Thumbs Up!

The following is a letter (reprinted by permission) by one of many satisfied short-term team members this year.  John braved the trip only one day after surgery on his hand, giving him a permanent "thumbs up" demeanor we all enjoyed, teased, and imitated.  Thank you, John, for this endorsement of team trips.  Thanks to all who came, contributed, and prayed!

John's son, Jamison, is the chairman of the board at Audio Scripture Ministries, and was the leader of this team from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which also included his younger brother, Ted. 

June 2018

 Hi Jim & Jamie,

Thank you so much for hosting and leading our group to help bring the ASM audio Bibles to the people in and near Progresso, Oaxaca Mexico in April.

It was inspiring to learn from both of you the very long history of the translation efforts by Wycliffe Bible Translators beginning in the 1950’s to get Bibles in printed form by 1970’s.  Your work partnering with ASM to locate these people groups, to find native language readers, to make recordings, and do the tedious editing of the sound bites to bring the final product is truly a blessing to those who receive an audio Bible.  Praise God for the countless hours, days, and years of work by you and many others.  How humbling to participate in the distribution of these Bibles after the very hard work of so many for so long that made it possible.  To Him be all the glory and honor!

One powerful impression that keeps coming to my mind is how the people of the small churches we met with are clinging desperately and fiercely to God’s Word, the Bible.  During the worship services and prayer times with these small groups I felt their obvious passion and love for God.  You could see it on their faces.  The presence of God’s Spirit was strong.  No wonder they are enthused about having the audio Bibles for their people!  Thank you for translating for us some of what was being said during those times; it was wonderful.

And then there was the singing!!  What joy to sing God’s praises simultaneously in three languages: English, Spanish, and Mixteco.  Or, singing back and forth to each other as groups.  The unity of believers transcends language barriers, and I felt the presence of God’s love even though not understanding any words.

Another powerful experience for me was praying over each of the individuals that were given an audio Bible.  As a group we simultaneously prayed our own personal prayers for that person out loud, while laying hands on them.  Each time the same strong realization came to me during the prayer:  this person is my brother or sister!!  I did not know him/her until that day, but we are united in Christ and I need to pray for him/her and be a help and an encouragement.  This was very intense!

The people of Progresso were such gracious hosts, sharing their food and places with us.  Most of them have very little, but provided so bountifully from their hearts.  I can’t say enough about their hospitality and friendship they showed.  They set a high standard for showing their love of God in worship, caring, and hospitality.  I praise God for them and have learned a lot from them; it was a privilege to have the experience.

Thank you, Jim and Jamie.  May God also continue to bless you and the work you do, and the believers in Progresso.

In Christ,

John Worst

Dreams, Visions, and the Birth of a Harvest

Returning to the Isthmus of Mexico for the second week in a row, our prayers and ministry focus were directed to the Zapotec speakers in an area devastated by the earthquakes of last September.  Our joint evangelistic efforts proved to be a tremendous encouragement to the pastors who accompanied us.

After a day of visiting mostly “inconversos” (unsaved), we felt prompted to spend a day focusing on providing audio Bibles for the church leaders who could multiply the fruit by sharing the scriptures in Zapotec personally with their neighbors.

As we took the audio Bible to one of the founding members of the church, offering to pray for her and her ministry, she asked us to join her in visiting and praying for her sick neighbor, a man in need of our Savior’s touch.  Quickly it became apparent that God had prepared this neighbor for an encounter with us that day.

Our team prayed over Andre as he lay in his hammock, first commanding any pestering spirits by the authority of Jesus’ name and his blood shed on Calvary to depart from the premises, rendering them powerless to keep Andre in pain and unbelief.  Then we prayed for healing, thinking perhaps he had TB based on his description of chest pain and coughing up blood.

Andre then told us how some relatives had come to pray for him the night before, and how he felt the same sensation of a cool hand going over and inside his body, soothing and healing it.  We explained that the only way he would remain free was to call upon the name of Jesus himself, confess and repent of his sins, and accept the free gift of salvation. 

