I really liked airplanes

When I was younger I really, really liked airplanes.  I wanted to be an F-14 fighter pilot on an aircraft carrier. I studied aviation history, I decorated my room with posters of jets, I built model airplanes.

So today is a very important holiday.  December 17, 1903 the Wright brothers designed and built the first airplane and made the first successful manned, powered flight.

It was my love for aviation that drove me to Moody Bible Institute to study missionary aviation.  However, once I got there, God changed my passions and gave me a love for languages instead.

So today, because of Orville and Wilbur Wright I can put my family on an airplane and fly to Tanzania for only $4,200.  The trip will take 25 hours and will cover 8,996 miles.  Happy Wright Brothers Day!!   Thanks guys.

If you love airplanes and want to support Bible translation you can serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  Check out this link  http://www.jaars.org/

Go Tanzania Mommy

I'm so thankful for my amazing wife.  She is balancing a newborn baby, packing up all our possessions, communicating with supporters, leaving the pastorate, moving to another house, moving to Dallas, moving to Tanzania, homeschooling, two two-year olds....and she does it all with joy!  God has truly united us as a team.  (God knew I needed a lot of help).  Please pray for Jeannette and our marriage and our family during this transition.

Tanzania Girl

Kara (4 years old) came up with this all on her own:



(Tanzania Girl in watercolor)

 She said, "Daddy look, it's Tanzania girl.  She's sad because she doesn't have the Bible."

We're thankful that God is preparing our children for this new adventure.

Refugees in Tanzania

Imagine being violently forced from your home because of civil war.  Imagine being forced to leave your country because of mass genocide.  Where would you go?

For the past 50 years Tanzania has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Many have settled in refugee camps in northwestern Tanzania, not too far from Musoma, where we will be living.

Tanzanians have mixed feelings about refugees.  Some see refugees as a threat to national security and a burden on the country's already weak economy and infrastructure.  They believe refugees should be forced to return home.  Others in Tanzania see refugees as a blessing and want to welcome them into their country.

Please pray for the refugees in Tanzania.  Pray for their safety, pray for the end of violence, war, and genocide, and pray that refugees would find hope and peace in Jesus.

Resources:
http://www.theirc.org/where/tanzania
http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1193
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/19/tanzaniauganda-prevent-forced-return-refugees

25 percent

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6

We joyfully and gratefully acknowledge that God has provided 25% of our necessary financial support for Tanzania.  This is clearly a gift of God's sovereign grace and we humbly acknowledge him.  To all of our prayer and financial partners: thank you for allowing God to use you as a conduit of his grace.  We are so encouraged and excited!  We are trusting God for the remainder of our support...in his way and in his timing for his glory.  Please pray with us.

Balloons in Tanzania and Wal-Mart

Last night we went grocery shopping in Wal-Mart (yes, all of us: 4 kids, 1 car seat and 2 carts!)  Ellie kept saying, "We go to Tanzania.  We get balloons in Tanzania."  Our kids are so young, they think going to Tanzania is the same as going to Wal-Mart.  They have no idea that this is no mere trip to Tanzania.  We are moving!

Some of you have asked us a valid question: "How long is your time commitment for this mission with Wycliffe?"  Good question.  We believe God is leading us to full-time service with Wycliffe.  This means permanent, career move, life-altering, indefinite period of time, until-God-leads-us-elsewhere life transition.  Many Bible translation projects take years or decades to complete.  We are committed to investing our lives in the cause of Bible translation.  Therefore we are asking God to provide regular, monthly prayer and financial partners.  We appreciate all of you who have joined our team!

Thank you!

Urgent, Critical, Top Priority from Tokyo to Cape Town

This past summer at the Global Mission Consultation in Tokyo, Japan, evangelical missionary leaders from around the world gathered to discuss a strategy for fulfilling Christ's Great Commission in our generation.  Dr. Paul Eshleman, vice-president of Campus Crusade for Christ and founder of the JESUS film project outlined the top ten essential priorities for the church to make disciples of every unreached people group in our generation.  He repeated the priorities at the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in October.  Here are the top five:

#5  Church Planting
#4  Reaching Oral Learners
#3  Increasing Evangelization, with a focus on Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus
#2  Engaging the unengaged people groups
#1  Scripture translation

Eshleman declared, "Scripture translation is the #1 priority throughout the world because it’s impossible to do ministry without a Biblical foundation."

We agree!  This is one reason why we are going to Tanzania.  Our passion is to equip Tanzanians to translate the Bible into their own languages and then make disciples of their nation.


Resources:
http://www.tokyo2010.org/
http://www.missionfrontiers.org/pdf/2010/04/10-11.pdf
watch the video at:
http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11455

Countdown...

Tootsie Rolls for all

 Our kids can smell tootsie rolls.  Every Sunday at church there's an elderly gentleman who hands out tootsie rolls to all the children.  Last week he walked into nursery and dropped a few tootsie rolls on the counter.  Ellie immediately stopped what she was doing and said, "Mommy I have one of those?"  Jeannette replied, "those are not for babies."  (No, we do not give tootsie rolls to our two year olds)  Ellie raised her hands and declared with all her heart, "those candies are for all peoples!"

