

It is from the book of Luke

that we find

these words:

"I bring

you good

news of

great joy

which

shall

be for all the

people; for today in the city

of

David there has

been born for you a Savior, who

is

Christ the

Lord."

It

is

a

privilege

for

us

to help put these words into the langua ge of the Botin people of Papua

New

Guinea. May

God

bless

you and

yours

as

this "good news" becomes more

real in your life and the lives

of

those around

you.

First

Christian Church

780 Fairground

Lane

Cookevine,

TN

38501

Non-profit Organ.

U.S. Postage

Paid

Permit

242

Cookeville,

TN 38501


5/12

j

NEWGUINEA

NEWS

Porwardip? Agents:

Hr. and Hrs.

Dale

Dunlap

Route 16 Rhea Road

Knoxville,

TM

37920

Oohn and

Bonita Pryor

Pioneer

Bible

Translators

P

0

ox

997

Madang

Papua New

Guinea

Greetings

from Papua New

Guinea

As I

write

this,

it is hard

to

believe that the first

quarter

of 1993 is

nearly complete.

We

left the

village

in early January to

attend

our

Annual

General

Meetina in

Madang.

Shortly after

the meeting,

Bonita

flew back'to

the States for three weeks. She

had

a

medical

checkup

and attended the 100th Anniversary

Homecoming

at

Johnson

Bible College.

We

praise the Lord that the checkup went

well--no problems. We three

boys remained in

town

while

Bonita was Stateside. I was

in

charge of

their

education

and

cooking.

I

don't

know which

they disliked

worse.

I

suppose

that

there are just so many hamburgers

and

chili

cheese

dogs that any person can handle. It was sure

great

to

get

the A-Team back

We

are preparing

for

the

final push in getting Luke

ready

for

publication.

We have eight

chapters ready to

be

con

verted

from rough

draft form to

what we

call

initial draft

form,

which makes it ready for the

big

men

to

check

and then

move on to our peer checking process

(another member

of our

group checking

our work). Once

that

is done, we begin the

final

checks to prepare

the

text for

its final prepublication

check.

Once

we get

those

eight chapters finished,

you

may be

able to hear our

sigh

of

relief

where you

are

For

at

that

point, the

major

work is completed. That is, from that point

the

generated

text

to

get

it

ready

for actual

printing.


6/12

EDUCATION FOR

LIFE

On

the horizon for our family

is

something new.

will be sending Jesse

back to

spend the

summer with

parents.

The

basic

goals for

his

trip

are:

1

driver's license. (I am confident

this

is

his

goal, as he turns 16 on July 22.) 2. Get his

license. 3. Renew friendships that

he

made on

In

May' we

Bonita s

Get

his

most important

amateur

radio

furlough

two

years ago. 4. Gain experience in being

employed

outside the

home, i.e.

,

a summer job.

Since

our

focus

will

be

on

family matters, we thought it

would be enjoyable

for

you to

learn

a little bit more

about

what

Jesse and Joshua

do, while

we carry on our translation

ministry

here

in the PNG bush country. Education comes

first. Bonita

is in charge

of the

boys'

education. Jesse

is

using

a

correspondence course

from the American

School

of

Chicago. Therefore, he spends

a lot of time

on

his own.

However, his new

subjects

this year - Algebra, Biology, and

American Literature - are requiring Bonita and him to

spend

more time together.

In the

past

when school

was out

for the day,

Jesse

and

Josh

would

head

out to the bush.

They

have built

several

tree houses over the years. But as Jesse has approached his

middle

teen years,

he has spent less time

in

the

bush and

more time trying

to

make money. He

is

now

building

a chicken

house in hopes of raising

meat

birds for

sale.

For

the

past

several months,

he has spent

Friday afternoons baking

bread

for the Saturday market. He has done

quite

well and

hopes to

take a sizable

chunk

of

"dough"

(sorry about that) back to

America with

him this summer. When not involved

in

money-

making ventures Jesse likes to spend

time

reading

(he's

a

Louis L'Amour and

Walter

Farley fan),

or

playing

various

sports. He's a

soccer

nut Since

that's

the favorite sport

here in this country, he gets

to

spend much of his time

playing

soccer.

