2010 becomes 2011

LOOKING BACK
2010 is nearly over and it has been a most eventful year for us.

FAMILY... Our family was blessed with two additions and happy celebrations. Our first grandchild, Max, was born on February 2, and we were able to be there for that special event. Then, in September we were back in San Diego for the wedding of our youngest, Bethy, as she and Ricky Cobabe started their new life together.

TRANSLATION... We are very thankful for encouraging progress in the Palawano Translation. This year we completed the translation and final checking of the book of Luke (a long book: 15% of New Testament!) and we finished the first draft and early revision of more than ten additional NT books totaling another 22%. On top of that, we took several of those books through the next few steps in the procedure.

MINISTRY... Our first-ever trip to Singapore, courtesy of NTM Singapore, was an adventure and the fulfillment of a dream we've had since 1987, after a short-term team of Singaporeans came to our Palawano village. We were blessed to be involved in a camp challenging young Singaporeans to take the gospel to unreached people in Asia.

CRAZY STUFF... It was stressful and difficult, but God saw us through having to evacuate our house and deal with the lingering health hazards of termite poison. We're glad to be settled in and back to work.

We want to thank God for all he has done in 2010 and express our appreciation to you who have prayed and been a part!

LOOKING AHEAD
2011 will provide another welcome addition to our family--Max's little sister! Elisa and Chris are expecting our first granddaughter in March. We're praying for God to provide a way for us to be there for that.

We are laying out the plans for continued translation and some final checks to get additional portions of the Word of God into the Palawano language as we move closer to our goal of the completed New Testament.

PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• praise for amazing blessings in 2010!
• continued progress in translation
• health, strength and wisdom
• provision for travel to be there for our granddaughter's birth

Thanks for praying and standing with us in this ministry.

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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THANKFUL
This week, as usual we are focusing on many things we have to be thankful for. During this stressful time of being moved out of our house, we are particularly thankful for a nice guest house where we can stay, helpful friends, God's many provisions and blessings, and especially all of you who are praying and sending us encouraging words.

Here's an update.

BUGS
The work is done at the house, but it still smells like termite poison. A little less than yesterday, though. So it'll be after Thanksgiving (at the earliest) before we can move back in. We're hoping that in a few more days the smell will be gone.

MUD
A big problem is our access road. It's an unpaved dirt lane, and it's the only way for us to get to the street or from the street to our house. The construction crews have totally trashed it recently with heavy equipment, softening the road and creating big holes. It's WORSE than when we left the house. So far their answer has been to pile a foot-thick layer of soft dirt on it! It's already a mess and there is a risk of our vehicle getting stuck. With another hard rain like we've been having nearly every day, it will be totally impassable. We've talked to our landlord and she will complain to the engineers overseeing the construction again.

Culture note: Not only is it the landlord's responsibility, but it's the Filipino way to file a complaint indirectly through an intermediary. It might cause shame or seem overly confrontational if either of us spoke to the crews directly.

What would really fix the problem is for them to scrape it back down to the hard undersurface and to spread crushed rock on it. Please pray that they will do this, and respond without taking offense, so that neighborly relationships can be maintained. We can't really move back home very easily until the road is fixed.

MEANWHILE
Just to keep us flexible and to show his sense of humor, the Lord allowed the bathroom plumbing in our guest home room to disintegrate last night, so we had to pack up and move to another room this morning, including all our translation set-up, food in the cabinets, a full fridge, etc. Thanks to our partner who tried so hard to fix it without us having to move!

Yes, we're still smiling (in between sighs), but pray for us. We're feeling a little borderline overwhelmed here.

PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• termite poison smell to dissipate quickly
• for our road to be fixed without incident
• that we can move back into our house soon
• rescheduling of Susing's translation work sessions
• good progress on translation while we are out of our home

Thanks for praying!

Reaching Palawanos together with you (just from a different location this week),

-Bill and Donna

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TRIALS of TERMITES, TRAILS, TV - TRANSLATION...
It's a week for us where everything seems to start with "T."

TERMITES...
We noticed some evidence of termites in our house (very common on Palawan!) So we notified the property manager. She looked at it today and is going to schedule some repair by her carpenters, and an exterminator will come and treat the perimeter and parts of the house with termite poison.

This is a concern to us. Bill's asthma is doing okay lately, but he reacts very severely to the odor of chemicals like bug spray, kerosene and gasoline, etc. (He even avoids the soap aisle of grocery stores.) We will pack up the food and utensils in the kitchen and pack up our bedroom and move to NTM's Guest Home across town. We will stay out of the house for a week or so. Hopefully the smells will be gone by that time. We don't want to return to having asthma attacks like he was having a few years ago.

