Kevin & Laurel Penner's Updates

JULY 17/11

Hi,
We are entering our last week in the village. Please pray that the important things will get done and I won't worry about the rest. We are trying to finish revising the last 16 verses or so of Luke 2, and finish going through Jonah with someone who didn't work on the translation to see how he understands it. We started with one guy and it was pretty tough slugging, but he started catching on. It's a very academic exercise for someone with only a grade 6 education, and he didn't come back the next day. Miguel is going to invite someone else to join us this week. We also hope to go through the first two chapters of Luke this way, but the team may have to do that on their own after I leave.

I've also started recording data for some university projects, but have run into problems with the microphone/recorder and will redo the two subjects I recorded already. I'm hoping to get through 10 total, and it takes about an hour per subject. Pray that I will be able to find enough willing subjects and a recording solution that will give me good quality recordings.

The big new from last week is that we celebrated Dani's 9th birthday and had a big party yesterday to celebrate that and a number of blessings from God: finishing the first draft of Luke, Primo's wife Fracisca's birthday, the birth of Celerina's baby, Miguel's daughter's graduation from primary school, and the progress he is making on building his house.

Thanks so much for your prayers! Keep up the good work!
Grace and peace,
Kevin

PS The scorpion kill count is at 4 and one, that Laurel saw in the outhouse, got away. No more mice, though.

JULY 10/11

Hello everyone,

We are just over half-way through our time here in the village and overall thing are going well.  Last week we attended the closing ceremonies for the local elementary school.  Pastor Miguel's daughter graduated from grade 6 as the top student in her class.  Since that is as far as many children here go to school, this is a significant event.  Several of the classes perform dances, and the graduating class sang in Spanish and in Mixtec.

The kids are mostly doing well.  Daniela has proven to be a bug magnet and has suffered not only from the bites, but also some reaction to them.  The itching drives her crazy sometimes. 

Last week Gabby began to connect with Miguel's daughter, Nelvia, in spite of the language barriers when Laurel worked with her mom at our house and Nelvia came along too.  Dani has also connected with their youngest, Susana.

Kyle spent a long day yesterday hauling sand and cement for Pastor Miguel's house, and enjoyed a hike into the hills with Kevin and the men to bring the cattle home on a day when we had limited electricity.

We had limited electricity last week which meant limited work on the translation.  Kevin and the team have gained some computer time by using a car battery to provide some power, but once the batteries run down, there is not much they can do.  We have become very dependent on electricity!  The team has revised all of Luke Ch. 1 - a very long chapter with many new words and ideas since this is the first New Testament book the team has worked on.  Kevin is also making some progress on gathering texts and data for his linguistics studies.

Praise the Lord:

• that Cele, the team member who recently had a baby via C-section is recovering well and wants to come back to work next week.  The baby is also doing well.
• that the kids have adjusted well to village life and are even finding ways to connect with others
• for the progress that has been made in the work of translation and linguistics
• no hassles about "gold digging"

Pray:

• for Daniela to get relief from the itchiness
• for consistent power this week so that work on the translation can go ahead
• for continued health and safety for our family and for the team and their families
• for Kevin to be able to collect the data he needs for school

Thanks for your prayers!
Grace and peace,
Kevin

The first draft of Luke is completed! We continue to be grateful for the way our Mixtec co-translators are pressing on with the task of translating, and from Kevin’s Skype chats with Miguel, we know that he has an increasing burden and vision for his people to have the scriptures in their own language. He says, “A day came when God spoke to my heart and I started thinking, ‘How will the people know what God’s word says if they don’t understand what it says in Spanish?’”  And so I started thinking…….

Can you remember the first time you heard the Christmas story?  Many of us have heard the story of Jesus’ birth since we were very young.  For some people in El Mosco, this was their first time to hear Luke's account of Jesus’ coming to earth as a baby in their own language. The church in El Mosco put on a celebration in December in honour of Jesus’ birth.  Scripture was read in Mixtec and there was a feast of celebration.  Miguel and other members of the translation team read from Genesis 3, Isaiah, Luke, and Revelation.  What an exciting event!  How we wish we could have been there!  In January, the church in El Mosco also hosted a children's festival. Around 200 children and 150 adults came and some have now begun attending church.  We pray that the seeds planted at both of these events will take root and grow in the lives of the people who came.  Please pray specifically for Juan who wants to attend church but his family is strongly opposed.

