Dec 2014 newsletter (pg 1)

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season and finding joy reflecting on the Son of God becoming flesh and living among us (John 1:14). After making three trips since August (to Omaha, Atlanta, and Nashville) and planning on a fourth trip to Thailand in January (below), we decided to stay in Dallas for Christmas. We hate not being with family, but we’re hoping to take some vacation to rest and enjoy some local places and events.

Looking Behind
Previously we wrote about replacing our car. When we were in Georgia in September, God provided in a marvelous way. A Sunday school class there, along with several other partners, not only contributed the funds but also searched for a car and negotiated the deal. We drove home with a 2007 Camry. The car had only 90,000 mile on it and just one previous owner. We were greatly blessed!

In November, my team released a major new version of our fonts! Doulos, Charis, Gentium, and Andika all received numerous updates and are available on our website (scripts.sil.org) to serve the Bible translation needs of hundreds of languages around the world. European, American, African, and Pacific alphabets are included along with Russian and Greek ones. There are special characters for phonetic and literacy purposes too. Some of the latest font technology for selecting alternate letter forms is supported. Please rejoice with us in this major milestone (which wouldn’t be possible without you — our ministry partners) and pray for the next step (supporting mobile devices with subset versions of the fonts containing only the letters needed for particular geographic regions).

Forging Ahead
I’m scheduled to travel to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for two weeks of meetings January 9-26. My whole group will be giving a one-week workshop to help IT people in that part of the world with technical issues related to complex alphabets. We also will have a week of team meetings seeing each other face-to-face and working on issues together. Please pray for our travels, wisdom in solving problems and making decisions, and good health. Pray that Bible translations for the many minority languages in Asia will be moved forward.

My team was spotlighted recently in a Wycliffe publication called The Intercessor. You can find it online here: bit.ly/one-story-many-scripts.

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Dec 2014 newsletter (pg 2)

We wanted to give thanks for a few of our blessings from the past year. We’d love to hear some of your blessings and challenges too.

• We get to contribute to the task of Bible translation in ways that fit our strengths. You have a key part through prayer, giving, and encouraging this work.
• We saw two nephews graduate from high school and squeezed a nice vacation into the week between the two. One of those nephews now attends LeTourneau University, only a two-hour drive away!
• We had a great time visiting partners in Georgia, Arkansas, and the Midwest. Thank you to everyone who took time with us! Along the way, we visited almost all of Lynée’s extended family and many of Alan’s.
• We had a wonderful celebration of Lynée’s dad’s 80th birthday the weekend after Thanksgiving.
• God has provided well for our financial needs. Our $300/mon shortfall in committed giving was covered by generous occasional gifts.

Above all we have the gift of salvation through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the whole reason we do what we do. We invite you to read about the blessing of the Christmas story with the right words for the Mbe people in Nigeria. (The whole story is at bit.ly/Mbe-Christmas.)

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“She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger...” Luke 2:7 NLT

The Mbe translation team in Nigeria was working on translating Luke 2:7. When they came to the word “manger” they immediately used the word ókpáng. John, a translation consultant working with the team, asked them to draw a picture of an okpang. One of the translators drew a cradle a newborn baby would be laid in that could be hung with ropes and swung. It was what every mother would use for their baby.

John used the Translator’s Notes to explain that the word “manger” referred to an animal feeding trough. The Mbe team insisted they should use ókpáng because of tradition. John told them that when God came to earth, He did not sleep in a nice, comfortable ókpáng, but instead came in humility. John asked the team what was their word for a feeding trough? One of them answered that they fed animals from an old, worn-out basket called an ɛ́dzábrí. John suggested they use ɛ́dzábrí for “manger” instead.

When the Mbe people heard this word in the new draft of the verse, they had a clearer understanding of the meaning and a deeper awareness of Jesus’ willingness to do whatever it took to reach them. He came in humility and years later would humble Himself on the cross to save them. About Bible translation, John said, “Translation in the heart language respects the people who speak it, and through the process, it frees them to have a relationship with God in their own words and terms.”

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Aug 2014 newsletter (pg 1)

What is CHED?

Some of our families might wonder the same thing. You, our partners, may remember that International CHED seeks to support our missionary families overseas. CHED used to stand for children's education; however, what we offer has changed a lot over the years. We have added care for the whole MK -- not just their education. Many of our families don't know all we offer any more. To update people, we had hoped to widely announce our relaunched website (www.iched.org) but found there's not an obvious way to do that. So, one project I'll be working on in the coming months is determining how and when to best communicate with our families what we do and how we can help them. Please pray for wisdom as I work somewhat outside my strengths. Please also pray that God would provide a new manager for iCHED as my manager wants to reduce her leadership responsibilities.

