 |
| 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)
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)