As Kevin has focused on Mixtec language analysis through his Masters/ PhD studies, it has become increasingly obvious that he needs a longer stretch of time to be in Mexico to work with native Mixtec speakers face to face. We are considering how we might be able to go as a family back to our home in El Mosco for a couple of months or so to accomplish this, and also to encourage our friends there in the translation work.  We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we think about when we could go (possibly May or June), and for how long, as well as provision for transportation (we would need a truck to be able to get in and out of the village).

Thank you so much for your faithful support in prayer, in encouragement and in giving.
Blessings,
Laurel

 

Happy New Year!

I'm thankful for a good break over Christmas and a chance to spend time with my family! We're still hoping to get a newsletter out soon, but I've been back to work on my tone analysis this week because I start two new classes next week (like, Monday!). Please pray that I will get this paper done soon!

My schedule this semester is not as accommodating as it has been. I have classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings, which means I will have to drive up on Monday and stay two nights in Edmonton. I'm really looking forward to both of my courses (Experimental Phonetics and Phonology II), though, and know that they will help me research and understand Mixtec better.

I was waiting for our next newsletter to tell you this, but the team finished the first draft of Luke in December! Now they are working on revising it and haven't moved on to a new book yet. Also, the New Years / Christmas celebration in Chukun (El Mosco) went well. We'll tell more about it in our next newsletter, but today Miguel just asked me to pray for one of our friends who came to the celebration and told Miguel that he wanted to commit himself to God. However, when he talked to his extended family about this there was an angry backlash. Miguel has been encouraging him with God's word. Please pray for faith and courage for Juan. Miguel also asked for prayer about some local political unrest.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Hi,

We want to wish you a merry Christmas, and thank you for your prayers. I've experienced God's sustaining grace and enabling in these past few weeks of particularly intense work on my Tone analysis and write-up, especially in keeping me from getting the colds going through our family and being able to work long hours on little sleep. I made a lot of progress on the paper, but it isn't finished yet. I will be able to take a break now and hit it again in January. I may not get a newsletter out until the new year either, but know that one is coming and we so appreciate your prayers and partnership with us.

You will also be interested to you know that work continues on Miguel's house (see the attached picture). Also, Miguel's computer is finally back up and running after the latest problem. I've been able to get the translation software installed remotely, but still haven't been able to get it set up to type in Mixtec.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Hi,
Here's a quick update:

• The translation team is all but done the first draft of Luke! Miguel's vision for the work continues to grow and it's an encouragement to us.
  
• Miguel got word that an old man in another village wanted prayer and God's Word, so he and Ines went to see him this week. Yesterday he emailed and told me that the man and his wife gave their hearts to Jesus! Pray for the man and his wife that God will give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they can know Him better (Eph. 1:17) and will be protected from the enemy.
  
• Pray for Miguel as he builds a house (his sleeping house, which is made of wood, is rotting), that he will have the time, help and resources he needs.
  
• Laurel just did an expense report that included over $6000 of translation wages and expenses over the past 4 months! We were falling behind, but are thankful for the extraordinary giving over the past two months. Thank-you!
  
• Pray for me as I struggle to figure out the tone and write the paper to complete my course this semester! It's really overwhelming, and I need to trust God for wisdom and help.
  
• URGENT:  Miguel just emailed telling us that (his wife) Andrea's brother, Juan, got drunk and was severely beaten. He had to be taken out to the district hospital where he underwent surgery. He has suffered internal injuries and lost a lot of blood. Juan is not a believer and Miguel asks that we pray that Juan won't die and that God will allow him to recognize that there is a God who can save him and change him. Also, Juan's family is responsible to replace the large amount blood that he was given (let's think about that next time we complain about our health care).

 
Thanks so much for your partnership with us!
Grace and peace,
Kevin

The first month of school is almost over already! I'm working on a Generals Paper this semester, so I don't have to attend any classes, but do drive up about once a week to meet with my supervisor. Kyle is playing on the Junior High volleyball team, Gabby is practicing with the B team and Dani is waiting for hockey to start. I was asked to coach Kyle's team and started to, but couldn't keep up with all the work I have to do for my studies and had to give it up.

