Vol. XI, No. 1

WE'RE HOMEWe arrived home in Jackson, Mississippi at

10:30 p.m. on May 23 after 9 days of travel. Wetraveled on 9 different airplanes, spent 1 nightin Lorengau, 2 nights in Madang and 1 nightinWewak (all in P.N.G.), then 2 nights inJayapura, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 2 nights inHawaii and 1 night in Los Angeles. We weremet at the Jackson airport by friends from thechurch and family, flowers and posters. It wasa nice homecoming and it's great to see all ourfriends and family again.

Our itinerary for June-September is as follows:June:

St. Louis, MissouriPioneer Missions Institute and P.B.T.board meeting.

MississippiBoys in camp.Visiting family and churches.Doctor and dental appointments.

July:Cincinnati, Ohio

N.A.C.C.Michigan

Visiting Alta's family.August:

FloridaOne week at Disney World.

MississippiVisiting with home church, churches in thearea and visiting family.

September:Mississippi and Michigan

Last round of visits with families.

UmBeasleys' Backlog

of news fromPapua New Guinea

Field Address:Wes & Alt8 Beasteyc/o Pioneer Bible TranslatorsP.O. Box 997Madang, Papua New Guinea

Forwarding Agents:Larry & Dollie Tanksley112 Stone CoveClinton. MS 39056Phone (601) 924-0299

January/June 1988

DallasN.M.C.Back to P.N.G.

A REPORT FROM OURTWO HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTSWhile we were in Madang in January for our

annual PBT branch meeting, Jonathan andAdam did a small research project as part of aschool assignment. In Madang there is amemorial to the coast watchers who played astrategic part in this part of the world duringWorld War II. Jonathan and Adam researchedthis elite group, visited the memorial, and wrotethe following report. (I have combined their tworeports, including excerpts from each to avoidrepetition.)

The coast watchers were an elite, secretmilitary group formed by the Australian Commonwealth in 1929 to cover all sea approachesfrom the northern tip of New Ireland south-westward through New Britain and the NewGuinea mainland, and southeastward throughBougainville and the Solomon Islands.

Coast watcher stations were set up along thecoast of New Guinea. These stations would report to naval intelligence officers at PortMoresby, Rabaul, Tulagi, and Villa. Then theywould report to central headquarters in Towns-ville.

Being a coast watcher in Papua New Guineaduring World War II was an extremely dangerous job. It was like being a spy in enemy terri-

tory even though some of the coast watcherswere in their own homeland. Many wereexpatriate Australians working in Papua NewGuinea {civilians) and some were native PapuaNew Guineans. If oneofthecoastwatchers wascaught by the enemy, he would usually betortured until he died or agreed to tell them themilitary secrets he knew. Every day the coastwatchers would be on the lookout for enemyships, airplanes, submarines, and soldiers. Ifhe saw the enemy advancing or retreating hewould then relay this message by teleradio tothe country with which he was allied. Thiswould have to be done very secretly.

The coast watchers allied with Anierica contributed to the sinking of many Japanese warships and the prevention of many Japanese airraids. The number of coast watchers that weknow died in the Papua New Guinea area during World War 11 was thirty-five. "Theywatched, warned and died that we might live.In Madang, Papua New Guinea there is amemorial to the fallen coast watchers. On itthere is a plaque bearing the names of thesebrave men. One of these men, Flight OfficerC.J.T. Mason, is given credit for saving theSouth Pacific. "The intelligence signalled from

Coast Watchers Memorial in MadanR.

Bougainville by Read and Mason saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific."This is a statement made by Admiral WilliamF. Halsey, Commander of the U.S. Navy. Onthe same memorial there is another plaquebearing the inscription below:

"In honor and grateful memory of the coastwatchers and of the loyal natives who assistedthem in their heroic service behind the enemylines during the Second World War in providingintelligence vital to the conduct of allied operations." Not only did the coast watchers transmit, by means of teleradio from their jungle

hideouts, information which led to the sinkingof numerous enemy warships, but they wereable to give timely warning of impendingenemy air attacks. The contribution toward theallied victory in the Pacific by the small body ofmen who constitued the coast watchers was outof all proportion to their numbers."

by Jonathan and Adam Beasley

"After researching the coast watchers, I wishto dedicate this report to the brave, loyal andcourageous coast watchers." Adam Beasley

"These men had some of the toughest jobs aperson can have. They gave a lot in the SecondWorld War, and we should not forget them."

