October 2021

 

Greetings on this early October afternoon,

I mentioned in our last newsletter that I’d been thinking about ships. Well, I’m still thinking about them. Not all the time, but sometimes! One of my favorite random, memorable books is Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. It’s the story of watchmaker John Harrison, the inventor of the chronometer. Author Dava Sobel does a remarkable job of making a complex scientific and historical topic approachable and understandable: 

‘In literally hundreds of instances, a vessel’s ignorance of her longitude led swiftly to her destruction. Launched on a mix of bravery and greed, the sea captains of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries relied on “dead reckoning” to gauge their distance east or west of home port. The captain would throw a log overboard and observe how quickly the ship receded from this temporary guidepost. He noted the crude speedometer reading in his ship’s logbook, along with the direction of travel, which he took from the stars or a compass, and the length of time on a particular course, counted with a sandglass or a pocket watch. Factoring in the effects of ocean currents, fickle winds, and errors in judgment, he then determined his longitude. He routinely missed his mark, of course—searching.’

Harrison's  chronometer

‘Time is to clock as mind is to brain. The clock or watch somehow contains the time. And yet time refuses to be bottled up like a genie stuffed in a lamp. Whether it flows as sand or turns on wheels within wheels, time escapes irretrievably, while we watch. Even when the bulbs of the hourglass shatter, when darkness withholds the shadow from the sundial, when the mainspring winds down so far that the clock hands hold still as death, time itself keeps on. The most we can hope a watch to do is mark that progress. And since time sets its own tempo, like a heartbeat or an ebb tide, timepieces don't.’

Even the term, “dead reckoning” didn’t bode well for the sailors who, for centuries, had no other means of measuring. There was a way however, far superior to a tossed log, to track the progress of their journey. I think and write a lot about the concept of journey. It’s a big part of what I do in my role with the Wycliffe Global Alliance (and it was a major theme in my doctoral thesis). We apply the concept to how we approach organizational strategy. Nowadays it’s also something I think about in relation to world events. However and wherever you look, there are issues of power and control. Who has it, who wants it, how to get it. One of the notable lessons in the story of longitude is that there was no possibility of actually gaining control of stars or seas. It was about marking progress in order to journey well.

How do we mark progress in our journey? We’ve never been this way before. But we follow a God who knows each step of the way. Staying close to Him, growing in the knowledge of his ways, will keep us moving forward at His pace and in His time. We need to discern, make wise choices under His direction. And we need to remember we are no more in control of our journey than we are in control of the wind, the waves, or time. How much more reassuring to know God is in control of it all!

So, this isn’t just theory or spiritual musings. It’s real life. It probably applies to your life. I know it applies to ours! We’ve been serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators for about 35 years now and I can’t think of a year, a role, or a major decision that didn’t include God-given surprises, new life lessons, and unexpected blessings. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us! We continue to seek God’s guidance as we journey on.

Like most of you, we haven’t been doing as much literal travel as we did a few years ago, but that’s starting to change a bit. I was in Mexico for meetings twice this summer. Tom was there on the second trip as well. We were encouraged to see how God has been growing His Church and continuing to enable His Word to be translated. These difficult times were no surprise and no hindrance to Him. At our meetings, we mourned the loss of several colleagues, but also celebrated actual increases in translation progress and in people getting involved in giving and preparation for service. We also heard many such stories during our global meetings last month. We tire of meeting virtually, but doing so did allow the involvement of hundreds more leaders from Wycliffe organizations around the world. You can share in some of the worship and stories that are on the Alliance website. 

Surprises, life lessons, and unexpected blessings were also the order of the day at home in recent months. My parents, who came to live with us about three years ago, decided to move back to Tennessee. They went back to the same retirement community they lived in before, Uplands Village, but this time they moved into assisted living. They are doing well (Mother turned 90 this month!) and are still very independent, but appreciate the services there and on-hand medical care should they need it. The house they owned there never sold during their time with us, but they’ve now been able to exchange it to take care of some of the fees at their new apartment. This was not a transition we expected, but we know God is in it. My parents are content there. Mother is making lots of friends and Daddy is busy helping with the landscaping.

