November 2022

 

I’ve long been a fan of maritime songs and sea shanties. Sailors sang all sorts of songs, but shanties were specifically sung while working aboard their ships or boats. These folk songs shaped the rhythm of their work which was largely divided into either heaving or hauling tasks. The work and the songs were a coordinated group effort. 

What songs accompany you on your journey? Are there hymns, psalms, or other songs you would consider working songs, setting the rhythm of your day? How and when do you join with others in work and in song (in spirit or with actual music)? I think this topic of sea shanties and the rhythm of our work and lives is worth further exploration…one of these days! In the meantime, I was thinking of one of my favorite maritime songs, Sailor’s Consolation.

In the song, one sailor consoles another during a raging hurricane, expressing how grateful they should be to be aboard ship, even in a deadly storm, when those on land have to deal with the seemingly day-to-day trials of fires, overturned carriages, tumbling chimneys, thieves, etc.. Better to be “safe” at sea. It’s just a good reminder that so much depends on our perspective and that our security is in Christ wherever we are meant to be…on land or sea, in calm or storm. Our Anchor holds. So that ship theme just keeps emerging every time I sit down to write a newsletter. And there is news to share!

On October 13^th, we welcomed Beatrice Elaine Van Wynen, born to Heather and Josh Van Wynen, and new sister to Aurelie and Eowyn (Wynnie) Van Wynen. They are doing well and we are so grateful to have them nearby now and in a house that is a good fit for their expanded family!

Although I’m rarely traveling these days, I was in England when Beatrice was born. But I was home a week or so later. I attended meetings at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS) regarding the research team I’ve been helping with and then had the privilege of observing a course OCMS runs for top-level mission leaders. It was the last week of a four-week year-long program. It was held at Ashburnham Place, once considered one of the finest estates and country houses in the southeast of England. Now a Christian conference center, it still retains lovely remnants of its former glory and gardens. It was great to meet mission leaders from a wide range of organizations, and to also have time with several old friends. I may be of help in further development of the curriculum used in the program. We will see what the future holds!  

I returned from the UK with an extra 50 pounds of luggage! OCMS’s publishing house, Regnum, is the publisher of the Alliance history book our former executive director, Kirk Franklin and I, plus editor Deb Crough, have been working on the past two years. The book is completed and in print! The 50 pounds of books I brought home are to distribute to colleagues in the U.S. If you are interested in exploring this book, you can do so weight and cost free as the ebook is available at 
https://www.wycliffe.net/a-missional-leadership-history/.
It is not just the story of Wycliffe, but above all a story of what God has done and how he uses his church to accomplish his mission. The book also contains some unique leadership insights, and addresses cultural and contextual issues through the eras to the present day. We can better face the future when we learn from the past and recognize what God has done and is doing! I’ve still got a way to go with the writing of a book based on my dissertation. But that is in progress and moving more quickly now that the history book is done. Tom continues in his work as well, serving the Americas region of the Alliance.

The latest Bible translation statistics have also been released. You can find them at https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/.

You can get a further boost of good news and an update on the ministry of the church worldwide and Bible translation by watching some of the segments from the recent Wycliffe Global Alliance Global Connect, a virtual gathering of Alliance personnel from around the world. Colleagues from around the world share testimonies of God at work in extraordinarily difficult places, reports on new developments in Bible translation training and practice, prayer and music in multiple languages. It’s worth watching and will serve as a reminder of just how big our God is! 
https://www.wycliffe.net/more-about-what-we-do/events/global-connect-2022-event-handbook/

Backtracking a bit, Tom and I were traveling in September, just before I went to the UK. We were in Holland, Michigan together for several days and got to visit friends and our original sending church. Then Tom and our friend Kevin Becker took off for a week of adventure in South Dakota, Kevin’s original home state. Traveling in Kevin’s truck, they took in the Black Hills, Badlands, the Buffalo Roundup, and brought home a good amount of South Dakota dust…yet claimed it was a time of great refreshment. I stayed in Holland, enjoying the hospitality of Judy Becker and visiting other assorted friends and supporters and also kept up with work…for the most part. We are grateful for longtime friends and encouragers. Thank you to all of you, in Holland and elsewhere! We also made a quick visit to my parents. Daddy was in the hospital for several days. A first for him. He is doing better, but not fully recovered. And Mother celebrated her 91^st birthday. This month they celebrate 70 years of marriage! We are grateful for their love and example. And grateful for your prayers for all our family!

Gratefulness is the theme at this time of year. We seek to be grateful all year, but with the approach of Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays, we turn our hearts and minds even more to considering all for which we are thankful. Our friends, work that we can enter into with our whole hearts, our families, and all God has provided…. first and foremost, the gift and sacrifice of His Son. We, who are totally undeserving, are swept up in His love, held fast in His hand. Our Anchor holds.  

Tom and Susan