Jonathan Beasley

UPDATE

It's time to catch you up on what we havebeen doing for the past few months(January/mid-May). Our first major news itemis that our Kurti phonology and alphabetdesign have been approved! This is a major stepin our language program and we are gratefulfor its completion.

When we last wrote to you we were preparingto go to Madang for our annual PBT/PNGbranch meeting. We had a great time whilethere. Our meeting was held at SIL's PacificOrientation Course (jungle camp) facilities ontop of a mountain 10 miles outside of Madang.So, it was like having family camp again. Itwas a good time of fellowship and our meetingwas very productive. We have to admit,though, that the kids had the best time. Theyhad Bible classes in the morning, sports in the

Current status of new PBT office and computer building inMadang (still lots of work to be done inside).afternoon and a great timeall the time.

The mini-olympics which Jonathan andAdam organized went very well and was agreat hit. Several of the children won "gold,""silver," and "bronze" medals.

There was an Olympic parade with thelighting and carrying of the official "olympic"torch, and each family carrying a flag representing their family and village, and openingand closing ceremonies. We parents left ourmeeting long enough to be present at theopening and award ceremonies. We all feel thatwe have a wonderful group of kids (even forMK's) and are thankful that they have eachother, especially when they are so far awayfrom their contemporaries at home in the U.S.We're only sorry that they only get to see eachother once or twice a year here.

We returned to Manus on January 31.Jonathan, Adam, and Diane worked overtimewith school to finish on time. Wes and I plungedback into language work. Since our phonologystatement was finished and printed, we beganto concentrate on Kurti grammar. I set aboutgathering, recording, transcribing andglossing new texts while Wes put what wealready had into, the computer and began thetedious task of "dissecting" each word in preparation for a concordance. It has been exciting tosee the patterns and to make hypotheses about

Wes, Alia, Alice and Dave Parrish and Donna Gummoe singing special at PBT's annual meeting in Madang.

rules that might describe these patterns. Wefeel that we have enough data and are preparedto make our formal grammar write-up when wereturn to PNG after our mini-furlough. This isanother important step in our language program and we ask for your prayers for our guidance. When the grammar is finished we can go"full steam ahead" with translation. We alsoask for your prayers that God will lead us toother national translators who will be able towork with us in this great task. We have continued to work with Alex and Kasimir in the

translation of Joshua but it is going quite slowly because of other obligations that they havein the village and with their families.

We enjoyed several visitors during our lastfew months in the village. Bill Martin and hisfamily, and a new translator family for Manus,the Jerry Pfaffs, spent a few days with us inMarch. They are both with SIL. Adam's birthday on March 20 was the occasion for a visitfrom our German missionary friends who cameout and spent the weekend with us to help celebrate. Then the first week of April we enjoyedhaving Gary and Gerri Weythman and three oftheir children with us. They are our supportfamily in Madang, along with all the other jobsthey fulfill there, and it was a treat to finallyhave them visit our village. Gary is supervisingour new PBT office building project in Madangand was in need of a break. We appreciate thework they and our other support teams inMadang are doing. Our last visitors beforeleaving the village were Ruth Ann Lusk, herS-year-old daughter, Carrie Beth, and herparents, Clyde and Lois Whitby. Ruth Ann andher husband, Keith, were with us in school atSIL in Dallas, we were in jungle camp togetherin PNG and we both chose language groups onManus Island with whom to work. Unfortunately Keith died of cancer last August in theStates before they could complete their workwith the Titan people of Manus Island. RuthAnn came back to PNG for a visit, to dispose of

Easter dinner in Souh village with the Weythman family.

their possessions there and close out their workon Rambutyo Island. Ruth Ann's parents areliteracy workers in the highlands of PNG. Weenjoyed their visit and will miss their fellowship on Manus Island.

Our last couple of weeks in the village werespent sorting and packing, preparing the houseto be left for almost 5 months, and making last-minute travel plans.

We miss our Kurti friends but feel that we arevery much in need of a break.

Please pray that this summer will be a refreshing time for us even with all our travels.We're looking forward to visiting many of you.Thank you for your continued prayers andsupport. Our main prayer requests at this timeare for our safe travels and for the Kurti peopleback on Manus Island in PNG that they willhave a deep hunger for God's Word so thatwhen we return in the fall they will be enthusiastic and anxious to help us get this tremendous job done.

