December 2018

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s Strength and Consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone; By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne. Charles Wesley 1744

I’ve been reflecting on this classic Christmas hymn, relating it to world events and to my own context. And I’m thinking there isn’t much these words shouldn’t, couldn’t or can’t apply to. I invite you to try it out, too! On any given day or in any given moment, every line of this hymn shines bright and offers encouragement. It’s also a challenge. Am I finding my rest in Him? Is He the joy of my longing heart? Is He the only ruler of my heart? Such questions lead me to further pondering. Do I spend my days, hours, moments living as if He rules? Because He does!

Fall zoomed right by us, before we ever got a letter written to you! How does that happen? And now, with Christmas coming, I don’t want to go on for long, lest we end up unread on the bottom of the Christmas letter pile or languishing in your email inbox. But we do want you to know how much we appreciate you and we want to wish you a blessed Christmas season!

Tom continues to keep wycliffe.net up and running. With our global team hard at work, he’s on call from early morning until late at night. I continue to serve on the Alliance Global Leadership Team, but my responsibilities with the team have tapered off to allow me to fully pursue the study program to which I’m assigned. It’s been a big change to cut back on travel, etc. but to wake up in the morning and know you get to study all day…that’s a lovely thing! And the change in schedule has also allowed me to spend time with my parents and with family and friends who have come visiting. But it is an ongoing challenge to organize my time well! My advising professor from South Africa is on a research sabbatical at Princeton, so I was able to visit him in October. It was a very encouraging visit and he gave me some good direction. After the first of the year, I’ll share more with you about a research-related survey I conducted over the past few months. I’m learning so much from the participants’ input!

God is working in Bible translation movements around the world. There is so much going on, it is hard to know what to share here. We will send you a fuller report early next year. But for this Christmas season, I’ll just share this link so you can see how one nation, Kenya, is responding, in unity and community, to the need for God’s Word in the languages of the people. TVC NATIONAL BT FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE  It is a good reminder that God’s Church, worldwide, is participating in His mission!

We do want to especially thank you for your prayers and support this year. It has been an unusual year! After just a year and half in Hampton, VA, we moved again this past spring. It was a short distance move, right in our same neighborhood, but a major leap of faith. We took on a bigger house and a mortgage, so my parents could come be with us. God provided this home with a two-bedroom apartment for my parents and a home for us that can also accommodate family and friends when they come to visit. Do come visit! We were able to sell our other house, though we did have to take a loss (even with all our home improvements!). My parents’ house in Tennessee still hasn’t sold. This continues to stretch our faith and budget, but it is a good thing to rely on the Lord. We can be lulled into thinking we’ve got things all “under control” when our budget is “manageable.” But, in truth, He’s in charge of all resources!

Our family is doing well. My parents are well settled here and enjoying it more than they expected! They celebrated their 66th anniversary in November. We have only seen Josh and Heather and the girls once this year, so that’s been hard. But we are grateful for Skype and hoping they can come out here this next year. Last night the girls and I decorated our tree together via Skype!  Wynnie (7) and Aurélie (4) have adjusted beautifully to school. They attend a Montessori school not far from their home. Wynnie is in first grade and loves everything. Aurélie is in preschool and loves coloring and being silly. Not sure there is a class in that, but I’m sure she excels nonetheless! Kate and her New York family are thriving as well. Our son-in-law, Jordan, was ordained a few months ago, so they are deeply involved in their church there in the Bronx. Winslow (4), Jude (3) and Noah (1) keep things lively and interesting!  We appreciate your ongoing prayers for our family!

May God truly rule in all our hearts,


Tom and Susan

www.wycliffe.net
www.wycliffe.org/partner/vanwynens

Marlene and Jerry Roach

Aurélie and Wynnie

Noah

Winslow

Jude

June 2018

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

I’m writing this on my last night here in Kenya. I’ve just spent a week right outside Nairobi, meeting with our Wycliffe Global Alliance Leadership Community, at the BTL Conference Centre in Ruiru. BTL (Bible Translation and Literacy, East Africa) is the Kenyan Wycliffe organization.  We have a Leadership Team, but when we meet as a ”Leadership Community,” it means others have been invited in to share in the fellowship and discussions, to broaden their vision and to enrich our team. This time, several Kenya colleagues were included, plus the Communication leadership from Asia, Africa, Americas and Europe. So it was good to be with my longtime Communication friends. I was happy to change roles from Communication to Strategy after 30+ years of Communication service, but I do miss my friends!