So, on to a new chapter here, as well. It now includes visits to Tennessee as well as connecting with our New York family and Colorado family as possible.  And since my parents’ apartment was now empty, we have refilled it with a lovely young couple from church. They come with a darling baby, six chickens and a dog. So, things are quite lively around here! We are very happy with the arrangement and hope they will be, too. We didn’t even need to advertise! They needed to move quickly, so are now graciously and patiently living in our upstairs while we finish work on the apartment as fast as possible. We hope to finish the work on the kitchen in the next two weeks. No small thing with Tom already working two jobs. I’m standing at the ready to paint, grout, and seal floors when my time comes.  

We will include more about our kids next time (including photos). We got to see everyone this summer! Numerous birthdays were celebrated, as well. Winslow turned 7, Wynnie turned 10 (!), Aurélie turned 7, and Chloe turned 2 (and suddenly for the first time started telling everyone she was 1! That’s a 2-year-old for you). Jude will be 6 in November, and Noah, 5 in February. They are a joy…and keep their parents busy. Both families are homeschooling. We appreciate you keeping them and us in your prayers, as we continue to pray for you as well!   

 

Tom and Susan

May 2021

     

Greetings on this early May afternoon,

I’ve been thinking about ships! Living by the Chesapeake Bay and in an historical region, we regularly see cargo ships, aircraft carriers, and other ships and boats ranging from tugboats to submarines, just a few blocks from our house. Enjoyable as these sights are, these are not the ships I’ve been thinking about. It’s the portraits of the mighty sailing ships that lure me in, particularly the paintings and etchings that depict entire fleets. I would so love to look out to the bay and see such a sight! So pathetic am I that I often pretend, particularly on misty mornings, to spot masts where there are actually giant cranes at the Norfolk docks across the river from us. Thinking such thoughts, I feel suddenly inclined to see what Scripture has to say about ships (and perhaps boats, as well). That should make for an interesting study.  My shipish thoughts are being pulled into many possible currents, but I’ll only touch on one here. 

“Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.”                              Psalm 107:23-24

This is just a small piece of a larger section of a magnificent Psalm.  If you read only these two verses you can readily imagine sailors admiring the beauty of the seas God created. But as you read on you see the sailors in a fierce storm. You see them tossed to and fro, scared out of their wits, crying out in distress. In His time, God calms the storm and the sailors have a new appreciation for a quiet sea as “He guides them to their desired haven” (vs 30). The psalmist then takes up the refrain repeated throughout this passage, “Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (vs 31).

If you have the opportunity today, take time to read this stunning Psalm and be reminded of the God who redeems and restores. It proclaims Him as the God of refugees, rebels, fools, the fearful, the hungry, the thirsty, the oppressed…all who cry out to Him are delivered, saved, and secured. The psalmist says “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.” (vs 43). It is a good reminder of where our confidence should rest. And that only in Him can we truly rest.

We have seen His lovingkindness, indeed. Tom and I continue to marvel at how God is at work around the world and rejoice that we can continue to participate in a small way through our work with the Wycliffe Global Alliance. I (Tom} continues to both untangle and organize the online resources of the Americas Area. The main job is keeping the MiComunidad portal functioning while adding new articles, events, documents and users to it. There are many online events these day, one current series is a course called Languages and the Mission of God which happens every Thursday for 5 weeks. I {Susan} am still working with colleagues on the book that will tell the history of the Alliance and how God has worked through it so that more people around the world can have His Word in their languages. ’m also working with a new group of researchers, helping guide them in collecting existing resources and producing new resources that will assist leaders from all walks of Christian life growing as global missional leaders. And I’m working on various behind-the-scenes projects to help the Alliance and our colleagues think about strategy from biblical and theological perspectives.

The work of Bible translation has not slowed during the challenging pandemic times. God has continued to provide for His people and every facet of His mission. As most of you know by now, the ministry of Bible translation isn’t about a product. It’s about people, people coming to know Christ, people in relationship with God.  I think you will be encouraged as you follow the link below to read an article and watch a video from Indonesia. You can see how the Church is rising to the occasion and encouraging congregations to read the recently translated Mangala Malay New Testament.  GMIM, Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa (Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa) is one of 14 Wycliffe Global Alliance Organizations in Indonesia! GMIM has its own translation center and teams of translators working on translations like the Mangala Malay.   https://www.wycliffe.net/reading-gods-word-together/

 The growth of the worldwide Church has opened up so many possibilities for involvement in translation that we never could have dreamed of, let alone planned for! We surely do see “God’s wonderful works to the children of men”.