KINSHIP REDEEMERWhen Alta was teaching the story of Ruth to

the ladies of Sou in her Sunday Bible story time,she was struggling to find a way to explainwhat a "kinship redeemer" was. She tried inboth Pidgin and Kurti and when she was finally successful in explaining the term, the ladieswere thrilled. They understood almost perfectly what it meant because in their culture theyhave a similar relationship. It doesn't alwaysinvolve marrying the widow or having childrento carry on a brother's name but does involve anobligation to care for and look after the relative. It's exciting to see the reactions of theKurti ' people when something in Biblicalculture strikes home to them. Many things aremore clear to them than to us because of some ofthe similarities in the two cultures. We stillhaven't come up with an equivalent to "kinshipredeemer" but are working on it.

Adam was 14 years old onMarch 20.

Before you move, please send the inlllng label below, along with copy ol your new addresi lo:MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 2427, Knoivllle, TN 37901-2427.

Mission ServicesPO Box 2427Knoxville, TN 37901-2427

AOORESS COMECTION REQUSSTED

CHANGE IN PLANS

As we reported in our last newsletter we hadplanned to be home just for the summer, a sortof mini-furlough of 4V2 months. We arrivedhome the end of May and had a busy summervisiting churches, family and attending PBTfunctions. Two weeks before we were to leavethe U.S. to return to Papua New Guinea, onOctober 2, we discovered that my (Alta's) fatherhad colon cancer which had metastasized to theliver and abdominal wall. Dad had surgery toremove part of his colon from which herecovered well. However the doctors were notvery encouraging with a prognosis for him.They gave us the usual one for this type ofcancer which is a life expectancy of from 6months to 2 years. Of course this was a greatshock to all of us. Our first concern, of course,was to uphold my father in prayer andencourage him with our presence. He is aChristian and faithful worker in the church.While praying for him, we also began to prayfor God's guidance for our plans in the light ofthis new development. We have made thedecision to not return to PNG right away asplanned but to extend our time to an open-endedfurlough. We are confident that my fatherneeds us now in this time of his life when he hasthe hardest battle of his life before him. Godhas given us peace in this decision.

Beasleys' Backlogof news from

Papua New Guinea

Field Address:Wes & Alta Beasleyc/o Pioneer Bible TranslatorsP.O. Boi 997Madang. Papua New Guinea

Forwarding Agents:Larry & Dottie Tanksley112 Sione CoveClinton. MS 39056Phone (601) 924-0299

July/December 1988

OUR IMMEDIATE PLANSWhen we made the decision to stay close to

my parents indefinitely, we had many otherquick decisions to make. After cancelling ourflight reservations and notifying our fellowmissionaries in PNG, we set about trying todetermine where to put the boys in school. Mostschools had been in session for at least twoweeks by then. We put them in a small schoolcalled Forest Area High School which is about10 miles from where my folks live. We decidedthat a small school would be less of anadjustment for them. We feel, after 2 months,that we made the right decision. The boys aremaking friends; Jonathan is in the bandlearning to play the tenor saxophone, the tubaand the bass drums; and they like their teachers and are well-liked by students and staffalike. Adam is in the 9th grade and Jonathan isin the 10th grade. After getting the boys settledinto school, we then started looking for a housein that school district.

The next major decision for us was whether torent or buy. We had planned to come home foran extended furlough in 1990 when Jonathanwould be in the 12th grade and Adam in the11th grade. We would then remain in theStatesuntil they both finished high school and weresettled into college or their chosen career. Atthat time, we had planned to begin buying ahouse for our eventual permanent return to theU.S. Since the extent of our time here inMichigan is not known, we decided that we

would begin to buy a house now rather than payrent indefinitely. We had been saving forseveral years for a down payment. We found anice 4 year old house only 8 miles from my folks'home and 2 miles from the boys' school. Wepraise the Lord for helping us find a suitablehouse.

Meanwhile, we have been first staying withmy parents, then one month in a borrowed"summer" and "deer hunting" mobile home,and are now house-sitting for my sister and herhusband while they are away. We are anxiousto "unpack" for a longer period of time it'sbeen since the middle of May that we have beenliving out of a suitcase. I have been taking careof my father'sinsurance paperwork, going withhim to his doctor appointments, attendingcancer-awareness classes with my sisters, andgenerally trying to help my parents whereverpossible. Dad is strong and is able to get back todaily activities, but has been quite depressedwith his condition. He began takingchemotherapy treatments this week. We praythat his cancer will go into remission.

