“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Psalm 19:1
Nothing seems to remind us of God’s might and sovereignty more than gazing at the sky on a clear, crisp night. We sense great confidence that He is in control. But when we bring our eyes down and gaze at the chaos surrounding us, much like the dust and dirt in the photo above, how easily we forget this truth.
The following video will encourage you to see beyond the chaos and know God’s power is right in your midst. People are receiving the Word of God in their heart language and their lives are being transformed by the living power of the Scriptures.
If you have trouble viewing the video click on or copy and paste the following link into your browser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3YFBDDRx6Y
Our part in this great work? To provide reliable transportation for the translation teams. That’s what we are called to do and we continue to press on daily to provide this. “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world,” rings true as we prevail.
In our last blog we spoke of three men coming to work in the Auto Shop. Greg and Andy have arrived and are already hard at work. Phil is traveling to develop a team of prayer and financial partners. He will join us soon. Already Mike’s role in the auto shop is mostly assisting with diagnosing. Many of you have heard me share about my desire to be more help to those of our overseas colleagues, but until adequate staff had arrived I was unable to see that become a reality.
There is a program in Wycliffe called “Business as Mission” that connects business people who want to invest in missions to do so by investing in a national who wants to start a business in their home country. These businesses provide employment for needy people who in turn use their resources to support Bible translation in their country. This strategy helps get people involved in their own translation projects. They can help provide funding for it and as a result they take an ownership of the translation.
One church leader spoke of a man who wants to buy a truck to haul food from the south to sell in the north. With the profit, he will pay for his truck, provide affordable food to his village, and be able to tithe to the church for Christian work. They are a partner with Wycliffe in Bible translation. This is just one of many examples of the need for my training skills.
In August I trained another group on driving and maintaining four wheel drive vehicles. What a surprise to find one of the young ladies to be a former member of our sending church in Cape Girardeau, Alison (Bryant) Pyle. She and her husband will be assigned to Papua New Guinea.
An update on the accident: Sean has recovered very well and with exception of an occasional visit to therapy, seems fully recovered. As for me, I continue with therapy twice a week. The muscles attached to my ribs and sternum are still not completely healed. The doctor anticipates a long recovery time for this. I am able to do quite a bit of the physical work at the shop but work mostly in consulting and diagnostics, as well as addressing the overseas issues. We are so fortunate that the timing of the help in the Auto Shop was perfect.
We have much to be thankful for at this Thanksgiving time. Thanks to many of those who pray for us and give financially so we can continue to further Bible translation. Thanks and praise go to the Lord for His provision of help in the Auto Shop. I am also excited to tell you about another project I’m involved in but will save that for the next post as this one is long enough. Watch for it soon!
Mike and Kathy Smith 