Now that Tom and I, and my parents, have been vaccinated, we are starting to look at a few more work and personal travel possibilities and we are happily having an increasing number of guests in our home. We are grateful to have had good health through this unusual and extended season of semi-isolation. Kate and Jordan and family were supposed to come for a long-awaited visit in April, but were deterred by Covid. We are thankful they have mostly recovered, though Kate is still experiencing some weariness and aches (beyond the mom norm). They do plan to visit later this month. 

So, again my ship has been guided by the Creator and has reminded me that whatever storms are around us, whatever trials are to come, He is good, He is loving. “…He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (vs 9). “…His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (vs1-2) I hope we can join together in this proclamation! Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. We appreciate you greatly and keep you in our prayers.

 

 

Tom and Susan

December 2020

Dear Friends,

As with most of 2020, the weeks blurred together and went quickly. This started as a pre-Thanksgiving letter but didn’t get my full attention until Thanksgiving was past. So now we bring you greetings for the Christmas season! The Good News shared by the angels so long ago, continues to spread around all the earth. Each day, there is good news for us, for the whole world! Each day Christ brings light to the darkness, hope to the hopeless, rest to the weary, salvation to the sinner.  Restoration and renewal, grace and peace, all these are the good gifts, the good news our loving heavenly Father bestows through His Son. We can and we will celebrate, worship, and witness His glory displayed.

Each moment of life is a gift of grace, including all of our everyday moments. Tom continues his work as tech consultant with Wycliffe Americas Area. One set of his Zoom meetings often starts at 6:30 a.m. (one of his colleagues is a Latin American living in Germany), another starts at 4 p.m. and sometimes stretches far into dinner time…which fortunately is very flexible in our house! The Americas team is a close group that’s been very intentional about connecting well and often during these challenging times.  We continue to be so encouraged by what we see God doing in and through his people in the Americas…and the rest of the world! If you haven’t checked out our Wycliffe Global Alliance website https://www.wycliffe.net or the Wycliffe USA website https://www.wycliffe.org/videos recently, be sure to do so. You, too, will be encouraged and reminded that there is a whole lot more going on than what the news media tells you!

Tom also continues to work three to four days a week for Eastern Virginia Services, a company that does maintenance for a rental agency’s clients. Tom cleans drains (finding an interesting assortment of items therein!), installs smoke alarms, mends fences, resets toilets, hangs blinds, wrestles garage doors, you name it! Working two jobs is tiring, as you can imagine or may have experienced. But we are grateful for God’s provision including jobs, energy, and the ability to keep paying our mortgage.  We are so privileged to serve with Wycliffe, but we also recognize that there are many means of ministering…including clearing a distraught family’s drain! We recognize that God provides for our needs directly, through our labor, and through His people. So that includes you, our ministry supporters, and our friend from church who hired Tom. For those who may not be aware, there have been two major factors requiring us to pursue this extra work. One, we purchased our current home a few years ago so my parents could live here with us. But their house in Tennessee never sold, so we are left with extra financial needs.   And two, we have had such a faithful ministry support base all these years, for which we are so grateful! But we have seen our support decrease as a fairly large percentage of our supporters are now elderly, plus a number of them have already gone to be with the Lord. So, you can see why we are grateful for you and for Tom’s extra job.

As of October 1, I’ve graduated from U. of Pretoria, SA, with a Ph.D. in Religion and Theology. There was no graduation ceremony, virtual or otherwise, but I did receive a non-virtual diploma in the mail, so it’s official . It has been a joy to focus on these studies and I am continuing to see how they can contribute to my usefulness in ministry. Much of my research was based on a survey of more than seventy, mostly Wycliffe Global Alliance, leaders from around the world. I learned so much! The main idea behind my studies was to look at the concept of a journey as having the potential to be a more multicultural, theologically and missiologically based foundation for Christian organizations and churches as they consider strategy and planning.  Reflecting on our journey and discerning how we can participate in God’s mission, helps us develop our missional intent.

I’ve appreciated your prayers during the past few years and I’d appreciate your prayers now as I get more deeply involved again in the day-to-day thinking and activities of the Alliance. I’m seeking God’s wisdom and am also getting input from my colleagues to see how I can best serve and continue to put the research to use. I’ve been helping our former Executive Director with the writing and editing of a history book on the Alliance, as requested of him by our Board. Seems hard to believe, but I’m the only one left on the leadership team who was in it from the beginning twelve years ago!   I’ve also been working with our new Executive Director, with Wycliffe Americas Area, am starting some work with Europe Area, and will also be part of a steering committee for a new research forum on the future of missions sponsored by the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies ocms.ac.uk. I’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, if anyone needs bedtime reading or has actual interest in my thesis topic, I’d be happy to send you a copy. Or if you want something much briefer, my requisite article on a related topic, “Leading in the certainty of uncertain times”,  was published and is available online at https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6114. Even though I started this article at the beginning of the year, the topic has ended up being even more timely than I’d imagined!