TRANSLATION NEWS
The work with Lini went well. Donna got completely through Galatians with her and they were pushing ahead into Romans. We had planned to have Susing come up next week to finish Romans with Donna. But that is on hold while our life is packed up in plastic bags and boxes and we are living in a single mission home room. We will continue drafting Mark and doing other translation work while we are out of the house and reschedule Susing's trip as soon as we can.

TRIALS OF TRAIL AND TV
A hardware store is being built on the highway near our house and the unpaved lane which is the only access to and from our property is what the construction crews are using to get to the site. Their heavy equipment is churning up our lane and with all the heavy rain lately, we're afraid our vehicle will be stuck in the mud one of these days!

The smallest "trial" of all is that our TV died. But we usually prefer to read in the evenings, anyway. Plus our cable provider cancelled the Food Network, which is about the only channel we ever watched, anyway. And it certainly didn't help our diet to watch that!

PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• termite problem to be resolved without asthma attacks!
• that we can move back into our house quickly
• rescheduling of Susing's translation work sessions
• good progress on translation while we are out of our home
• construction to be completed soon (maybe they will gravel the road?)

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Translation Helper in Da House!

LINI IS IN TOWN...
Donna is busy this week working with Lini on the recording step of translating Galatians and Romans. Lini was Elisa's childhood best friend in the tribe. So it's a joy to work with her now that she's a young mother of three, since we've known her for her entire life. She brought two of her children (our Palawano "grandchildren") to Puerto with her.

RECORDING TRANSLATION...
The recording step is an important part of getting the Palawano Scriptures to sound natural and to flow smoothly. It is also a very intense task, mentally taxing with lots of speaking out loud. So Donna and Lini need extra energy to keep going all week.

KEEPING IT GOING!
Pray with us that the electricity will stay on every day, so the computers, lights and fans, etc., keep working while Lini is here. We are also asking the Lord to keep the technology (the aging Mac and iPod used for recording) cooperative. These tools are a huge help in the translation process compared to the typewriters and cassette players we used in years past. Now we're really dependent upon them!

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• strength and wisdom for Donna and Lini
• successful recording of Galatians and Romans
• electricity to stay on; computers and iPod to work
• Bill as he drafts Mark and works on other books

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Translation and Wedding

Translation... and a wedding. Where have you heard that before?

No, we're not translating John chapter 2 with the story about the miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. We're talking about what's been going on in our lives lately...

WEDDING...
We just got back from a quick trip to the USA for our daughter Bethy's wedding. Everything came together nicely and the wedding was a fun time for everyone. Bethy and Ricky said it was "perfect." We're so grateful for the friends and family and Bethy's coworkers at Habitat who all pitched in to make it a special day. We enjoyed spending some time with Elisa, Chris and our grandson Max, too.

TRANSLATION...
In recent weeks, Bill was able to complete the first drafts of some really important books: Romans, Galatians and 1 John. We really want to get these books into the hands of the Palawano Christians. Can you imagine not having the book of Romans? ...or Galatians or 1 John?! So much vital truth there.

Then, just before flying to California, his Palawano translation helpers came to town and they were able to go over those three drafts and to do some work on 1-2 Timothy. Bill never expected to get all that done in the time they had together, but we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly they were able to progress through the material. They were also able to completely finish all the final details remaining from the consultant check of the gospel of Luke! So we can print some preliminary copies of that soon! We're excited about that.

Now Bill is pushing ahead with drafting some new books, and Donna is getting ready to do the steps of recording and checking all that previous material.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• as we continue with the translation work
  
• for our health and stamina day by day
  
• for Bethy and Ricky in their new married life
• for God's continued provision for this ministry

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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(NOTE: this was supposed to post weeks ago)


DONNA IS WELL...
We're thankful that Donna finally seems to be completely over her bout of dengue fever. She was very sick with a fever for a week and then weak and easily tired for about another week. Whew! Thanks to all who prayed.

TRANSLATION MOVING AHEAD...
Bill just finished the first draft of Galatians. What an awesome book. Now he's starting on Romans and doing some revision of 1-2 Timothy. We'll have the Palawano men come up in a few weeks and work through all this material. That visit should also finish up a few final details so that we can print and distribute copies of the recently-checked book of Luke.