We enjoyed a beautiful Michigan fall. Ifigured out that I had not seen a Michigan fallsince 1973. It has been nice. Now we are gettinga taste of an early Michigan winter. Jonathanis ready to return to PNG. He says it is too coldhere. He just hasn't gotten used to dressingwarmly yet. This is the guy whose PNGuniform consists of a pair of boxer shorts yearround. We have bought and borrowed somewarm clothes, enough to keep us from freezingcompletely. My home church at Spencer isplanning a miscellaneous shower for us to getsome of the things we need for the house andpersonal clothing needs to help us through thewinter. Most of our household things are inPNG but we always leave a minimum ofkitchen items, linens, etc. here in the States forwhen we are on furlough. So we aren't startingcompletely from scratch. We will borrowfurniture. Some has been given to us and wewill buy a piece here and there whenever we areable to do so. We thank our families, friendsand Christian brothers and sisters for pitchingin. The Lord is taking care of us. We are still ina whirlwind, left with our heads spinning, asyou can imagine. But, we are trusting the Lordto be our guide and comfort and to show us Hiswill. This sudden change of plans has been abig cause of anxiety on our part, wonderinghow long we can put our translation work onhold, but we know God is in control and trust

Him to be working things out daily. Pleasepray with us to that end.

mamm

Jonathan and Adam with other furloughing PBT childrenat the Pioneer Linguistic Institute held in May at St. LouisChristian College. Jonathan and Adam helped look after thesmaller children while their parents were involved in theinstitute program.

FUTURE PLANSOf course our future is in the Lord's hands,

but we will tell you what we have come up withso far as a result of prayer and consultationwith our PBT leaders. We will remain hereindefinitely, spending as much time with myfather as possible and helping him and mymother wherever needed. Wes will make a tripto Papua New Guinea in January of 1989 totake care of our house and to talk with our PBTpersonnel there, with the Kurti village leaders,and with our language helpers. He will try todetermine at that time whether it is feasible toput our language program on "hold" or to try toget another translator family to take overtemporarily. Please be in prayer for thesedecisions. Kasimir has been trying to get eightchapters of Joshua translated and checked byan advisor so he could attend the secondsession of the National Translators' Course.But, without our presence in the village to helphim, we feel that that job will be hampered.Please pray for him. Wes has talked to our PBTPresident, Rondal Smith, and Rondal feels thatPBT can use Wes while he is in the States inseveral capacities. Some of these include

speaking to colleges and churches on behalf ofPBT, recruitment, continuing to work oncurriculum for the National Translators'Course, and working on the computer data basefor the Greek New Testament. (This latter willbe a great help for the translators in determining the meaning of the Greek text.) We are alsoarranging some speaking engagements toreport on our work and to educate our churchesin the need of Bible Translation in unwrittenlanguages. Wes will bring our language datafrom PNG when he returns in January and wehope to be able to finish writing our grammarstatement. That was to be our next majorproject on returning from our furlough. We'renot sure this can be accomplished without Kurtispeakers to confer with, but we will try. We willknow more what our future holds after Wes'visit to PNG in January and will let you know.

Wes teaching phonology to recruits at the PioneerLinguistic Institute held at St. Louis Christian College theend of May. He also taught classes in socioiinguistics,relationship with supporting churches, and one on finances.

OUR SUPPORTMany have asked about our financial

support. We have been "self-supporting" since1975 when Wes was retired from the U.S. Armyon a disability pension. When we werepreparing to go to Papua New Guinea asmissionaries we spoke to several of thechurches where we were known and as a resultraised enough money to cover the "mission"

expenses of our endeavor. Many others havejoined in supporting our work since that time.Even while overseas we used Wes' retirementfunds for our personal living expenses and usedthe funds from churches and individuals onlyfor mission expenses. We continue to do thatwhile we are home. We don't know how much itwill take to live in the States now, pay amortgage payment, the kids' school expenses,etc., but, if it takes more than what Wes receivesfrom his pension, then we will get jobs to coverthose personal expenses.

We will continue to have mission expenseswhile we are here in the States. Wes will haveseveral trips to make, including the one to PNG,and we continue to have mission expenses inPNG also. We hope to be able to continue tosend the fellows to the National Translators'Course and will use mission funds for that. Wewill do whatever is necessary to keep our Kurtitranslation program going, but will need thosemission funds to do so. Our supporters havebeen very gracious through the years and wepraise God for each and every one of them. Godhas provided abundantly for every missionneed we have had through them. If any of youhave questions concerning our mission supportcall us through our forwarding agents. We willgive you our Michigan address and phonenumber in our next letter.