Yeah, it's kinda like the gospel. 

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  --  Matthew 24:14
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.  --  Romans 1:16
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.  --  Romans 15:20
We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.  --  I Thessalonians 2:8

10 percent

 God has graciously, miraculously provided 10 percent of our needed financial support!  It has been so humbling and exciting to see God kindling a passion in people's hearts for Bible translation and the people of Tanzania.  Thank you to all those who have joined our team as prayer and financial partners.  You are a vital part in this mission.

We are praying that God will provide the rest of our financial support by June of 2011 so that we can go to Dallas for advanced linguistics courses.  Please pray for us.

Apples to Papayas

We love picking apples in the fall.  It's one of our traditions.  This year we picked honeycrisp and golden supreme and fuji.  The kids don't understand the part about not eating the core.  We also cook anything with pumpkin.  {except curry pumpkin soup, don't try that!}

In Tanzania, the main agricultural products are coffee, tea, cashews, cloves, corn, tapioca, and bananas.  In Musoma, where we will live, people grow papaya and catch fish in Lake Victoria.  Sounds like lots of good food.  But we will certainly miss all our dear blueberry farmers and apple orchards here in Michigan.

YAHWEH

In the Hebrew Old Testament, the name of God was set apart as holy.  The best English attempt is Yahweh, translated as LORD in our Bibles.

Psalm 97:12
  Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones, and give thanks to His holy name.

Isaiah 47:4
  Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel.

Ezekiel 39:7
  So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Revelation 15:4
  Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations shall come and worship before You.

We can worship God by name because he has adopted us as his children.  We can talk to God by name because he has purchased us for himself.  We can stand before God and speak his name with joy because Jesus has forgiven us.

Millions of people in Tanzania do not worship the one, true and living God, Yahweh. 

Pray for President Kikwete

"I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name.  All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth.  Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD."  --  Psalm 138:2-5

Pray for the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete.  He is a Muslim.  Pray that he would hear the Word of God, repent of his sins, turn to Jesus in faith, sing praise to the one true God, and live his life for the glory of God.

Death is the enemy

Yesterday a good man died.  He was an elderly man in our church who loved the gospel, loved the Bible, and loved the church.  He was humble and gentle and he loved my kids.  He was 82 years old and had been married for 64 years.

Death is the enemy.  This isn't the way it's supposed to be.

In Tanzania, Africa the average life expectancy is 52 years.  7 children out of every 100 die at birth.  Many young children die of malaria.  Millions of Tanzanians are infected with HIV/AIDS.

Death is the enemy.  This isn't the way it's supposed to be.

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.  Death has been swallowed up in victory," I Corinthians 15:57,25-26,54.

We consider it a joy to go and share the good news of hope and victory in Jesus with the people of Tanzania.

Hello, Goodbye

This week we announced to our church that we will be officially stepping down from the pastorate at the end of this year.  One of our precious elderly widows summed it up best, "I don't know whether to smile or cry... I don't want you to go, but I want you to follow the Lord."  Exactly.

Please pray for our family during this transition.

Jesus' car

When we drove home from Florida, we passed this semi truck hauling these massive tires.  (what equipment could possibly use tires this big??)  I asked Kara, "what do you think those tires are for?"  Without taking a breath she announced, "those are Jesus' tires."  "What?" I wondered.  "Why does Jesus need tires?"  Kara said, "because Jesus is really, really, really, really big and those are for his car."  I'm so glad she knows that Jesus is really big and really strong and really powerful.

Our family needs this truth right now as we face two challenges.  One, we are overwhelmed by the millions of people around the world with no Scripture in their heart language.  But we know that since Jesus is all-powerful, He will redeem worshippers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.  Our responsibility is to joyfully obey and use the gifts He's given us.  And two, we're overwhelmed by the task of gathering partners to join us in what Jesus is doing in Tanzania.  But we know that since Jesus is all-powerful, He will provide exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.  Our responsibiltiy is to joyfully rest in His grace.  Please pray for us!

Awake, my soul, and sing!

Last weekend we enjoyed the Unity Christian music festival in Muskegon, MI.  We had a blast!  The kids danced with the music and we were led in worship by artists like Third Day, Casting Crowns, and Jeremy Camp.  Our favorite songs are those that put Scripture to music.  Think about your favorite praise songs and hymns...

One of our favorite songs is based on our hope of being with Jesus on the new earth from Revelation 21:1-4, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

We love singing worship songs that put Scripture to music.  Our hearts break for the millions of people around the world with NO Scripture in a language they can understand.  How can they worship?  Our passion is to translate the Bible for people who can then write worship music for their own culture and language.

TANzania or TanZANIA!

God has already given Jeannette and I a love for the people of Tanzania.  We're so excited to meet the people and discover the culture and learn the langauge(s).

