Dear Friends,
We have exciting news on the Bible translation front as Wycliffe has just released the 2012 statistics for Scripture access! For the first time in history, more than half of the languages that need Bible translation currently have active language projects where Bible translation is targeted. For many years the task has seemed daunting, with way more translations to tackle than we could ever imagine doing. But now having breached the half-way point, our vision 2025 goal of seeing projects starting in the remaining 1,967 languages by the year 2025 sounds like it just might be possible! We praise God for this new evidence of the growth and momentum towards the goal and hope that you are encouraged by it as well.
We had our first snowfall here in Germany a few weeks back. The beauty here was incredible as the lightly frosted pine trees and white blanket of snow further enhanced the picturesque landscape. These are the scenes that jigsaw puzzles are made of! We enjoyed it while it lasted, but in the process we discovered yet another difference in this country. The vehicles here all have two sets of wheels, one for summer and one for winter. Few people have all-season tires and the government has even set a date by which winter tires must be installed or else you can be fined. This is just one more hurdle for us as we learn to do things the German way. Of course if you saw how steep the driveways and roads are in the mountainous region we live in, the law starts to make sense.
Priscilla’s job at Black Forest Academy is going well, and she is both learning the way the system works, as well as finding opportunities for improvement based on her past experience. It is enjoyable to get to know the other volunteer teachers and hear their stories as to how the Lord has led them to come and serve the missionaries’ children here on the campus.
Roger has fit right in to the school, has many friends, and has just made the basketball team. It is fun to see him blossom as a young man in this new environment. He plays his trumpet in the local town band and we can’t wait to hear his first concert. Not only does it stretch his playing skills, it stretches his languages skills too, as the band is comprised of all German speakers.
My (Doug’s) office has been transformed into a video studio complete with sound equipment and a green screen for special effects. This is pushing the envelope as to what I am capable of, since my past video making experiences were not enjoyable. But with the release of the Rapid Word Collection video featured in our last newsletter, the response was so powerful that we became convinced this is the best way to communicate in today’s age. There is no better way for us to show our field personnel how effective new software can be than by demonstrating it with video. So now we start with a video podcast series where I work with a co-host to demonstrate and discuss more efficient processes and tools for linguistic work and Bible translation. I’ve put together a small demonstration of how it works on our website.
Over the past couple months, I have had two international meetings here in Germany, and one trip to the US where I was also able to visit our son Kevin at John Brown University. In October, I hosted the annual global strategy meeting with the Language Technology Coordinators. We discussed what new technologies we should emphasize to field personnel and what to focus our training efforts on. The video podcast idea was one of the outcomes of that meeting, and we are looking forward to our other plans for this coming year.
What flag do we fly?
One church has asked us whether to take down the Burkina Faso or Mali flags that they have been using to represent our field ministry, and if so, what to put in their place. Well, that is a difficult question to answer. We live in Germany now, but our ministry efforts are all focused outward to Bible translators both in Africa and globally, and to missionary children globally. The German flag, of course, could be selected to represent this, but we’ve actually found a world flag pictured here.
We’d be happy to be represented by this one!
We are truly thankful for all the Lord's blessings to us through your partnership with our ministry. We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving as you gather with family and friends to celebrate the Lord's goodness.
Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5)
Doug and Priscilla
Prayer and Praise
- Please pray for a successful launch of the language technology podcasts, that technology to benefit Bible translation will be spread much more quickly.
- Please pray for Henry and Kevin in the US as they try to find jobs to supplement their college tuition costs and make ends meet.
- Praise for Roger's smooth integration into the Black Forest Academy. Other missionaries have positively remarked on his seamless transition into the junior class.
- This is the recruitment season for BFA and recruiters are in the US trying to fill 30 available volunteer positions for next school year. Please pray for people who would come and volunteer their services for this important need.
P&P November 2012.pdf