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I love Technology!

My favorite man!

Oh, how times have changed! When we traveled 25 years ago after first joining Wycliffe, our family wouldn’t hear from us for 3-5 days until we had arrived at our location and set up our computer. But now, if Ken is traveling to a large city like he’s in now, we have so many more options.

Ken departed from Orlando, Florida early Saturday morning. He flew to Minneapolis and gave me a call on his cell phone. He texted me goodbye just before departing for Southeast Asia. I woke up Sunday morning to hear he had landed at the country next along the route. By the time I got out of church on Sunday morning, I knew he had landed because I was flight following, keeping an eye on his flight online (before and after church, of course!).

When I was sitting on the couch Sunday night, I got a FaceTime call, with video, from Ken who was starting his first day of work! Video! We don’t get that too often!

Technology is awesome (when it works the way you want it to!) and you have access to it.

Ken is on the other side of the world helping a group embrace some new technology in order to expedite the translation process. New tablets outfitted with an exterior keyboard will house the 51 newly translated stories which can be uploaded after checking to a website that anyone in the world can have access to. From there, each participant will return to their home country and continue to proceed with their Mother Tongue language.

Thank you once again for helping us to make this happen.Your monthly support and prayers allow us to keep the technology coming for our partners around the world.

P. S. The Enemy prowls around looking for whom it can devour…please pray for these participants the next two weeks!

Celebrating arrivals, birthdays and another day of Life

13 Aug

George teaching in SE Asia.

Ken has arrived safely in SE Asia. He’s settled in and has been working alongside his team leader, George, introducing new BT software to the group. They get a new group for next week’s classes. Getting information about the class is a bit difficult, but we’d appreciate your prayers that all that God desires would be accomplished these next two weeks. Thank you!

Ken with his brothers and grandson.

The day before Ken departed, we celebrated his birthday with a number of friends and family. He was especially thrilled when three of his brothers surprised him and arrived two days early to spend time with him. What a blessing! Thank you to all who wrote in and sent special messages to Ken via our daughter Christine. He absolutely loves his book!

Like many of you, I can’t help but feel saddened by the early and untimely death of the actor Robin Williams. It reminds me that we don’t know how people are really doing unless we engage with them in a meaningful way. Depression is a rough illness to fight and one in which the majority of the world doesn’t understand. Here’s to having intentional relationships this week and really listening to people.

Thanks again for standing with us in prayer.

Unseen things

31 Mar

Image Credit: www.increaseyoursalesin30days.com

Image Credit: http://www.increaseyoursalesin30days.com

Plan for Day One:

1. Arrive on time in prepared classroom.
2. Teach lessons 1-10 of Paratext (BT software)
3. Get at least 8 hours of sleep at night.
4. Eat healthy food that will give me energy for the day.

What REALLY happened:

1. Had to find a classroom in order to teach. After setting up classroom in dining room with only one electrical outlet, the electricity went off. Had to move to another classroom to re-set up.
2. Only had time to teach lessons 1-7 while students shared two computers.
3. Slept from 11pm-1am. Awake from 1am-3am still suffering from jet lag. Slept until 5:30am when awakened by the predominant religion’s call to prayer.
4. Eating food for breakfast that we usually eat at dinner. Adjusting to all meals being similar to the one before.
5. Coping with 102 degree F weather.

I am struck once again that no matter how much we plan, things do not always go as planned. We are at the mercy of others, a new environment, and all sorts of unseen things.

We have two choices…pout and grouse, or pull ourselves together for another day which could include more of the same.

When tired, hungry and mosquito-bitten, I want to pout and grouse! But then I forget and miss what has already occurred!

One student got one-on-one training the day before class so that he could help teach the non-English speakers in the class.
All students learned many new skills on this amazing software.
The students loved the course including the videos, repetition and even the reading aloud! They are enthusiastic about teaching others tomorrow!
Hmm, what other unseen things occurred? Only God knows….

Cultural differences, vastly different food, language barriers, lack of electricity, and weather make for a challenging training environment. Ken has struggled with them, but is attempting to begin each day with the Lord’s presence to not only to persevere, but to thrive in this needy and difficult locale.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us! The course continues for two weeks.

Please pray for skilled minds for each student.

Pray for health and strength for Ken and Jobby, his Indian partner.

Pray concerning the goal of 15 verses being ready to be published at the end of this two weeks! A monumental task!

