Ready to expand your hearts and prayers with us?
We are preparing for trips to 3 continents during the next 3 months…
Panama: end of July – August
A group of nine from our church here in FL will be traveling to Panama to organize all the newly printed Kuna literacy materials for the upcoming training of literacy teachers in November. We are thrilled to be able to introduce these friends to some of our dear Kuna friends!
- Please pray for safety in travels, health, and for great times of mutual encouragement in all the ways God is using the Kuna churches!
Guinea, West Africa: end of August – September
Chances are you haven’t heard much about the little country of Guinea in western Africa. As we have begun preparing for our upcoming trip, this little country has already begun to tug on our hearts and has some huge needs for all of us to be praying about!
Quick facts:
- national language is French but Guinea’s people belong to 24 different ethnic groups with their own languages
- although Guinea’s mineral wealth makes it potentially one of Africa’s richest countries, its people are among the poorest; most living on less than $1 a day
- the climate is generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season while we will be there
- disturbances in nearby countries of Sierra Leone & Liberia have spilled over into Guinea bringing in many refugees which taxes the economy, health care, etc.
- the Niger River begins in Guinea and runs eastward
Our purpose in Guinea is to work on the literacy with at least 3 different language groups, some of which have missionary teams in several different villages. So we will be on the move the entire time, visiting different locations and prayerfully considering how to best move literacy forward. The end goal is that each person in these villages has the opportunity to learn to read in their own language – that they would have access to God’s Book in their language! The trip also will allow us to work closely with the field consultant team! What a privilege to meet more of our literacy team: the consultants, missionary teams, and tribal teachers.
- Please pray for a smooth process in the paperwork for our Guinean visas. It is quite a process and gets a little complicated needing to send our passports away to the consulate and yet have them back in time for the next trip.
- Pray for our preparation for the trip as we go over reports, learning about the country, history, the teams, linguistic data, literacy challenges.
Asia-Pacific: end of September to mid-October
This trip is for a big literacy workshop where consultants will be trained while giving hands-on help to at least 2 language groups who ready to begin working on their literacy materials. It is very possible that just Joyce will make this trip because of travel budget, logistics and the goals of the workshop.
Panama: November
Return to Panama for the annual Kuna leadership conference and then additional literacy teacher training. This is a very exciting time when years of work will be completed and put into the hands of the Kuna churches! It is an important step as we all prepare for the whole Bible in Kuna. God is so very good!
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