ICO in Orlando

I am thankful to have another teacher orientation finished. Of the 20 who attended, 11 are on their field of service with another headed to French study. It was good to hear how God has specifically prepared some people for the roles they are going to. We also had 10 kids, which really added positively to the group this year.

Replacing a Car

Back in 2007, God blessed us with a sporty 2001 Ford Escort ZX2 with low mileage. It has served us well -- it held a lot for its size, it got great gas mileage on trips, and Lynee has loved driving it. However, it now has a slow engine leak that we're told will eventually get much worse and which is too expensive to fix. We've also learned that Ford isn't making some parts for it anymore. Repairs are getting more expensive. We believe it is time to start the process of replacing it. Since our other car is twenty years old, we would like to replace the Escort with a car that's suitable for long trips -- newer, with relatively few miles and good gas mileage. Please pray with us about this developing need. If you feel lead to give towards it, please contact us for details.

Upcoming Travels

We plan to take two trips in the next two months. The first, beginning in late August, is to visit family and ministry partners in Arkansas, Kansas City, and Omaha. Then, we'll be in Georgia September 21 - October 5. We hope to connect with partners there, as well as to expand our support team (our committed giving is $300/mon short). If you have a small group or Sunday school class that might be interested in hearing about our work with Wycliffe, please let us know. We look forward to seeing many of you on our travels.

Thank you for your part in helping us support Bible translation. Whether you pray for us, give financially, or encourage us through e-mails or phone calls, we appreciate you!

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Aug 2014 newsletter (pg 2)

Stories from a Tiny Studio

In 2000, the New Testament was published for a large language community numbering in the millions. While over 200,000 speakers live in this Central Asia region, many more reside in neighboring countries. The few believers were quickly motivated to read, grateful for the privilege of having the Scriptures in their own language. However, the people are primarily oral learners in their mother tongue. There was little motivation for nonbelievers to read, even though the mother tongue is used extensively in daily life.

In 2007, a simple recording studio was constructed. The finished soundproofed room little resembled a professional studio with only a few plastic chairs, table, mixer, and laptop computer. As Old Testament stories were translated, audio versions were recorded.

After listening to one story, an older lady who never had the opportunity to attend school jumped up and exclaimed, "You are doing exactly the right thing. This is what we need!" A local pastor was particularly excited about the story of Job, predicting it would be among the most loved stories. Job is already known in the culture; his character and experience have many parallels to community struggles throughout the centuries.

From a tiny studio in an insignificant village, stories from God's Word are circulated in five different countries. Listeners frequently ask for more information and some have expressed interest in attending church. Recently the stories were posted on the Internet, ensuring even wider distribution.

See the whole story at: http://bit.ly/tinystudio.

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Teacher orientation starts this week

Dear Friends & Family,

The time for teacher orientation has nearly arrived! Lynee will be leaving on Wednesday (June 25) for Orlando to help prepare a group of twenty educators for cross-cultural overseas work with missionary children. She’s already been hard at work preparing the materials to be distributed and arranging for new people (not from Dallas) to fill various roles in training simulations. Please pray the sessions (June 27-July 3) will equip all the attendees for challenges they will face, for good health for all involved, and for some remaining work on resources Lynee needs to make available.

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Below are excerpts from a story written by the husband of a type designer I work with. They were in Tanzania at the time...

Finally, the moment came! My coach had told me it would be good to welcome those attending in Nyakyusa (the local language), so I walked to the podium and let out a loud “Ugonileeeeeeeeee!” The crowd responded with a loud “Ugonileeeeeeeeee!”

After the warm greeting, I knew that all I needed to do was to read three pages of text I had prepared. I stumbled and butchered various Swahili words as I made my way through the speech, encouraging them with the history and rationale behind our efforts to translate God’s Word for people across the world. I soon found myself nearing the end of the final page, ecstatic that I, and the attendees, had actually made it through my speech.

I began replaying every little stumble and mispronunciation. By the time we drove home, I was convinced that my speech was a complete and utter failure. But a couple weeks later, I got an e-mail … “[One of the church elders] was so impressed by your speech, which was in Swahili. When he went back to his church, he insisted that all Sunday school teachers and those who lead devotion sessions in the church should use Nyakyusa language … that by using Swahili, you set an example encouraging other people to value their languages they understand most.”

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I'm in the midst of adding a new and easier way for users of our fonts to select alternate letter forms for certain letters. This project is turning out to be harder than I expected, so please pray for wisdom and perseverance for me.

