Just the right voice May 26, 2015 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Written by Catherine Rivard with Tim Scott One day Kosseck, James and the rest of the team of the Kamano-Kafe translators were sitting at the table with Rich, their translation advisor, brainstorming. They needed some good readers to help with their audio recording of the recently translated New Testament. It was the goal of the team to provide a clear recording of every translated book to accompany the written version, to help their traditionally oral community understand God’s Word as clearly as possible. So far the recordings had been a resounding success, loaded onto hand-held, solar-powered “Audibibles” which were durable enough for the village setting. But, finding enough fluent readers wasn’t always easy. “Remember that one man who helped us before on the Acts Video? The one who delivers day old chicks? What about him?” “Yeah,” Kosseck mused, “But he’s really busy. He’s constantly driving across the country to the chicken plant to pick up the chicks and bring them back up here to the mountains to deliver to stores. He’s never going to be available.” Not too long later, Kosseck had just hopped on one of the local public transportation buses, on his way to work on the recording, when he saw a familiar face on the side of the road. “Hey,” Kosseck yelled out the window, “Are you busy? Are you driving down to the chicken plant today?” “Actually, no!” the man yelled back, “It is unexpectedly shut down today and they don’t have any chicks to sell. I’m free!” “Quick,” Kosseck urged, “Get in the bus!” And the two of them went to the KamanoKafe recording studio where they spent the day recording. The next day, the plant opened back up again, and the man was able to return to his regular chicken runs. “God shut the chicken plant down, just so we could finish recording,” laughed Kosseck. For more information on this release, contact ThePNGexperience, PO BOX 413, Ukarumpa, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-3544 ext. 4431 or Email: thePNGexperience@gmail.com
Pictures do not always depict actual event, activities or people. Photos by Tim Scott use by permission only. “Yumi stori” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for announcement or “Let’s tell a story” or “Let’s talk”. The English spelling conforms to Commonwealth English spelling.