Steve and Sharon Hawkins have been interested in missions since 1997 when Steve went on a short-term trip to Guatemala with Redeemer’s Bible Fellowship. Sharon followed in 1998, and they both returned in 1999. Wanting to involve their children, they made two trips to Baja Mexico in 2000 and 2002. Then, prompted by an invitation from friends serving in Papua New Guinea (PNG), they joined Wycliffe Bible Translators. During the 2006-07 school year, Steve took a leave of absence from his teaching position at Glide High School and he, Sharon, and the family traveled to PNG. Steve taught at Ukarumpa International School (UIS) and Sharon worked in the on-center store that provides basic supplies for missionaries. With Steve’s retirement from public education, he and Sharon plan to return to PNG and both teach at UIS. This plays a vital role in supporting Bible translation by providing education for the children of translators and other support staff.
In the Great Commission, Christ says to “make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Effective disciple making requires people to have access to the Scripture in their heart language. In PNG over 800 languages are spoken and about 300 of those still have no Scripture translation. Currently, Wycliffe Bible Translators has over 100 new translation projects in PNG and is committed to making sure that every one of those 300 language groups has access to the Scripture. By becoming a prayer and/or financial partner, you can be part of a team helping to bring the Word of God to those who have not yet heard.
Dear Friends,
This newsletter is long past due, although we were able to connect with many of you this past summer when we came home for a visit. Others of you were at least aware of our major earthquake on Sept 11 via the pictures I posted on Facebook. So please pardon any pictures or news some of you may have already seen or heard.
It is astounding how quickly time passes. We are already in our second quarter of classes for this school year. One of the bright spots this year has been the return of all school activities with unlimited attendance. In a small community like Ukarumpa, the school is a major part of community life. Sports, concerts, recitals, and plays provide opportunities for students and help bring the community together. At the end of the 2020 school year, the school did not even have a graduation ceremony be-cause of Covid restrictions. During the 2020-21 school year, interscholastic sports were eliminated in the whole country. At UIS concerts, and even at graduation, attendance was limited to family and teachers. The return of all activities this year is a definite emotional boost to students, parents, faculty, and the whole community.
The school year has started well for us. Sharon is once again at the primary campus, but this year all of her time is focused on tutoring four students who have reading difficulties. Steve is teaching 8th grade English, 10th grade English, 11th/12th British Lit and 7th/8th P.E. Most of the English curriculum he has taught at least once, and much of it he has taught for many years from his time at Glide High School. In terms of teaching, this year promises to be a less stressful than the last one.
But Sunday, September 11, gave us all a jolt . . . literally. Papua New Guinea (PNG) was hit by a 7.6 earthquake. Probably five seconds into the quake, we realized it was not the ordinary tremblor we get here and headed outside, where we rode it out for close to a minute. There were no injuries on Center and most structures sustained only minor dam-age. There were a few houses with significant damage, but none fell. Many of the houses are built on post and footing, so they tend to flex in earthquakes. At the secondary campus, the chemistry storage room was a mess, the library was a chaos of books, and all teachers had a lot of cleanup and reorganizing to do. But by late morning and early afternoon, students and others from the community arrived to help with the cleanup. Others went to the store to begin helping there. Sharon entertained our neighbor kids so parents could clean up their houses. We managed to have school the next day, but I had a couple of my classes working in the library to begin sorting and reshelving books. It was great to see how the community pulled together during this difficult time.
Besides the quake, there have been a few other things that have made the past few months different from what we usually expect. First, the quake damaged the fiber net cable that feeds us from Australia. Thankfully, our mission has invested in a new Vsat system that has greatly helped our internet issues. Connections can still be slow at times, especially when many are trying to access the net, but we are thankful for fairly reliable service. Another issue, until just recently, has been a lack of rainfall. June through September is our “dry season” which usually means cooler and not as wet as the rest of the year. This year it was clearly dry. Here, that means drinking water is limited because that comes from runoff from our tin roofs. We were even limited on our non-potable water, since the stream that provides that water ran too low. For some, the situation was worsened by the quake, which damaged some of the home water tanks. The past few weeks have provided some good downpours, and it appears that rainy season has begun.
Steve has taken on two other responsibilities this year. In May, he was asked to help lead the 10th grade boys’ community group. There is a boys and girls community group for each grade. They meet individually once a week for a Bible study and then all together on Sunday evening for what is called Soul Purpose. He is also serving as the assistant basketball coach for the girls’ high school team. While both of these activities add work time to his week, he really enjoys coaching and each of these activities allows him to interact with students on a different level. But with those additional responsibilities, he is trying to be wise in saying “No” to being involved in anything else, especially with the end of the semester approaching.