Our family is doing well. Josh’s crew has been in and out of school depending on the COVID restrictions. But they are in good health, keeping up with their schoolwork, and currently enjoying being home. Heather, who teaches at their school is also making the most of her time at home. Kate’s crew continues to thrive and grow. We were able to visit them in September for Chloe’s first birthday. That was a great treat, especially considering the ever-changing city and state rulings on travel, etc. We were fortunate to have had an open window right at that time! My parents are also doing well and have been happy to be able to return to church recently. My mom had really been missing her friends. November 17 my parents celebrated their 68^th wedding anniversary! We are so thankful for them and for God’s graciousness to them over all these years.

My studies focused on the topic of “journey.” While most of us are traveling less than ever before, we are still on a journey. How is your journey going? How would you describe it this week, this year?  Is the road riddled with potholes? Do the waves seem overwhelming? Does the wind threaten to blow you off course? Or, perhaps you feel like you are going in circles! Whatever you are feeling, we still have the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Author Sinclair Ferguson talks about the context of this text, the history of God’s people. He references their “pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion, typified by the exodus-wilderness-wanderings-entrance into the Promised Land experience of the Old Testament saints” and the pattern and principle wherein God calls His people to “’Follow My leader’ (Moses, Joshua, and others)… from the darkness of the Egyptian past, through the struggles of their present pilgrimage, and into the blessing of the Promised Land.”  Ferguson goes on to talk about the three dimensions of their faith: living on the basis of God’s Word given yesterday, living as His redeemed people in the present, and certain that He would keep His promises forever. Always, then and now, God’s people keep their eyes fixed on the person of Christ Himself. Redeemer, Restorer, our cause for rejoicing…Always! Soon we will be celebrating His birth. This season is always a cause for rejoicing regardless of what is going on in the world around us. May God richly bless you and may you find yourselves drawn closer to Him during the Christmas season. Let us know how we can be praying for you. We keep you in our prayers and are so grateful for you.

Tom and Susan

June 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

We are grateful to be writing you in good health and peaceful surroundings at this point! We pray for each of you, that you may also be safe and well. But regardless of our circumstances, it is God’s peace and presence for which we are most grateful!

As always, we want to thank you for your prayers and support. Tom has been busy working on the MiComunidad/MyCommunity site to help Wycliffe America organizations to collaborate and be informed, on generating reports from the Organizational Development tools, and organizing IT functions. He is also working an extra 20 hours a week for a friend from church, doing maintenance for houses and apartments. So there’s not time for much else! We dream of road trips and other travel, and especially of seeing family and friends. We hope and pray that day will come again, and that we will have the space and time to travel as well as the freedom from the current restrictions. I’m sure many of you have similar feelings!

I am getting back into more of my “normal” work with our Wycliffe Global Alliance leadership team. Our new executive director has asked me to continue as strategy consultant. Last week was the handover to the new director, Stephen Coertze, and we said farewell to Kirk Franklin after 12 ½ years under his excellent leadership. We are a very close team, so it is hard to do all this by Zoom. Online is not the same as in-person. We no longer have jetlag, but there is Zoom fatigue for those who have many meetings, and there are still challenges in bridging time zones. But we are grateful for the technology! Because Stephen has been a part of our team for a number of years, the transition is much smoother than it might be otherwise. It will be a privilege to serve under his leadership. Do keep Stephen and his family in your prayers during this rather unusual season. It’s not an easy time to come into a new role. You can watch a brief video about the transition on www.wycliffe.net.

Stephen and Kirk were the key encouragers who helped persuade me to pursue a PhD on behalf of the Alliance. I have been grateful for their support. I just received word this week that my dissertation was approved by all three examiners and that no changes are needed. I’m not sure what all else needs to happen, but it appears I am getting close to the finish line. Kind of hard to believe!

