NEWS FROM THE FARMERS

Domill

IN THE FIELD
Newsletter of Jim and Susan Farmer
serving With

ZAIRE
fit

AFRCA

Dukavu

Pioneer Bible Translators

ond

African Christian Mission

Field Address:

Forwarding Agent
Valerie Sierens 543 Minneola Ave.

Jim and Susan Farmer

B.P. 166

PubH'c Relations Represencoc/ves: Martin and Georgette Miller

13621 Helen St

Cyangugu, Rwanda
AFRICA

Clermont,FL 34711
(904) 394-6507

Clermont, FL 34711
(904) 394-4833

April, 1992
Dear Friends,

It is difficult to write a newsletter when It is as long overdue as this one. A lot would have happened during an "ordinary" time, but especially so since we had to leave Zaire. Let me try to update you since
that last newsletter (September). We were in Burundi for three weeks (most of the month of October) and then decided to try going

back to Zaire as part of ACM's continuation team. Most of their personnel had been advised to return to the States to wait the situation out, but ACM wanted to have a small team of people in Zaire to keep the ministries going as much as possible. We were back in Zaire only about ten days, however, when the situation looked bad enough for the group to evacuate again, this time going only across the border to Cyangugu, Rwanda where the continuation team had decided to set up our base of operations, should we have to leave Zaire again. In Cyangugu we would be out of Zaire if trouble came to Bukavu, but still close enough to cross the border to work as safety permitted. Jim and I didn't feel comfortable in that situation, however, as the tension was very great; so PETencouraged us to consider going to Kenya to explore the possibility of short-term service there until we could resume our ministry in Bomili. We arrived In Kenya on October 31 and, for most of the month of November, were having meetings with various people in the administration of the Bible Translation and Literacy Center (BTL) in Nairobi to find out what the possibilities were of our working with them. God worked in some amazing ways
to direct us to the Duruma people of southeast Kenya, near the coast The need among them was for

some help and encouragement in their literacy program. The New Testament is being translated into their language and they are highly motivated to learn to read. Some of the church leaders have begun literacy classes in the churches but weren't sure if they were going about it in the right way. BTL wanted us to just assist them as we could, knowing It would likely only be for a short time, since we would be going back to Zaire as soon as the situation there permitted It. In early December we went to visit the area, only intending for it to be a preliminary visit, but God worked it out that we could just stay there. He provided housing at the Youth with a Mission base at the village of Kinango, where we would be working. We had some vacation time around the Christmas holidays when we got to enjoy the coast a bit A missionary family who works there loaned us their house to use while they were In Nairobi. After the first of the year, we got the final approval from the

BTL administration in Nairobi to go ahead with our plans to work with the Duruma for the next couple of months. So, in early January, we made the move back to Kinango and got started.
The Bible Translation Committee for the Duruma asked Jim to hold a workshop for the teachers in

the literacy program to give them some training in usingthe primerand other materials available. They
wanted him to have It the first week in February. It looked difficult to be able to prepare for it that

quickly, but the Lord againprovidedJustwhat wasneededat just the righttime. TheBTL CenterinNairobi
had also asked DebbieSnead, a literacy specialist with WycllffeBibleTranslators, to assist in the Duruma literacy program. Debbie is also assigned to Zaire, but temporarily working in Kenya. She arrived In Kinango InlateJanuary, intime to helpwith the final preparationsfor the seminarand help in the actual teaching of It The Lord reallyblessed it to the point that we were allamazed at how well it went, though
we shouldn't have been. He has promised to show His power through our weaknesses.

During the month following the seminar, Debbie worked on revising the existing primer and Jim
made visits to the literacy centers to observe the classes and offer additional assistance to the teachers. Most of those trips were by bicycle,anywhere from 5 to 25 miles long, and he felt like the Lord used all that exercise to finish buildinghisstrength back up to 100%after what he had lost from having hepatitis
a year ago.

ACM had decided in mid-December that they would allow their personnel to return to their

respective ministries in Zaireif certain conditions were met. But since the Lord had already opened the door for us to work with the Duruma by that time, we decided we would go ahead and work with them for at least a couple of months. We planned to return to Zaire in late March if the situation there didn't deteriorate drastically before then. We closed our ministry then in Kinango In mid-March to have 10 days in Nairobi to have medical and dental checkups done before returning to Zaire. We wound up staying an extra week, though, because of a minor problem Abram was having. We really appreciated the time we had InKenya. It became obvious to us that It was the Lord'swill
for us at that time. He used it to teach us a lot as well as being a blessing for the Duruma people. There are a number of talented, enthusiastic men and women who have told us they now feel better equipped to carry on the literacy program for that group of people. Praise the Lord. Thanks so much for your continued Invo'vement In our ministry through this whole time with your financial support, prayer support, and emotional support through letters, our mail had a time catching up with us at some points, but we are pretty sure It all finally did. We're beginning to think that God has a band of "mall angels" who especially watch out for missioanries' maill You have been a real
blessing to us.

