back from Panama, Guinea ahead!

The trip to Panama went so well! We were accompanied by a team from our church here in FL and their work saved us a whole month! A heartfelt thank you to each of you who went, putting up with the heat and inconveniences with us! A highlight of the trip for us was the visit into a Kuna village where there is a group of brand new believers. What joy to see such hunger and excitement for the Word.

So the Kuna literacy materials for 55 communities are all divided out and packed up, ready for the teachers’ training in November. The literacy training is the culmination of years and years of work by a huge team (Kuna friends, missionaries, consultants, those who have given financially and prayed, printers, the work team from church). If you would like to see pictures of the Panama trip and the literacy materials, click on the photo tab at the top of this website, then go to the third album, “our last trip.”

So next on our schedule is Guinea, West Africa. We begin flying this Friday and arrive the next evening. Our schedule in the country has filled in even more during these last days, so we are excited to be able to work with missionary teams in 6 different language groups.

Some specific things you can pray for:

• for God’s wisdom and insight in each of the villages that we will be in. Beyond literacy, we have the opportunity to encourage missionary teams and couples, local pastors and literacy workers in their ministries, marriages, etc. We want to be a blessing to each person we meet.
• for physical health, stamina, and safety as we travel. Nearly every day we will be sleeping in different beds, drinking different water, hearing different languages, swatting different bugs! Please pray specifically for protection against malaria. We will be taking all the precautions we can, but Joyce has some complications because of interaction of medicines.
• pray that the tribal people of Guinea will have excellent literacy programs that they will be able to read and understand the Bible translation in their own language
• we return mid-September, so please keep us in your prayers! The whole trip is packed with travel and work.

We are thrilled that we can travel as your ministry partners that people all around the world can have God’s Word in their language, written down, that they can read, love and obey!