WEDDING PLANS!
Our daughter Bethy is getting married to Ricky Cobabe in September! Ricky's a great guy, and were were first able to meet him when they visited here in November (actually they got engaged right here in Puerto in our gazebo.) So we'll be traveling to California for the wedding. It will be a fairly quick trip, but Donna will go a little ahead, to help with pre-wedding details. Bill will continue working on translation here and fly about a week before the wedding. We're excited about this special event, and the chance to see Elisa and Chris and our grandson Max, who will be 7 months old by then.

Bill is also planning to participate in the 7th ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning) in Colorado Springs at the end of September, just before we return to the Philippines. Since 2002, he's been the NTM representative on the steering committee for this event which helps to further the spread of the gospel by training missionary language learning consultants.

Unless another place opens up, it looks like we can stay with Donna's sister while we're in the USA. But we need a car to use while we're there (Aug 22 through Oct 4), so we're praying about that.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• health and strength
• continued progress in the translation
• provision for travel and workshop costs
• a car to use while we're in the USA
• all the details for the wedding to come together

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Recovery, Translation and a Wedding!

DONNA IS WELL...
We're thankful that Donna finally seems to be completely over her bout of dengue fever. She was very sick with a fever for a week and then weak and easily tired for about another week. Whew! Thanks to all who prayed.

TRANSLATION MOVING AHEAD...
Bill just finished the first draft of Galatians. What an awesome book. Now he's starting on Romans and doing some revision of 1-2 Timothy. We'll have the Palawano men come up in a few weeks and work through all this material. That visit should also finish up a few final details so that we can print and distribute copies of the recently-checked book of Luke.

WEDDING PLANS!
Our daughter Bethy is getting married to Ricky Cobabe in September! Ricky's a great guy, and were were first able to meet him when they visited here in November (actually they got engaged right here in Puerto in our gazebo.) So we'll be traveling to California for the wedding. It will be a fairly quick trip, but Donna will go a little ahead, to help with pre-wedding details. Bill will continue working on translation here and fly about a week before the wedding. We're excited about this special event, and the chance to see Elisa and Chris and our grandson Max, who will be 7 months old by then.

Bill is also planning to participate in the 7th ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning) in Colorado Springs at the end of September, just before we return to the Philippines. Since 2002, he's been the NTM representative on the steering committee for this event which helps to further the spread of the gospel by training missionary language learning consultants.

Unless another place opens up, it looks like we can stay with Donna's sister while we're in the USA. But we need a car to use while we're there (Aug 22 through Oct 4), so we're praying about that.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• health and strength
• continued progress in the translation
• provision for travel and workshop costs
• a car to use while we're in the USA
• all the details for the wedding to come together

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Patient Lomi All Better!

SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
A final update on Lomi.

The surgeon was able to completely remove the growth without incident and Lomi healed up quickly after his three-hour operation. After a follow-up visit to the doctor yesterday, he and his family were able to go home.

Thank you for praying concerning Lomi's surgery, and for his parents Malmagan and Salmida. Please continue to pray for them, especially that the help they received would make them open to the gospel.

Meanwhile, translation is in progress and we are working on 1-2 Timothy and Galatians.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• for Lomi and his family - salvation
  
• as we also continue the translation work

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Surgery for Lomi

ON TO SURGERY
A quick update on our little Palawano patient. Lomi's surgery is scheduled for today (Monday) morning, June 21. The doctor thinks it might take as long as 3 hours as they want to go slowly to minimize blood loss with such a small patient.

Please continue to pray for little Lomi and his parents Malmagan and Salmida.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• for Lomi and his family
• wisdom for the doctors
• safe, successful surgery
• for us as we help them
• as we also continue the translation work

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna


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Update on Patient Lomi

ON TO SURGERY
A quick update on Lomi. The CT scan showed that the growth was indeed the kind of tumor the doctor suspected, but it is totally encapsulated and has not invaded any other organs or bone! It should be 100% operable. We praise God for that and thank everyone who is praying.

Lomi needs to see a pediatrician tomorrow to be cleared for surgery, so our partner Rich will be taking him for that appointment (both the pediatrician and the surgeon go to our church here in Puerto).

The way things work here in the Philippines is that Lomi will need to have blood donated in advance, since the hospitals do not stock it. Rich is O+, so we only need to find one more donor to match Lomi's blood type and we should be good to go.

Please continue to pray for little Lomi and his parents Malmagan and Salmida.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• for Lomi and his family
• wisdom for the doctors
• safe, successful surgery
• for us as we help them
• as we also continue the translation work

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Palawano Patient

POOR LITTLE GUY
We spent today taking a Palawano family to the hospital. They are from another area (not our village down south) but went to our partners for help who then sent them up here for us to take to the doctor.