More Than Translation:
When people hear about Wycliffe Bible Translators, they probably think solely in terms of Bible Translation. But there is much more to getting God’s Word into every life in every language. At the Training Center here, there are several courses that train PNG citizens as translators so they can assume more of the responsibility of helping to translate the Scriptures in-to the language that best speaks to them and their language group. Other courses, usually taught in villages, help apply Scripture to life. One of those is Culture Meets Scripture. What follows is a story shared by Matt Taylor in his recent newsletter. He and his wife Christy are translators for the Nukna language group. Matt is a friend of Steve’s and his partner in leading the 10th grade boys’ community group. It is testimonies like this that are good reminders of why we are here.
When the light of God’s word shines into our lives and cultures, amazing things can happen. In September, the Nukna people took part in the Culture Meets Scripture (CMS) course, and God showed up in a big way! The Nukna were divided into thirteen groups, and each group chose one specific cultural practice to examine through the lens of God’s word.
The group Matt mentored chose fear of the spirits of the dead as their topic. These topics are not usually talked about in the open. We wondered if the Nukna would be willing to ex-pose these practices and discuss them honestly in a public setting. On the third day we be-came aware that there was a “glass woman” (one who claims to speak to the spirits of the dead) present among the course participants.
We noticed that she was shaking and chanting under her breath. She was also sitting next to people from her home village, speaking quietly to them, “Don’t listen to these lessons. Follow the ways of the ancestors.”Matt approached her and asked, “Are you a glass woman?”and she replied, “Yes, last night the spirits of the dead came to me and I spoke with them.” A public prayer was offered, asking God for protection against any powers that sought to disrupt the course. We told the glass woman that she was free to stay, but was not allowed to interfere with the course anymore. During the next two weeks, we were able to share the gospel message with her, and read verses to her that show that speaking with the dead is wrong, and now we continue to pray that God would change her heart. Through this incident, it was very clear to us that spiritual opposition was present as the Nukna people contemplated big changes in their beliefs and practices.
About one week into the course, a challenge of another kind occurred. A massive 7.6 earthquake struck. In the early hours of the following morning, we heard wailing coming from a nearby house. The body of a Nukna man named James had been found down by the river, killed by a landslide triggered by the earthquake. He left behind a wife and two young children. The CMS course was put on hold for two days while we joined the Nukna people to mourn his passing and conduct the burial and funeral. Many of the Nukna people believe that when a person dies, his or her spirit wanders the earth for a period of time, and often causes trouble or sickness, especially among those whom the person wasn’t friendly with. For the Nukna group that was investigating “fear of spirits of the dead” as part of the CMS course, their topic all of a sudden became very immediate and relevant. As the course continued, we encouraged the people to dig below the surface, to identify the roots of their cultural practices. For example, when people talked about their fear of the dead, they asked themselves, “Why are we afraid?”And the answer was, “We’re afraid that they have power over us, to harm us.” The groups then spent time looking at what the Bible says about who truly has power in the lives of Christian believers. Their final conclusion was, “We need to stop doing things out of fear of the spirits. We need to trust in God!”
On the last two days, all thirteen groups publicly presented their topics to a large gathering of the Nukna people. As each group presented, people from the community would ask questions, make comments, and voice their support for each group’s findings. They were open and even eager to publicly discuss these practices that are normally not mentioned openly. For each of the cultural practices and beliefs investigated during the course, all thirteen groups concluded their presentations by saying, “We need to stop doing these things! We need to change and honor God with our actions!” We give God all the glory for leading the Nukna people to make these courageous statements, and we ask you to join us in prayer that they would rely on God’s strength to follow through and make real and lasting changes in their villages, families and individual lives.
We know this has been longer than our usual letters, but there was much to share. We continue to be grateful for the partnership that allows us to be here and support the work of providing God’s Word to people in the language that speaks to their heart.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Steve and Sharon
If you would like to partner with us, you can do so online here:
https://www.wycliffe.org/Partner/Hawkins
Or partner by mail:
Wycliffe Bible Translators P.O. Box 628200
Orlando, FL 32862
To give by check, please make the check out to “Wycliffe Bible Translators” and include a separate note stating: “Preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Steve and Sharon Hawkins. Acct #285058
All donations are tax deductible.