Equip #48 Begins Tomorrow!

Praise the Lord with me!

• My family and I are healthy and safe.
• I've been back in the office (with social distancing protocols) for ten weeks.
• Technology helps me continue to serve those far from Orlando and to stay connected with family and friends.
• Lord willing, I plan to come to Indiana, October 13-25.
• I plan to worship at Faith Church on October 18.
• I plan to worship at Solid Word Bible Church on October 25.

Requests:

• Equip orientation, September 26 - October 8, will be held "virtually." Pray for:
• The participants and crew as we all navigate technology in new ways.
• The crew as we facilitate the technology.
• Wisdom and deep insight for the crew.
• Consistent internet for all.
• Good rest and renewal for all between our online sessions.
• The two Connection (reentry/care programs) for October and November have been canceled.
• Pray for encouragement for those who had planned to come.
• Ask God to provide love and care for each missionary and family where they are.

I am so thankful for your faithful prayers and gifts for my Wycliffe ministry. The Lord is using you to impact so many as He transforms lives through the translated Scriptures. May God continue to encourage your heart today with His faithfulness. Let me know other ways I might pray, too.

"I never truly understood..."

"What does this recording mean to you?” Nathanael Gregoriev asked a group of translators in a remote village in Cameroon.

Together, they had been working on a film about the Gospel of Luke in six local languages. Vernacular media specialists such as Nathanael and his wife, Darla, work hard to make God’s Word accessible to people through audio and film formats.

An older translator responded to Nathanael’s question: “You know, I went through Bible school. I took all the translation courses. I even preached on this passage of Scripture. But I never truly understood what Jesus went through to die for my sins until I saw him do it and heard him speak my language. I heard him say in the film, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ It was at that moment, I truly understood what Jesus went through. If this can impact someone like me, who has preached on these passages for so many years and translated, how much more will this speak to other people who haven’t heard it before?”

Nathanael’s motivation: “We don’t want to see anyone being left out of getting God’s Word. We want people to have access to God’s Word in [a] way that they understand.”

Learn more about Vernacular media: wycliffe.org/blog/posts/sharing-hope-through-vernacular-media

I had opportunity to meet the Gregorievs at a Wycliffe Connection program. It was a joy to hear more of their story and to work to encourage them as they continue serving faithfully. Your partnership with my Wycliffe ministry through your prayers and gifts permits me to extend your impact to the people they serve. Thank you!

Decisions have been made that we will not host any Connection programs in Orlando for the remainder of 2020. We’re working now to create other virtual events to help care for and celebrate our established members.

The True Word of the Only God

The Huichol Bible was dedicated on July 10 in Mexico. This video (5:34) about the ceremony is in Spanish, but if you select "CC" at the bottom right, the subtitles are in English. (See the green arrow for location of the Closed Captions button.) This story is similar to many of the translation projects around the world today -- local language speakers have the principal role in translating God's Word into their own languages. Through your prayers and gifts, God is using you as more people like the Huichol are transformed through the translated Scriptures. Thank you!

The Huichol Bible Dedication

Equip #48, September 26 - October 8, will be virtual. Please pray:

• For all of the technical aspects for 30 adults and six Crew, spread across four time zones.
• Five of the families have pre-school children. Pray as they manage extra variables.
• For health and strength for all involved.

I am so grateful for your many prayers and encouragements. Please let me know how I may stand with you in prayer.

Why haven't I heard this before?

Thank you — your prayers and gifts for my Wycliffe ministry matter. They impact all those who come to us for training… which means your ministry extends to all those who will be served someday by those colleagues. Here is how one of those stories unfolded!

Michelle and Nicholle are sisters who came through Equip and went on to Tanzania. They are currently stateside, but are continuing to serve the people of Tanzania. Here’s a report on a part of their ministry:

In January, February, and early March we continued editing audio recordings of the gospel of Luke from here in the U.S. to assist a partner ministry as they completed recordings in Dodoma. One translator, Ester, reported that her team took the recordings to their villages to share with their neighbors - most of whom practice another major world religion. The response they often received was, “Why haven’t I heard this before?” One neighbor who is a Christian, responded with, “I’ve heard the Scriptures and read them many times, but in Swahili. Hearing it now in my language is like hearing it for the first time.” Praise the Lord for the way He is at work through His Word!

Story Source: Michelle and Nicholle Haupt

Personal Update

My family and I are well. The break in my wrist is healed. I’m still regaining complete strength but am essentially not limited at all now, thankfully.

Working from the office continues to go well. We’re making good progress on curriculum revisions and preparing as much as possible for coming programs. Thank you for your continued prayers as we walk through doors when the Lord opens them!

Where's... this team?

Monday, I returned to the Wycliffe USA office. There are appropriate CDC safety measures in place. About half of the office staff is in the building each day now. Though the virtual conversations of the past four months helped sustain me, it has been very good for my soul to be with "3-dimensional people" at lunch and in small meetings. I've spent a good deal of time sorting through items that arrived at the office during my time at home and adjusting to this paradigm. There is another wave of "grief" to go through since the current "normal" is little like the previous one.

The folks I coach (virtually) are sharing their Wycliffe stories primarily through socially distant or virtual methods and God is still building their prayer and financial teams! Thank you for praying for them. They will fill roles as translation workers (three of those!), a mom, an EthnoArts specialist, a recruiter and a technical library consultant. They will serve Bibleless communities in Mexico, Asia, Africa and around the world. They are building teams primarily in areas like Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

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Then it was amazing for me to realize you are in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Guatemala, Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York, California, North Carolina, Kentucky, Minnesota, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Florida, Spain, Kansas, Illinois, Southeast Asia, Washington, Georgia, Colorado... did I forget any place? It's wonderful that the Lord has wound the tapestry of our lives so that as He is accomplishing His purposes in each of us, He is also using us to touch each other's lives... each of us doing what God has asked us to do in our own place in His world. What fun! And what a loving, sovereign, all-knowing, creative God! It is a privilege to be connected with such a strong team. Thank you for your faithfulness and countless encouragements on this journey as we serve together.