2 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on March 31, 2014 in Ken, Prayer, Software, Wycliffe Associates

Tags: Paratext, South East Asia

What’s up with Nigeria?

12 Jan

A number of you have asked us if Ken is planning on returning to Nigeria any time soon. As you recall, he has made three trips there this past year helping deploy the BGAN satellites as well as doing training for our national Bible Translators.

The frequent news articles highlighting the increased bombings in the region make us all a bit edgy. As of this week, Ken has no plans to return to Nigeria until he is needed. But our work is not stopping in the region. Most of the translators are nationals and therefore have a good idea of how to keep themselves safe.

But all our work is not safe, is it? We lived in Indonesia for 10 years and had malaria many times. We watched colleagues and workers die from this disease in spite of medication. We lived in a place that was frequently protesting to become independent. This caused us to have “riot” days — days that we closed down the local school just in case there was to be a local uprising. Increasingly, the places we work will seem not that safe. Sure, none of us wants to walk into the path of trouble, but there are risks to working outside of your own culture and comfort zone.

Please be in prayer for the nation of Nigeria which is experiencing unrest and violence targeting Christians. Nigerians are hungry for God’s Word and translation is going on in dozens of languages. Pray that Satan will be stifled and God will allow these translation projects to continue so the people will have His Word in their heart language sooner rather than later.

An article Thursday on the Mission Network News website included an interview with Wycliffe Associates president Bruce Smith (see http://mnnonline.org/article/16662). When asked about the Nigerian translation teams, Bruce responded:

“They (the Nigerians) are seeking wisdom about how to respond in these circumstances. They’re actually looking to God’s Word for the answers that they really need in terms of how they relate to their neighbors and other members of the community that are part of this stressful situation.” The article says that the teams have not allowed the situation to disrupt their deadlines for translation work. Bruce said, “It’s definitely creating a climate of uncertainty and increases their concern about how to continue carrying out their work. They know that God’s Word has the real power to change people’s hearts and that continuing to move forward in Bible translation is the best way to remedy the situation that they face.”

You can keep up with the latest news about the Nigeria situation at the Mission Network News site as well as other news services like CNN. These events highlight that we need to take advantage of opportunities to spread the Good News while the doors are open.

Thank you for standing with us as we continue to do so.

Please Pray for Peace

07 Nov

If you’ve kept up on your world news you will have read about some more recent bombings in the northern part of Nigeria. Monday and Tuesday are holidays for the “M” religion. Apparently, the government is enforcing some rules which will not allow people to travel or visit certain areas in order to keep the area peaceful during these two days.

These are the days that Ken is traveling. He leaves Jos Tuesday morning for the 4 hour drive to Abuja. From there, he must sit in the airport for quite a few hours since he will be dropped off earlier than he needs to be there. He then starts his journey home Tuesday night. He will arrive in Charlotte on Wednesday morning after passing through Ghana and New York on his way home.

Would you please pray for peace in this region for Monday and Tuesday? I ask not just for Ken but for all of the citizens who live with so much uncertainty. Please pray, too, that the people of Nigeria would turn to The Peace who came in the form of a baby for them to die in their place. Thank you so much.

4 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on November 7, 2011 in Ken, Prayer

And he’s off!

26 Oct

I just dropped Ken off at the Charlotte Airport. He’s on his way to Nigeria once again. This is his third time to this country so it makes it a bit easier to plan. We still found ourselves running around the last two days gathering items for himself and for others. When you live in another country, it’s nice to receive things from “home.” He’s carrying a bit of stuff for others including a sewing machine!

A wonderful thing about living in Waxhaw, NC is our close proximity to Jaars. Jaars is a campus of our “sister” organization, SIL. It is where our pilots train, computer work is done as well as Vernacular media work. They have a great purchasing and shipping department too. Ken was able to take this newly repaired sewing machine and get it boxed up professionally so he could easily travel with it. We hope it gets through customs okay. I’m sure the owners of it will be happy to have it back.

Ken, along with another man, will be helping with some training classes that will be going on. He’ll be gone for two weeks due to some flight constraints. The airline he’s using only flies in and out twice a week so he’s arriving a bit early and leaving a few days after the training is over. I’m sure he’ll keep busy with his training and relationship building.

So, thanks for praying for him in advance. It’s Wednesday here, but we probably won’t hear from Ken until Friday EST. Two weeks are a long time to be from home. Last time he really got hit hard with allergies and eyes almost swollen shut, so we loaded him up with some antihistamines this time. Please pray too that nothing would deter them from their Kingdom work. I’ll try to update you all as I hear from Ken. I’ve just posted our most recent email with some photos from our recent trips.

