Can you believe it’s November? We’re into two-a-week Christmas Cantata rehearsals already. Thanksgiving Day will be upon us before we know it!
Speaking of thanksgiving, we want to pass some thanks on to you.
A week or two ago, I finished editing the Spanish version of the 1 & 2 Peter lessons which are part of the Building on Firm Foundations materials for introducing brand new tribal believers to the Epistles for the very first time. I say “editing” because the other two men on our team worked on them before I did.
Jim Wilhelmson did the initial sod busting, making the first draft of the translation. Then Duff Gustafson gave the lessons a good working over and passed them on to me. My job is to proofread for errors, polish the remaining rough edges and finish up the formatting. I confess that I tend to put my cooking spoon into the pot and give the final product a touch of my own flavor.
Then I distribute the final product to our Latin American region to one or more of the mailing lists that we’ve put together for that purpose. After sending the 1 & 2 Peter lessons out, we received several notes of thanks back — something which has been happening with growing frequency. I want to pass some of those words of gratitude along to you, because you’ve had a huge part in making these very practical church-planting tools available to our Latin American fellow missionaries.
Edwin S., a Colombian who is training missionaries in Mexico, wrote: “Thank you very much for the effort of translating this material. It definitely represents many hours sitting in front of a computer. Thank you!!!” Edwin is an avid user of our Spanish-dubbed short missions videos, like the two we just distributed. We’re also working together to build a new website for Mexico.
Musmé A., a former student of ours who is teaching in a Mexican Bible school, expressed: “Thank you, Steve, for this work that you all do! May God give you strength, wisdom and encouragement to continue doing this precious work!”
Luis and Anita S., church planters in the jungles of northern Colombia, sent: “Hello my brother Steve. Thank you for sending me 1 & 2 Peter. It is a blessing to me.” They had recently asked us for a digital version of the book Secure in Christ, which we sent them.
And another Latin American church planter working in a tribe in his own country, whose name we’ll withhold for his safety, said: “Thank you, partner, for sharing with us the gifts which the Lord has given you, and thanks to the other brothers [on the team], too.”
We thank God for you, our support team, and for His grace which has placed us in this ministry and sustained us in it since 1982.
For Thanksgiving, we’re planning to drive to California for a family reunion to celebrate Steve’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. Five of the six Irwin siblings plan to be there, as well as Art & Lenn, so it will be a very special get-together. We’re looking forward to visiting Eida’s parents, also, on the way to and from San Jose. Then we plan to spend Christmas with Esther & Curtis and our grandkids in Nova Scotia. Prepare to be bombarded with photos.
May God bless you and give you a great time with your family.
Steve & Eida Irwin
Spanish Language Resources
steve_irwin@ntm.org