This semester I'm doing something which is long overdue for our translation project—an analysis of the tone system. I am limiting my focus to nouns for this paper. As you will remember from our past newsletters and talks, not only does Mixtec use tones to communicate the meaning of words, but when these words are put together in phrases, the tones can change. We need to figure out which tones are the most basic as we consider how tone should be written in the alphabet. Please keep praying for wisdom and also for the time consuming task of processing many sound files and getting them into a new database.

Yesterday I was doing some remote support for one of the translation computers that had a messed up video display and thankfully was able to get it fixed. Today I just synchronized our translation software with translation team's and it shows that they have drafted up to Luke 20 now.  Laurel has been helping me process sound files for my tone study and working on the exegesis of ch. 1-2 in order to be ready for revising those chapters this fall. Whether that revision will happen with a trip to Mexico or over the Internet we're not sure yet.

Along with the usual requests for the translation team to have wisdom, motivation, protection and provision, please pray about the mechanical problems both Miguel and Primo have been having with their motorcycles.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

GETTING AROUND

We’ve been busy since our last newsletter in May! June 5 found me once again on a plane to Mexico by myself. I returned on the 23rd and on July 5 we set off on a trip to visit partners of our ministry on the west coast. We were happy to leave the unusually cold, rainy weather of the Prairies behind and drive into the sunshine of Victoria, Quadra Island and Abbotsford. The ultimate destination of our trip was visiting Laurel’s home church on Quadra Island, which we hadn’t visited since 2005. While on Quadra we attended a week of family camp at Camp Homewood. Wow, was that ever awesome, especially since there were two other families we knew there!

Three weeks later we were on our way home, squeezing in a day in Kelowna on our way-enough time for us to visit our friends at Kelowna Christian Center church and to get in a golf game!

In the next two weeks at home we were able to do some much needed work around the house and yard before taking off for Tucson, Arizona for our biennial Mexico Branch conference. Thanks to a travel subsidy the whole family was able to go with us on the 12 day trip! We were able to reconnect with many friends and colleagues in our branch, and “enjoy” Mexico-like, 40+°C (104°F) weather. What a shock to return to Alberta where temperatures are now dropping to near freezing at night!

by Kevin

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS    

PhD or Master’s?
Thanks for praying. We’ve decided that we should take advantage of the opportunity that has been given to me and switch to the PhD program. This means that I have about three more semesters of courses plus the dissertation. Only two of the courses involve attending classes in Edmonton and these are planned for next semester.

Moving to Mexico?
We probably can’t move back to Mexico permanently until I’m finished my PhD. We are considering the possibility of returning as a family forperiods of 2-3 months during my study program. Please continue praying that we will know the right timing.

Translation progress?
Genesis is 35% revised and Luke is 68% drafted!  On my last Mexico trip I installed the latest version of United Bible Society translation software onto the translation team computers and trained the team to enter translated scripture directly into it (saving us the step of importing their Word documents). The software allows them to navigate by chapter and verse, and one of the most exciting new features is that it allows all team computers to synchronize with UBS servers, even ours inCanada!

Publishing scripture?
We would love to get some scripture published so it can be used by the Mixtec church. Genesis is so huge it will take forever to get ready for publication so we are going to try to publish Jonah this year. Another idea we have is to publish the Luke Christmas story (ch. 1-2) with pictures for the church to use this Christmas!

by Kevin

SUMMER 2010

June was a busy month for the kids with field trips, a sports day, lacrosse playoffs and, for Kyle, final exams.  Kyle’s lacrosse team took home bronze medals in their division, while Gabby’s team finished out of the medals.  Gabby and Dani both won several ribbons at their fun field day, including the long jump and sprint and long races.  Kyle studied hard for his final exams and finished the year well, winning top academic honors for Grade 7, as well as the most improved student.

Family camp was the highlight for us all this summer.  All three kids enjoyed the waterfront times, eventhough the water (the Pacific) was very cold!  They had fun kayaking, canoeing, knee boarding, tube riding and riding in the powerboat.