With love In Christ,

Debbie and Jfm working wkh the cotransfotors for the Duruma New Testament, Stephen and Mkala.

Ttie teachers who attended the seminar, eoch one holding the certificate received upon its compietion.

Dear Friends,

I'mgoingto pick up where Susan left off. Here we are where we were five months agol We just
returned from Kenya and are very glad to be back in Zaire. Sowhere do we go from here? Several people have told us they enjoy hearing about just the "routine" aspects of lifehere so Ithought Iwould let you
know what is happening with us in the immediate future.

Since getting back we have been busy sorting through all of our supplies which arrived by sea container just before we evacuated in September. It has been such a major job that it is almost enough to make me feel like selling or giving away most of iti We must put everything into boxes, weigh it, and prioritize it for the pilot to fly up to Bomili. We can get anywhere from 50-900 pounds at a time on the flight depending on what other missionaries have to get flown in to their station. Ijust recently found out that I will need to go to Bujumbura, Burundi to take care of some business at the American embassy for our family. Another missionary family from our mission also needs to go

so we planto go together. We heard that there are alsosome problems inBurundi at present so we will
need to go a back route to avoid the hot spot. Before we leave we must get clearance from the local

governorwhichtakes a coupleof days to get the paperworkprocessed. We planto go and come inthe
same day (about a three-hour drive each way) if all goes well and providing the borders don't close on us while we are in Burundi or Rwanda. It is possible to get stuck in a country fo several days depending on certain events. I dread the trip but must go as we are In a tight spot to get our papers in order, one consolation Isthat I can buy a bathtub and double kitchen sink for us while there. Here in Bukavu they would cost about $500 for the pair. If things go well with customs when we come back through the border we may save as much as $100 on the purchase as they are cheaper In Burundi. A few days after getting back I will begin another trip of about one thousand miles to get some equipment up to Bomili. Our co-workers, Wayne and Sue McGee, are buying a land rover truck. They

are putting in the major cost of the purchase but we plan to help with about a third of it. We will be able to use the truck to get supplies into Bomili at a much cheaper rate than by flying everything in. Wayne has a sawmill so we hope to get it taken up in pieces over a few trips. We will be following a
new dirt road which has not been opened up to public use yet so we have to get a legal authorization to use it We will travel from Bukavu to Kisangani which is about 750 miles and from there on to Bafwasende which Is another 230 miles. At Bafwasende we will begin the final leg of our journey to Bomili, about another 80 miles and it will be the most difficult part of the trip as there are 90 bridges to cross and many bad places in the road. Few vehicles ever venture onto the Bomili road, so it stays
in bad shape.

Once we arrive In Bomili we will pick up where we left off in getting our house in order to live in. We still must hook up oursolarand watersystems, finish the interior workofthehouse, build an outdoor kitchen for the wood stove and dig a latrine. We are blessed to have Ed Nichols, ACM's stateside representative, who Is also a former builder for ACM and a handyman with most things, who is coming to spend a couple of weeks with us and the McGees. He can help us get some of our things set up. If all goes well, Martin and Georgette Miller willalso be coming to help us during the summer. Martin can help us with some building on the church and literacy-evangelism building as well as with numerous other things like trying to get some old motorcycles startedl Georgette isa school teacher so she isgoing to help with the children which will free Susan to help me more in the literacy-evangelism program. We are hopeful that by summer we will be totally "settled in" and can then give the bulk of our time to what
we came here to dol

This gives you an idea of some of the things that are part of life In Zaire. It's not always pleasant orfun.butlssimplypartofgettlngtheoveralljobdone. Wewillletyou know how the trips to Bujumbura
and Bomili went in our next newsletter. Thank you for your faithful support of our ministry. As Susan

mentioned, God is blessing our weakest efforts with His power so we rejoice for that. You are our
partners in Christ and we feel and see your prayers being answered so that others may hear the gospel. In Christ,

PRAYER NEEDS

OTHER NOTES
We would appreciate your feedback on
our newsletters. We want to write what

Please thank the Lord for

- the way He blessed our time In Kenya. .. our overall good health, and that when we have needed medical care He has always provided what
was needed.