We recently conducted a survey of the Alliance Organizations to get a better idea of how the Covid-19 situation is affecting them and to help them begin to articulate what their world might look like into the next few years. The results were surprisingly positive. Not just hopeful, but also positive in their current situations and contexts. Although online meetings are no substitute for face-to-face, they are a great blessing at this time and do have advantages. Our organizational leaders said they are connecting more often and are able to be more inclusive. There is better attendance for online consultations and meetings because no one is hindered by conflicting travel schedules, budgets, etc. There has been an increase in collaborative efforts, prayer, and relationship building among organizations and with churches. Bible translation work continues, sometimes more effectively than before without as many outside distractions, sometimes with hindrances such as having to connect with consultants long-distance rather than face-to-face in the community. Many teams have also been active in the translation of Covid-19 health warnings and resources, a critical contribution at this time!

We are seeing God at work, everywhere, as always! It is not that our colleagues are without hardships, but they are sensing God’s presence, learning new ways of working, and trusting Him for what they cannot understand. These are good practices for all of us…all the time! We do hear of a number of pastors around the world who are struggling just to feed their families. Their churches are closed, and their congregations are also in subsistence mode. Please keep the worldwide church in your prayers. Pray, too, for all those living where natural disasters or civil unrest make their current context even more challenging. This, of course, includes people here in the U.S. as well as around the world. 

Our family is doing well. Thank you for keeping them in your prayers. Our youngest grandchild, Chloe, is already crawling! The others are also growing and give us much joy as we watch them (virtually, at the moment) mature and share their wonder and creativity. My dad joins Mother this month in reaching the age of 88! Our house projects continue. We were especially grateful to be able to get most of the new roof we needed, thanks to friends and family! Thank you! No more leaks or Tom on the roof doing emergency tar patches! Now to repair ceilings. Thank you again for all your encouragement, prayers, and support. We pray for each of you. Let us know how you are doing!

Chloe is 8 months old!

Noah, Winslow, Jude

Aurelie's house needs no roof

Wynnie, the bird lover, in her nest

Our new roof

April 2020

Dear Friends,
“He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.” (Col 1:17)
Oh, the riches! Have you noticed how many different Scripture verses and passages friends, colleagues, pastors, and family members are sharing right now? It’s not like there is just one place we can turn in our Bibles to find comfort, encouragement, and a reminder of God’s presence. It’s woven all throughout Scripture. Which, of course, reminds me of all those who don’t know the Lord and all those who don’t have access to the wonderful treasures of His Word.
As we hear reports from around the world, much translation work does continue, though many workshops, meetings and training courses have had to be cancelled. One of the great blessings of this era is that so much translation is being done by the people from the language communities. Imagine how eager they are to provide the life-giving Word in these times of trial. May we be as eager to spend time in that Word! You can access some of the latest prayer information at
https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/prayer/
We are thinking of you and praying for you. May you draw closer to God during this season and may you also draw closer to family and friends, whether they are “locked up” with you or far away. There is much good that can come of these difficult times. It is most certainly a time to be grateful that faith and hope are gifts from the Lord, not something we are responsible to manufacture!
Oddly enough, our lives have not changed all that much. We work from home anyhow, and I’d been doing less traveling this past year or so while in my study program. So, what’s changed? More Zoom meetings (although the Colorado grand girls have even more Zoom meetings than we do as that’s now part of their school routine!), no travel, and I’m now part of a Wycliffe Global Alliance crisis monitoring team. Tom continues his work with Wycliffe Americas Area and connects with his colleagues several times a week. He was able to quit his Starbucks job at the end of January, but continues working with our friend’s maintenance company. We are grateful he is now only working in empty houses and apartments, readying them for the next tenants.
I turned in my dissertation the same week we went into lock-down and just a week before South Africa locked down. So, my paper may be in limbo between me and the examiners, but it is out of my hands! I still have some related paperwork to do and an accompanying article to write this month. I’d been looking forward to getting away from my desk a bit more (at least on weekends) and doing exotic things like going out for coffee and to prowl the second hand stores for clothes for Kate’s kids. But it was not to be!   At least I am well-practiced in hunkering. I am, however, starting to get back into more activity (virtually, of course) with our Alliance leadership team. This is a crucial year for many reasons, including a change of executive directors. As you can imagine, few things are able to go as planned!
We are holding my parents captive. They are doing well and staying home. They miss their small outings for shopping and the occasional meal, but we are keeping them well stocked with groceries. Daddy is happy to be back out in the yard again now that the weather is warming up a bit. The man actually likes to weed, hurrah! I did not inherit that trait. And Mother is on repeat #? of most of the jigsaw puzzles we own. She has also been doing a bit of sewing and has written notes to all her Sunday school class.
House projects are gearing up a bit, though we don’t really have any additional free time. But we keep working on things little by little. The major blow for us just before Covid-19 became everyone’s big news, was finding out we need a new roof (which we suspected. Tom has been patching since we moved in and we have had several leaks in several rooms). We have a large, old house that was neglected for years and that has been added on to several times, so the roof is a bit crazy as well as in need of new shingles. We have a good roofing company we trust. They did our last house here (sigh) so we have confidence in his estimate. A friend from church has offered to pay a good-sized chunk, and we’ve had two other gifts that will help. Unexpected and undeserved generosity! So, we are at last half way there. Thanks for praying with us about this need.
In the meantime, we are grateful to have a home and a roof at all! We know many people around the world do not enjoy the benefits we have. It’s important to remember them especially in this challenging season. Let us know how you are doing! We do so appreciate you, your friendship, encouragement, and support. Hasn’t it been amazing to see the unity of God’s people as we connect during this time of distancing! We are blessed to be part of the Body and pray we can be a blessing to others. How can we pray for you?
We appreciate your prayers! My parents are in the very high-risk age and health group, so in this household we are the “kids”. But we realize we are also at higher risk than some.   We are praying especially though for our kids. Even the Colorado bunch is not beyond the reach of the virus, and our New York bunch is in the very thick of it. Please pray for them! And that we will all grow in our willingness to truly trust the Lord!
Our pastor read Psalm 126 this evening (We did drive-in church. I couldn’t help but connect how our desire to get out of our cars and fellowship…which we didn’t do…is just a small taste of what our desire for heaven should be. And when, Lord willing, we can meet again face-to-face, what a lovely little taste of heaven that will be!). As you read Psalm 126 picture that day when we can “laugh loudly and shout for joy” and how even now we can proclaim, “The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.” We stand in the shadow of a pandemic, but also in the shadow of the cross and the stone that was rolled away. May God fill you with His joy this Easter season and in the coming months ahead. 