In August, we all went to Arizona for the Mexico Branch Conference.   The kids enjoyed the child care program which included field trips to several interesting places around Tucson, swimming (of course) and playing with new and old friends. On Saturday, there were no conference meetings so we all went on a hike to some natural pools in the mountains where the kids had a great time jumping of the rocks into the water.  Even though the day was overcast, it was HOT, and the pools were very refreshing.

So now it’s back to school for Kevin and the kids. The girls are eager to go back to school.  Gabby is looking forward to learning to play the trumpet in the grade 6 band. Kyle moves up to grade 8 this year and will be on the volleyball team in the first quarter.

by Kevin & Laurel

In our May newsletter we asked you to pray about my next trip to Mexico. That took place June 4-23. While there were some frustrating interruptions, I was able to accomplish quite a lot including revising 110 verses from Genesis 18-21 with the translation team, putting metal roofing on my house and helping another member of the Church in El Mosco put a roof on his house. This last "interruption" to my plans was a good opportunity for me to mingle with other men from the community, since many non-church goers came to help as well. Another thing accomplished on this trip was updating the translation software on the translation team computers and training them to input Scripture using it. Some of the advantages of this new method of inputing translated Scripture are that it saves us the step of converting Word files (which they used previously) for importing into the program, and, best of all, it allows all project members to synchronize the Mixtec Scripture on their computers. This means that each day they "save" their work to the Internet and we can update the translation software on our computers with their work!

Less than two weeks after returning from Mexico the kids were finished school for the year and we set out on a West Coast tour to visit partners in our ministry some of whom we had not visited since 2005. A highlight of this trip was spending a week at family camp at Camp Homewood on Quadra Island where Laurel grew up. We also squeezed in a quick visit to KCC on our way home and it was a pleasure to worship with you and say a quick "Hi," to many who were there that day.

After spending the first part of August working at house and yard projects, we are now about to fly down to Tucson, AZ for our Mexico Branch conference for 12 days (August 13-25). Because of generous travel subsidies, we are able to go as a family. We look forward to connecting with many of our branch family during this time (and roasting in the Arizona heat!).

The translation team continues to work. In our May newsletter we reported that the team had drafted 15% of Luke. That number is now up to over 50%! We hope that we will be able to revise and consultant check the Christmas story (Luke 1-2) so that we can publish a Christmas story booklet to distribute this Christmas. If we are able to do this, it will be the first time the Mixtec people have ever read the Luke Christmas story in their own language!

In our last newsletter we also asked you to pray with us as we decided whether I should change my Linguistic study program at the U of A from a Master's to a PhD. It was a tough decision for us to make, especially because of the amount of work involved and that it will probably mean a delay in returning to Mexico, but in the end we decided that since this was in our long range plans anyway it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, in the fall I will continue my studies and would appreciate you upholding me (and the family) in prayer as I try to figure out the Mixtec tone system for nouns.

Praise Items
A safe and productive trip to Mexico in Juneâ 110 more verses from Genesis revised!
Many miles of safe travel this summer.
Financial assistance for the kids to come with us to our branch conference in Arizona.
New translation software that simplifies the process of synchronizing our computers with those of the translation team.

Prayer Items
Revising, consultant checking and publishing the Luke Christmas story in Mixtec by this Christmas.
That the translation team will be motivated, protected, delivered from distractions.
Safe trip to our branch conference in Arizona.
Kevin's PhD studies in the fall.

 

Exodus drafted, Luke in progress!

In the latter half of March I received an email from Miguel informing me that the translation team had completed the first draft of Exodus! Although they plan to translate the entire Pentateuch, they are now working on a draft of Luke, their second NT book (the first wasPhilemon). Won’t it be cool for them to read the Christmas story in their own language this year!

As I go to Mexico in June pray for us as we return to revising Genesis (about 28% revised), after an interlude drafting and revising Jonah and Philemon for the translation workshop last year (See “Translation Progress”). Pray also that we will find people able and willing to do back-translations (i.e. translate Mixtec scriptures back into Spanish for consultant checking).

