Pray for Indonesia

Two partner organizations are developing mother tongue based preschool education in a remote province. Please join the prayers that:
*God will use the program to help increase the local level of education
*Students will become active critical thinkers
*The preschool teachers will teach effectively and the children will learn well
*The local partner will have enough staff to meet the growing needs.

The final cycle of materials creation for the Local Content in Schools project begins in August, this time for Grade 6. In order to increase the difficulty level of the texts, this years' texts are not locally authored, but translated from the national language. Please pray for wisdom for the team member who will be selecting these texts, that they will be interesting and relevant to the children. The translation workshop wil take place in late July or early August, pray for the preparations. Ask God that one team member can quickly develop the draft competencies so they are Grade-level appropriate.

A "Local Content in Schools" project has been underway in 16 primary schools in two languages for the past three years. Grades 2, 3, and 4 already have materials, and Grade 5 books are currently being proofread for final edits. Some additional illustrations are needed for the Grade 5 materials. Please pray for the team in charge: for unity, clear communication, diligence and patience. Pray that the illustrations and the books will be ready before the end of July, when things slow down for a long holiday.

Each translation being done around the world has need for a translation advisor to help them through the translation process, and each book needs to be checked carefully by a consultant. Pray for the needed advisors and consultants for the remaining languages of Timor. And also pray for these needs to be met for translation projects around the world.

The first day of a translation checking session, when the consultant said it was time for a lunch break, one team member said, "We aren't hungry. Going through God's Word like this feeds us; we don't need to eat." A couple of days later, when it was 5 pm and time to stop and go home for dinner, the same person again said, "We can't stop yet. I'm not full yet. I'm still hungry for more." Pray that all those interacting with the newly translated Scripture will have this hunger.

Praise the Lord that a vernacular media team was able to complete the Abraham and Joseph Video dubbing in Kupang Malay in April. It has been turned in to the translation consultant for checking. Pray for the media team during their time in Australia (April 26 to July 17), that it will include time for rest. They also plan to record Scriptures in Kriol.

TOLAKI; Indonesia; 330,000. Praise the Lord that last year the translation team completed a final read-through of Genesis, plus the entire New Testament. They also finished checking the spelling, footnotes, and formatting. Pray that typesetting would go smoothly and quickly lead to printing at the Indonesian Bible Society’s presses in early 2013. A dedication is planned for May this year! Ask God to prepare hearts that are eager to read His lifesaving message of love and forgiveness, as found in His precious Word.

Please pray for a new partnership between SIL Indonesia and the Asian Development Bank intended to raise the level of literacy and numeracy in remote and isolated communitites in Papua Indonesia. Success will depend on good working relationships, prudent use of funds, clarity of thought and humility. Please pray that the multi-year strategic plan meant to emerge from this three-month partnership will encourage the level of education in Papua and facilitate access to the scriptures presently being translated

TII; Timor, Indonesia; 14,000. The Tii language project is drawing near its conclusion. Pray the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the translators as they struggle to communicate God’s Word in their language, and praise Him that His Word is challenging the translators to grow in their personal knowledge and commitment to Him. Ask God for good participation by community members and that they would be filled with excitement to share what they learn. www.theseedcompany.org

TETUN BELU; Timor, Indonesia; 300,000. “Verse by verse, line by line, You are revealing Yourself to us,” prayed Rev. Gabiel of the Tetun Belu people. Praise God for Scripture in the Tetun language so people can really understand God’s message of love and redemption. Pray that the people will soon have their Tetun New Testament in their hands. www.theseedcompany.org