Higby Herald September 2014

Dear Friends,

Although there will certainly be some fanfare planned for the 1,000th version of the Scriptures to go up on the Bible.com website, you can join in our own little celebration for the Maasina Fulfulde New Testament. It is the 999th to be made available, both on the web and in the Bible app for smartphones. You can see it on the web here, or by going to Bible.com, selecting a version, and typing in Maasina. The work on this took place from August 7 – 12 at the Digital Bible Library (DBL) workshop in Kenya. When organizing the workshop, I (Doug) had promised the participants that I would be learning at the same time as they, sharing with them my motivation to liberate the Maasina Fulfulde translation from the warehouse where it lives. That week alone we were able to add Scriptures in 25 different languages to the library, opening them up to the world.

That in itself would have been reason to celebrate, but three weeks later we received the following email:

Dear Doug,
I wanted to let you know that I appreciate the opportunity you have given to me to attend this workshop.
I have uploaded Cerma New Testament last week to DBL, now I am working in Lyélé New Testament.
May Lord continue to bless you,
Zakaria

Recently we've been under a lot of stress, so reading this thank you letter brought me to tears of joy. Burdened with the travel, the separation, and trying to make ends meet, it was perfectly timed to put the smiles back on our faces. Zakaria’s thanks, though, are misdirected. We know that it is your prayer and financial support that enable us to live in this strategic location and be agents of change for the translation and promotion of God’s Word. Not only did you unleash 25 Scriptures from their paper constraints, but you enabled Zakaria to return to Burkina Faso with what he learned and take on the dozen or so published New Testaments there. Soon, God’s Word will be released in digital form in those languages also.

In Acts 8:30, the Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scriptures on a scroll and it led to his conversion. God sent Philip to help him interpret both the words of the Hebrew text and their meaning. Yet did you ever wonder how a foreigner got ahold of a Hebrew scroll? It was an amazing feat of God’s grace to bring this man into contact with the Word, and to provide an interpreter. But oh how things are changing today! The barriers to accessing God’s Word are melting away at an amazing rate as the Scriptures are becoming available in more languages and on more devices than ever before. We are so glad that you can join with us and want to invite your continued participation as we harness technology to expedite the translation of God's Word!

Family Transition

It is official, we are starting our new phase of life as empty-nesters! In August, we saw Roger off to Calvin College in Michigan and I went with to help him get set up. While there, I was able to spend time with Henry and Kevin too, who are all living in Grand Rapids. It is a great comfort to know that they are there together and looking out for each other. Unfortunately, Priscilla couldn't come since she was busy providing orientation for the 48 new staff members at the Black Forest Academy where she continues to volunteer full-time. We've also moved again, this time to France--five minutes from the Basel airport and a 30 minute commute to our place of work in Germany. (Our mailing address has not changed since we will continue to receive our mail at the office). We love being in a French environment where we can actually communicate, and we are actively participating in a small French church nearby. We have a few paperwork hurdles to get a visa to stay here, and in the meantime the uncertainty is proving quite stressful. We would appreciate your prayers in this matter.

It is our privilege to serve as your emissaries to the forgotten languages and we'd love to hear from you! Technology is breaking down barriers, but God's Spirit must still work to change hearts. Pray that many hearts would be transformed for His glory by the Spirit and the Word.

Partners in the Gospel,                               (Phil 1:5)

Doug & Priscilla
 

Prayer & Praise

• Praise God that the Fulfulde New Testament and 24 others have recently been made available on the web and cell phones. Pray that more people like the Ethiopian Eunuch would be graced with access to God’s word and someone to help them understand.
• Pray for the Higbys’ French visa application process. They are still collecting all of the paperwork needed to file and waiting on other documents in the mail, and time is running out.
• Pray for both Priscilla and Doug as times of separation are harder now that the house is emptier with Roger gone.
• Pray for safety as Doug travels to Thailand Sept 27-Oct 3 to help plan the development of mobile software to advance Bible translation.
• Pray for Roger as he begins college, for the development of good friendships and study habits.