November 2015

Arrivals and Departures

Winslow getting ready to be a big sister

Here in Texas, seasonal arrivals and departures can be confusing. Our daffodils come up in the fall, but never bloom in any season. The colorful leaves in our yard are on our rose bushes, not our trees. After their spring bloom, they turn to leafless skeletal stems for summer, and then burst with new burgundy leaves for another show in the fall.  And as for the trees...the leaves are still green now, but they will finally sigh and give up around Christmas. Having been denied attention for showy fall colors, they get less affirming attention by falling on the Christmas lights and decorations. But we are grateful for each season.And we have other arrivals and departures that are more clearly defined. As I write we are awaiting news of the arrival of grandchild #4. Kate is due November 16th. I’ll be heading to Philadelphia this week to be with them and to help take care of Winslow, who is a rambunctious, opinionated and adorable one-year-old. We will keep you posted on the arrival of her most welcome little brother!

As we’ve been waiting for the new addition to the family, we’ve said goodbye to Tom’s stepmom, Vivian Forsberg Van Wynen.  She went to be with the Lord on August 30, just two weeks after her 92nd birthday. It was such a privilege to have her in our family and we will miss her, but rejoice that she is now where she longed to be. Here in Dallas, numerous family members and a large crowd of Wycliffe and SIL colleagues celebrated her life and homegoing at a memorial service on October 25. Back in the Philippines, where Vivian spent 50 years serving with the Tboli people, thousands of Tboli are remembering this small woman from Minnesota who was their beloved Ye Udi, “Little Mother” as she helped them learn of God’s love and helped them in the translation of the entire Bible in their language.  Here’s a brief excerpt from just one of the messages we received:

Dear Sir Tom and Family:  The news we have heard this day is greatly shocking the whole community. Although we all know all of us will (be) called to heaven, but because of Ye Udi’s great contribution to the life of Tboli people the whole Region weeps and mourns over her death. If only we could claim her body and bury her here in the Philippines so we can see her for the last time. But what we are doing now is, the local government of Tboli municipality has called for assembly to every local persons in every municipality in the province to plan for the Burial Service for Ye Udi and we also plan the Burial Service from the Churches.  Thank you Sir Tom for taking good care of Ye Udi till her last breath. GOD Bless You and More Blessings. Condolence, xxxx

New Journey

Arrivals and departures often lead to other new journeys. We’ve been praying about moving. We’ve been in Waxahachie, Texas, for ten years. That’s longer than we’ve ever lived anywhere else! For the past eight years, our jobs have not required that we live here (we could live anywhere where there is internet and an airport!) but we gladly stayed because of family. Kate, Josh and Heather, and my parents all helped make our house home while living with us in turn. Tom’s dad and stepmom lived nearby in Dallas over a period of eight years and my parents lived in their Waxahachie home for four years before moving back to Tennessee. It’s been great having family here. But now it’s just us. Even our good friends, Pixie and Carl Christensen, have moved several hours away!  

We can’t move closer to both Josh and Kate’s families because they live in opposite directions. But we’ve been praying about a possible move to somewhere around Hampton, Virginia. It would be a totally new adventure! Closer to Kate and family, and my parents, not too cold, and close to the water (fewer allergies!). We want to ask that you pray with us as we prepare our home to sell and see if this is how and where the Lord leads us. We will give you more details of this adventure as it progresses!

Ongoing

Pray for Phil Prior to be able to
join the communication team soon!

So, we’ve been busy with family and house projects...and Wycliffe work, as always! Tom continues to refine the newly updated wycliffe.net website. We both participated in our global communication team meetings in the UK in September. We are going through some major team restructuring, so would appreciate your prayers for that! Please pray in particular for Phil and Tany Prior and their family. Phil is planning to join our team as media director. He’s been serving as Wycliffe UK Director of Marketing and Communication as an employee, but the Priors are now hoping to become Wycliffe members and that requires raising support. We had hoped he could start his new job earlier this year and now realize it will be sometime next year before they can possibly be ready. In the meantime, I continue to take on additional staff and work that is intended for him (Phil will also be Tom’s new supervisor), so you can see why we are so eager for this wonderful family to join our team!  

I participated in a consultation on Prayer and the Mission of God in Calgary last month and also spent two days at the Wycliffe Canada office with their leadership team and communication team.  Last week I attended the Wycliffe Global Alliance board meetings. Next month I have meetings in Germany and Orlando. There is never time or space to share everything with you, but I want to encourage you that God is doing amazing things all around the world. The good news of the Good News far outweighs whatever bad news you hear in the media. 

