September Update

September 7, 2010

Dear praying friends,

Or as some missionaries we know would call you, "Knee-mail buddies."  We find ourselves again in need of prayer, not just for us, but for the people of Oaxaca.  Nothing urgent, but nonetheless important.

RECORDINGS

As far back as I can remember we have been targeting one Mixe language area for prayer.  Some of you have come on team trips where we prayed for the people of Tlahui, where the scriptures have been translated but unused for over twenty years.  This is truly an unreached people group.  There is no Christian witness in their villages.  In fact, they are very adamantly opposed to the gospel message, and will violently "encourage" outsiders to leave their area.  We have never taken prayer teams there, but have only prayed from a safe distance.

Since summer our technicians have been recording the Tlahui New Testament with one willing participant who speaks the language, but lives outside the target area.  One Christian Mixe from a neighboring dialect has a grandfather from Tlahui, so he is reading the text and having the native speaker repeat it for recording.  It is a laborious process as always, using this "non-reader" method. 

• Please pray with us that Hermano Luis will listen well and catch any mistakes in the recording, and that the man from Tlahui will persevere in this work, and perhaps come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through his exposure to the scriptures.

• Most of all, please pray that the darkness will flee from Tlahui as people hear the gospel in their own language for the first time.  Pray for many to come to Christ.

• While you are at it, please pray for another Zapotec recording in process.  This dialect also was translated over twenty years ago, and never widely used.  This production, likewise, has a few interesting challenges.  Please pray that it would be completed, formatted, distributed, and used.

CHURCHES

Last week Jim made a trip down to the coast, along with all the recording technicians and representatives from the Bible League and Hosanna (Faith Comes by Hearing), to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of the Southern Baptist Church where they speak Huave.  The 87-year-old (still young) translator and some of his family were also able to attend.  Jim had also celebrated the dedication of the New Testament in Huave about ten years ago, and has worked with the church leaders in that area for all these years. 

• Praise the Lord for the Huave area where the gospel is being proclaimed. 

Jim's primary purpose for the trip was to distribute the audio New Testaments among the Huaves and a neighboring Zapotec language, and to instruct listening groups how to utilize them. 

• Pray that the Proclaimers (digital players) will bear much fruit among the Huaves. Click on the link to read more about this new format for the recordings.

This past weekend we celebrated with our local Mexican church, Dios es Amor, as they had their very first worship service in their new building.  We had provided a work team to initiate the building project four years ago, and finally it is completed.  Our recording technicians also serve as pastor and music leader, so it was a fun day to rejoice with them on Sunday.  Jim helped facilitate the completion of the building last week amid ridiculous amounts of mud and other obstacles.  Thankfully the rain stopped all day on Sunday during the service and the meal that followed.

• Praise the Lord for Dios es Amor Church, and pray for spiritual health and growth for this small group of believers in our town of Mitla

HOME FRONT

On the home front, well, it's been an interesting adjustment being back once again.  Our usual desert is green and muddy like never before.  It literally has rained daily since we got here three weeks ago.  Getting laundry dry was already an issue because of the rain, but now I can't even wash the clothes (or shower, or wash dishes very well) because our electric pump is broken.  We are contemplating what it would take to form a bucket brigade, hauling water up from the cistern.  (Just when I finally need a large family, half of them are gone!)  In the meantime, we are bringing buckets from the neighbor's house for washing dishes. 

• Please pray that our local mechanic can fix the pump soon!

The other glitch was that the internet modem decided to burn up last week.  Jim lost a day while trying to diagnose and remedy the problem.  Sadly that was our usual day for visiting with Chris and his bride, Amy, and I had neither access to Skype nor our Lingo phone. Now we are back up and running again.

Oh, and the garbage truck hasn't come by for a couple of weeks... but I'll stop here lest I sound whiny, when actually we are very glad to be home in spite of it all.

UPCOMING TRIPS

Both Jim and I have trips back to the states this month.  I am flying up to Denver September 14-20, and Jim is flying to Atlanta on the 20th.  (Yeah, I know.  Poor timing).  My purpose is to meet with my editor from Women of the Harvest (WOTH), and to speak briefly at a fund-raiser on Friday.  I am particularly excited about a side-trip to visit some long-time supporters I haven't seen once since we left for the mission field 24 years ago!  That has to be a record.  This family has faithfully given to our ministry from the very earliest days without even one personal visit to say thank you.  Patsy remembered that I used to play the piano, and asked if I'd like to play an offertory at their church that Sunday.  I jumped at the opportunity, and quickly panicked afterward. 

• Please pray that I will actually worship through music, and not just feel like I am performing, and pray for just the right words to communicate my appreciation for the ministry of Women of the Harvest as I represent thousands of women serving the Lord worldwide.
  

Jim is attending the ION (International Orality Network) annual conference.  He hasn't attended one for the past few years, but it is always an encouragement to meet with like-minded individuals and organizations who are trying to reach non-literate, oral learners. 

• Pray that he would return to Oaxaca inspired and challenged to persevere in this never-ending task of networking to reach the unreached.

• Please pray for the kids to continue in their studies, minus a substitute teacher, while I am away. 

I have written out detailed assignments for them, and trust to work double hard this week to keep them on track. 

• Again, please pray for Bekah and Jonny as they travel to and from the city three times a week, often by bus, to the Oaxaca Christian School, for safety and protection, that they would be hidden from any who would desire to hurt them. 

They are taking English and Science at OCS, so at least two classes will happen while I'm gone.  Debbie has Math and Spanish on the computer, so those classes should happen, too.

Bless you for your partnership with us!  Each prayer and gift does make a difference.  Together we are accomplishing great things with eternal rewards.

Partners in reaching the Unreached of Oaxaca and beyond,
Jim and Jamie Loker
Bekah, Jonny, and Debbie (at home)

Please continue to pray for our older children, too, as the Lord leads:
Mike and Hannah, in college in California
Tim and Heidi, in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada)
Chris and Amy, in Worthington, Minnesota

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