Christmas 2017

Last year, during meetings in Italy, we had the privilege of seeing the very “full” traditional Italian nativities. Each is a village scene with everyone from bakers (some with pizza ovens) to washerwomen, to children and dogs joining the shepherds and wisemen. The whole community celebrates the birth of the King!

T

hankful and Grateful—We are grateful for all that God has done and for who He is. And we rejoice in expressing our thanks to Him and to you.   So many undeserved blessings!

Dictionary.com defines the suffix “ful” as:  meaning “full of” or “characterized by”. So I write on this Thanksgiving weekend, looking toward Christmas and I wonder…am I thankful again at this holiday season? Or am I filled with the same gratitude I was filled with last Christmas? Is this a repeat performance or a static state of being? I’m thinking it shouldn’t be either! 

I’m thinking I should be increasing in capacity. I should be “fuller” this year than last, because as the years pass I have more knowledge and experience of God’s goodness. I can count and recount more of His blessings. But I should also be fuller of thanks and gratitude because there is a little less of myself to get in the way. I should be more full of Him and less full of myself. That means I should be less concerned for my own well-being and happiness. It means grace replaces greed, worship replaces worry, and His peace replaces my fears.  So this coming year, I truly want to increase capacity for His fullness in my life.

I hope this letter finds you experiencing His fullness and enjoying the holiday season.  We do want to express our thanks to you for your ongoing commitment to God’s mission and the ministry of Bible translation. Neither you, nor we, work directly in Scripture translation…but the ministry is so much bigger than even that very critical component! There is a great need for the Church to have a growing understanding of what God is doing and how they can participate. Together, as the body, we serve so God’s people can take part in seeing individuals and communities around the world have God’s Word in a language and format they understand so they, too, can experience His fullness. 

Statistics are only a part of the picture of Bible translation progress, but they offer an encouraging and challenging glimpse. New stats are now available at http://www.wycliffe.net/en/statistics. We’ve also included some of them with this letter. As you celebrate this Christmas, celebrate with those who may be reading or hearing of Christ’s birth for the very first time! And continue praying with us for the approximately 1600 language communities that may still need Scripture translation to begin. 

God is at work! You can explore more of wycliffe.net to get a glimpse of good news around the world. Tom is still hard at work on the day-to-day maintenance and ever changing needs of this website. Working in a global context means some long hours and strange hours as he connects with colleagues around the world.

My role has changed, again! As you may remember, last January, I moved out of Communication and into a Strategy role with the Wycliffe Global Alliance Leadership Team. Well, I’m still focusing on strategy and am still part of the team, but I’ve been given permission by our Executive Director and have been accepted by the University of Pretoria to pursue a PhD on behalf of the Alliance. I’ll be focusing on the concept of journey as a potentially more missiological and theological approach to strategic thinking. It’s what we’ve already been working on in the Alliance and now I’ll be able to do some substantial research and writing that, I hope, will serve Wycliffe and others well. It’s a privilege to be able to do this. This idea has been in the works for about three years, so it’s not a sudden decision, but it does seem to be the Lord’s timing to pursue this now. Because it is a research degree, it actually means I’ll be doing less travel for a bit and doing most of my reading and writing at home. Please pray with me! I’ll be sharing more about just what it entails in the near future.

Other changes may be coming. My parents are hoping to move out here and are in the process of trying to sell their house in Tennessee.  We’d appreciate your prayers for them and for us as we look at the options for the future. We will keep you posted!   In the meantime, they are in good health, particularly considering Mother just turned 86 and Daddy is 85!  

Our children and their families are doing well, too. Kate’s husband, Jordan, is finishing up his four years at seminary. He just has a two-unit independent study to do and will graduate next summer. They hope to move back to the Bronx after the first of the year. They will be ministering at the Bronx Household of Faith, the church they were both involved in prior to marriage, seminary and three children! We are in much prayer for their housing and financial situation and look forward to seeing how God provides. Josh and Heather and the girls will be with us for Christmas, so we are excited about that. And we are scrambling to get some of our house projects done in time!    