I will also be collecting linguistic data on this trip for my graduate studies at the U of Alberta. My studies this year have really confirmed the need for in depth tone analysis, and that is what I intend to focus on in my data collection.

Another task for this trip is to re-roof our house. This time we plan to put on a tin roof, which will be more durable.

By Kevin

Family News

People often ask us how the kids are doing. We thinkthey are handling Alyssa’s death well, perhaps in part because they had to face this possibility throughout her short life. When it finallyhappened, they had a good chance to say good-bye, and each one spent about a week staying in her room.

Of course, life carries on, although sometimes it feels like it shouldn’t. The kids continued their hockey season which ended with the kids taking on the parents.  Daniela’s team beat the parents (she said, “Why do the parents always lose?”), while Kyle and Gabby’s team lost by one goal (scored by their dad). Soon after hockey, Kyle began practices with the school badminton team — a first for him. All three kids are now busy with lacrosse, and Kyle has also had several band performances with the school band. A first for Gabby and Dani is a pet hamster which they pooled their resources to buy.

Kevin was back to school within a couple weeks of the funeral, struggling to get caught up. Thankfully his professors were very understanding and gave him extensions on his assignments. Once again, his courses were very valuable, and he was able to do all his term papers on aspects of Mixtec grammar. I have been doing many of Kevin’s linguistic readings as well, working on our Mixtec texts to make them more useful to him in his studies and now, preparing study notes for  revising Genesis on his Mexico trip. I also presented the work of Bible translation to eight groups of kids at the school mission’s day, and continue to take a turn at leading Children’s Church at our church.

We have not been to Quadra Island to visit my home church since we returned to Canada so we are looking forward to visiting there this summer and seeing many friends along the way. Also this summer, we plan to attend the Mexico Branch Conference in Tucson, AZ August 15-25 (due to security issues in Oaxaca). The administration is encouraging families to attend and is helping with travel costs. This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to reconnect with our friends and colleagues.

We are often asked if we plan to move back to Mexico. While it has always been our plan to return to Mexico if it became possible, and still is, with Kevin in the middle of graduate studies we are not planning to go anywhere for at least  another year (See “Masters or PhD”). We also know that we need time to grieve Alyssa’s passing. Please pray that we would know when it is the right time.

By Laurel

Making things happen

The study of causative constructions in Mixtec was the topic of one of my term papers this past semester. Every language has ways to say that something caused something to happen as in expressions like, Mom made (caused) me clean my room. Other less obvious causative expressions in English are expressions like kill ‘cause to die’ and send ‘cause to go’. In Mixtec, ‘causeto die’ is also  expressed by a single word, ka’ñi, as English, but ‘cause to go’ is expressed using a special causative prefix, sa-, plus the word ku’un ‘go’ (if you are  sending animate things). We use this word in Genesis 3:23, “therefore the LORD God sent him from the garden of Eden” (ESV). There are many other examples where English words are translated by Mixtec causative constructions. Here are a few:
• ‘feed’ sakachi (sa ‘cause’ + kachi ‘eat’)
• ‘drive’ sakaka (sa ‘cause’ + kaka ‘walk’)
• ‘save’ sakaku (sa ‘cause’ + kaku ‘be saved’)
• ‘build’ sava’a (sa ‘cause’ + va’a ‘be good’)
• ‘bathe (someone)’ sakutyi (sa ‘cause’ + kutyi ‘bathe’)
• ‘cook (something)’ satyi’yo (sa ‘cause’ + tyi’yo ‘be cooked’

By Kevin

 

Hi,
We'd like to highlight a couple praise and prayer items. Praise the Lord with us that the money that was lost in a bank machine withdrawal by Pastor Miguel in March has been refunded to our account. Please pray about the Internet connection at Miguel's house which hasn't been working properly for about a week. I don't know whether the problem is with the satellite dish and modem, which would probably require me to get a technician to come to the village, or between the modem and the computers, which I should be able to fix myself. It would be nice if I knew one way or the other before I leave for the village next week so I could arrange for help if needed.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Hi,
Thanks so much for your prayers! I finally handed in my last paper last night! Wow, it was a long haul, but I have learned so much, and there’s still so much more to learn. So, that completes year one of my program. I’ll put the studies to rest now until the fall. The next days will involve a bit of a break for me, and then serious preparation for my Mexico trip June 4-23. Unfortunately this trip will be made alone again. :(

More good news... If you haven’t already checked it out yet, the article about Alyssa and our ministry with Wycliffe in the Word Alive magazine is published and can be viewed/downloaded at http://www.wycliffe.ca/wordalive/pdf/wam_2010_penner.pdf. (If you want to go to the download page, which has the rest of the magazine including the cover, go to this url: http://www.wycliffe.ca/wordalive/index.html. The article is called “Pressing On”.)

