2015 February thru April - Cooper PNG InfoBites FEBRUARY THRU APRIL February through April was a busy time as we worked toward two deadlines: one for completing scripture passages, and the other in regard to obtaining my PNG visa. SCRIPTURE PREP both in PNG & USA Our main goal for JAN, FEB and MAR was preparing selected Genesis & Exodus passages for our upcoming consultant checking in MAY. Exodus passages had been previously drafted, so the Genesis portions were brought from first draft through village checking, then to back translation stages during that time, along with other Old and New Testament portions. In a computer marathon during the last two weeks of March, Greg Bania, his sister Joyce Simon, and Patrick Sadileutu, and I finished off all the remaining selections from Genesis and Exodus in Paratext with daily send/receives via the satellite Joseph thrown in the well – DK illustrated Bible. set-up to the United Bible Society "cloud server" in Ontario, Canada. Back in Oregon, I made my daily send/receives to the UBS server also as we updated one another's changes and revisions. Our deadline was the end of March, and by working late into the night on both sides of the planet, we were able to place all of our remaining passages in the checking queue for our consultant to review by March 31st. He in turn accessed our scripture files in Australia via the UBS server, and has begun to prepare for checking them with us in Alotau beginning on May 20th. Meanwhile, on both sides of the Pacific we also worked on draft versions of additional New Testament passages (such as James and Galatians) getting them ready to send to the Paratext server in Canada also. (Thanks to Dr. David L Thompson (Asbury) for consulting on two Hebrew passages!)
The Seven-Second Workout (The New Yorker, Feb 2, 2015)
2014-04-30 Cooper PNG InfoBites
SAGA of my MEDICAL CLEARANCE for my VISA Though I am eligible for a "special exemption work permit waiver" because of my age and my many years of service in Papua New Guinea, I still needed my medical clearance for the SIL Clinic on the PNG end of things. Also, because of my prior heart surgery in 2004, I needed a cardiologist's report, as well as some additional immunizations. So with the help of my primary care physician here in Oregon we searched back through my medical records and found my former cardiology clinic, and I underwent a treadmill stress test, and got my health clearance completed in March. With all medical checkups completed -On April 15th I received my PNG visa, good for the next three years. Tickets were acquired the same day for travel to PNG in mid-May for an approx. two month stay! Special Exemption Aid Worker / Volunteer
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MARY'S BIRTHDAY and other family time Because I did NOT have to be back in PNG during the first 4 months of this year, I was actually home for Mary's birthday in March and thanks to a gift card from my Indiana cousins, Bill & Phyllis, we went out to eat at Applebee's to celebrate! We celebrated Ryan's birthday in April, and had a family outing to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens and the Cedar Creek Gristmill in Washington State with most of the family in April as well. Russ & Mary at Applebee's At Cedar Creek Gristmill -Photos by Collette
Russ trying out his new trekking poles, left Old gristmill in background, right
YALEBA Project In early May our Buhutu team members Greg & Pauline Bania will introduce the team from Wycliffe Associates to our neighboring language Yaleba (south shore of Milne Bay) in preparation for the Yaleba group to begin doing the Open Source Bible stories and computer adaptation from Buhutu into their own language (which is also Pauline's mother-tongue). VITAL Mini-Bibles In July of this year, we will begin printing the "mini-Bibles"—including an Old Testament Panorama, plus Mark & Acts—for each of the 12 languages involved in VITAL. These Bibles will impact more than 20,000 people in Milne Bay Province. If you would like to be a part of providing one of these Bibles, you can make a contribution towards these publication costs. Please include a note stating, “For PNG VITAL Special Projects account 800955 for Bible publications,” and send it to the Wycliffe address below. Then please be sure to let us know.
God bless,
Russ and Mary Cooper.
US address for personal correspondence Wycliffe USA Office for financial Russ & Mary Cooper support: 2800 SE 1st Street, Apt 64 Wycliffe Bible Translators Gresham, Oregon 97080 USA P.O. Box 628200 Phone: 503-491-8915 Orlando, Florida Email: < Russ_Cooper@sil.org> 32862-8200 USA You may visit us on FaceBook also. Russ has academic papers at Academia.edu: <http://sil.academia.edu/RussCooper> Also at PNG language: <http://cooperpng.tripod.com/texts.htm?itx> as well as in a Dropbox archive (by invitation) 2014-04-30 Cooper PNG InfoBites
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