~ His abundant provision of our material needs.

you find interesting and have time to read. We especially would like to know if you prefer them to be short and thus easily readable or longer, including more details. You can let us know directly or through our public relations representa

Please peddon the Lord for

- continued progress in the political situation in Zaire, especially that the changes would take place peace
fully.

tives or forwarding agent, whichever is

easiest for you.
We have really appreciated the "care"

packages we have received and they

really do what they are meant to: show

- a good transition for us back to Zaire, and getting settled in Bomili in His timing. . - good relationships with our co-workers, both expa
triate and African.

your love and care for us. Before sending one, however, please obtain the shipping
instructionsandlistofour "current wants

and needs" from our forwarding agent in order to avoid sending items that we can

- His leading and provision for Martin and Georgette Miller, our public relations representatives, who
plan to visit us this summer.

obtain here since the shipping from the

States is rather expensive.

Before you move, please send the mailing label with a copy of your new address to MISSION SERVICES ASSOaATION. 1>0 Box 2437, Knoxvllle, TN 37901-2427.

Mission Services Association

PO Box 2427

Non ProRtOi^.
37950-999B

Knoxville.TN 37901-2427

U.S. Postage Paid

Knoxville, TN
Permit #374

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

NEWS FROM THE FARMERS .r-cn IN THE FIELD

ZAIRE

AFRICA

Newsletter of Jim and Susan Farmer

ScrWng with

Pioneer Bible Translators African Christian Mission

Forwarding Agent:
Valorie sierens 543 Minneola Ave.

Public Reiations Representatives: Martin and Georgette Miller

13621 Helen St.

Clermont, FL 34711
(904) 394-6507

Clermont, FL 34711
(904) 394-4833

December, 1992

'7H'<suf
6c
Dear Friends,

cutd
efou.

Greetings from Zaire! I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you how the Lord is blessing our efforts here by describing some of what took place on a trip Apos, Longolongo (co-translators of the Kibali New Testament), and I recently made in conjunction with our literacy-evangelism ministry here. The airplane arrived on Tuesday afternoon to take the three of us to Bafwasende from where we would begin a 45-mile road trip to an area ministers' conference. 1knew it was a tremendous opportunity for us to have so many of the Babali leaders of the churches in Haut-Zaire (our province) in one place. We overnighted in Bafwasende and left the following morning for Nia Nia where the conference would be held. We had some trouble due to the bad condition of the road, but by 3:00 that afternoon we were in Nia Nia and were busy setting up our camp. The following day there was a good portion of the conference to which only certain people were invited so Apos and I decided to make a trip into one of the area villages. We got Longolongo set up with a table full of Kibali Scripture booklets so he could be distributing them while we were gone. We also took some booklets with us and a large tape player so we could play Kibali Scriptures on cassette

Peoplehearing Kfbo// Scriptures on cassette os they read along in their new Kiboli scripture booklets.

as well as use the speakers through a microphone to teach and preach.

Whenwearrived at ourdestination weset upthe tape playerandbegan playing the Kibali Scriptures we had recorded. Lots of people stopped what they were doing and came to listen. After playing the tapes,we began our teaching. Weshowed pictures and explained about the creation of the world, the
fall of man,and the death, burial and resurrection ofChrist Thepeoplelovedthe picturessince, for most
of them, It was the first they had ever seen of what the New Testament culture was like. After this teaching, Apos began to preach and talk of Christ'ssacrifice for our sins. You could see the sadness on

theirfaces andtheshaking oftheirheads displayed how seriously theytookChrist's suffering and death.
That day, at the end of the program, four people accepted Christand were baptized into Himas well as
22 others who repented of their sins and recommitted themselves to Christ.

The following daywe taughtat the conference and gave the same teaching we were using inour evangelism, hoping the ministers and evangelists could then use the teaching to bring others to Christ in their respective areas of ministry. Afterthe session we left foranother evangelistic trip which took

uswell beyond thevillage where wehad done the program onthefirst day. since wehad no car to drive,

we borroweda bicycle to carry our equipment. Aswe entered the village where we plannedto do the program we began calling the people to come and hear "Dhipobo Dhepepe indi ka Agalugu,"the Good News of God." We followed the same pattern of the previous day and by the end of the day God had

and 10 repentances. We did two more teaching

sessions the followingday at two area churches and,

blessed the preaching of HisWord with 12 baptisms

though we saw no one accept Christ or come forward for repentance, the Christians were encourPresently we have 5 other evangelistic trips

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planned. The main obstacle is that our time here is quickly coming to an end and each of the trips will demand a minimum of one week since getting

aroundhereissodifficultandslow. Weaskforyour
prayers for these remaining days that we can accomplish the evangelistic trips, finish a trial edition primer and print 1,000 of them, hold two seminars to train teachers in their use, and pack up our home here before coming home for our year of service in
the states.

In Christ,/I

ni

i '

Jim helping winch the truck out of a mudhole.

