Richard and Wendy have now been back in Southeast Asia for about three months. On one hand it seems like a lot has been going on but on the other, things are going very slowly, and they ask for prayer.
They had a good visit from the leadership team and spent a couple of days with them and their co-workers talking about where things are at now, what their goals are, and how to achieve them. A few weeks later they attended the annual field conference. This year locals from the national churches were invited to attend. The meetings were all in the local language and there was a real emphasis on how to work together in evangelism and discipleship.
Connecting with a translation consultant has been a big help in guiding Richard and Wendy in the steps of translation, but they are running into some issues that need prayer. One of the main steps of translation is working with a native speaker, communicating the meaning of the passage, and having them say it back naturally. Wendy has tried the process with a couple of different ladies and there have been a lot of challenges. The most helpful lady is not understanding the process and the results are not very usable. However, she will probably be able to help with other steps in the translation. Another couple of ladies have just not been available as they have garden work and other responsibilities. Please pray for people to be willing to help them so that the translation work can go forward.
Pray for the elderly man that Richard has been teaching. They have studied through the Bible starting at Genesis, through the life of Christ and into the book of Acts. All of this has been new information to him and very different from everything he grew up believing. They were only able to study together a couple of times after their return because he has had a stroke. Once he started getting better, they studied another lesson. But for a couple of weeks, he has not been feeling well. Richard continues to visit him, but the man has a lot of back pain and just isn’t up to studying together. Please pray that he will feel better and desire to study God’s Word. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help him recall the things that he has been taught and that he would realise that he is a sinner and needs to trust in Jesus alone for salvation.
The family of believers that Richard and Wendy have been teaching have been busy with rice harvesting in their fields across the border. Pray that they can start meeting together regularly for teaching and that they would be able to help with the Bible translation.
Their co-workers have been holding a youth group for some young people that they are discipling (currently they are on home assignment). Before leaving they had a camping trip as a youth event. Richard and Wendy and the two new members of their team joined in on the camping trip. It was a good time, and they got to know the kids better. They plan to hold youth events once a month whilst their co-workers are away. They had their first one in November and it went well. Pray for these young people as they have opportunities to invest in their lives by spending time with them and teaching them from God’s Word.
Pray for Richard and Wendy at this Christmas season with their family scattered and just one daughter at home.
Thank you so much for being a part of what God is doing in Southeast Asia. Richard and Wendy value your prayers.