January 2020

Dear Friends,
That fleeting moment for getting Christmas cards out in a timely, or untimely manner, passed me by. But we now write in hope of catching the fleeting moment that bridges the years, old and new. 2020, wow. We remember well when we thought the year 2000 was momentous, and here we are 20 years later?! But then, every year is momentous and every moment a gift of grace from the God who sustains us.
2019 brought many blessings. The one that first comes to mind came on September 25 in the person of Chloe Mae Roberts, born to Kate and Jordan and welcomed by her three siblings and the rest of us. The whole family enjoyed surprising my parents on Christmas Day, arriving for a few days’ visit to enjoy the holidays with us and introduce Chloe to my mom and dad (Tom and I had the privilege of meeting her earlier, the day she was born, in New York.). We are grateful the Roberts clan is doing well, though often dealing with the ups and downs of cold, coughs, and the other trials of kid-life.  Josh and Heather and their girls are also doing well. We had the privilege of visiting them in Colorado over Thanksgiving and were able to take in Grandparents’ Day at the girls’ school.
My parents continue to enjoy life next door to us (in an attached apartment) and are in good health for their late 80s. Mother has been doing some sewing and enjoys puzzles and reading. Daddy enjoys reading as well (we found some good sea stories for him!) and he contributes greatly to the well-being of our yard when weather allows. They are also very happy in their church and participated in some of the holiday events there.
Tom and I are busy as always…or actually, busier. In addition to his Wycliffe role (more on that in a moment) he has taken on a second job to help us keep a roof over our heads! As some of you may recall, we purchased a larger house almost two years ago so my parents could live with us. Some of you gave us extra help financially at that time (thank you again!) which enabled us to make the down payment and get moved. Our other house (which was fully paid for) sold and with those funds and our retirement funds we were able to get into this house. But my parents’ house in Tennessee still has not sold and that was the other part of the funding equation. Mortgage payments, increased taxes and higher utility bills make it impossible to get by on our regular support.  So…in October, Tom took a part-time (20+ hours a week) job at Starbucks. And now, in January he will be switching jobs to work part-time for a friend from church. It has been quite an adventure! Tom can tell you more.
Hi, Tom here.  Starbucks has been an adventure and a financial lifesaver given our housing costs, the junction of our Medicare switch with its upfront costs, plus our usual end of summer lower income had us really struggling. I did not know if Starbucks would hire an old guy, but they did, and I have enjoyed the interactions with my co-workers and the customers.  One major thing I learned is how hard the work is. There is no down time; it is constant motion to keep things going. My schedule has been very erratic as well, which makes it hard to get into a rhythm. When I shared with our church small group that I had started at Starbucks, one of the guys expressed interest in having me work for him instead, in his rental property maintenance company.  That type of work is what I had thought of doing first, but did not know how to get started. So in a week I will wind down my Starbucks job and start organizing my tools for a new venture with better pay and fewer, more predictable hours.
I am also still working full-time for Wycliffe, and am grateful for flexible hours. I will be transitioning from running the Global Alliance website (the new site is supposed to launch January 16, I am involved in closing down the old systems). I am moving to work with the Americas section of the Global Alliance, helping with several technical projects, including a WordPress community training website and a reporting system. After 12 years on the Alliance site, a change will probably be good.