In April, we went through the annual process of reviewing our financial support needs. Our level of needed support went up about $85/mon (largely due to health insurance). This means our committed giving is about $300/mon short, though thankfully some generous gifts in the last few months have made up that shortfall. We are sincerely grateful to God and all those who pray, give, encourage, and enable our work.

In the Greatness and Goodness of God

April 2014 newsletter (pg 1)

Alan’s Font Work

The final step in creating a font is what we call the “build.” This is the process of transforming the letters from what is easy for designers and engineers to work with into what is needed by the computer. It makes sure many details in the font are correct and adds the information to position diacritics (like accent marks) and to make alternate letter forms available (see below). This process needs to be automated since it’s repeated for each font file and has to be done consistently.

I created the build process we’ve used for our Roman fonts since 2002. The current system has been stretched beyond what it was designed to do and technology has changed. I’m helping another team member (David) create a new build process, which will be similar to the build system we use for other fonts. We’ll use the old build system to produce one more version of our fonts, which we’re working on now. I’m adding a new and easier way for users to select alternate letter forms. One example of when these alternates are needed is where the same letter looks different in different parts of the world. Our goal is to provide the special letters needed by hundreds of languages around the world that use an English-like alphabet and that still need a Bible translation.

Lynee’s Orientation Moves
The orientation for educators going overseas to serve missionary kids that Lynee’s department provides each year is approaching in less than three months. Since so many of the families that are planning to attend will already be at Wycliffe’s headquarters in Orlando, her manager decided to move the orientation there for this year. Please pray for the many details that need to be worked out in a new location, such as providing breakfast and supper for 35 people and finding people to fill various roles in their training simulations.

Other News
Lynee’s neck has been in pain since late December. The cause is unclear. Routine treatments haven’t helped as much as hoped. The doctor thinks it will get better if she uses ice and heat and avoids activities that cause pain (such as helping with the quintuplets and running). If it gets worse, an MRI and injection would be the next treatment. We are thankful that currently her pain has been decreasing.

God is supplying the financial support we need for this work. We have about 30 financial partners who give regularly and have had several generous gifts that bring us up to our monthly goal. So many people pray for us. “Thank you!” to all those who support us in these and other ways.

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April 2014 newsletter (pg 2)

Celebrate 10 Years of “Good News”
Waima Church Growing

The Waima New Testament (in Papua New Guinea) hasn’t been collecting dust since its dedication in July 2003. A community FM radio broadcast, multiple showings of the “Gospel of Luke” video, and Scripture Application and Literacy Training (SALT) courses have all encouraged the use of the Waima scriptures over the past decade. But as the tenth anniversary of the dedication approached, the translation team and village leaders decided a celebration was needed to remember the momentous occasion. On July 28, 2013, thousands from the surrounding area gathered in the central village of Ereére. The United Church Circuit minister started the celebration with a worship service, followed by hymns and dramatic presentations. Later, various groups held competitions in scripture reading and memorization.

Taita Baeha is over 70 years old. When her turn came to compete in the scripture reading, she stood up and clearly read the passage given to her. It was a challenging chapter from 1 Corinthians, but she never stumbled or made a mistake. For her perfect performance she was given the title, “Tuabi tuabi babiéna!” -- a Reading Lady!

During the scripture memorization competition, each participant was only expected to recite the portion requested by the judge. Uni, however, was very eager to share the words of God so she recited the whole passage of Matthew 7:1-29. The audience listened attentively to Uni’s energetic voice as she repeated Jesus’ promise that “the door will be opened to the one who knocks.”

After watching a video of the 2003 dedication, the head village chief declared, “Our God became a Waima man and He speaks our language to us. We should listen to what He says and obey what He told us!” The audience responded, “Yes, that’s true!”

The Waima Circuit United Church has grown steadily since receiving the Waima New Testament in 2003. They have since established their own circuit called “Pou Namona” (Good News), and decided that July 19 should be annually celebrated as “Waima Bible Day.” The Waima people have also embraced the responsibility to carry on translation of the Old Testament. It is their desire that God “continue to speak clearly” to the Waima people.

To read other stories from Papua New Guinea, you can go to http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com/.

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Update on Lynee's father (heart surgery)

Dear Friends and Family,

Praise God with us that Lynee's father is recovering well from his heart valve replacement surgery. He came home from the hospital the day after Lynee arrived to help (just four days after surgery on Jan 16). She enjoyed overlapping with her sister for a day and had some special times with her parents (returning Jan 28). Over the past few days, her father has been able to walk a small loop around their neighborhood and to take his pain medication less frequently. Both his general doctor and cardiologist are delighted with his recovery. Thank you very much for praying for him and the family.

