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Category Archives: Wycliffe

Just one of 41 Million!

15 Sep

The new fiscal year for Wycliffe Bible Translators starts October 1. While that doesn’t mean much to many people it means a lot to me. A new year means new project fund-raising goals. And for Wycliffe that means we need to find 41 million dollars in the next 365 days!

Yikes! That sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it? Where will it come from? What will we use it for?

I have a huge Excel worksheet which has every project listed, what country it will go to, what project it will fund along with a myriad of other details. It takes months to write-up a project and then takes lots of work to carry it out all the while writing reports on how the money was spent and how it will aid in Bible Translation.

Much of the money will come from individuals, churches and from some larger organizations. Most of it will come in $25 at a time. This is money above and beyond personal support for missionaries.

These finger puppets are telling a story!

Last year we wrote about one project that a friend of ours was involved with. She works in Guatemala. While this project is not funded by a European (and therefore not in my area) I still have a great interest in it because this friend and her husband went through training with Ken and I over 20 years ago. They are still with Wycliffe, just like we are, but their lives and their work has been completely different.

The Deditos is a small non-profit group that was formed in order to produce audio and video materials for minority people groups. They have really become accomplished as they use finger puppets to tell truths and stories from the Bible. Check out their videos! The first one has English subtitles and looks fantastic!

It’s wonderful to see how God’s people are being so creative as they get God’s Message, the Good News, into the heart language of the people from around the world!

 
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Posted by on September 15, 2011 in Anne, Europe, Video, Wycliffe

 

A Tale of Three Churches

29 Jul
There once were three churches. These churches were established some time ago, most long before you and I were born. Someone had a vision, and planted them. They’ve each grown, thrived, waned and grown again….some over a 100 year history.
While each church has similarities, each is unique…like each of us. One church, Central Presbyterian, became a second home for a small, petite girl with a big name…Anne Barajikian. This church taught her in Sunday School, provided VBS each summer, gave her lots of opportunities to serve in music, allowed her to meet her heroes, missionaries from around the world, and most of all, stood up for the principles of God’s Word in the midst of a prominent town.

The second church, Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church, was home for this girl’s grandparents. While newer than the other two, it has made its place in Dix Hills and the surrounding area, growing in leaps and bounds. This church allowed this girl, now a teenager, to sing with her school and start ministering at a young age.

Church number three, First Baptist Church of Brewster, allowed this teenager, now grown up with children of her own, to minister in music as well as the children’s ministry. It nurtured her young family as they made their first steps toward joining a mission that would take them far away from their home country.

Central has used it’s “central” location and opened its doors to the arts. Many Sunday afternoons, beautiful opera music sounds out in their vast sanctuary. Many people who would not normally pass through a church door, now come to hear the music that they love in a new place. Thursday afternoons, Central hosts a children’s club which ministers to the neighborhood. While these may not be traditional events for a church, they are ministering to the people around them in a most perfect way.

Dix Hills, who allowed a young teenager sing on its stage, has continued the tradition of nurturing the youth to take leadership positions. The youth group runs VBS entirely on its own for a local church closer to the city. The next generation is being prepared to serve their God in a unique way.

Brewster, is trying something new….VBS on Sunday! Who doesn’t like VBS? Encouraging local children and their families to come to VBS on the most traditional day of the week to worship will show them that Brewster Baptist is a great place to be every Sunday of the year.

And so, each church takes its place in New York. Similar, yet unique. And each one is our partner…they come alongside us as we minister with Wycliffe with both prayer and finances. And they get to rejoice when God’s Word becomes available in the heart language of another people group.

But we are their partners too! So I get to rejoice after each concert, on Thursday afternoons, and at the close of another VBS. Because I’ve partnered with them as they have served. And we all lived happily ever after!

(Thanks for allowing us to come and share with you this month! We love you all!)

Mom, sister Lois and Barbara Walling (Central), Walther and Shirley Reeves (Central), Mr. and Mrs. Tobiason (Central), Sam and Ashley Sutter – great hosts and servants at Dix Hills.Susan Tobiasin and Faye Maynard (Central), Pastor Rick Julian and McKelvie Wilder (Brewster), Central’s Praise Group, Central’s Pastor Aldridge, Paige, from Central.

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Posted by on July 29, 2011 in Anne, Family, Ken, Wycliffe

 

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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!

 
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Posted by 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.

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2011 in Prayer, Wycliffe

 

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What’s the purpose of life?

03 Mar

Have you ever wondered why you are doing what you’re doing? I have. It was in the mid 70’s when I was working for a major U.S. company. Two of my work colleagues died, the first one week before he retired and the second one week after he retired, that caused me to consider the purpose of life. I was reading the Bible at the same time and came across the Mark 8: 34-36 verses that say, “Then he (Jesus) called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his lifec will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

These verses challenged me to consider my work, my purpose, and my life. It was then I asked God into my life, relocated to Billings, MT and started all over again. God has since led me into missions and, although there were times you could have given me $.50 and a plane ticket and I was “outta here”, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

And here’s why. May I challenge you to click on the link below to watch this video and see how technology is speeding up the process of Bible translation. Providing the technical infrastructure for our national co-translators is the work I’ll be focusing on this year, possibly even installing the BGAN satellites in Africa, India, or other locations in the near future. It’s exciting, give me purpose, and I’m glad I have the privilege of doing what I’m doing!

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2011 in Anne, Ken, Partner Organization, Video, Wycliffe

 
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