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Dear <<First Name>>,
We wish you a happy Christmas and a blessed New Year from Bedford, (where it has been -8C the past few days.)
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Rom 15.13
As we get a little older, we are reminded by Paul that we have "this treasure (of God's Spirit) in jars of clay" which will one day be destroyed, and then we will put on new heavenly bodies, which will not decay, but be perfect! What a wonderful hope the Christ of Christmas gives.
Thank you for your interest in our work, your prayer and for your perseverance as we run the race together to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ. Our race is to bring God's precious Word to as many people as possible in our life time in a language they can understand, so they may come to know Christ.
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We thank God for the gift of his Son, and also thank you for considering giving to our....
Matching fund!
Two generous donors have pledged to match all donations made by new donors to TWFTW UK! This means if you are not a regular giver, and are able to give a one-off or a monthly donation it will be multiplied 4 times. Click here to make a one-off donation to TWFTW UK. (Worldwide using a credit/Debit Visa card)
If you would like to make a regular donation to TWFTW UK or increase your regular giving please click here. The amount that you increase your regular giving will also be doubled. (UK account only)
Your partnership with us is invaluable. For more information see https://twftw.org.uk/index.php/financial-partner/
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Barry's 60th bash
It was great for us all to be together as a family to celebrate Barry's 60th birthday on the 30th of September. The 2nd of September was the anniversary of his accident - 40 years in a wheelchair - but this seems not to have slowed him down in the slightest, especially on the downhills!
It was so good to have our son, Tim, spend four months with us over the summer after being away for two years in South Africa working as a software developer. He left the UK in November for a four-month work/adventure tour of South East Asia, and then plans to go to South Africa to work for a year or so.
We are blessed to have our daughter, Lisa, her husband, and our two fun-loving grandchildren, Kalea (6) and Mars (3) still just 15 minutes drive away. Daniel (19) is living at home, and drives himself to work at our local hospital, where he has completed a year of nursing.
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Mom turns 94
On 3 November Julia's mom turned 94. Physically she has stayed quite well, and is still able to walk with a walker. Although she doesn't recognise us anymore she is extremely chatty most days and very sweet natured.
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Work News
Julia and I had the privilege of going to another ETEN (Every Tribe, Every Nation) Bible translation conference in the USA this year. All expenses were paid, as Barry presented at the conference on behalf of the ETEN Innovation Lab on several occassions about how to get the local church and its leaders more involved in checking the quality of a translation. The people who speak the language are best placed to judge if a translation is clear and natural. Those with good Bible knowledge can be trained to assess if the translation is accurate.
The conference was based in Phoenix, Arizona, from the 14th to 17th November, and Julia and I were then able to visit the Grand Canyon for two days (only a 3-hour drive from Phoenix). It is truly one of God's amazing wonders of the world (see above photo). We were also blessed to speak about our work at a church in Napa, where Barry's brother, Colin, lives. This was a 2-hour flight away, and it was so good to spend a few days with Colin and Vernessa.
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A growing organisation
Barry spent most of September and October in Zoom meetings, answering countless emails and also in writing two papers, which he presented at an online translation symposium in December. There is much discussion and planning around our growing work - we now have 242 Bible translation projects up and running. The above photo was a meeting in London with TWFTW colleagues from the USA, Europe and UK, strategizing on support-base fundraising efforts.
As lockdown is lifting around the world, we are able to restart our face to face training programme for Bible translation consultants. We have done several Zoom sessions over the past few years, but we really need to visit the fields again and meet with and train more people face to face.
Barry will be going to Kathmandu in Nepal from the 15th to 27th January to train 25 new consultants in training from six countries in South East Asia, and from other Asian countries too. He was last there in November 2019, so it is a long overdue visit. Training is also planned for consultants in training in Uganda for East and Southern Africa in February/March 2023, and then again in Ethiopia for West and Northern Africa in April/May.
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Praises:
- Ongoing capacity development in our growing work through faithful prayer and financial partners.
- Julia has edited over 150 courses/training department documents in 2022. Our TWFTW Diploma is being taught in 17 major languages. We have 600 students.
Prayers:
- Pray for our preparations for the training of 25 new consultants in Kathmandu, Nepal in January.
- Pray for God to lead, guide and provide for TWFTW's growing work, and for lives to be changed through the power of God's translated Word. Still 4000 languages without Scripture!
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All our love,
Barry and Julia
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