My normally dispersed team's face-to-face meetings went very well (from Jan 21-31). I think we made some great progress in practical planning that builds on the vision that emerged from last year's meetings. Regarding the fonts I work on, for some time we've wanted to move to newer technology the whole process used to create these fonts. We see a way forward! This will make it easier for our own developers to do their work and even allow others outside our team to contribute. I think our whole team came away from the meetings with renewed zeal for our part of the work of Bible translation. Thank you for praying for us.

Since December, Lynee has been struggling some with pain in her neck and shoulders. She's tried treating it and reducing her activities. Several times she's seen a chiropractor who has helped many people we know, but her pain still persists. Please pray for healing and for discipline to take care of herself.

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Here are two Bible translation related prayer requests I saw recently -- one reflecting the end of a project and one the beginning.

Almost done: Russian Federation. The Tatar team gathered together to finalize the text of the Tatar Bible. Pray for the team leader who is putting the final touches on the text before it is submitted for publication. The New Testament was published in 2001. This will be the first time that this people group of 6 million will receive the whole of the Scriptures. Pray that God will prepare the Tatar people to receive His Word with joy and obedience. Pray for the publishers as they prepare the text for printing.

Growing partnerships: Bulgaria. Good relationships with community leaders, community members and other ministries are necessary before language projects can progress well. In Bulgaria the team focusing on Romani languages needs to lay this foundation. Pray for the team members to be successful in forming solid connections within the Roma community and with those ministering to them. Pray that God will connect the team with committed Roma who will give themselves to the work of Bible translation with passion and aptitude.

In the Grace and Mercy of Jesus

re: Surgery on Lynee's father

We wanted to update you on Lynee's father. His heart valve replacement surgery on Thursday went well. It took less than 3 hours using the new procedure and recently approved valve. The incision in his chest is 4 inches long, which is smaller than what many with heart surgery have. We first talked to him on Friday morning. Today (Saturday), he was moved out of ICU! He's able to sit up for a few hours a day and eat a little food.

Lynee leaves tomorrow to help with his recovery until Jan 28. Please keep praying for a good recovery and praise the Lord with us that everything has gone so well thus far!

Surgery on Lynee's father

Greetings! We hope your new year has started off well. We had a great visit with many of the people who are partners with us in the work in November and a good visit at Christmas with our families in Atlanta and Nashville. It's been hectic since we got back (see below).

The president of Wycliffe recently shared a story about how computers are impacting Bible translation around the world. Below is an except. After that are a couple of prayer requests we really need to get to you today.

Cheaper, Faster, Better Quality
Over dinner at our home, Scott explained how he and the T team used ParaTExt software to maintain consistency in their translation of key terms. The program allowed them to input a draft of the text and check the draft against the original Greek and Hebrew texts, modern translations, and resource materials. Using its tools, they were able to determine the best choices for key terms, find inconsistencies, and quickly edit their document.

One of our other guests at dinner exclaimed, "Wow! Cheaper, faster, with no loss of quality!"

Without hesitation, Scott replied, "No, cheaper, faster, and better quality." His experience validated the fact that computer technology is helping translators improve the quality of their translations.
At the dinner table, the conversation migrated to the use of mobile technology to enhance engagement...

You can read the whole story at:

http://wycliffeusa.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/cheaper-faster-better-qualify/

Personal Prayer Needs
My dad (Fred Gross) is having surgery today to replace his aortic heart valve. Other than the fact that his aortic valve has calcified, he's in good shape going into the surgery. However, we are told he is to be the second person that his doctor has ever put this kind of valve in, at least at this hospital (the first person is scheduled earlier in the day). The newly approved valve should cut his time on the bypass machine and his recovery by at least half, for which we are thankful. I will go to Nashville on Sunday to help for 8 days, mainly covering time he will be home from the hospital. We would appreciate prayer for his surgery and recovery and for us who will be supporting him.

Alan has been getting ready for his team's annual meetings. If you remember, much of his team live in other places in the world. This is their one time of the year to get together face to face. His team has started arriving and meetings will take place over most of the next two weeks (Jan 20-31). Please pray for wisdom as they look at what to do in the next year. Pray for understanding and strategic decisions on where to focus their work.

Thank you for lifting us up during this time (and for all you do to enable our work). My parents are missionaries as well, and they already have many people praying. They said this morning they could tell - they woke up in good spirits. We know your prayers make a difference in our lives as well.

If there are ways that we can be praying for you, please let us know. We would love to have the privilege of lifting you before the Father as well.