Their little 4 year-old son has this huge growth so that one of his buttocks is enlarged (larger than a softball but not quite a volleyball). It's gotten painful recently and is causing problems for him.

The doctor requested a CT scan to determine what kind of growth it is, whether or not it is cancer, and where (and how large) it might be internally. He needs to know if it is attached to the spine or pelvis.

So today we took them for blood work and the CT scan. The nurses were very kind to this Palawano family who are not only far from home, but who feel so out of place here in "the big city" that they might as well have been dropped on Mars. They don't even speak the national language, Tagalog, much at all. So Nili's husband Odi accompanied them and helped us interface with the doctors and nurses. Because of various delays it took all morning and Lomi and his parents were really ready to leave the hospital... we were, too, actually, but at least we're healthy and used to living in town.

The lab work showed very low red blood counts and a high white blood count (possible infection?)

Now we're waiting for the results of the CT scan and then we'll have the doctor look at him and decide what can be done surgically.

Please pray for little Lomi and his parents Malmagan and Salmida. They're scared, uncomfortable and feeling out of place here in town. Pray for healing or that something can be done medically. But most of all, they need to know the Lord. So pray also that this time of getting medical help will be a way for them to see Jesus' love demonstrated in a way that will make them receptive to the gospel.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• for Lomi and his family
• wisdom for the doctor
• for us as we help them
• as we also continue the translation work

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Luke Check Update - Day Four

CHECKING LUKE... DAY FOUR
We are grateful for your prayers and the many words of encouragement we have received. God has really been gracious in answering and helping us with the consultant check.

Here are some notes of praise...

After only 3 days of checking, we are more than halfway through the book of Luke. This is way ahead of the projected schedule. It's actually going so well that the consultant is having Donna change her plane ticket today! She realizes she should be able to go home sooner. Moving quickly through a check like this usually means that the translation is natural in it wording, which is good!

In addition to being able to maintain a fast pace, the check is also finding very little that needs to be changed or adjusted. It is proving to be easily understood, which was our goal in the first place.

We have had no electrical power outages! Well, none during working hours... a couple mornings the power has been out from 4-6 in the morning, etc. So we are able to have power when we need it.

So far everyone is healthy and able to maintain the intense level of concentration hour after hour, day after day.

God is good!

SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY WITH US...

• for clear thinking
• for energy and good health
• for wisdom from the Lord
• for good electricity with no power outages

We're starting chapter 12 this morning. Keep praying until we're done with verse 24:53!

The Palawanos will soon have more of God's Word in their language.

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna


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Davis Update Apr 18

OVER FORTY

We're glad to be back in our home in Puerto Princesa. Another family housesat for us and took really good care of the house, the dog and the cat. But it's taken us a few days to move in and get settled. This time it's more than just unpacking our luggage, as we're unpacking all the boxes we filled when we packed up the house to give the house sitters empty shelves and drawers.

But "why Over Forty?" you might ask. Yes, it's not news that we're over forty. Mid-fifties, to be more precise. And sure, we've been grandparents now for well over 40 days. But...

...we're referring to how hot it is here now in the peak of dry season. Actually, to how hot it feels. The temperature in the house during the day is in the low-to-mid 90s and the humidity is around 65%. That means an apparent temperature (or "heat index") of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. That means that while it's 92, it actually feels like it's 105. And 104 degrees Fahrenheit is 40 degrees Celsius, so we're over forty. And it's not just us. Even our Filipino friends are telling us this is the hottest summer anyone remembers.

Also, we noted that this means that the difference in temperature for us since we left cool San Diego with its pleasant mid-60s temperatures, is again, over forty. We went almost instantly from 65 degrees to 105. That's a big gap... over forty, in fact. And meanwhile the air conditioning in our truck is going out, so we'll be getting that looked at a.s.a.p.!

We're not complaining, mind you. We're just melting. And we're trying to help you understand what we mean when we say "it's hot." We appreciate your prayers as we adjust so that we can be energetic and efficient in our translation ministry here in spite of the heat.

And God is gracious. Just this morning it rained. That's the first rain of the year and a welcome relief for us. More importantly, the Palawanos and other farmers need the rain for their recently-planted rice. And here in town, the water district needs rain. So we're all thankful.

SPEAKING OF TRANSLATION...