Dear Friends, Greetings once again FromBomiii. Ihope the past few months have been good ones for you. We've been doing pretty well. Our major complaint and frustration is too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I'm sure you know the feeling. During the summer we er\joyed a one-month visit from our public relations representatives, Martin
and Georgette Miller. They were a big help and encouragement to us and the people here. Martin helped lay the foundation of the church building and did quite a bit of work on our house. Georgette taught Ethan some pre-kindergarten material and really got him looking forward to starting school. In September I started teaching him his home-school kindergarten curriculum. Most days it goes pretty well and I'm thankful he seems to be a good student. Abram has a babysitter, a young man named Fataki, who entertains him and keeps him from getting into (too much) trouble during

the morning hours when Ethan and I are "in school." You

may have heard by now that we're looking forward to the

So far the

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arrival of a third little Farmer in February.

pregnancy has gone well, so we are thankful for that.

your family a happy holiday season. Christmas here should be quite exciting. Many Christians from thesurrounding area

We wanted to take this opportunity to wish you and

/V
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type gathering that lasts for several days surrounding Christtake advantage of, with so many church leaders and members together. He plans to hold a couple of seminars to introduce people to the Kibali Scripture booklets currently
been a great encouragement.
program, the people have been very enthusiastic, which has We'll be going to Nairobi in mid-January for the birth of

(up to 100 miles away) all come toBomiii for a huge revival-

mas Day. This will be another great opportunity for Jim to

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So far, every timehe and the literacy team have done their

available and assist them in learning to read their language.

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Theboysorereolfy/ntoplayingwithsJingshots.

the babyand will likely be there till mid-March for me to recover, make sure the baby is healthy,and
take care of the necessary legal paper work for both the Kenya and U.S. governments, which we've been told is quite extensive. Once we get back to Zaire, we hope to be back in Bomiii for three or four months before coming home to the States for furlough inJuly! We're actually going on furlough six months early (we were due for furlough inJanuary, 1994),but we knew before we left the States that we would either be taking our furlough six months early or six months late since we wanted it to go from summer to summer so Ethan could havearegularyear of school in the States. Ifwewait until the following summer

('94), we and fellow team members, WayneandSueMcGee, wouldbe onfurlough together, leaving Brad and Tammy Harvey, the third family of our Bomiii team, here alone for most of a year. If we go ahead
and take our furlough six months early as described, it will put the furloughs for the three families on

a rotation such that there should be two families in Bomiii most of the time, barring unforeseen circumstances, of course, we're really looking forward to coming home, but have a lot we hope to accomplish in the meantime. We reallydo need prayers for wisdom in the use of our remaining time
here to know what God's priorities are since there's no way to do everything we see that "needs" to
be done.

Thanksonce again foryour prayers,gifts,and letters ofencouragement to support us inthis ministry.

God has used you to be a great blessing to us. With Love In Christ,

CURRENT PRAYER
NEEDS
Please dunk die Lord for
- good progress in our ministry and even fruit coming from it! ~ 23 baptismsand 33 repentances over the last two months, including
one witchdoctor who accepted

FINANCIAL NOTES
We are in need of some extra one-time gifts for two particular expenses in the upcoming yean (1) For the cost of plane tickets to the States for our furlough next summer, estimated at $3,500.00. (2) For funds to complete the construction of additional office space for the translation and literacy ministiy here, estimated at $5,500.00 (budgets for this project are available from our forwarding agent). Please give as the Lord might lead you to help with either
of these needs.

Christ and destroyed all the para phernalia of his former profes
sion.

The Pioneer Bible Translators International Office has been

- good health for all of us, including Susan with no problems so far in
the pregnan^.

given the opportunity to receive $500,000 on a matching fUnds basis by some friends of PBT. That means a potential total of $1,000,000 in new funds for the work of Bible Translation and Literacy around the worldl With those funds, PBTwould be able to help existing works (like Zaire)and expand to new areas in a
way they have never been able to do before. We stand to

- political stability. Please ask the good use of our remaining time
here.

- accomplishment of the goals jim

mentioned at the end of his let
ter.

directly benefit (as do all PBTmissionaries) with help for funding of the Translation and Literacy ministiy here. Please also prayerfully consider if the Lord would have you give to this effort Gifts for this special campaign could be made to "PioneerBibleTranslators," designated for "MatchingFunds" and sent to the PBT Office at P.O.Box 381030, Duncanville, TX
75138-1030.

Before you move, please send the mdORg label with a copy of your new address to
MISSION SERVICES ASSOQATON.PO BOX2427, Knoxvllle. TN 37901-3427.

Mission Services Assodation

PO Box 2427

Non Profit Org.

37950-9998

lCn0XVille,TN 37901-2427
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

U5. Postage Paid

ICnoxviile,TN
Permit #374