Andre began to relate a dream he had the night before, which our Zapotec interpreter explained to me in Spanish. In his dream, a visitor showed him a vision.  In the vision, Andre was in his hammock, and a group of eight individuals were gathered in front of him, like a chain, all inter-connected.  Before them was a big clay platter covered with ashes.  One of the eight picked up the platter and began to blow until all the ashes were blown away.  What remained on the plate were six kernels of corn.  The eight visitors debated whether they should plant the corn, since there did not appear to be any soil, just a hard concrete floor.

At this point, I was translating the dream into English for my team members, becoming more excited as the story progressed.  Just that morning, my husband Jim had again referred to the audio Bibles as “The Good Seed,” expressing a desire to only plant it in good soil.  Earlier in our visit, we were debating whether to give Andre an audio Bible.  Continuing to describe his vision, Andre said that the visitors did in fact plant the kernels of corn, and were thrilled that they all sprouted, a word in Spanish which literally means “were birthed.”  After the crop was harvested, the man in the vision burned the field, and then told Andre he used to be like that burned field, completely dead, but now he was like the fresh corn - new life!

The dream was easy enough to decipher.  There were exactly eight of us standing before Andre in his hammock, just like in the vision.  Our prayers to dispel evil forces were the breath that blew away the ashes.  The hard ground was the man’s heart prior to our visit.  The corn, obviously, was the Word of God bearing fruit.  The only puzzling part was the detail that there were six kernels of corn.  Later we learned that the man’s household totaled six souls.  We had prayed that Andre and his whole household would accept salvation that day.  In faith, we believe for a harvest of all six becoming believers even though we only had the privilege of praying with the one.  Andre cried actual tears as he prayed the prayer of faith, repeating the Zapotec words of his neighbor.

This is just a portion of all that transpired at one house on one day of two solid weeks of ministry, visiting in people’s homes, offering intercessory prayer, audio Bibles, and the gift of salvation for those ready to receive it in faith.  It was exhilarating to see so many people set free from the bondage of sin and Satan, and others healed of physical or mental suffering.  Many prayers were answered in dramatic ways, and we trust that the church leaders in the area will continue to visit the new believers and disciple them as they mature as Jesus followers.  Most of all we are thankful that God’s Word remains in their hands to help them grow in knowledge and wisdom and to bear much fruit for the Kingdom.

A MacGyver Victory

It was Holy Week in Guatemala, and we had just finished dubbing a portion of the Jesus Film, intending to show the Mam people the death and resurrection scene in their own language.  Following a synchronistic religion of Catholicism mixed with animism, most of the Mam Indians knew that Jesus died, but they had never thought of him as resurrected and alive.  

We drove out to a village down a bumpy unpaved road, carrying a large video projector which was cutting edge for the late 1980s. It was the huge kind (imported from the U.S.) commonly used in bars. Unlike the tiny ones of today that fit in the palm of your hand, it was a large box with three lights that converged.

Five hundred Mam speakers were waiting to see the very first movie ever to be shown in their own dialect.  People were everywhere.  Anticipation was high.  I plugged the video projector in just like always, but it wouldn't turn on.  I had no owner's manual, no tools, and no idea what the problem was. 

Several of the church leaders kept coming over to assure me they were praying for me and that they trusted God to help me solve the problem.  Remembering that I did have a Swiss army knife in my pocket, I found a screwdriver and somehow figured out how to open the back of the projector and pull out the "mother board" where all the wires were.  Right away I noticed that two wires had become unsoldered - probably from the bouncing drive to the village.

I thought to myself, "Great.  No solder gun, no manual.  Now what?"  It could have been a very simple repair with the right equipment.  Being the only American there, I was surprised to hear an almost audible voice speaking to me in English, saying, "Use your chewing gum."  Okay, so presuming that was the voice of God, I took out my gum and put it on top of the wires, connecting them to the solder, and I slid the card back into the slot, closed the back of the projector, and plugged it in.  It started right up!

