March/April 2012 Update - BRAZIL!

Hello Family & Friends!

March and April have kept me pretty busy!  The first week of March I went on  a much needed vacation to the woods in Arkansas.  It was fabulous, restful and just what I needed.  The end of March through mid-April we said good-bye to a majority of our seasonal volunteers, and the last few weeks have been planning, logistics & more planning for the next 6 months.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I am planning a partnership development trip.  I am leaving at 6am Saturday morning (5/5) and heading to Tennessee.  I will then go to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, *Missouri, Arkansas, and then back to Texas.  I will be gone almost exactly a month. 

*If you know my Dad, please don’t mention that I will be in MO, I am surprising him for his birthday.

I will be back in Dallas for the rest of June, and then will take off for

BRAZIL the first week of July!!  I have a friend that will be in Rio de Janeiro the first few days I am in Brazil, then I will fly up to Chapada dos Guimaraes to the AMMI Training Center for the rest of the month of July.   In August I will be working with another translation partner in Brazil.  We are still working out the logistics of the last part of the trip, so I will update you as I get more details.

Prayer Requests:

~ Pray for safe travel.

~ Pray for additional prayer & financial partners.  I am currently short

   about $1,000 per month.

~ Pray for open doors to raise awareness about WA & Bible translation.

~ Pray for the logistics to come together quickly for my trip to Brazil

   this summer.

~ Pray for the staff working with the volunteers in Dallas in my absence.

~ We praise the Lord for a good volunteer season. 

~ We praise the Lord that every season we are identifying more areas that

    volunteers can serve, thus accelerating Bible Translation.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and financial support. 

I cannot do this ministry without each of you!

To contribute financially for my trip to Brazil

or become a monthly partner,

please see the information at the bottom of the page.

About the AMMI Training Center in Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil—

The AMMI Training Center’s (AMMI meaning “my people.”) strategy is to teach the gospel to students from different tribes preparing them to be missionaries taking the Word and love of God to their own people.  The government of Brazil severely restricts non-Indians from entering indigenous reservations.  Since we can’t go to them they come to AMMI of their own free will to study God’s Word.  The future Indian leaders will enter a 3 or 5 year program. 

At  the end of July, AMMI will host a Conference called CONPLEI 2012 (National Council of Evangelical Native Pastors and Church Leaders).  The purpose is to discuss the  Indian peoples own goals, strategies, and dreams for reaching all of the Indians in South America, and see the Creator glorified among all of the indigenous nations.  There will be more than 48 tribal groups from Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and others totaling approximately 3,000—4,000 people.  This conference is the reason I am going to Brazil.  I will go and serve in whatever capacity needed a few weeks before, and during the conference.  This could include helping build a structure for them to hang their hammocks to sleep, working in the kitchen, working with kids, or doing administrative work….it will also include sleeping in a tent.  :~)

 Many Indians come to AMMI not having heard of Jesus, but after meeting the staff that share their life with the students and hearing of His saving grace, they accept Him as their Savior.

For example—potential Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) “Sydney,” an indigenous young man, arrived his first semester at the AMMI Training Center without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  He came from a language group in Brazil that has not a single verse of Scripture translated into their language.  Over the ensuing months, he grew increasingly interested in what was being taught about God in class. 

A few months ago, Sydney—along with 13 other students—gave his heart to Christ, and was baptized with 27 others.  Now, Sydney is potentially the next mother tongue translator for this language group!

For more information about CONPLEI 2012 click HERE for a You Tube video or HERE for the website.

To Become a Financial Partner or give a one-time donation:

Online: Click HERE and follow the prompts.

By Check:  Make checks payable to Wycliffe Associates

Write only account # M08730 on the memo line.

Send to: PO Box 620368; Orlando, FL 32862-0368

The Banquet Trail...

Wycliffe Associates Banquet Trail

There are Wycliffe Associates Banquets all over the United States.  Click on the link above to see where there is one close to you to see how you can get involved!  

You can PRAY, you can GIVE, and you can GO!  