Other than praying for my Mexico trip preparations, and the translation team as they work, please continue to pray about the money that we lost in a faulty bank machine transaction back in March which still hasn’t been reimbursed.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that the Lord helped me get my presentations done and thank you for your prayers! It was tight. Laurel drove me to Edmonton the morning before the first two so I could work at finishing the second one in the car! I gave those two in my morning and afternoon classes, then worked on the one I had to give the next day, finishing it at 3:00 am. Then I slept for a month... I wish! Now I’m trying to finish writing the three papers!

Other news:

• We still haven’t got reimbursed for our last bank machine mishap in Mexico (from our March 17 update), so please pray that we will.
• My next Mexico trip is booked for June 4-23.
• The translation team is pushing forward. They just started a new book. More on translation progress in our next newsletter, hopefully, before I go to Mexico.
• The kids have started lacrosse already.
• It snowed this week! But it’s almost melted now and is supposed to be over 21° (70°F) early next week.

Thanks for your prayers!

Grace and peace,
Kevin

 

Hi,
It’s time to let you know again that we are doing well. Hockey is over this Saturday.  Laurel and I plan to strap on the blades and play in the kids vs. parents game and then enjoy a Laser Tag wrap-up party.  We also want to ask you to prayers about some things with us:

• Please pray for Miguel, he got his finger caught in his motorcycle chain and damaged it pretty badly.  He’s received medical attention and it is expected to heal okay.
• Also pray for him and as he makes some decisions about his personal direction and priorities at this time, and feels need to build a new house.
• Praise God that Miguel got home okay with the money that he had gone to withdraw from a bank about 4-5 hours from El Mosco.  
• Please pray that we will be refunded just over $400 that was lost in a faulty bank machine transaction about two weeks ago. (The machine said it gave him the money, but it didn’t, and withdrew it from our account.)
• Please pray for me as I’m really pressed trying to finish three term papers (on top of other course work). I have to present my findings the first week in April and finish the papers the next week.
• Praise God that I am able to focus my papers on analyzing Mixtec, and pray that Miguel will be able to find time to work with me on one of my projects in particular over the Internet.
• My next Mexico trip is slated for the beginning of May.
• Praise God that Laurel’s computer (which has been inoperable for a while) has been fixed for free because of a manufacturer’s defect in the video card. This has been bad timing for that because she’s been helping me get our Mixtec data in order for my projects.

Thanks for your love and support!
Grace and peace,
Kevin

PS I should tell you that Dani scored her second goal of the season last Saturday!

 

Hi,

We would like to thank the many of you who sent us messages of condolence and encouragement regarding Alyssa’s passing.  For those of you who couldn’t make it to the funeral: the church was full and the celebration of Alyssa’s life beautiful and honouring to God.  Below is a copy of the bulletin and the poem I read.

I wish I had time to thank you each individually, but I don’t.  My inbox has over 400 messages in it.  I’m going back to school this week, and am behind in all my classes.  Please accept our gratitude in this inadequate, but sincere message.

Grace and peace,
Kevin      

Alyssa's Funeral Bulletin

Poem - 'Am I Selfish'

 

STRETCHING!
This semester of university has been a very stretching experience for me, but enjoyable too. Language is so wonderfully complex—a tribute to our Creator!  The cool thing about doing my master’s now is being able to apply it to our study of Mixtec.  In each of my courses I was able to do major course work on Mixtec (see “Phonology Project”).