It’s also been good to catch up with what’s happening in Kenya. Since 2008, BTL has sponsored a Run for the Bibleless to raise awareness about their mission of facilitating Bible translation and sustainable literacy among the many smaller language groups in Kenya. Funds are also raised through registration for the event. I remember some of the first discussions when they were starting the event. It has certainly grown since then! This year’s Run had more than 12,000 participants! Among those participating were the Deputy President of Kenya, senators, Members of Parliament and other officials. https://www.rftbkenya.org/rftb-2018

“We have already made a firm commitment that we will assist BTL and other like-minded organizations…We are here today to put a stamp that we stand behind you and will walk all the way until every community in Kenya will read the Bible in their Mother tongue.”   His Excellency Hon. William Ruto, Deputy President of the Republic. 

This year, translation and literacy work continues in many Kenyan language communities, and Rendille and Ilwana communities will have the New Testament and the Tharaka and Giryama will finally have the entire Bible. It is a year of great celebration here in Kenya! We were privileged to spend time with our Kenyan colleagues who oversee this work and the Board of BTL which includes pastors, professors, and other Kenyan leaders.    

For Tom and me, connections to Kenya go back to our pre-Wycliffe days. We lived here (2- year-old Josh, too!) for eight months in 1984 when we were serving with Audio Scriptures Ministries (previously known as PRM). We left Kenya just two short weeks before Kate made her early arrival.  The words above from Hebrews and the quote from the Deputy President reminded me of your faithfulness, endurance and commitment to the ministry in which we’ve been involved and to our family. You truly stand behind us and walk with us!

Not only do we continue in ministry because of the Lord’s goodness and provision through your prayers and gifts, but we also continue through the transitions of family life with your help. We have moved to the new house that has an apartment for my parents (and plenty of room for friends and other family!). The gifts we received covered our closing and moving costs. And your prayers smoothed the way for safe moves (unless you count damaged bookcases) and good transitions for Tom and me and for my parents. We have years of house projects ahead, but are pleased that the projects at the old house should end soon! Lord willing, we close on our old house July 7. We are sorry to have to take a loss on it after all we put into it, but we trust God’s provision and hope the new owners are blessed by our improvements. Please continue to pray that my parents’ house sells, too. No prospects so far! We really need both houses sold to make the new mortgage manageable. Thanks again for all your prayers and support! We look forward to having good times with my parents now “next door” and trust the Lord to help us love them well and serve them well as needed. At this point, Daddy is making major improvements to our yard, so the serving aspects are certainly not all on our part!

Tom continues to be busy with house projects. In the past few weeks, he’s done a ton of work to get the old house ready to sell. And there are projects at the new house. Plus work, of course! The Wycliffe.net website is due for some major changes soon, which may mean changes in Tom’s role as well. But for now it’s mostly maintenance and helping colleagues around the world in their postings, etc.

I’m trying to find a new balance between home activities (house projects, company, etc.) and my study program. I’ve attached a note from our Executive Director that may help you understand why I’m doing what I’m doing these days!

We’ve also enjoyed family time with the kids. We saw Josh and Heather and the girls in April in Colorado when we went west for a missions conference. And we were able to see Kate and Jordan and crew recently, too. We had the privilege of attending Jordan’s graduation from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. Congratulations, Jordan! And Kate! Four years of marriage, three kids and seminary…definitely a team effort! I also spent almost a week with them in NY on my way to Kenya. It took them three months to find an apartment, but God certainly blessed. It is a spacious three-bedroom, with laundry facilities, first floor, and walking distance to a park. No small achievements in NY! Unfortunately, the whole apartment was painted a somber very dark grey. They had already redone the kids’ bedrooms and I got a living room wall and the kitchen bulkhead painted and greatly lightened up when I was there. On my next visit I’ll tackle the whole dining room! Good to have a focus on someone else’s projects besides just our own long list!

As it says in Hebrews, may we follow Christ’s example “for the joy set before Him”, keeping our focus on God while we continue our life and work here on earth. And may we run with endurance…together, for His glory.

Susan and Tom Van Wynen