Prayer Notes—

Praise God for what He has done among the Tboli people and pray for their continuing testimony.

Pray for Kate, Jordan, Winslow and the baby boy we are all waiting for!

Pray for Josh, Heather, Wynnie and Aurelie as they seek to serve God and honor Him as a family

Pray for Phil, Tany, Amy and Sophie as Phil and Tany share in churches and with friends as they seek to raise support for joining our communication team.

 Pray for our ongoing energy to get through house projects and keep up with work and pray with us about discerning God’s will for a move.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support!

News Flash:
Jude Raphael Roberts was born on 

Friday, November 13, 2015 at 2:40 pm EST 

8 lbs 1oz 22 inches long.  Our first grandson.

July 2015

Reaching Altitude

I’m writing this from a hotel near the Frankfurt Airport. It’s not your usual hotel. It’s extra bright and colorful and it’s amusing. The walls of my room are two shades of bright orange and there’s a large papier-mâché penguin in the corner. We’ve become very close during the week I’ve been here. He’s quiet but his body language speaks volumes. I think, living in sight of the airport, he suffers from permanent jetlag and is always on edge, ready for takeoff but never able to get off the ground.

Hmmm, we’ve been feeling a bit that way, too! Tom has had numerous snags and “issues” with the new version of wycliffe.net. But we’re almost ready to fly…almost…and we are trusting for better outcomes than the penguin’s.

I’ve been working with colleagues to rethink some of our communication strategies. We need to stay extremely flexible to align ourselves with the needs of the Alliance and the needs of these colleagues and their families. That means making changes as needed while still giving some sense of continuity to the ongoing work and to all those involved. There’s no one solution. Sometimes we try one thing and it doesn’t get off the ground, so we try the next thing…or move on to something totally different! It all takes a lot of dialogue, reflection and prayer.

We are so glad you support this ministry in prayer. It’s needed…every day!

With One Accord

An English dictionary definition of the phrase offers:

• proper relationship or proportion; 
• harmony. a harmonious union of sounds, colors, etc.
• consent or concurrence of opinions or wills; 
• agreement. an international agreement; 
• settlement of questions outstanding among nations 

“With one accord” keeps coming to mind as I reflect on the missiological consultations in which I’ve participated. Our Alliance leadership team just completed a consultation on structure. How do you have a missiological consultation on structure? The same way you have one on the Church, on community, on Bible translation, on funding. You meet together in God’s presence; spend time together in the Word, in reflection, in prayer. When we conclude our time, there is a deep sense of being in one accord. No one has promoted a specific agenda; no one has swayed the team with their powers of persuasion. But we are seeing the way forward, together, and we are seeing God ahead of us. No fire, no cloud, but an abiding sense of being of one accord. And that is the very clear evidence that He is in our midst.

Family NEWS

Kate, Jordan and Winslow

There’s always family news these days! And the big news right now is that there is another family member on the way! Kate and Jordan and Winslow (who just turned one) have announced with great joy that Winslow will be a big sister in November. And it’s a boy! Do keep them all in your prayers. Jordan is enjoying an intense summer of Hebrew study, God has provided an increase in Kate’s writing, editing and proofreading work (she’s no longer nannying and is grateful to be able to work from home…it’s just finding the time that’s challenging). Winslow started walking the week before she turned one and there is no stopping her now!
Josh and Heather and Wynnie and Aurélie are doing well. Wynnie turns four in August. Hard to believe! She’s been enjoying a sampling of dance, swimming and gymnastics lessons. She calls almost daily on Skype to ask, “can you read me a book, please?” and chats about how she should come to Texas again, or we should go to the beach or Disneyland (we are all hoping for this one next year!). Aurélie is doing her best to keep up with big sister. She’ll be one in September and is standing on wobbly legs with great glee, only to tumble over as a result of over-enthusiastic clapping for herself.   Such fun!

Wynnie and Aurélie

Tom’s stepmom, Vivian, continues to decline but is, in typical Vivian fashion, still cheerful and fully trusting in the Lord. She still loves having company for meals and is beginning to accept the fact that it’s ok for others to provide the meals! She’ll be 93 in August. My parents are thriving in their Tennessee home. They love their house and community and have gotten involved at church as well. They helped with VBS this last week. Daddy’s still playing dodgeball at 83 and Mother is enjoying helping with crafts and using her long-honed teaching skills to help teach the books of the Bible.  She still has assorted health issues so we do appreciate continued prayer for that, but are grateful for all the answered prayers!
“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…” Acts 1:14

How can we pray for you?

