Dear Friends,Hafa adai! Terry and I arrived in Guam last night. We are so happy to be here with Matthew and Christina. We were originally scheduled to be back in Chuuk last February, but have been locked out due to COVID. Our tickets were expiring, so we took a chance and came out here anyway. Just as we arrived in Guam the FSM announced all future flights into the islands are cancelled indefinitely. So it looks like we are still shut out. Matthew has a Zoom interview scheduled with the President of the FSM in a few days and we hope to learn more about how much longer they plan to keep the border closed.The good news is the believers in Chuuk are continuing to serve the Lord faithfully, through Bible Baptist Church in Nantaku and Kilisou Baptist in WIchap. The radio transmitters are on 24 hours a day, reaching many islands with the Gospel, Bible teaching, Christian music and other helpful programming. Matthew’s sermons in Chuukese on Facebook are getting hundreds of shares and tens of thousands of views. It’s obvious that many hearts are open to the Lord. We are grateful to God for all of you who faithfully pray for us and support us. The Lord has given us a full schedule even if we can’t get back to Chuuk as soon as we would like. Our plan now is to go back to America and continue to help in the Chuukese ministry there and visit some of our churches we have not been able to see yet. (And spend a little more time with our grandchildren!)Please pray for Chuuk and our family as we continue to hope and pray the door will open for us to get back to Chuuk as soon as possible. In Christ,Jody and Terry
From Alisha
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
As you know, I am currently working remotely for our mission in Chuuk. I thought I would share some of what I do in more detail.
There are two existing translations of the Bible in Chuukese that have fallen out of print. I set out to retype the New Testament so I could print more copies. As I typed, there were times when I would stop and think, “Hmm, I don’t remember it that way in my English Bible.” So I began checking the Chuukese translations verse by verse against my King James Bible. Some of the verses were without error, others were altered or had portions completely left out. I began to work on a corrected edition of the New Testament. It took me 7 years to finish it. We now have the complete text in print with notes and outlines I translated from J. Vernon McGee. I am currently working through the Old Testament. Here is an example of the things that I am trying to fix. In our King James Bible Psalm 27:14 reads, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART: wait, I say, on the LORD.” But both of the existing Chuukese translations of the Old Testament read, “Wait (hope) for the LORD. Be strong and courageous and wait (hope) for the Lord.” They both left out the part that says that God would strengthen your heart, implying that any strength comes from ourselves. Please pray for me as I try to fix these translation errors. The finished chapters are sent to many different Chuukese friends for proofreading, and the final copy is printed book by book.
As I work on books from the Old Testament, I translate Dr. McGee’s “Thru The Bible” commentaries and turn them into weekly Sunday School lessons for our adult classes in Chuuk. Although at Christmas time I usually switch over to Charles Spurgeon’s book, “Joy Upon Joy” for Christmas themed Sunday School lessons.
I also translate Christian novels into Chuukese. These are the first and only novels in Chuukese to date. We have some favorite authors, such as Robert Michael Ballentyne and Gladys Malvern. Ballentyne wrote wonderful Christian adventure stories set in different places all over the world. Gladys Malvern wrote a lot of Bible related stories. I am always looking for new authors. I would love to hear about some of the books that you have read that you think our Chuukese folks might enjoy! They are especially interested in anything set in the tropics, but enjoy wagon train stories as well. (The only caveat is that in order for me to print a translated book it must be in the public domain to avoid copyright issues.)
When I finish a novel I read it as an audio book for our radio station in Chuuk. I try to add sound effects and background music when possible. I also like to tell other stories for the radio using movies for sound effects, like “Old Yeller” and “The Swiss Family Robinson.”
I love to serve the Lord here at my desk. I hope and pray that the writing I am doing will be a blessing to many generations. I could not do this without you. With the economy being what it is, I would need to be out there doing other things to help make ends meet if not for your generous support. You make it possible for me to translate every single day and I appreciate it so much. Thank you and may the Lord bless you in this New Year!
From the Farm:
We had some horses in our field this fall. They were a beauty to watch!
The turkeys don’t know what they escaped this Thanksgiving and Christmas~
Miss Moppett is a little kitten I got for free earlier this year. At first it didn’t seem like she was going to make it, but you should see her now! She is so healthy, and a fantastic mouser.
My little cow Fiona LOVES molasses on her hay! She gives us about a gallon of sweet milk every day.
All the years in Chuuk I never thought I would eat wild game – and now that is the only meat we eat! We need a lot of it to last the whole year. The Lord blessed me this fall with a deer and a young elk in one day!
But Timothy went out last week and the Lord blessed him with a beautiful mature bull. Our freezer is full! The Lord provides so abundantly.
Timothy is on the left, his good friend Levi is on the right
David turned 2 years old on December 26th, and the next day Elizabeth turned 6 months. It is such a miracle to have them and Timothy in my life. The Lord is so good!
Thank you for being a part of my life and ministry. I love you all and thank God for you. May He bless you all with a wonderful year!
Love,
Serving with:
Home Address: 6676 Lingle Veteran Rd. Lingle, WY 82223