Find a way to support 

EVERY VERSE, EVERY TONGUE & EVERY HEART!

2nd Annual WA Pig Roast

Wycliffe Associates had our second annual Volunteer Appreciation Pig Roast.  John Toliver was the Pig Roaster 

and I was the side dish maker 

(with the help of Deb Martin - THANKS!).

There was a pig....

There was fire....in the middle of the RV Park...

Several hours later, he was cooked...

Then he was chopped up....

by John

 

 

And there were sides: corn on the cobb roasted over the fire, buns/bread, loaded mashed potatoes, cold 4 bean salad, coleslaw, applesauce...and for dessert peach cobbler with ice cream and/or whipped cream!!

We tried to make the room pretty - so we used Easter decor...

YUP - we had an Easter themed Pig Roast. :~)

A good time was had by all....

Ready to start planning for the Third Annual...

Bible Translation in Nigeria

Hello!  Today I met a man named Basuna Magaji.  He shared with us about his life in Nigeria and his work as a national Bible Translator for the last 14 years.  He is from Agwara, Nigeria and his mother tongue is Cishingini (ca-sheen-ga-nee), which just so happens to be the language of the Bible he is translating.  There are over 500 languages in Nigeria.

Basuna saw that people around him had Bibles in their own language and that they could read and write in their own language.  He wanted that for himself and his people.  He was invited to help with the translation in 1998 and accepted.  First they translated the book of Luke, and then the Jesus Film was made in Cishingini.  When the Cishingini people saw it many accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.....many of these people were Muslim.  Soon people wanted to learn to write in their own language, so some of the Muslims went into the villages and started helping people learn to write.  Through learning to write, even more have accepted Jesus because they are getting God's word through  education.

Basuna  and his translation partner have been in Dallas working with another translator since February and will be here until May (God willing - they hope to be done at the end of April).  Basuna's wife and 3 young children are still in Nigeria.  His translation partner returned to Nigeria last week as he didn't like being separated from his family.  Please pray for Basuna as he is separated from his family for many months, living in another culture, and for the PROTECTION of his family in Nigeria where there has been unrest, suicide bombers, and fighting near his family.  Please pray for the completion of this translation, editing, publishing, printing, distribution, and the hearts of those that will receive it.

Click this link for further specifics on praying for the completion of the translation.  It goes to the Wycliffe Associates website.

Please just take a moment to pray, now.  Thank you!

Hurry!!

While I was on vacation in a little cabin in the woods in Arkansas last week, I picked up a DVD series called "Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People" by John and Nancy Ortberg.  Each day I would watch one or two segments.  In one of the segments John said, "you must ruthlessly erase 'hurry' from your life."  We usually talk about how busy we are and how we need to remove 'busy' from our lives, but Jesus was often busy. He was busy healing people, teaching, traveling, out by himself talking to the Father, etc...  Basically he was loving and serving others.  You can't hurry love and you can't hurry when you are really serving someone.  He didn't hurry or let people hurry him.  When Lazarus died, the disciples were all concerned because Jesus wanted to stay where they were and finish what they were doing instead of going to Lazarus's side.  Jesus waited a few DAYS before starting the journey to see Lazarus and his family.  He wasn't in a hurry...  He was doing what needed to be done and then going to the next thing. 

This statement hit me like a ton of bricks.  Probably the biggest reason I needed that vacation was that I had been hurrying through life to get it all done, now.  I was getting/allowing myself to be pulled in too many directions at once and not getting very much done well.  The other lesson from both the "Spiritual Disciplines" DVD and the story about Jesus and Lazarus is that I need to set boundaries.  If you are anything like me, that means boundaries on myself and boundaries on others.  I am currently reading a book called "Boundaries" by Cloud & Townsend.  I am only a few chapters in, but so far it is a great book that I highly recommend.  

I am not "fixed" yet :-), but I'm trying to be mindful of the words "hurry" and "boundaries."  Just thought I would share!  Hope you have a great "non-hurried" week!