May - June Update

 

May 2-13 Tom and Susan in Thailand for Wycliffe's Global Gathering and a meeting of communication and prayer leadership.

May 25-28 Tom and Susan in Colorado to visit Josh, Heather and Wynnie.

June 12-19 Susan in Finland for Wycliffe Global Leadership Team meeting and Wycliffe Finland's 40th anniversary celebration.

Other June highlights- our 32nd anniversary, Don and Vivian Van Wynen's 13th anniversary (Tom's dad and stepmom) and Jerry Roach's 80th birthday (Susan's dad).

The Wycliffe Global Gathering in Thailand was an amazing experience as we saw and heard what God can do and is doing through the worldwide Church as they take on the challenge of Bible translation. More than 200 leaders from more than 100 Wycliffe participating organizations met for a week of sharing, celebrating and learning together.

Our keynote speaker was Dr. Christopher J.H. Wright, noted Christian leader and author. I've enjoyed reading his book, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, this past year. As an Old Testament scholar, he brings mission to life as much more than just a few proof texts for the Gospels. You can read summaries of his presentations and watch the videos at www.wycliffe.net/resources/missiology/globalperspectives/tabid/97/Default.aspx


What's next? July is probably the only month this year that we will both be home all month! We hope to have plenty of time to focus on work, but are also looking forward to guests and house projects. Those two things may not seem like the best combination, but as our house is always in some stage of remodeling, it is pretty much inevitable that any guests have to accept their accommodations as a work in progress.

Kate and her boyfriend, Jordan, arrive on the 5th. On the 10th, Jordan returns to New York and three of Kate's girlfriends arrive for a few days before the foursome head out for a road trip west. Then Tom and I get back to work!

Tom makes continual improvements and additions to wycliffe.net- enhancing language maps, connecting another list of online Scripture translations, and also a list of language survey reports. My current projects include orientation materials for the Alliance, preparing for a leadership development meeting in Malaysia in August, input to wycliffe.net, strategic planning updates, and the new missiology blog, Missio Vitae. This new resource provides "bite-size" readings, reflections and questions related to the Mission of God and how we, His Church worldwide, can participate. The blog launched this month in seven languages! Check it out or get a feed of the weekly installments at missio.wycliffe.net.

We hope your July brings many blessings, good relationships and times of refreshment as you, too, continue your journey with the Lord. We appreciate you and often reflect on the blessings you bring to our journey! We are grateful for your prayers, friendship and support. We keep you in our thoughts and prayers wherever our journey takes us!

Hi, Susan here. I'm just finishing up a week in New York. I was attending the Forum of Bible Agencies, International meetings. This year the meetings were in Manhattan, hosted by the American Bible Society. The meeting agenda included "field trips" to visit and explore various aspects of urban culture, life, and ministry. But I don't think any of the field trips can match the experiences I have when visiting our daughter, Kate, in the Bronx! Fortunately I did have time to enjoy a few days with her before and after the Forum meetings.

Kate teaching ESL

Urban life and ministry is relevant to all of us these days. For Kate it is about ministering as part of a local body of believers and reaching out to the immigrant population in her very diverse Bronx neighborhood. For the Bible agencies that met in Manhattan, the interest in urban ministry comes from the recognition that more than half of the world's population now lives in cities. And for those of us serving with minority language communities, this urban population growth means many of the users of those minority languages are as likely to be found in hi-rise apartments as in remote villages. It also means these language "communities" are connecting through social networks that spread across the globe as well as back to their geographic homeland.

Urbanization and globalization also have an impact on languages themselves and on the people who use these languages. As people move and new generations are born in cities across the globe, will they keep their language? Will they want to preserve their culture? What mediums of communication will they use? Who will introduce them to Jesus? These kinds of questions lead to new thinking concerning where ministry needs to happen, how the Gospel should be made available, and how the Church can and must respond to the needs of the cities and their peoples.