Population:  43,739,000
Land area:  over twice the size of California
Economy:  Tanzania is in the bottom 10% of the world's economies, agriculture employs 80% of the workforce, but only 4% of the land is useable
Life expectancy at birth: 52 (Africa is the lowest in the world)
People with HIV/AIDS: 1.4 million (5th highest in the world)
Religions:  30% Christian, 35% Muslim, 35% indigenous beliefs
Languages: official languages are English (in the courts and education) and Swahili but 127 total languages are spoken in the country

Pray with us for the people of Tanzania!

(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tz.html)
(http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf)
(http://www.thetask.net/who/statistics)

How will they ever hear?

Jeannette's story of grace

I was blessed to grow up at Calvary Baptist Church in Holland, MI where missions was always a focus and priority. Every year we would have a missions conference at which some of our missionaries would come and share what God was doing on the fields they were working in. I remember specifically in high school for the first time feeling overwhelmed and burdened to see people come to Christ and receive Him as their Savior.

After high school I attended Moody Bible Institute where God placed a real desire to serve in missions in my heart. The summer after my freshman year my home church provided me with an opportunity to experience foreign missions by sending me on a 2 month trip to Slovakia.  My junior year God brought a certain linguistics major into my life, whom I eventually married :). Ben introduced me to Wycliffe and the need that exists for Bible Translation. I was ignorant of the fact that there were people who didn’t have Scripture in their own heart language. I believed that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” I began to ask the question, “how will they believe if they never hear, and how will they ever hear if they don’t have the Word in their own language?”

Well, Ben and I have been married for almost 9 years now, and have served in different ministries, but the desire to serve the Bible-less has never left us. Over the past year God clearly showed us that it was time to begin this journey with Wycliffe. This past winter we were able to visit the Wycliffe headquarters in Orlando and meet with some of the missionaries that serve there. This had a huge impact on me personally, and it was through those conversations that God really brought peace to my heart that this was what we should be pursuing. I loved their hearts. They were genuine and transparent. They shared with us many of their fears when going into missions but also how faithful God had been throughout their lives and the deep joy found in seeing others come to Christ through having the Word of God in their heart language.

I see my main role in going to Tanzania as being Ben’s helper and supporter. I feel very strongly that my greatest ministry right now is to make our home a haven for our family, where Christ can be clearly seen and come to be known. I love my role as wife and mom and am excited to continue this role as we venture out to Tanzania. I also look forward to encouraging and showing Christ to other women that I meet. I pray that God will use us as a family in this goal of bringing the Word to those who have no access to it!

I pulled a Jonah

Ben's story of grace

When God called me to missions, I pulled a Jonah.  God clearly burdened my heart for unreached people groups and gave me a love for the gospel when I was in high school and confirmed it on my first mission trip to Mexico.  But I wanted to go my own way and do my own thing and become rich and famous.  Thankfully, God broke into my heart, convicted me of the sin of pride, and changed my desires. 

Between high school and college, I served as a missionary intern again in Mexico.  When I returned, I attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  During one of Moody’s missions conferences, I was introduced to Wycliffe Bible Translators.  God kindled a passion in my heart to translate God’s Word into a language that people can understand.  I changed my major to Linguistics, which is the study of language, and when it came time for my Moody internship, I joined a Wycliffe Discovery Team in Oaxaca, Mexico.  I met some great missionaries who loved Jesus, loved people, and loved the Word.  

Now, after nine years of growing in grace and pursuing Jesus as a high school Bible teacher and senior pastor, God is leading us back to unreached people groups and Bible translation.  We’re so excited to serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Tanzania, Africa.

Uncle Cam

In the summer of 1917 William Cameron Townsend took a break from his college studies to sell Spanish Bibles in Guatemala.  (How did he find that summer job?!)  "Uncle Cam" quickly realized that the majority of Guatemalans were descendants of the Mayan Indians and didn't speak or read Spanish.  Several Cakchiquel Indians expressed to him their concern that the Scriptures were available in Spanish but not in their language.

Conversations like this and the urging of the Spirit of God convinced "Uncle Cam" that he needed to learn the Cakchiquel language and translate the New Testament for these people so that they could have it in a language they understood clearly - their own language.  He and his wife went to live among the Cakchiquel Indians in Guatemala and began translation work.  He also came back to the U.S. periodically to train other Christians in translation principles.  Ten years later the Cakchiquel New Testament was finished and eventually Wycliffe Bible Translators was formed.

Jeannette and I are so excited to serve with Wycliffe.

"my Bible is about Jesus"

I took Kara with me when I visited a sweet elderly woman from our church.  I told her we were going to read the Bible and pray.  Kara asked, "Daddy, do you have your Bible?"  "Yes," I said.  She joyfully announced, "my Bible is about Jesus!"

I'm so thankful that my daughter has the Bible in a language she can understand.  What breaks my heart is that over 350 million people around the world have no access to Scripture in their mother tongue, in the language of dreams and emotions.  There are over 6,900 known living languages spoken on earth today.  Of those, more than 2,200 do not have a single verse of Scripture.

The vision of Wycliffe Bible Translators is to see God's Word accessible to all people in the language of their heart.  Jeannette and I have caught that vision!