Unexpected Blessing--Diapers!

An unexpected blessing hit us last week.

We were notified by the Cotton Babies company that we have received their "Diaper Grant for Missionaries." A friend turned us on to this program a few months ago and we applied. For a variety of reasons, we will be using cloth diapers in Nigeria and they can be very expensive (but much nicer than what cloth diapers were a generation ago), so this program seemed like it could be a huge relief for us. That has definitely proven true! The grant has provided us with almost all of the cloth diapering supplies we'll need for our time in Nigeria, and we are so grateful.

If you click here, you can learn more about their program--pretty cool stuff! We're now encouraging any of our friends who are considering cloth diapering to go for it--and use Bum Genius if you can.

What a cool company to want to use their product to advance God's Kingdom in this way. Thank you Cotton Babies!

Overheard when planning to move overseas...

I think I came in at the wrong point in the phone conversation when all I heard was Christie asking,

"Do you have rabies?"

She was in the midst of making phone calls to arrange for doctor appointments, including the vaccinations we'll need. Everyone got a good laugh out of that one!

Find a Bible

When we meet with people about our ministry with Wycliffe, plenty of people ask us, "What languages do you speak?" That prompts us to explain about how we're supporting the work in other ways (Finance, IT, etc.) so that the people who are gifted with languages can handle the translation and linguistics issues.

Now, we have a new way to have people hear what the Bible sounds like in other languages. Click here to check out the Find a Bible feature of the International Forum of Bible Agencies. You can select from several languages in Nigeria, as well as thousands of other languages around the world--all in audio form. Pretty cool!

Language Survey in Nigeria

I've always thought that language surveyors have one of the most interesting jobs in Wycliffe. They get to go out into the field and assess a variety of languages in a variety of places. There are plenty of adventures to be had with this role and never a dull moment. (That's my interpretation and impression of their job, anyway. Reality might be a bit different.)

Nigeria, the country to which we are moving, is in great need of survey. Following is a prayer request that recently went out to Wycliffe staff, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Thanks for your prayers!

"Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land and map it out..." (Joshua 18:4a, NLT)

Nigeria is a big country with hundreds of languages possibly needing Bible translation. Exactly how many of these languages will need translations is not known – and that’s where language surveyors come in. Language survey, or language assessment, is carried out to help identify which languages have the most urgent needs as well as which dialect(s) of those languages would be the most strategic basis for developing literature. The data they gather about languages and dialects informs strategic planning efforts and resource allocation. Surveyors are always in short supply.

• Pray for people working to recruit and train more surveyors. Praise God that more Nigerians are called to serve others within their own nation, including through Bible translation and language survey efforts. Ask God to give qualified young linguists an increasing vision of the need for language survey.

• As challenging as it is to do the actual survey, it can be even harder to patiently sit down and write up the results. Pray for surveyor Mike as he finishes four survey reports. Pray that his write-ups will be clear and insightful and lead to good decisions regarding future Bible translation.