I’m so grateful for how Laurel has taken up the slack with me in school.   She has even helped me with my research assistant duties at the university.  With me so busy with school work, it also fell to her to prepare and give a report at the mission conference at our church in Tree Hills.  After the way the pastor went on about her, I think she should do them all!  (Of course, she didn’t want me to say that part, but I did it anyway!)  Not only that, but she finished the grammar paper (see “Mixtec Metaphors”)!  It still needs approval, but it’s nice to finally get it to this stage.

I’m really looking forward to my courses next semester (Typology, Syntax and Corpus Linguistics), and the promise they hold to aid us in our study of Mixtec.  All my courses are on Thursday and Friday, so I’ll only have to be gone one night per week again.

by Kevin

STAYING CONNECTED
This summer I had the chance to work many hours face-to-face with the Mixtec translation team, but now the Internet is our life-line to them in the village. It enables us to catch up on the news, share prayer requests, solve computer problems, arrange money transfers and even clarify issues in the text they are translating.

One day in November a translation team member Skype chatted me asking what “asufre” (Spanish) was as they edited Gen 19:24.  This is the word translated “brim-stone” (NASB) in the story of Sodom. The Spanish word means ‘sulphur’ which is how the NIV translates it.  I tried to explain that it was burning stone raining down.  “Oh, like hail and burning fire, is that what it’s like?” they said.  That’s about right, eh!

About a week later they were editing Gen 15:1 and they chatted me, “The Bible says that Abram saw a vision, and we’re not sure if it was a dream or if he was awake at that time?”  The word vision implies an altered state of consciousness, but is it the same as a “dream”?  I asked about how they talk about shamans and spirits, but they said we couldn’t use that here.  In the end we said that God spoke to Abram in his dream.

When translating about the description of the bronze altar for the tabernacle they sent me a chat asking me what the “grating” was in Exodus 27:4? I tried explaining it, but wasn’t getting  anywhere, so  I  Googled  for  a  picture  and  sent  it to them.  That didn’t tell them how to translate it, but at least it  gave  them  a  basic  understanding  of  what  they  were dealing with.

The translation team leader has learned how to scan documents with the printer I picked up for him, and for the first time he scanned the translation team time sheets and sent them to me last month.   Also, when I was working on one of my final projects I wanted some more data so I emailed and asked him to record some words and send them to me.  I had to help him convert the files into a different format, but he did all the recording himself and they were excellent quality.

by Kevin

FAMILY NEWS
It took a while, but winter has definitely arrived here in Tree Hills. We had a wonderful, warm fall and then in the space of a week got a bunch of snow and the temperature dropped to -30°C!  The trees sure look pretty with the covering of frost and snow, though.

Dec. 1 was Kevin’s last trip to Edmonton—just before it got really cold. He has worked at finishing up his work from home since then.  The kids are in school until Dec. 18, and on the 21st, we are planning a short trip to Prince George to visit Kevin’s parents and his sister’s family. It’s a long drive, so we are praying for good weather, and that Alyssa will handle being in the car seat for such a long time.  We are thrilled that God has provided a person to take care of Alyssa for three of the nights we will be there.

Kyle, in his first year of junior high, is having his organization skills challenged, but doing well nonetheless.  He played on the junior volleyball team this fall, and continues to play clarinet in the school band.  He still loves to read and told us the other day that he would shower more often if he could read while doing it! Hockey has started and Kyle is playing defense. He almost decided to play on the school basketball team this winter, but in the end, couldn’t give up hockey.

Gabby is loving grade 5 and has been inspired by her teacher to do more reading. She really wants to play basketball, but will have to wait one more year.  She, too, is playing hockey and scored twice in her first game. Gabby also likes to play table games and is becoming more proficient in the kitchen. She auditioned and got a small part in the school Christmas musical this year.

Dani, grade 2, keeps us smiling. She has decided to join her older siblings in hockey this year. She could hardly skate at the first practice, but has improved dramatically.  Her goal was to touch the puck in her first game, and she managed to do that several times. Dani also really likes to read, and Geronimo Stilton books are her favorite. 