In this case, we're under forty. It's also actually less than forty days until the translation check of the entire book of Luke begins on May 15. Please be praying with us about that. Our desire is for the check to go smoothly, but that if anything needs to be changed to make the book communicate better, that we will discover it and easily find the way to best rephrase it.

Just like that newly-planted rice, the Word of God will be sown in the hearts of Palawanos, watered by the Spirit and bear fruit for eternal life! Thank you for your partnership in this ministry.

SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

for adjustment to the intense heat this time of year

to quickly get settled and fully back into translation

for the upcoming check of Luke

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Davis Update Apr 2

SAFELY ARRIVED...
We're thankful to have arrived safely back in the Philippines. The plane trip was long, but uneventful. Now we're here, already over jet lag, but still readjusting to the heat. Bill will attend some field leadership meetings this next week before we head to Palawan and get going on translation again

WHILE IN THE USA...
While we were in the USA for these past two months, God totally amazed us with his provision for us and so many encouragements. We want to pause to look back and thank him for everything. Airfare, housing, a car and cell phones to use, generous gifts to cover all Bill's medical expense deductibles, dental care, meals and fellowship... all were graciously provided. Several church groups and one of our doctors laid hands on us an prayed for us, our health and the Palawanos. The home fellowship that provided the phones even brought dinner and helped us clean our apartment the night before we left. Wow.

And then, Bill was able to get in to see doctors on very short notice, and to get tests and procedures scheduled, all within a two-month time frame! The best news of all being two biopsies came back benign, his heart was pronounced healthy, and his kidney stones... vanished. Yep, the CT scan showed the stones to be gone. We feel God simply dissolved them in answer to everyone's prayers. Again, wow.

And of course, we got to experience the life-changing and indescribable joy of becoming grandparents. We're thankful for Max's healthy arrival and how he's growing and developing. Now we'll miss him terribly, but he's well cared for there with his Mommy and Daddy!

We also got to spend some time with Bethy and Ricky and be a part of the initial planning for their wedding.

PLEASE PRAY WITH US...

• for adjustment to the intense heat this time of year
• to quickly get settled and fully back into translation
• for God's wisdom and guidance every day

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Davis Update Feb 12

PRAYERS ANSWERED... WITH JOY
God provided and opened up airline bookings for us to get to San Diego. Then our healthy, beautiful grandson Max was born last week on Feb 2, weighing 9 lbs 3 oz, and 21" long. We're so thankful and can't get enough of holding him and even just looking at him!

WHILE IN THE USA...
Besides seeing Max and helping Elisa and Chris a bit, we've been able to connect with some friends and supporters and churches. Bill has been working on translation in the in-between hours.

We are also using this time to follow-up on Bill's kidney stones and some other health issues. Praise God he was able to get appointments with top-notch specialists on very short notice. Now the doctors are all working together to try and get the necessary labs, CT scans, etc., done with time to do the kidney stone procedure. It will be an endoscopic laser technique this time, which should be more effective that the "sound wave blasting" that did not work back in early 2008.

All this will be expensive. We have good insurance with the mission, but our plan has a high deductible/copay. One church has already provided $1,000, which is half of our out-of-pocket share of the total. So we are asking the Lord to provide the rest (another $1,000).

PLEASE PRAY WITH US...
We are thankful for all that God has done:

• a healthy delivery of our grandson Max
• good visits with family, friends and supporters
• provision of half of our $2,000 medical copay
• appointments with top doctors on short notice

Please pray with us about scheduling all the test and procedures, provision of the remaining copay and that we would be able to get everything scheduled in our few remaining weeks, or that God would give us wisdom as to whether we should delay our return to the Philippines by a few weeks in order to get it all done

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Davis Travel Plans

PLEASE PRAY WITH US
We have been planning to travel to California to be there for the birth of our first grandchild (due Jan 22) and would appreciate prayer about the travel plans

We are thankful how things are coming together for this trip. God has already provided:

• a place to stay in San Diego
• one (or maybe two) cars to use while we are there
• someone to housesit for us in Puerto
• some special gifts so that now have nearly all we need for airfare

However, we were waiting to see what we could afford before booking tickets and now most of the dates are fully booked and waitlisted. Please pray with us for wisdom in making the right decisions here as to booking and pray that dates would open up with a confirmed booking that is within our budget or that God would provide, to give us more options.

Besides the potential inconvenience, another issue with waitlisted flights is that they often open up at the last minute and our mission office in Manila needs about a week's notice to process our immigration exit permits. So please pray about the timing issues, too.

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Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna