Joy in the Word

  Even though many of the participants were tired, to our surprise we saw participants smiling, raising their heads, looking up at the reader. Occasionally you could see some of them nodding and laughing. We saw that reading the text in the Nyiha language changed the mood of the people completely. After closing the session, I approached our host pastor and asked him about his feelings. He said, "I cannot tell you what kind of joy I have after hearing the word of God read in my own language. I'm so happy!" Then he continued laughing.  by Joey M.

 

 

It is a great joy to able to share with you one of the more recent stories of  how God is working in the heart language of the people and the impact that brings to people in East Africa and around the world.  We also want to update you on a few things that have been going on with our family recently.

 

It is with great excitement that we can tell you that Craig is finishing up his first year school for a Masters in International Development from Eastern University. He will start his second year in June 2014, and with the Lord’s will, he will be in residency   there (in St. Davids, PA)  for most of July. God has been so gracious to allow Craig to work on a full time Masters program and continue to serve the Director of Africa area.

 

 

Also, there is a possible opportunity to travel to Rwanda in the fall to discuss literacy and scripture use with church and government officials. Please join us in prayer for this possible trip and all the logistics that need to fall into place to make that happen, and for the doors to be open and for Craig and his director to be used mightily.    

 

 

On the home front, we are also wrapping up another (home)school year.  Carolyn feels so blessed to be able to serve our family this way.  We also continue to have our foster child as part of our family.  It’s such a joy to see her grow and change…its seems almost daily!  The girls are preparing for their first performances with a local Christian theatre group, and we can’t wait to see them in the Wizard of Oz-more on that to come! 




 

                                                             

 

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We Drive by Faith, Not by Sight

    

When we lived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania the traffic was such that we had a saying that we “drive by faith and not by sight!”  We found that to be true once again in February as we tried to race a winter storm closing in on Waxhaw, NC.  We were travelling from Tampa to Washington, D.C. and had stopped in NC on our way north with the hopes that we would visit some long time friends. However, all of our plans had to be cancelled in order for us to leave and miss the major part of the storm.   We awoke to the snow just beginning, and were able to make it to Manassas before it was too bad in NC, and before it hit VA.  :)

The snow in Manassas after we arrived.

We arrived in Northern Virginia just in time for a foot and a half of snow to hit the Manassas area. The girls and Carolyn had a great time of playing in the snow and visiting with our friends while Craig and Alemayehu (Craig’s boss from Ethiopia) traveled into DC for two days of meetings with the DC office as well as other organizations.


 



Our friends took the girls indoor rock climbing to escape the snow.

Craig just started his 4th class in his Masters Degree in International Development, which should finish the end of March. After that, he will have one more class for the year. God willing, he will start his second and final year of the program in June 2014 and is scheduled to graduate with his Masters in May 2015. 

 

     

Thank you for your prayers and support as 2014 has been extremely busy so far.The family has been privileged to participate in two mission conferences this year and we looking forward to a third conference in June.  Also, Craig is scheduled to fly to North Carolina to teach and facilitate a discussion on duty of care for mission organizations for the Risk Managers Network of mission organizations.

 

 



 

 Along with travel, school, homeschooling and ministry work, we have also had a long term foster care child placed with our family.  We have been blessed to be able to provide care for this sweet, 2 year old girl.  We aren't sure how long she will be with us, but we are loving on her as much as we can while she is here!  Please pray with us--for her, her family and for us, during this time. 

 

Pray for Peace

 

 

     As the blessed day of Christmas arrives, we remember again the hope that Jesus brought to our world with his birth,  Last week we were reminded of this need for hope when Craig received word from South Sudan (a country which is part of his work with Wycliffe) that an attempted coup had taken place and fighting among opposing forces had broken out.

     When this new country celebrated its birth only two years ago, hope was plentiful.  But now this new nation is at a crossroads. The future looks uncertain.  However, we can rejoince that on Wednesday, many throughout the country of South Sudan will be celebrating the birth of a King who lived, died and rose again to bring hope to their nation and all of us around the world. Jesus' promises are real and we can trust in him.  We ask you to join us to pray for peace and restoration for South Sudan.

 

 

BUMP-- New York

guest post by Anissa!

This summer, I went on a mission trip to New York with my youth group from church. We were part of group called BUMP, which stands for   Bridging Urban Mission Project.  We left on a Friday night, and came back the next Sunday. We traveled by train and the trip was 30 hours there, and 27 hours back.  The ride itself was a little boring, but overall, it was a really cool experience.

 

 

While I was in New York, I worked at a VBS (vacation bible school) with first graders.  Most of the children were Chinese, and many of them didn’t speak English. I was also part of the praise band, and we were in charge of the worship music for the children each day.  During my time there, I was able to interact with lots of great kids. One child in particular really touched me. She really just tried to love on me, which I thought was sweet. She would hold my hand, walk with me, and sit with me during recess.

A usual day for us was waking up at 6:45 a.m., cleaning up our area, doing our daily

devotionals,and having breakfast at 7:30.  At 8 o’clock, we would start walking the kids to the church where the VBS was held.  We worked there until 2:30 p.m. when we would walk the kids back. On most days, right after that, we would go next door for the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and it was only $2. We would have a 30 minute break, and then walk a mile to have dinner with two other BUMP groups. We would stay there until about 8 p.m., then walk the mile back to where we were staying.

Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were exceptions to this schedule. On those days, we went sightseeing. On Wednesday, we took a ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty, then I bought a six dollar ice cream which wasn’t near as good as the two dollar ice cream!  We also rode the subway to Wall Street and saw the famous bull, Trinity Church (which was filmed in the movie National Treasure), Times Square all lit up at night, and, we tried to see the 9-11 memorial, but it was closed.  On Thursday, we went to Coney Island.  We walked on the sand, got ice cream, and others got Nathan’s hot dogs.

 

 

Friday night, everyone in our band (including me!) led the worship service. It was a wonderful night full of worship and prayer. Afterwards, people talked about how they have grown on this trip.   

Saturday morning we woke up at five a.m. and took a bus tour of New York.  At eleven, we boarded a train for Tampa. Although it was an exhausting week, I had lots of fun, grew in my faith, and I hope I’ll be able to go on another trip with my youth group.

 

John Wycliffe and a Reunion with Colleagues in Washington, D.C.

You can imagine Craig’s great surprise when he was standing face to face with John Wycliffe, the man whom Wycliffe Bible Translators was named for. It was John Wycliffe, who in the late 1300 hundreds, had a hunger for the common man to have God’s word in English. Wycliffe threw away his academic career at Oxford University in order to translate the bible into English. Many followed Wycliffe, but he was the trail blazer and not only did it cost him his faculty seat at Oxford, but it also left him with little in economic resources to accomplish his goal. John Wycliffe reappeared at our meeting in DC and reminded us of why every man, woman and child should have God’s word in their own language. We as Americans have it. In fact, we have nearly 2000 versions just in English. Yet nearly that many languages still lack a single word in their heart language.

John Wycliffe, portrayed by colleague Arthur Lightbody

John Wycliffe, portrayed by colleague Art Lightbody

 

At our office retreat, it was great to see many colleagues that we have worked with since we  started over seven years ago during our first assignment in DC. Some we had not seen in over three years, as they had also taken overseas assignments. Craig was reminded that working  to have the word of God to reach every language in the world involves cost and sacrifice.

This month will mark 8 years since Craig left the practice of law to join Wycliffe full time. During that time, God has been faithful, through his people, to support the work that John Wycliffe began and that many after him have strived for, often at a huge cost and sacrifice.
 

DC Staff

 

We want to thank you, our dear partners, in allowing us to stay on this journey. Many days we don’t know how we have been able to continue, but we know that God and the provision of his people provide the way.

Thank you.