November/December 2010

November/December 2010

Thus saith the LORD...Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?    -- Isaiah 43:16-19

“...Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...”  -- Hebrews 12:1, 2

The year 2010 is over. In spite of many humanly insurmountable obstacles, amazing triumphs and unexpected blessings, we must not dwell on yesterday. Tomorrow brings new opportunity for running with patience the race that is set before us, placing our faith in Jesus as Lord, and looking unto Him who is the Author and Finisher of that faith. God has already premeditated the future and has promised to provide for us in the carrying out of His omniscient plan. This is grounds, the only grounds, for a happy new year!

The 13th 2-week Huichol Old Testament translation workshop that started the end of November was an exercise in perseverance and running with patience in the truest sense of the phrase. The technical equipment acted up like never before. Dr. Grimes, Joe, spent more than half the workshop trying to repair the unexplainable damage to the satellite setup and networking the translators’ laptops. One of the project consultants was unable to attend due to illness. Joe’s wife, Barbara, fell and broke her right humerus just above the elbow during the workshop. Her reconstructive surgery had to be postponed until after the workshop when Joe, who celebrated his 82^nd birthday on the last day of the workshop, was available to help her with the burden of post-op trauma. Despite lots of negatives, Joe and Barbara’s son, Chuck, who along with his wife, Barbara, is also a translation consultant in Australia and Indonesia and 2 of their adult sons joined us for the last week of the workshop. Chuck was an amazing encouragement to the Huichol mother-tongue translators as he shared similar experiences in getting God’s Word into the heart languages of people from the other side of the world.  He presented José Lopez, the chief Huichol pastor, with a hand-woven token gift from the people of Timor. Even with the excessive hindrances the translators were able to return to their mountain villages with the revised draft in hand of the complete book of Judges for community review.

Following the translation workshop, pastors Manuel (Zapote) and Refugio (La Bendición) were airlifted to the village of La Quemada where they continued teaching students from the neighboring village of Los Aires who joined in with those students from the host village in the subsequent segment of extension seminary courses provided by United Indian Mission (UIM). In all, there are sixty-nine Huichol believers who are currently enrolled and running with patience in their commitment to indigenous seminary-level Bible study.

Running with patience, the foundation has been placed, indigenous leadership has been trained, and the OANSA (AWANA) club in the Huichol village of La Bendición officially began in November. The teachers are not Americans or Mexicans but Huichols who are members of this church that has only been in existence for 5 years. This is the second daughter-club that has been produced by the Tepic OANSA club, and it has already brought eternal results.  

The script, directing, props, acting, music, invitations, serving, and whole-hearted team participation in Peace and Good Will Toward Men, the theme of this year’s Christmas celebration in IBBM - Tepic, was nothing short of amazing. The outcome proves that running with patience is God’s condition for rewarding His servants with true peace and good will and ultimately bringing glory to Himself.

Both, “the former things” and “the new thing” that will spring forth this new year, devised by the Author and Finisher of our faith, are evidence of the essential participation of a great multitude of participants in fulfilling the task. Thank you for your vital prayers and direct involvement.