Life is full! And we are truly thankful and grateful…but ever wanting to continue to expand our capacity. As God brings more changes our way, we pray that we will meet them with grace and peace. And again, we thank you for your part in our lives and ministry. May you, too, find great capacity for enjoying and trusting in Christ and all the fullness He brings. Our hope is in Him.


Susan and Tom Van Wynen

We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust His Holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone… Psalm 33:20-22 (NLT) 

September 2017

Dear Friends, Family, Teammates, Encouragers, Supporters in prayer and finance and in so many other ways,

I’m writing this from the airport in Mexico City. I spend a lot of time in airports and try to make it productive when possible! Tom is keeping things going at home, the never-ending Web work, plus his vegetable garden and house projects as time allows. 

Mapping the Americas Bible Translation Movement Journey was the theme of our small, informal meeting these past few days. It was a privilege to sit with some of our Americas leaders, past and present, and review how God has led over these past years. So much has changed since the time we served in Brazil in the 1990s. And it is nothing anyone could have planned. Only God can orchestrate in such amazing ways, on such a large scale and in such detail! At the time we were serving in the Americas, there was only one national Bible translation organization, ALEM, the Brazilian organization that served alongside SIL. Today there is an entire network of organizations in Brazil that serve as a part of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

Celebrating with UNTI,
the Mexican Bible translation organization
of indigenous translators

And it’s not just Brazil by any means (did you know Brazil is the second largest missionary-sending country in the world?). There are now more than 40 organizations, networks and denominations in the Americas that are part of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.  That represents many thousands of people who are leading in Bible translation programs, training, sending, praying, providing funds and other resources. Many of these organizations are indigenous movements. That means the people we were once trying to “reach” are now the primary players in translation and other facets of the Bible translation movement. Translation used to feel rather like producing a product, even though there were many good outcomes and God used His Word to transform lives. But today we are seeing more people involved, relationships built, ongoing discipleship, church growth and changed lives and communities that are beyond what we could have imagined.

Another key shift is the role of the church. In times past there were often no local churches, or where there were churches, mission efforts were left to mission agencies. Today the church leads much of the Bible translation effort. And, together, we are the worldwide Church!

My part in the meetings we had this past week was to walk the team through their journey.   The goal was to document it in a way that would help them discern goals for the future and help other areas of the world as they seek to move forward on their journeys as well. We are taking a different approach from the standard strategic planning model and so far it seems to be helpful. Do keep praying as we continue to explore and discover together as we seek to follow God in His mission and as I find my way in this new role of facilitating strategy in the Alliance.

As we heard the stories of how God has been at work in the Americas, Psalm 40:5 kept coming to my mind. We read it several times during the meetings and it is oh, so true!

“Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,  
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;   
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,  
 they would be too many to declare.”

We have a busy fall coming up with guests, meetings at our house, three more overseas trips for me (UK/South Africa, Singapore, Germany), and trips for both Tom and me to Michigan and Texas. And then there is all the work to be done inbetween! No wonder our house projects are behind schedule. A number of Tom’s tools were stolen from our shed a few weeks ago, so that was sad and a set-back, too.

Our family is doing well. My parents have settled into yet another house. They are still in Tennessee, renting near where they’d been living and trying to sell the other house. So please pray! Kate’s husband, Jordan, has started his last semester of seminary. Kate’s been blessed to have a number of editing and proofreading jobs. Their children continue to grow and are a great challenge and a great blessing! Winslow is now three, Jude almost two and Noah is almost seven months. They will be moving back to the Bronx when Jordan finishes school and would appreciate your prayers regarding the transition, housing, new ministry, etc.

Josh and Heather and the girls are also doing well. Éowyn (Wynnie) at six, is becoming quite the young lady.  I love hearing her practice her reading when we talk on Skype and, a few weeks ago, I watched this very determined child work at threading a needle for more than 15 minutes. She did it! Wynnie goes to classes one day a week and they are home schooling the rest of the week. Aurélie turns three this month and is a bounce-off-the-walls, very bright, self-proclaimed goofball. She often changes her clothes four or five times during the course of my Skype calls with Wynnie. Aurélie rarely settles down for conversation or our book reading but will dash, dance and spin through the room in her tutu, princess dress, bathing suit, etc. combos. Great fun. We were able to see all the family in their respective homes this summer, and Kate and crew also spent a few days at our house in August.