Satan was defeated, and people's hearts were open to the truth of the gospel, and many came to the Lord that very night.  There is one more part to this story.  The name of that town was "La Victoria."  

The victory.

(This story is obviously a throw-back from our early years on the field.  Jim dictated this memory, and I typed it up almost verbatim.  Jamie)

"Let Me Get This Straight...."

My mom's infamous quote from last fall:  "So, let me get this straight.  You have one daughter with TB and one with either malaria or zika?"  We both chuckled even though it isn't exactly funny (or entirely accurate in hindsight).  Her motherly advice was for us all to stay safely in the U.S. from now on! Yeah, well, that's not going to happen.  In fact, Jim is in Central Africa even as I am writing this.  He dutifully received all recommended vaccinations and took malaria meds beforehand.  Our son, Mike, and his family are leaving for Indonesia in a few months, and on it goes. (Sorry, Mom.)

What I have noticed through the years is that certain things strike a chord with people "back home" and trigger not only prayers, but actual responses to our email updates and Facebook notifications.  Exotic-sounding diseases always send people to their knees on our behalf, but what we'd prefer are preventative prayers of protection. 

The infamous missionary ladies retreat when we all got e-coli

To date, our prayer buddies have carried us through...

• hepatitis
• esophageal reflux and failure to thrive
• miscarriages (including one at five months)
• botched surgeries
• rabies
• typhoid
• ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura)
• whooping cough
• head lice and broken ribs
• bed bugs
• dengue
• swine flu (which our children were actually at "ground zero" - giving added distinction for that)
• life-threatening heat exhaustion
• multiple concussions 
• a bug bite infection we feared was a bot fly
• e-coli
• cyclical vomiting syndrome, which is an ongoing prayer need for our daughter, Debbie

 For the record, the doctors never did decide what to call the sickness Bekah got after her mission trip to Guatemala last August, but it wasn't zika or malaria.  Also, Debbie does not have an active case of TB, but a latent case, in the blood but completely asymptomatic.  She is almost finished with her six months of medication for that.  We are not concerned.  The doctors had to treat it since she is taking phlebotomy at the vocational school, and otherwise she would not be permitted to draw blood.

So, with all this said, could you please just pray that we would have no health issues to write about over these next two months of travel for Jim?  Thanks.  Monday he flies to Nairobi, Kenya from the Congo.  When he returns, he is only home a few days before he travels for Mexico for a few weeks.

Prayers for Mike, Amy, Titus, and Silas are appreciated, too, as they embark on their own kingdom adventures overseas in April of this year.

Click on the highlighted words to read the related stories on my other blog, which I am currently revising and updating.  If you are not receiving our prayer updates by email, please let me know, and I'd be happy to add you to the list.  You can email me at jamiejofrommexico (at) gmail. 

Thanks!
Jamie

20 Vital Prayers for Team Trips

How can you pray for scripture distribution trips?  Here are some samples of prayers I have copied from my prayer journal for your convenience.

In summary, we are working so that God's Word might be readily accessible to those who need to hear it in their heart language, and praying that the scriptures would go out with the power of the Holy Spirit to

• evangelize the unreached

• disciple/train/instruct/equip even non-literate believers

• plant churches

• encourage and revitalize the saints, especially those enduring persecution

• bring conviction of sin where needed

• stir up worship and revival

Pray for...