6 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on October 26, 2011 in Ken, Prayer, SIL, Wycliffe

To my “home town”!

14 Jul

Anne acting silly on a Smart Car in Frankfurt, Germany.

I, Anne, have returned from my latest trip to Germany. I had the opportunity to work in the office, planning some meetings for the Fall, as well as participate in our twice yearly staff meetings. Like me, half of our staff work remotely from our office which is in Germany. A few staff came as far as South Africa! So it is always nice to connect with our group, pray for each other and make sure our strategies are aligned as we served our partners in Europe.

Tomorrow, we take off for New York! We’re both excited to get back to Long Island where I grew up. I have such good memories of my childhood. I had a great family, good neighbors and my family and I attended a wonderful church called Central Presbyterian Church. As the saying goes, “If the doors were open, we were there.” We had lots of opportunities to serve at Central and most of the time it was in the music ministry with my dad greatly involved in missions. Two of my loves!

So this Sunday, July 17th, we’ll be speaking at Central in the morning. Friday, July 22nd, we will be visiting the First Baptist Church of Brewster, a fantastic church we attended for five years. The next Sunday, July 24th, we’ll be speaking at another wonderful church, Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church. This is the church where my grandparents, Norman and Martha Clayton, worshiped when in New York. They, too, have stood by us for many years as we’ve served either with Children’s Bible Fellowship or Wycliffe Bible Translators. We’ll be doing a presentation we’ve entitled, “Looking Back, Charging Forward” to highlight our last 20 years with Wycliffe and the people who have made it possible.

Hope we can see some of you there! Please pray for us that our message will go forth in a clear way. Our job is not done!

4 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on July 14, 2011 in Anne, Europe, Ken, Prayer, Wycliffe, Wycliffe Europe

Wycliffe Japan Joins the Relief Effort

23 Mar

Wycliffe Japan's members work alongside other church members to prepare a relief truck. (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Japan)

Many of us watched in horror as the videos and photos of the most recent earthquake and tsunami hit Japan last week. For those of us who have colleagues working in Japan, we were relieved to hear that all of our members are safe so far.

If you are like me, you are probably wondering how you can help and if it will make a difference.Wycliffe Japan has already joined in the relief efforts. They have teamed up with local churches in the area and have already packed up specific items needed in the area hardest hit in Sendai. A local church in Sendai sent them a list with very specific items to send and will be working at dispersing the items they receive.

If you would like to send a donation, you may send it to our Wycliffe USA headquarters and mark it “Japan: Disaster Relief Funds“. Here is the link online where you can donate: http://www.wycliffe.org/Give.aspx

You can get more updates on the situation on either of Wycliffe’s Websites www.wycliffe.net or www.thewordislife.net

Please keep praying! They have a long hard road ahead of them. What a wonderful opportunity for the body of Christ to come alongside those who are hurting so badly.

2 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on March 23, 2011 in Prayer, Wycliffe

Tags: Japan, relief, Wycliffe

Lord, Teach Us How to Pray

07 Mar

Do you sometimes have difficulty knowing how to pray, what to pray for, or how to pray without repeating the same stuff over and over again? I know I do. And, I suspect I’m not alone. In fact, Jesus’ disciples experienced the same problem and they walked with him.

My brother-in-law, Alan, is a pastor. This past holiday, he gave me the “Bookmark Prayer Card Sampler Pack” prayer cards from NavPress that he had received and thoroughly enjoyed, suggesting that I would too. He was right. They are topical, very specific in their wording, and articulate prayer in ways that I can’t. So, I’ve been reading and praying through them.

We have a holiday tradition where each of us share a special event in our lives over the past year. Esther, Alan’s wife, challenged our children to pick up the torch of Christ and carry it strong. Immediately thereafter, I read one of the prayer cards that addresses that very issue. So I decided to share it because, as my daughters, nieces, and nephews are especially dear to my heart, so is prayer for them. I hope it is helpful and/or challenging to you as well.

I am writing it out in its’ entirety so you have a better idea what I mean. I hope it means as much to you or challenges you in your prayer life as much as it has meant to me and challenged me to pray for my daughters, nieces, and nephews. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

Posted by Ken & Anne on March 7, 2011 in Prayer, Website

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