We can’t even begin to thank you for your prayers and support. I hope you find some of the news we share as encouraging as we do. You are a part of the team, a great blessing to us and we want you to know how much that means. Thank you! Let us know how we can be praying for you.

Susan and Tom Van Wynen

P.S.  from Tom.

I wanted to share with you all a recent experience that reminded me that God is working in many ways in our lives and ministries, not just in the ways we are focused on.

In Bolivia, where I grew up from infancy until leaving for college, my parents were part of a Bible translation team focused on the various indigenous language groups of Bolivia. To operate the center where they lived and enable all the translation teams to focus on their work instead of survival, they hired many local people to do maintenance jobs.  Those people became partners in the work, even though many were not believers when they came.  Over the many years of living and working together, deep relationships developed.  Many of the expatriate people provided ongoing technical training and Bible studies to these friends and co-workers. Many of these colleagues became believers. 

When the translation and linguistic work was finished and the expats moved on to new projects in other countries, our local friends moved into new cycles of life as well. I had the privilege of seeing two of them, Ricardo and Anna, this past week, as they came to visit their daughter who lives in Washington, DC.  It had been many years since we’d been together!  It was very humbling to listen to their stories of how God has walked with them over the years.  They were married the year I left Bolivia for college; now, 44 years later, they have 10 children, 30 grandchildren and have been heavily involved in the evangelical church movement in Bolivia.  For many years, Ricardo was pastor of the church in the community that formed on the old translation center. Anna has worked closely with the women’s groups in various churches in the area.  Ricardo is now part of the Obra Evangelica Nacional – a nation-wide evangelical organization.  Some of their children are pastors in the local city and beyond. This couple is just one example of how God has continued to bless relationships begun many years ago. And He has done far beyond what anyone imagined. 

May 2017

Dear Friends, Family, Teammates, Encouragers, Supporters in prayer and finance and in so many other ways,
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19

We are already a third of the way through 2017. It’s a challenge to make the most of our time when it goes so quickly! We are blessed to have full and busy lives, but also want to take opportunities to reflect, be grateful, and notice what God is doing along the way.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, I began a new job in the new year. Having turned the Communication Director role over to the capable hands of Phil Prior, I’ve begun my new role as Director for Strategy for the Wycliffe Global Alliance. I’m still part of the same leadership team, so there are many things that haven’t changed. But I’m needing to look at and think about things with a fresh perspective. It’s a great joy and humbling experience to take on this new role. Tom continues as Webmaster for the Alliance site, www.wycliffe.net. Phil is his new supervisor and together they are making plans for some major website changes. Pray for Tom as he tackles yet another site overhaul! He’s also in dialogue with the team at the Digital Bible Society to partner on some data sharing regarding Bible translation progress and needs.

As usual, travels are a major part of our story. Our story is really all about people and relationships, but the travels are what allow us to connect (along with email, Skype, etc.!) Here’s a brief overview of the year so far:
Johannesburg, South Africa—In-depth dialogue with our Alliance Missiologist, Stephen Coertze, was a good start for my new role. It’s important that our Alliance strategies have a strong missiological and theological foundation. I spent a week at the Coertze’s in January. Stephen’s wife, Lezelle and their two young adult kids were still on school break, so I had a fun time with the family and a profitable time workwise.

Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore—Tom and I traveled together for three weeks in February. The Alliance Communication team met in Bangkok. It was a long-wished-for and long-awaited gathering of the whole globally dispersed team (20+ people from at least 10 countries) and a good chance for lots of creative thinking, Phil’s “coronation” as I jokingly referred to the handoff, and my farewells. I’ll see some, but probably not all, of the team again. So many blessings, seeing the team God put together and allowed me to oversee during the past eight years. It was also the end of serving in a Communication-related role with Wycliffe for more than 30 years!

One of the highlights of our time in Bangkok was when another hotel guest approached Florence, a colleague from Kenya and asked if we were a “church group.” She explained who we were and asked why he thought we were a “church group.” He responded, “Only a church group could have this sort of diversity all working together.”  This is just a small example of the testimony we can have as believers, God’s people living and serving in community, in diversity and unity.