Susan here again. I continue in my role with the Wycliffe Global Alliance leadership team and at this time my main focus is on finishing my doctoral studies! (which is why Christmas cards just didn’t happen). It’s just a few months before my thesis and all its accompaniments have to be completed!  It has been a joy and a privilege to do these studies and I look forward to how God may use this work to His glory. The goal has been to explore how a journey concept can be a better, more theologically and missiologically sound, approach to strategic thinking and planning. Much of what I am working on is already applied in our Wycliffe Global Alliance team, so it is exciting to watch it develop further. In a few weeks, Tom and I will be going to meetings in Mexico City. Tom will have the opportunity to meet with others from the team he’s now joined and I will be helping the Americas Area leadership think through a new approach to their strategic thinking. It’s great to be working on academics that have real-life applications!
Our ministry with the Alliance is informed and enriched by ongoing consideration of God’s mission. As we grow in our understanding of what it means to participate with God in His mission, rather than thinking “we” have a mission, or a “task,” to accomplish for God, so much changes in our attitudes, thinking, and behavior. As we see more and more people in the Alliance and in churches reflecting on what it means to be part of God’s mission, one of the things I enjoy most is seeing how people start taking notice of what God has done and is doing, rather than primarily focusing on what they think needs doing! We want to acknowledge a need (the world does need Jesus!), however, it is easy to get stuck in certain thought patterns, activities and programs. But we have seen many changes and we are certainly seeing God at work growing and teaching the Church worldwide.
One of those “stuck” thought patterns comes from forgetting, or not knowing, how God is working through His people all over the world. You’ve probably heard the idea that missions is not “the West to the rest” but “everyone to everywhere” (all of God’s people living and proclaiming the Gospel wherever they are). This is possible because of the growth of the worldwide Church. 
Perhaps you’ve already made some of these transitions, but see if any of these ideas might help you, your family, and church as you pray for the spreading of God’s Word and your involvement in His mission.

·         When you pray for people in countries primarily under the influence of other major religions, pray for the ministry of the Church already in that country. Example: Although Christians are a minority in Indonesia, they are still 20-30 MILLION strong. There are 12 Indonesian organizations in the Wycliffe Global Alliance working to bring God’s Word to their minority language communities. Pray for the Indonesian church and their tremendous impact in all areas of ministry, including Bible translation, and for their impact on their nation as a whole.

·         When you pray for people to be called to share the Gospel, remember every believer is called. Example: John 17

·         When you pray for missionaries, remember they are coming from all over the globe and going all over the globe.   Example: Brazil, South Korea, and India are among the top SENDING nations. (and some of them are sent to reach people in the U.S.). All nations can be both senders and receivers of those who live and proclaim the Gospel.

·         God has scattered the nations. Sharing the Gospel isn’t about crossing borders, it’s about sharing the Gospel. Example: There may be people from a “difficult access” country now living in your neighborhood.

Watch and listen to discover what God is doing. Pray, read God’s Word, and reflect on how He wants you to participate with Him. Our God is amazing, all-powerful, all-knowing, and totally in control.
We appreciate your support, your ongoing prayers, and your friendship. We especially appreciate your prayers as Tom is working this second job. We want our faith (and Tom’s stamina!) to increase and we seek to discern what God is doing in our lives and want to respond in ways that honor and glorify Him. And, as always, we cherish your prayers for all our family and for the ongoing ministry of Bible translation.  May you sense God’s presence and strength as we move together into 2020! 