1. traveling mercies throughout the trip, including safe arrival of each team member and all luggage
2. all audio Bibles and other equipment to clear customs without hassle
3. effective personal and group devotional times in preparation for ministry
4. the team to work stealthily hidden from the enemy's view, untouched by oppositional forces
5. hearts to be softened beforehand and prepared to hear the Good News in their own language
6. wisdom and discernment in tearing down of strongholds in the homes and villages visited
7. changed hearts and lives as people are dramatically rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Light
8. whole households to come to faith in Jesus
9. encouragement, hope, fresh vision for native pastors and evangelists we accompany
10. contagion of the gospel, spreading throughout the region, leaking to nearby villages, penetrating hearts with the message of truth, freedom, redemption, and love
11. team unity, "rhino hide and heart of a dove"
12. clear communication through interpreters
13. miraculous answers to prayer to enhance the evangelistic effort and bring glory to God
14. each team member to experience joy and delight, walking in strength, faith, confidence, health, and freedom from fear and grumbling
15. restful and restorative sleep each night, particularly for the leaders
16. protection for each spouse and family member back home and for each prayer partner involved in the spiritual battle for men's souls this week
17. flexibility and good attitudes when the plans change and God reminds everyone Who is in charge
18. the team members to catch the vision for reaching the unreached with scriptures in a language and format they can access
19. each audio Bible left behind to bear much fruit well beyond the scope of what we see and experience in one short week
20. God's kingdom to be established among this particular people group and His will accomplished this week

What else would you add to the list?  Please leave your comments below.

Colorful, Diverse Oaxaca

Little by little we have ministered in each of these ethnic groups.  Sometimes it is confusing when we say our technicians are recording another Zapotec, Mixtec, or Mazatec New Testament translation, but there are many many different variants of each language represented on this chart. 

Later this month we will be returning to Mexico to distribute audio Bibles among the Nahuatl (Aztec), but traveling to villages in the neighboring state of Puebla to do so.  In the country of Mexico, there are more than a million speakers of Nahuatl, though most live outside Oaxaca.

Mexico boasts six million indigenous language speakers, though other Latin American countries have a higher percentage of indigenous people.  To put it in perspective, the southern state of Oaxaca is 65% indigenous, whereas the country of Guatemala is only 42.8%.

According to YWAM, "Oaxaca contains the largest concentration of people groups in the Americas.... many whom are considered unreached."

 Click here to see a short video clip

illustrating how colorful and diverse Oaxaca is. 

The clip is now a bit outdated as you will note when they refer to cassette tapes being distributed, but it is interesting that they mention the Jesus Film.  Our studio has been responsible for the dubbing of the Jesus Film in many of the indigenous languages of Oaxaca.

*The languages in parentheses are considered derivatives of the larger language group, whereas Huave, Nahuatl, and Chontal are each distinct languages that comprise the remaining 7% of languages represented in Oaxaca.

Not Just for the Non-literate

Generally we focus on reaching out to people who cannot read, giving them the ability to hear God's Word in their own language.  In many places this includes elderly people whose eyesight is failing or who never received enough formal education.  In other areas it means ministering to people who are somewhat bilingual, who may even know how to read Spanish, but have not had an opportunity to learn to read their own mother tongue.

Looking at the text above (from Amuzgo de Xochistlahuaca in Guerrero, Mexico), you can see why reading some of these languages is a tremendous challenge, even for people who know how to read their secondary language.  Glancing at the highlighted portion, I see one word with seventeen characters.  Reading the scriptures in their native tongue can be a chore that does not resemble a devotional act.  Some may possess the capability of slowly sounding out the words, much as a first grader can sound out the vocabulary in their early primers, but few can read for comprehension or retention.

Now this problem can be remedied, thanks to new technology developed by friends of ours with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  They have created this phone app that enables people to listen to the scriptures in their difficult-to-read language while they look at the text, which is highlighted in sync with the audio.  What an exciting tool to encourage literacy among people groups!  We learn best when we can see and hear the narrative.

Audio players are still necessary for listening groups, the visually impaired, those without cell phone service, and for non-literate people who cannot access the internet even where it is available, but this option offers great potential for wider and free distribution of scripture translations we continue to record.

Praise the Lord for this new advancement in the use of Bible translations in both written and audio formats.  It's not just either-or, but both seen and heard.

We used to adapt the prayer from Psalm 119:18 for non-literate people groups, asking God to open their EARS that they may HEAR wonderful things in His Word.   
Now we can ask God to open their eyes, ears, and hearts that they may know Him more fully.

To view or download this app, go to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wycliffe.amuzgoguerrero.amu