Dedication Day! God is not far away!
The first speaker at the dedication ceremony said those words, "God is not far away. He is right here," pointing to his heart. The ceremony was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where most of the Doromu-Koki people in Port Moresby attend. We were greeted by around 24 Domoru-Koki dressed in traditional tribal ceremonial grass skirts, tree bark loin clothes, face paint, and lots of feathered headdresses! (We found out later that everything besides the headdresses had to be created from scratch. And that they only do these ceremonies for very special occasions!) They did a "Sing sing" dance and then made an aisle for us to walk through to enter the church. Another sing sing was performed before the priest came in, and another later on for bringing in the New Testament itself. The priest made the comment several times throughout his message, "the Bible is already holy; we are just dedicating this translation to Him!" "People used to say your god is a foreign god who speaks in a foreign language. He does not speak our language. But now they cannot say that. He speaks in the Koki language!"
One of the translators, Joseph, was supposed to read a section from the new translation, but he teared up and took a minute or two to compose himself. The translation meant so much to him.
After the mass we moved next door to a covered building for additional recognition and appreciation speeches, a meal of traditional D-K food, and then a showing of the Jesus video in the D-K language. During the meal time many people stopped to shake our hands or hug our necks and say "This would not have happened without your support of Rob and Betsy!" (Meaning all of their supporters.) Finally, after the Jesus video ended, we helped sell the New Testaments and MegaVoice audio players for a subsidized nominal price (~$3 & $4.50 USD, respectively).
The Bradshaw's said it was a blessing to have us join them in this dedication. The people appreciated having us there as representatives from Rob & Betsy's Cleveland church supporters. We appreciated sharing in their joy, supporting Rob & Betsy, and even assisting in photo and video journaling it for Rob & Betsy.