Josh and Heather with Wynnie and Aurélie

Kate and Jordan Roberts with Noah, Winslow, Jude and Chloe

Susan with Chloe Mae Roberts  September 25, 2019

August 2019

Dear Friends,
We are writing to thank you. We enjoy updating you on what’s happening in the world of Bible translation and our related ministry. But as we consider that we’ve been serving with Wycliffe for 33 years (and, Lord willing, aren’t done yet!), the two primary things that come to mind are God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of our friends and family who support us through encouragement, prayers and giving. Some of you have supported us in prayer and encouragement even before we joined Wycliffe. A few of you may remember our early years with Audio Scripture Ministries (formerly PRM) and our time in India and Africa. And, following that there were about two years of training and preparation for joining Wycliffe.

As we reflect on God’s goodness and provision through His people, we thought it would be good to heed Moses’ words to the Israelites, “Remember how the Lord led you all the way…” Our personal testimony may not live from generation to generation, but it is still part of that bigger story that tells of God’s goodness. “This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” Psalm 102:18.  We are all part of the Psalmist’s “generation to come”, those “people not yet created.”  And now in our time, we have no less responsibility and no greater joy as we recount what God has done.

In addition to the individuals who support our ministry, there are also churches and even one business. There are always new people coming into these churches and this workplace and we want to introduce ourselves to them as well and thank them for being a part of your congregation or staff. Your ministry reaches far beyond our family and we are just privileged to be a small part. Thank you!

We are all a part of an amazing era! In the past 30+ years we’ve seen tremendous growth of God’s Church around the world, much of it in places we would consider the least likely, most dangerous, seemingly “impossible.” With the growth of the Church worldwide, missions has moved from being “the west to the rest” to “everyone to everywhere.” When we started with Wycliffe, most of those involved were from North America and Europe. There were approx. 40 Wycliffe organizations. Today there are more than 100 organizations, and most are not western. These include church denominations, networks and movements, as well as “classic” mission organizations. And the people in each of these organizations have a passion and commitment to see people around the world able to access God’s Word in the languages and format they can best use.
 
It’s not the beginning of a year, nor the end, but it seemed like a good time to give you a bit of a report on how God has provided for us, in every possible way, over the years. We hope this will also be an encouragement to others, to all of you, to trust God with all you have and are—knowing it is truly His!  We are including a timeline of our involvement to recount how we (and that includes you, our team members!) have seen God lead and provide. We are also including some brief stats on worldwide Bible translation and also on our personal financial status. We occasionally get questions about both, and we want to be accountable to you.

First and foremost, it’s all about God’s glory. Secondly, it’s about people; people loved by God, people called according to His purpose and people still in need of His Word. Whether you know us well, or are just hearing about us for the first time, please join with us in praising our great God and praying for the Bible translation movements worldwide.

When we first began serving with Wycliffe, translation statistics were primarily provided by SIL and Wycliffe. Today there are so many partners and so many people involved, we no longer track by organization. Nor is there is way to fully report on all that is happening through Bible translation movements worldwide. It’s bigger than anything we can count! And, so much of what is involved in Bible translation ministry isn’t about numbers. It’s about lives and communities transformed by God through His Word and His people.  However, many people still ask for statistics and they are one way of noting progress. The following statistics were adapted from:  “progress.Bible™. SNAPSHOT. May 2019."

Translation Need Categories  (of 7,108 languages)

• Work in Progress: 2,781  language communities where needs are in the process of being met.
• Potential Need: 1,563 language communities about which more information is needed to determine actual translation need.
• Expressed Need: 249 language communities for which the local church or representatives of the language community have expressed a need for translation or requested help with translation.
• No Known Need: 2,515  language communities reflecting diverse language situations (many are multilingual); some warrant further exploration concerning needs, some prefer using another (often more commonly used language), some are losing vitality as a language community (adopting other languages).
• Because there is still much work to be done researching the world’s sign languages, not all are included in the internationally recognized list of languages (ISO). The following is a separate list of translation needs among sign languages:  

Sign Languages

• Language Count: 387 (includes 143 ISO and 244 Non-ISO Recognized Sign Languages, the 143 are included in the language count of 7,108 above. The others are in addition to that number.) 
• Languages with Scripture: 34 (there are no sign languages with a complete Bible at this time)
• Remaining Translation Needs: 281