While I've been in New York, Tom spent several days in Michigan attending the Audio Scriptures Ministries Board meetings (ASM). ASM is one of several key organizations producing audio recordings of translated Scripture. Audio and video continue to grow as strategic mediums. Recordings once produced on cassettes are now as often found on microchips and listened to on mobile phones. Tom and I have seen the reality and potential of this as we've traveled. One of our favorite memories while staying in Kenya a few years ago was being scolded by the local vegetable lady. Like generations before her, she carried heavy loads of fruits and vegetables on her head every day from market to outlying neighborhoods. But her expectation was that we would call her mobile phone to place our order. We didn't have a mobile phone while in Kenya, so couldn't comply. She shook her head at us as I handed her my hopelessly old-fashioned handwritten grocery list.

Globalization, urbanization, technology--all important considerations, not just in business but also in mission. But at the heart of all our observations and reflections, it always goes back to God's heart for people and our desire to see God glorified as people come to know and worship Him. Discerning the times and knowing what to do comes not from keeping up on the latest trends, but from keeping close to Him and trying to see the world as He sees it.

For Prayer

The new kitchen sink!

Thank God--

• For good relationship building at Tom's meetings in Michigan and mine in NY
• For the time I was able to spend with Kate while in NY
• That Tom finally found time to get our kitchen sink in!

Pray for--

Granddaughter,Wynnie, 7 months

• The Church worldwide and particularly the urban churches as they seek to reach people with the Good News.
• Our colleagues worldwide who are working in the ministry of Bible translation.
• Our comings and goings and relationships as we serve with the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
• Our Wycliffe Global Alliance meetings in Asia in May.

“The truth of the resurrection is of supreme and eternal importance. It is the hinge upon which the story of the world pivots."
Tim Keller, King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus


We are all witnesses to and participants in the story of the world as it pivots on the hinge of that great Good News. What an amazing privilege and opportunity!

We want to start sharing more of what we see and hear and are a part of, so will attempt to do better at a brief, monthly update.

Susan—I spent two weeks in Manila in March. It was a great time of meeting with the Asia and Pacific Area communication team. This diverse team from Korea, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. (plus interns and volunteers from many other countries!) is collecting and telling the stories of what God is doing through His people and His Word all across their region. Check out one of their videos at: www.wycliffe.net/stories/tabid/67/DEfault.aspx?id=2606

Now after several weeks of being able to work from home, I'm getting ready to go to the annual meetings of the Forum of Bible Agencies, International in New York City. The extra perk there is that I also get to see our daughter, Kate! Then two days after returning from NYC, Tom and I head for Asia for meetings with all the Wycliffe Global Alliance leaders from around the world. So lots to prepare for!

Tom—I've been working almost non-stop on all the upgrades to www.wycliffe.net, the Wycliffe Global Alliance website. Recent upgrades have included a "print this" option so you can now instantly print articles you might want to keep or share. And speaking of sharing, the website now also has a robust "share this" feature that allows you to share almost anything you see on the site friends through Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can also now download photos from the website--a handy feature if you are looking for good photos for a missions conference, prayer meeting or Sunday school class. And you can also now get feeds of content (prayer requests, stories, etc.) from wycliffe.net right to your own website (a good way to keep current missions content on your church website!).

I've also been working on Portal, which will be a new intranet site for communication personnel and others in the Wycliffe Global Alliance. This new site will meet the longtime need of communication teams to have a place keep key resources, training materials and connect through forums, etc.

For Prayer

New Experiences! Eowyn with onion, yum!

Thank God for—

• His provision for each one of us through the death and resurrection of His Son.
• His provision for us through the gifts and prayers and friendship of His people.
• His ongoing care of our parents: Tom's dad, Don, and stepmother, Vivian, and Susan's parents, Jerry and Marlene Roach.
• His ongoing provision for our children: Kate, and Josh and Heather and our granddaughter, Eowyn.

Tom at Easter Pageant in Keene, Texas

Pray for—

• The Church worldwide as they grow in vision and participate in God's mission to redeem and restore His world.
• Our colleagues worldwide who are working in the ministry of Bible translation.
• Our comings and goings and relationships as we serve with the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."
The coming of the Messiah, the Saviour. There is no better news. And what makes it such joyful news today is that it still for all people.

