surprise!

The move to Dallas has brought some surprises.  Like this sign at the trail head, reminding me that being in your home country may pose way more danger than living overseas.









The scorpion on the driveway was a surprise, too.  I have no photo of that, since it was at night.  But then there are largish lizards who also think the driveway is a cool place to hang out.








And there have been really wonderful surprises.  Like how many dear friends we've been able to see as a result of living in a place that's a hub for Bible Translation. Laura (below) and her family were in town in September, and they surprised me with a big cookie to help me celebrate my birthday!

 

 That meant that Michael also got to spend time with his buddy from Davao, 

catching up and sharing a little American culture.

This meeting with Donna was a total surprise.  She came up behind me with a hug as I served coffee at a Bible Translation conference.  I had no idea that she was even in the country! 
It was great to see you, Donna!  

 And there have been visits from other friends whose photos I neglected to capture, like Lorine and Xinia and Janel, and of  course those of you who also now live here in Dallas.  What a joy to see each of you!

Meeting Joan was incredibly special and planned well in advance.  Joan has been a wonderful resource person for us ever since 2012, but we'd never met in person.  When she found out that she was coming to Dallas, she graciously made sure to plan to get together in real life.  

What a delight it was to hug you for the first time, Joan!

 I had only "met" Joanna via her blog, but had been so encouraged for several years both by her blog and through emails.  I ran into her husband who let me know where they were staying (it happened to be the same fourplex where we were renting!) and for the first time we met - her family even invited us for lunch the next day!  What a sweet surprise to get to spend time with you in person, Joanna!

This is a place that teems with people who are passionate about making God's Word known

and available to every tribe and every nation.

It's a good place to be.

Bible Translation conference, October 2015

smoking the gospels

Gambarambi sat on the roadside near his home in Zimbabwe, talking with friends and smoking his hand-rolled cigarettes.  A Bible translator wanted to give a copy of the New Testament in the local language to Gamabarmbi.  Gambarambi just laughed and said it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give him a Bible.  He would just tear the perfectly thin pages out and use them to roll more cigarettes.

This presented a quandary for the translator. He knew Gambarambi needed to read about Jesus, but he didn’t want the New Testament turned into cigarettes. As he prayed about it, he came up with an idea.

The translator told Gambarambi that he could use the pages of the New Testament for cigarettes, but only after reading each page.  Recognizing a free source for quality cigarette paper, Gambarambi readily agreed.

Fifteen years later, at a United Bible Society Meeting in Zimbabwe, Gambarmabi stood up to speak.  As he looked over the audience, he spotted the translator who had given him free cigarette paper. 

Gambarambi told the audience about the agreement he had made with the translator. He said, 

“I smoked Matthew, 

I smoked Mark, 

I smoked Luke, 

and I smoked John 

until I got to John 3:16 

and then I could smoke no more!”

Now, instead of smoking the Gospel, 

Gambarambi is preaching the Gospel.

*Taken from a story at https://www.facebook.com/WycliffeDiscover?fref=nf 

The unfolding of Your words gives light; 

Psalm 119:130