Hello friends and family,

I'm writing this realizing that I am down to the last few days in the Solomons.  I am excited to see family and friends again, but there are many things I will miss about this beautiful country and the hospitable giving Christians I have met here.

Actually the plan was to fly to Figi today to debrief our trip as a team.  However, due to bad weather, the airline was not able to drop passengers off, so our flight was full.  We are on standby to fly on Thursday, but right now are waiting to see if we can get tickets.  Thankfully, God has allowed our team to respond to the situation with grace and flexibility and in some ways it is nice to have a few more days here, even if it means a shorter time in Figi.  We are thankful that we can come back to the SITAG base where we have been staying and are still planning to do some debriefing and reflecting on our trip while we are here.

God has taught me a lot about the importance of flexibility this past week.  I was planning to go to the island of Malaita with Scripture Use specialist Cynthia Rollins this past weekend to do a follow-up survey on the distribution of audio New Testament devices in the Wala language.  However, Cynthia has been fighting some serious sickness and one of the Wala villages was unprepared to host us, so it seemed that God had different plans for the timing of the trip.  We canceled the trip, so I have stayed back in the capitol city of Honiara.  One blessing about this change of plans was that I was able to help with a literacy workshop which has been taking place these past few weeks.  The environment of the workshop was very exciting to me.  People from eight different language groups attended this workshop to develop reading materials in their language, including primers, alphabet books, and Sunday school materials.  Literacy work is very exciting because it gives people access to God’s Word.  Many translated scriptures are not used in the Solomons because the people cannot read or write.  However, the materials these the people at the workshop created could be the first step to teaching someone to read God’s word in the language that speaks to their heart.  Many of the people in the workshop were learning to use computers for the first time to create their materials, so I was able to help in small ways like helping with basic computer skills and typing some of the translated literacy material. 

Overall, my experience in the Solomons has been wonderful.  I would appreciate your prayers as I say goodbye to this place.

Other prayer requests:

·         Health for Cynthia. She actually went to the hospital yesterday, and the doctors are trying to figure out how best to help her.  Pray for wisdom for the doctors.

·         That our team can find tickets to Figi, and that we can use these next few days to say goodbye well to the Solomons

·         Our team debriefing is effective and helpful

·         Guidance for God’s future direction with Wycliffe and missions

Thank you for your prayers! I look forward to seeing you soon!

Melissa