Jesse and friends

building chicken

house.


7/12

Josh is on a

school program

using the

s ame materials

that

t h e l o c a l s c h o o l

h e

a t t e nded

in t h e

St a t e s

u s e s .

Consequently,

Bonita has

to

spend more time

organizing

his

studies. J o s h u s u a l l y spends j u s t

t h e

m o r n i n g

o f each da y

with

his

teacher/mom. And then

FREEDOM

Once

school

is

out,

Josh

is gone. Life here for him is

a

real

lark.

He

spends

his

time with

his

friends in

a wide variety

of

activities; canoeing,

listening

to

PNG

rock

n

roll,

hunting, and reading

Phantom

or Archie comic

books.

'He

always

ends the day in

our front or

side

yard involved in a

v o l l e y b a l l ,

b a s k e t b a l l , r u g b y ,

or

socce r g a m e.

The

boys'

days

are rounded

o u t

w i t h

quiet evenings

here

a t

home. Some

o f

their

friends a re

usually available for a game

o f

some

kind,

o r

j u s t

visiting.

Jesse likes

to do

a

major

portion

of his

studying

for

s c h o o l

a fter

s u p p e r ,

in

t h e

cool

o f

the

evening.

Each night I try

to

spend at least thirty to

forty five

minutes

with

e a ch of the

boys

on

a

personal basis.

Me used

to

do

this jointly, but

in this stage o f their

lives*

(12 and

15),

they

have different

preferences

in activity

and

discussion. Lately, Josh and I

have

been

reading

in

the

Hardy

B oys series.

He

really likes

any

kind

of

mystery.

We

end

our

time together with a

Bible story

and prayer time.

J e s s e a nd I

a r e g o i ng

t hr o ug h

T h e H e a v e n l y C h r i s t i a n

Life ,

the

Minirth-Meier

Clinic

Bible

Study guide. We

usua lly

end

up

reading or

discussing something

the study has

brought

to

mind.

The evenings

are

a special

time

of sharing for us.

"Big Men" during

checking session

John

revising

text

J o s h

a n d

friends

playing volleyball


8/12

RESURRECTION CELEBRATION

Yesterday at our monthly planning meeting with the church

leaders,

we laid

out

plans for celebrating Easter

here

in

the

village.

As

I write

this,

I reflect upon the

fact

that each

year

we

are given the opportunity to focus upon

this

pivotal

event

of

all

history--the resurrection

of

our Lord

Jesus

Christ. We

consider it

a privilege to

be

here

in

Papua

New

Guinea sharing the Good News

of

the resurrection with the

Botin people. We praise

God

for the victory we all have in

Jesus. May

God bless

you as you allow His Spirit to

demon

strate

His

victorious life in

you each

day.

'ki:i:ieicieie'kici:'k'k'k'kicic

I f

a d d r e s s c h a n g e s

a n d / o r

d e l e t i o n s a r e

n e e d e d

p l e a s e m a i l

these

to

First Christian

Church,

780

Fairground

Lane,

Cookeville, TN

38501. Thank you

First

Christian

Church

780

Fairground

Lane

Cookevilie,

TN 385 1

Non-profit Organ.

U.S.

Postage

Paid

Permit 242

Cookeville,

TN 38501

Sandra Philli

7525 Hodges

F

Knoxville,

T

USA

ps, Mission Servicei

erry

Road

37920


9/12

Joshua

The Pryor

F a " : i l y

New

Guinea

News

Fo wa d i u

. 4 gej

i

s

:

Mr. rs.

Dale

Dunlap

24 7

Rhea Road

Knoxvilie

TK

792U

Boniu

P.O. Boy

997.