Tom and I also had the privilege of spending almost a week with Fukudasan and Aiko, colleagues in Japan. Fukudasan is our Alliance “Spiritual Ambassador” and also very active in ministry in Japan. He is the former Wycliffe Asia Pacific Director. He has a loose reporting relationship to me, but it is all very collegial. I have great respect for Fukudasan and was glad to spend some time with him and Aiko. Among other things, Fukudasan had been doing a bit of research on my behalf to learn more about how different cultures perceive the idea of “journey.” This is going to be important to our Alliance strategy as we are basing it on a journey model or concept rather than strictly following a traditional strategic planning model.  While in Tokyo we also visited the Wycliffe Japan office and interacted with the small team there. In addition, we attended the Fukuda’s church and spoke and participated in a prayer meeting. Tom also had the opportunity of sharing flutes with their musically talented pastor.

From Tokyo we backtracked to Singapore for our Alliance Leadership Community retreat. It was a good time of catching up with the other Directors, Consultants and spouses. We particularly value the time we spend sharing and praying for each regarding personal and work-related concerns and blessings. These times help us stay connected as we work as a virtual team scattered worldwide most of the year.

Philadelphia—Welcome Noah Keith Roberts! Born February 13, while we were in Japan. Kate, Jordan, Winslow and Jude welcomed their new little one in our absence, but we arrived back in Philadelphia not quite two weeks later. Tom stayed a few days and then headed home. I stayed about a week and half to help out and to help unpack. God blessed the family with a wonderful big, old house to rent this year while Jordan finishes seminary! Noah is thriving and Kate and Jordan could still use a couple months backlog of sleep. But all are doing well!

Germany—In March, I had the privilege of attending the Wycliffe Global Alliance consultation on Global Leadership in Community. There were 42 Participants from 27 countries! Discussions included understanding the mission of God, making space for the next generation to flourish, humility, serving as community, serving in unity, friendship as an attribute of God and example to us, vulnerability, ambiguity and messiness, intentionality…There is an almost indescribable richness when you get such a wide range of God’s people sharing their hearts and experiences and contexts, being open to hearing and understanding each other, and together seeking God’s best.

Israel—We never imagined being able to visit Israel, but in April, Tom and I attended the annual meetings of the Forum of Bible Agencies, International. This year they were held in Jerusalem! We enjoyed three days of fellowship and meeting with leaders of the other Forum organizations and particularly appreciated the tours included in our meetings. We stayed a few additional days, over the weekend, along with our Executive Director, Kirk Franklin and his wife Christine, and another colleague, Bryan Harmelink. All of our time was in Jerusalem, so it was just a taste of Israel. But although we didn’t wander widely, we wandered deep!  We explored several levels of the ancient city, including Hezekiah’s tunnels. It would take an additional newsletter to even begin to share our thoughts and experiences. But one of our major reflections was on just how very human Jesus had to become to live and die for us. The dust, the crowds, the chaos and complexity of cultures and politics. We saw enough to imagine more. We were there the week before Easter, so also found ourselves all the more grateful that our faith is based on a relationship with a living Savior, not a place or a ritual, but a Person. He is risen! Indeed!

The day after we returned from Israel we had the joy of hosting Kate and Jordan and family, Josh and Heather and family, and my parents! Our little house was very full! Josh and crew stayed for the week, the others for about four days. It was great fun to have all the little cousins together. Not everyone had met Jude (now almost one-and-a-half and no one had met Noah (born in February). We also got to introduce Josh’s girls to their first ocean experience! They loved it. That made them and their beach born and bred Grandma very happy. One of these days I want them to see and experience the “proper” ocean (the Pacific ;-)), but our Chesapeake Bay setting is ideal for little ones. Small waves and shallow waters a good way out from shore. We also fit in a Williamsburg outing.

Now we are catching up on work and hoping to somehow get some yard and house projects underway again, as well. Tom is at ASM Board meetings in Michigan as I write this. I leave next Saturday for Alliance Board meetings in Puerto Rico and then on to Germany for Europe Area meetings.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!                  

Susan and Tom Van Wynen