April 2015

“This changes how we talk about everything!” This comment, from one of our “story gatherers” at a recent Asia Pacific communication workshop, was a highlight for me. I love seeing colleagues’ thinking and practices change when the significance of missio Dei starts to sink in. Missio Dei is Latin for “Mission of God.” And while those of us who speak English usually stick with English for clarity, there is something about hearing it in Latin that reminds us that God’s mission is so much bigger and has been going on for so much longer than we can fathom.

Asia – Pacific Communication Meeting

There are a number of good definitions of missio Dei, each with its own nuances. One of my favorites is from South African missiologist, David Bosch “[Missio Dei is] God’s self-revelation as the One who loves the world, God’s involvement in and with the world, the nature and activity of God, which embraces both the church and the world, and in which the church is privileged to participate.” (1991, 10).

So…if God’s mission embraces the church, what does that look like? Bible scholar and theologian Christopher Wright explains it this way, “fundamentally, our mission (if it is biblically informed and validated) means our committed participation as God’s people, at God’s invitation and command, in God’s own mission within the history of Gods world for the redemption of God’s creation.” (2006, 23).

The centrality of mission is affirmed by Samuel Escobar, who says it “gives a focus and direction to all the other functions [of the church]” and who then concludes that “the church exists for mission and that a church that is only inward looking is not truly the church” (2003, 13).

So how does this change “how we talk about everything” in the context of Wycliffe? Well, for starters, it’s not about Wycliffe! It’s about the Triune God.  It’s not so much about what we do but about who He is. It’s about people more than places. And it’s about the worldwide community of believers called and invited by God to participate with Him in His mission. Mission is not the domain of missions organizations. Nor is it one among many programs of the church. It is not about task or completion. It is about relationship and worship. It’s about His plans, not ours.

A number of the meetings I attend around the world are Wycliffe Global Alliance missiological consultations. People sometimes wonder just what that means …or assume, “sure, you serve with a missions organization so you have missiological meetings.” But missiology isn’t just for missions personnel, nor is it just another Bible college or seminary class!  It is theology pertaining to mission. That means it has to do with studying God and His mission. And that means spending time in His Word and in prayer, seeking wisdom, discernment and direction. How else can any of us participate with Him in His mission?

His mission is about telling and living the Good News. And as we are in the Easter season, it is a wonderful time to reflect on who God is, on what He has done and is doing to redeem and restore His creation. God the Father sent the Son, the Good News in human form. The Son paid the price, was the sacrifice. And now the Holy Spirit empowers the Church, God’s people to continue sharing that Good News so He will be glorified. He is Risen! That truly changes everything!

Family Update

Winslow Joy

We appreciate your ongoing prayers and financial support for the ministry we are privileged to be a part of and we also appreciate your prayers for our family, as well! Josh and Heather, Wynnie and Aurélie are doing well in Colorado. Kate and Jordan and Winslow are doing well in Philadelphia. Jordan is loving seminary and they are also being blessed in seeing how God provides when the budget is tight! Do pray Kate can get enough writing, editing and proof reading work that she will be able to work from home in the future. At this time she is still nannying, plus doing whatever editorial work comes her way. Also pray that they can find a two bedroom apartment if possible.

Aurélie

Please keep Tom’s stepmom Vivian in your prayers. Her health is declining due to an inoperable growth internally and we are not sure how long it will be before the Lord takes her home. She is in good spirits and not in a great deal of pain, but is ready to go when God calls her. We are all grateful for the good friends there at the apartments where she lives. They check on her regularly and keep her encouraged. Pray too for my parents, Marlene and Jerry, in Tennessee. Last month was a rough one for them with Mother in the hospital for an extended period with a bacterial infection and Daddy dealing with the ferocious winter storms, power outages, etc. in their community.

Éowyn (Wynnie)

Here at home Tom is hard at work on the latest version of wycliffe.net. Keep an eye on the site and you’ll soon see a fresh new look and lots of new features! I continue to work with our communication teams worldwide and with our Wycliffe Global Alliance leadership team. The next time we write, I’ll give you an update on some exciting things going on in the Alliance as we seek to better shape ourselves to participate in God’s mission. I recently returned from Turkey where we held our first ever leadership conference for women leaders in Wycliffe. Other trips in the next few months will take me back to Turkey, the UK (where Tom will join me for meetings) and Germany.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers and encouragement. Do let us know how we can be praying for you!

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Bosch, D., 1991. Transforming Mission. New York: Orbis.
Escobar, S., 2003. The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Wright, C., 2006. The Mission of God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press Academic.
Read more at--  http://www.wycliffe.net/resources/missiology/globalperspectives/tabid/97/Default.aspx