(newsletter with photos available in PDF form below) 

Dear friends in Christ,

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers support.  We couldn’t be doing this without you and we thank God for you.  Attached you will once again find our newsletter highlighting news from East Africa from this past month.  We are very busy teaching and training nationals from all over Tanzania and Zambia in our annual training program.  Pray that we finish well and are able to rest well afterwards.  We hope that our great God of peace is reigning in your hearts through Christ.

This month at a glance:

·    Michael and Megan are both involved in training national translators this month.  Megan is teaching phonetics and phonology and Michael is teaching computers.  The training is nearing an end, so far so good.

·    Megan is preparing to facilitate a linguistic workshop where we are able to find out more linguistic details about one of the languages the EAB is translating the Bible into.  Then we will tweak that model and apply it to other languages.

·    Michael got an opportunity to teach a youth group lesson in Swahili.  We are able to say a little more every week.

One Sows and Another Reaps

In John 4:35-38 Jesus says that the fields are ripe for harvest.  The passage ends with, “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”  This describes our situation in East Africa.  Megan and I were blessed to come to a field where translation projects were already in full swing.  We have already got to taste some fruit of our labors and it tastes good!  Most Bible translators have to spend years on the field laying linguistic ground work before translation can be started.  Because the East Africa branch of PBT has existed for many years and is using the cluster method, we have already been part of things like handing out Scripture portions, hearing testimonies of lives changed through Bible translation, and have even attended dedications. 

Training

Megan and I are both getting the hang of talking through a translator.  Since some of the students are from Zambia and don’t know Swahili, the classes must be taught in both Swahili and English.  It can be a challenge to pause between every sentence and still keep your train of thought.  Some students have never used a computer before making it necessary to explain the functions of things like scroll bars which I normally take for granted.

When you pray…

· Thank God for His constant protection and provision in our lives and the opportunities we have had to be encouraged in our ministry.

· Pray for our health.  Both of us are struggling with various skin issues which do not keep us from work, but make parts of life unpleasant.

· Pray for our families and us as we are really starting to feel that it has been almost a year since we’ve seen each other!

· Pray for Megan as she prepares to facilitate a linguistic workshop.  She will be using a new method which we hope will yield great results.

  Blessings,
Michael and Megan Barton

Take a look at some of our past newsletters. (you must have adobe PDF reader or Foxit Reader installed to view past newsletters). Certain letters have been omitted for security reasons.