M a d c i n i i . Papua New

Guinea

December 1993

T h a n k s g i v i n g

e a c h

y e a r

i s

t h e

t i m e

when t

r e a l l y

h i t s

u s

t h a t

t h e

y e a r

i s

q u i c k l y

c o m i n g t o

a

c l o s e . T h a n k s g i v i n g a l r e a d y " ^

T h a t m e a n s C h r i s t m a s

i s j u s t a r o u n d t h e c o r n e r , a n d

t h e n

a n o t h e r new y e a r I t s e e m s l i k e t h i s

o n e o n l y u s t g o t t a r t e d I t h a p p e n s h a t

way v e r y

y e a r , d o e s n ' t t ? And

when

y o u r e a l i z e

t h e y e a r i s q u i c k l y coming

t o a

c l o s e , t h e n y o u s t a r t

t h i n k i n g

j u s t

what

has

been

i i c c o m p l i s h e d .

and

what e t

needs t o b e accomplished

t o

meet your

goals f o r t h e

c u r r e n t

y e a r . Sound famil

iar? And in

the

m i d st

of

a l l . t h i s we

are

reminded

of

the many

h i n g s f o r which

we

re

thankful. Here are

only

a

few

which

we ould

l i k e t o share

with you.

The inal consultant check

on Luke has been com

p l e t e d

and

t h e a t t e n d a n t r e -

. I i J i r - v i ^ e c k i r i i

w i t h

Mike

Sweeney

PHT

onsultant and

Masin


10/12

v i s i o n s c o m p l e t e d . P i c t u r e s h a v e

b e e n

s e l e c t e d a n d

t

i s r e a d y

f o r

t y p e s e t t i n g

a n d

p r i n t i n g . Our

n i e n i i o n i s t o t a k e t h e f i r s t d r a f t l a y o u t o f

t h e b o o k

b a c k t o t h e b u s h w i t h u s i n o r d e r t o e x a m i n e t c a r e f u l l y o v e r

t h e

n e x t

few

weeks

f o r

a n y

e r r o r s .

We

i l l

a l s o

b e g i n t h e

i n i t i a l

d r a f t

o f

I

T h e s s a l o n i a n s

when

we

e t u r n t o

S a m b a n . Luke h a s

b e e n

a

l o n g p r o c e s s

f o r u s , a

m i l e s t o n e

s o

t o s p e a k ,

a n d

i v e a r e

g l a d t o h a v e

i t

c o m p l e t e d .

Cur r e ntly we are

in

Madang

for a

month's

worth

of computer t r a i n

i n g .

We

bought our f i r s t

f l o p p y

d i s k

l a p t o p

c om

puter

b a c k

i n the

middle

80 s

u i i e n

most ranslators

w e re e n t e r i n g t h e

modern

e r a of Bible tran slation.

That

i s

w h e n u s i n g com

p u t e r s r e a l l y b ecame

a

per

manent tool in

our

line

of

work.

s

you

k n o w ,

i n c e

t h a t t i m e t h e t e c h n o l o g y

a n d

e x p e r t i s e

i n t h a t a r e a

h a s

s k y r o c k e t e d . W h i l e a

l o t

of u r p e e r s w e r e

moving

up o t h e b i g g e r ,

more

o w e r f u l m a c h i n e s ,

w e

e p t p l o d d i n g a l o n g

w i t h o u r

l i t t l e f l o p p y

d i s k

l a p t o p , a n d h a d e v e n g o t t e n a n o t h e r

s i m i l a r

l a p t o p

t o

t a k e c a r e

o f

o u r

t r a n s l a t i o n

s c h o o l ,

a n d

p e r s o n a l n e e d s .

We

r e a l i z e d t h a t o n e d a y

we

w o u l d n e e d

t o

s w i t c h

t o

a more p o w e r f u l

c o m p u t e r b u t were h o l d i n g o f f b e c a u s e o f f i n a n c e s and b e i n g j u s t a l i t t l e

b i t i n t i m i d a t e d

by t h o s e

b i g m a c h i n e s

a n d t h e i r

p o w e r f u l s o f t w a r e .

But

t h e

f a c t

was h a t

a l l

t h e a p p r o p r i a t e

s o f t w a r e

was

b e i n g d e v e l o p e d

f o r t h e

b i g

m a c h i n e s .

W h e n

o u r

f i r s t

l a p t o p

d i e d

two

m o n t h s

a g o ,

w e

e c i d e d

t o

t a k e t h e p l u n g e . From p a s t

e x p e r i e n c e

w e

knew

t h a t w e d h a v e t o p l a n

t c

a l l o c a t e

a f a i r l y s u b s t a n t i a l

block

of time f o r l e a r n i n g ,

as

we \

r l o a d

L e a r n i n s:

n e u '

s o ft wa r e


11/12

r a t R e r

q u i c k l y when

t

c o n i e s

t o

computer

r a i n i n g . So we a v e d e s i u n a t e d

t h i s month o g e t t h e t r a i n i n g .

