I (John) received the sad news yesterday that Joseph Gofi, one of the members of the Fataleka translation team, passed away a couple days ago. Evidently Joseph had gone to the hospital about two weeks ago because of a problem with his heart, but he was told they couldn’t do anything for him and they sent him back to his village where he died.
It makes me sad that I won’t see Joseph at the dedication of the Fataleka New Testament next year, as he was really excited that we had finished all our work and the NT was in the typesetting process. I am, however, very thankful that Joseph was able to be on our team for the last 5 years. He was dedicated to seeing the Fataleka NT finished and commented often that he was so glad that finally the Fataleka people would have a Bible they could understand.
Joseph had arthritis in his knees and while he had to miss one of our checking sessions because he had fallen and was unable to walk, he was at all our other sessions even though it was evident that it was painful for him to walk. Last year I was asking the men what time suited them for our next checking session and Joseph said, “John, you are the one who has a busy schedule. This checking is the most important thing we have all year, so whatever time you set is fine with us.”
So while I will really miss seeing Joseph next year, it will give me joy knowing that what he saw as so important will be in the hands of the Fataleka people.
Joseph, far left
TO BE IN TOUCH:
PO Box 1 (134), Ukarumpa EHP 444, Papua New Guinea – john_bruner@sil.org
Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu
Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu
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send gifts to:
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