Wes and Alta with Alta's father, ThadTannerattheNorthAmerican Christian Convention in Cincinnati.

WHERE'S DIANE?How can we thank God for the great help

Diane was to us for the past 3 years? Shetirelessly took care of our boys' education,

ordering books a year in advance, agonizingover orders and whether they would arrive intime, digging into resource material so shecould be better prepared to give Jonathan andAdam the best education possible, and manyother time-consuming activities. Diane and theboys did 4 years of school in less than 3 yearstime, giving up free time and Saturdays to doso. This freed me to work with Wes on thelanguage almost full time. Diane must havedone an excellent job in educating the boysthrough the junior high grades and into highschool. We have just received their grades forthe first 9 weeks period and they did very well.Jonathan made all A's and B's and even passedwith flying colors an exam that the state ofMichigan gives to all 10th graders. The highschool counselor and all his teachers were verycomplimentary of him and his ability. He made100% on two sections and 97% on the othersection of a three-part exam, which theyexplained to us was excellent and quiteunusual.

We know everyone is wondering what hashappened to Diane since our change of plans.We had all planned to return to PNG togetherand she was planning to continue asJonathan's and Adam's teacher as long as weneeded her. Well, our loss is someone else'sgain. Diane returned to Papua New Guinea asplanned on October 2. She is now working withthe children of translators, Kyle and KathyHarris and Dave and Alice Parrish. She willalso be teaching the children of the January-March session of jungle campers which willinclude some PBT trainees. She will keep busybut is happiest that way. She will make a tripout to Manus Island to visit our villagers and toget some of her things from our house. Pleasebe praying for her as she continues her veryvaluable job and especially that she will be ableto handle not being settled in one place for anextended period of time.

OUR HEALTHWe all had complete physicals after arriving

in the States and generally we were all found tobe in very good health. Some of Alta's X-raysrevealed a breast lump which looked veryserious. Surgery was done a few days later andthe lump proved to be non-malignant. Wepraise the Lord for that. Adam's exams showed

that he is continuing to battle allergies whichcause a lot of sinus congestion but this was nosurprise to us. He is still on medication for that.Wes has had three malaria attacks sincereturning to the States and each one is moresevere. We all took eradication doses formalaria when we arrived in the States butapparently Wes' dose was not effective. Wehave decided that he will go back on weeklymalaria medicine to keep from having theattacks until after he returns from his trip toPNG in January. Then he will try anothereradication dose which we hope will beeffective. Thank you for your prayers for usduring these past few months.

Thad and Irene Tanner with theirsix children at their50thwedding anniversary celebration in July. (Alta ia secondfrom left.)

PRAYER AND PRAISE

PRAISE GOD FOR:

our safe travels during the summer

Alta's good report after breast surgery (it wasbenign!)

our wonderful family ofsupporters and Christian friends and our supportive families

helping us find a lovely house

the boys' quick adjustment to Stateside highschool and their kind and receptive teachersand fellow students

our home church, Southwest Christian inJackson, MS, and our forwarding agents,Larry and Dottie Tanksley, their love andsupport

PRAY FOR THESE THINGS:

our continued adjustment to such an abruptchange of plans

-the many decisions to be made concerningour Kurti translation project

-Kasimir and Alex, our language helpers, asthey make decisions on how to work while weare absent

-that the Kurtis will remain interested in having God's Word in their language without ourpresence to encourage them

-guidance in working with different PioneerBible Translators' projects while in theStates indefinitely

-Diane as she settles into several differentschedules in several different locations

for the boys as they continue to adjust tohighschool, new friends, and social activities

Alta's father, Thad Tanner, that the chemotherapy treatments will not make him ill andwill be successful; for his complete healing

OUR WISH FOR YOUSince this will be our last

communication with many of youbefore Christmas, we want to takethis opportunity to wish you all avery blessed Christmas season. Wepray that it will be a happy timefor^ou andryour famiHes-and thaiChrist will be glorified in yourlives. Thank you for thinking ofusand helping to make ourChristmasses in PNG so happywith your cards and gifts. Godbless each one of you.

$

Belor* you move, please Miid the mailing label below, along with a copy ot your new addreti to:MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 2427, Knosvilte, TN 37901-2427.

Mission ServicesPO Box 2427Knoxville. TN 37901-2427

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Non Profit Org37950-9998

U.S. Postage PaidKnoxville, TNPermit #374

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