Every now and then I still see articles that refer to Christianity as a “Western religion.” I feel sorry for these authors, who are so often concerned about colonialism and paternalism, because their own views represent just what they oppose. While we wouldn’t deny that the West has influenced many Christian practices, followers of Christ around the world would be the first to tell you that the Good News is for all peoples. It began with prophecies that spread across the ancient world. It was fulfilled in a baby born in Bethlehem. It spread across the globe—Africa, Asia, and eventually across Europe and into the New World. And then the Good News looped back again. And today it spreads in every direction…from the whole world to the whole world.

Our Global Leadership prays for African colleagues in Ghana

Tom and I traveled this year to El Salvador, and I also spent time in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Ghana, Austria, and Slovakia. It was a full year of rich opportunities to witness God at work and to see how the Good News continues to spread.

In El Salvador we met with communication colleagues from around the world and met Deaf colleagues working on Bible translation for the Deaf communities of that country (additional research is still needed, but there may be as many as 400 sign languages worldwide used by a total of 20-33 million people as their first language. As many as 50 Deaf language translation programs are in progress).

In the Philippines I participated in a round table meeting of about a half dozen mission organizations as we, together, considered what leadership development needs to look like in our global contexts.  In Malaysia, our Global Leadership met to discuss all sorts of things! In Singapore I had the opportunity to spend a few days with a good friend who works in a minority language community of mainland Asia.  In Thailand I met with leadership of Wycliffe and SIL to work on planning for our major quadrennial international meetings next year.

Central Europe Meetings, Wycliffe Slovakia Director
starts our day in Scripture

It was my first visit to several countries this year, including Turkey. There in Istanbul I had the privilege of being part of meetings concerning translation principles and best practices. In Ghana (another first visit), our Wycliffe Global Leadership had the opportunity to conduct our meetings in a setting where we could also learn more about GILLBT, the Ghanaian Wycliffe organization. Our GILLBT colleagues were great hosts and introduced us to local pastors, university professors and community leaders in the capital city of Accra. And then, it was good to again meet with communication colleagues in Austria. Several of us then had the privilege of attending a meeting of the Central European (and Russian) Wycliffe organizations.

So you can see why I long for a bigger and corrected vision for the authors who talk about Christianity being “western”!  God and His Kingdom are sooo much bigger!

2012, Lord willing, looks as energizing and full as 2011. We appreciate your prayers for this ministry God has allowed us to be a part of.  Thank you for all you do as a part of this team effort.

As we look back on 2011, though, our report would not be complete without expressing our joy at the arrival of Eowyn Noelle Van Wynen! Our beautiful granddaughter (Wynnie for short) was born to our son Josh and daughter-in-law Heather this past August. Colorado now seems too far from Texas, but we are doing our best to make sure we see Wynnie and her parents whenever possible. Our daughter, Kate, is in New York, which is, fortunately, a great place for the occasional layover when traveling to Europe or Africa!  We appreciate your continued prayers for all our family. Our parents are all here near us in Texas. We are privileged to spend time with them as well and Tom is able to be of some help with his Dad.

So we cherish our families, are privileged in our ministry and hold tight to the Good News the angel proclaimed…a Saviour is born!  This is Good News for all people…for us, for you, for the Church worldwide and for the millions who still need to hear.

at home in Waxahachie, TX

xmas05_0422Tom-Susan
Originally uploaded by vanwynens.

here we are in front of our 'new' 1920 Colonial Revival house in Waxahachie, TX. Y'all come by and visit us.

online at last

We are Tom and Susan Van Wynen:

• members of Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1987
• currently assigned to Wycliffe Global Alliance, based in Singapore
• Tom: webmaster for Wycliffe Global Alliance
• Susan: Director of Communications and Strategy for Wycliffe Global Alliance

We have been meaning to get a website to post our latest newsletters and to get out more frequent and up-to-date information. But we never get around to it (the 'shoemaker's barefoot children' syndrome...communications people who don't find time to communicate). We finally decided to try the blog format, since we really don't have time to get bogged down in design details of a website. So here goes. We'll see how well we do at keeping it all up.