We're

h a n k f u l f o r t h e t e c h n o l o g y and h o s e

w i l l i n g t o

t r a i n

u s .

And we r e t h a n k f u l

t o

t h e L o r d f o r H i s p r o v i d i n g t h e

finances

t o

purchase t h e

n e w

c o m p u t e r

and

s o f t w a r e .

We're lso t h a n k f u l

f o r an

nc i

dent h a t

happened

t o

us o n t h e

way

home f r o m worship l a s t

Sunday,

a t ,

o f

a l l

p l a c e s ,

t h e

l o c a l

bakery.

As we

a i d

f o r

o u r

purchases

t h e

c l e r k asked

where

w

iv e d and what

w

i d

here

i n

the cou ntry. We o o n

learned

t h a t she

was from

one

o f the v i l l a g e s

i n o u r

language

group. When

he

f o und

out

we

had j u s t

completed

Luke, she

s a i d , Lve got t o

have

a cop y.

We

o l d

her

t

wasn't published

Boniia s h a r i n g

t h e

J o s e p h S t o r \

y e t .

but

we a d a

c o py

o f

h e Joseph s t o r y f r o m t h e

Old Testament t h a t

w

could

brine

o h e r .

She s a i d , Oh

e s , I m u s t have a copy.

We'll bring t

by next

Sunday,

we e p l i e d .

Next

Sunday?

Yes.

next

Sunday.

Go d

b l e s s

y o u . H e r e , p l e a s e t a k e t h e s e . And

s h e

gave

u s s o m e f r e s h

sweet bread r o l l s .

During

h e

conversation she

w a s

s o

c s t a t i c t h a t

Bonita

could speak h e r language t h a t she reached

a c r o s s t h e

c o u n t e r and a e n t l v

grabbed her

chin, an

emotional

e s t u r e

f o r f o l k s

down

e r e . J u s t l i k e

b a ck

i n

t h e

S t a t e s ,

n o t

e v e r y b o d y

i s

e x c i t e d

a b o u t

r e a d i n g t h e

S c r i p t u r e s ,

b u t

h e r e a g e r n e s s i n

w a n t i n g

t o

r e a d t h e S c r i p t u r e s i n h e r h e a r t l a n g u a a e

m akes

h e

long

hours

of

our t a s k melt

away i n t o

p l e a s a n t

s a t i s f a c t i o n .


12/12

We re a l s o

thankful

f o r

our

a m i l y f i i e n d s a nd

s u p p o r t e r s

whose

l o v l e

concern

allows

us

t o c a r r y on

our m i n i s t r y amo ng

t h e

Apma

e o p l e

P ap u a New Guinea. We r e t h a n k f u l f o r

t h e

One w h o makes

t

p o s s i b l e

f o r u s t o

e x p e r i e n c e

l o v e

i n

C h r i s t

i n d i v i d u a l l y and a s p a r t of God s

o t a l

familv.

We r e going t o b e c e l e b r a t i n g Thanksgiving w i t h my r o t h e r David

i u i

h i s family, a s p e c i a l t r e a t f o r u s . By h e time y o u

g e t

t h i s . Christmas w i l l

be

j u s t around

t h e c o r n e r o r p e r h a p s h i s t o r y depending

on

t h e m a i l

s i t u a t i o n .

From

our

family

t o

y o u r s

we

wish

y o u

a v ery

Joyous

h o l i d a y

season a n d G o d s

b l e s s i n g s

i n t h e comi ng

y e a r .

God

l e s s

you.

First C h r i s t i a n Church

780

Fairground L a n e

Cookeville

TN

38501

Non-Profit Org.

U. S. o . s t a g e

Paid

Permit

42

Cookeville TN 3850

Sandra

Phillips

75 5 Hodges Far

Mission Service

-y Road

Knoxville,

TN

37920

pryor john bonita 1993 png

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