Alyssa has struggled with fevers and tummy trouble in recent weeks. We suspect that some of it is related to teething.  Please pray that this will soon pass. We are grateful that she has not had any respiratory infections and that we have a full slate of caregivers to help take care of her.

by Laurel

PHONOLOGY PROJECT
In  Mixtec  when you add the pronoun to the end of a noun it shows possession, as in taka-ɾa  ‘nest of him’.  Things are a bit different, however, for the ‘me’ and ‘you’ pronouns.  When they are added, the last vowel of the noun changes as in take ‘nest of me’ and tako ‘nest of you’.  Moreover, some words end up with a different vowel, as in kɨtí ‘animal of me and kɨtu ‘animal of you’.  It turns out the choice isn’t arbitrary and there are factors determining which forms the pronouns will take. Figuring out what’s happening here and why it happens falls under the sub-discipline of linguistics called Phonology, and explaining it in terms of a particular phonological theory was the subject of the final project of one of my courses this fall. For the curious, the short answer is that these pronouns act differently because they begin with vowels and Mixtec likes syllables to begin with consonants.  The vowel you get when the pronoun vowel fuses with the root vowel is pronounced at the same height as the root vowel and at the same place as the pronoun vowel.  If that doesn’t mean anything to you, don’t worry, it doesn’t to most people!

by Kevin

Items for Praise!

• A friend donated the software to make this newsletter (and much more)!
• Translation team motivation, Exodus drafted!
• I survived my first semester
• 23 hospital-free months for Alyssa
• Translation team leaders computer virus issue seems to be resolved

Items for Prayer

•  Funds to pay the translation team wages
• The pastor’s asthma: diagnosis & treatment by an allergy specialist
• Alyssa’s fevers
• Kevin’s studies next semester
• That we can get back-translations into Spanish for Genesis and Exodus

Hi,
It’s winter!  Everything was bare and brown until it snowed yesterday.  Now it looks like winter!  Thekids got out in the snow this afternoon, and enjoyed eating snow and juice crystals.

Alyssa has been struggling with fevers lately, but we don’t know why.  If they persist into next week we will have to investigate further.  The older kids don’t finish school until Dec. 18, but next week is my last week of classes, then one moreweek to get my final projects in and I’m done the first semester.  I’m interested in my projects, both of which will use our Mixtec data!  In the one I will analyze one of the intricacies of Mixtec phonology where the form of the “I” and “you” pronouns changes depending on the context.  In the other one I will use the statistical programminglanguage we’ve been learning to analyze the distribution and interaction of consonants and vowels in selectedwords from our lexical data base.  Languages are wonderfully complex, a tribute to the fact that we are made in the image of our Creator!

The Mixtec translation team has been working like crazy this fall.  At the beginning of this month we reported at the missions conference in our church in Three Hills that they had Exodus 27% drafted, but I think they are quite a bit past that now.  They are working in two groups and Miguel says he’s only passing the chapters on to me after he’s had a chance to edit them.  So praise God for their diligence!

Here’s a list of our prayer and praise items:

Praise Items:

• The translation team’s diligence
• The pressure for Kevin at school has been less in November
• Almost 22 hospital-free months for Alyssa!

Prayer Items:

• Alyssa’s fevers
• Miguel’s computer has a virus problem
• Kevin’s semester end projects
• Dani’s hearing is giving her problems again, but not as bad as before (one tube came out)
• Finances to pay the translation team wages
• Pastor Miguel has been really struggling with his asthma, and it seems like his son, José has it too.  He recently wrote me that many times he can’t work with the translation team because his difficulty breathing.  Well, he had a chance to see an allergy specialist in a town about 4.5 hours away.  He still needs to get some expensive lab work done, but we are hopeful that this will help him.  Please pray that God will encourage him, heal him and give him patient endurance.
• On another note, Alyssa barely had any fever yesterday, but this morning her fever was up to 39.6°, so we’re going to take her in to see a doctor today.  Please pray that God will touch and heal her, and give us widom to know how to help her.
  
  Grace and peace,
  Kevin

Hi,
It has been a long time since we sent you an update.  Let me just say that my master’s program is proving to be every bit as demanding as I had dreaded it would be.  The load really has been overwhelming at times, and I would appreciate your prayers that I would be able to find God’s grace not to be anxious, and be able to manage my time and tasks effectively.  That said, I’m learning lots, enjoying what I’m studying and I’m getting opportunities to work directly on things related to our translation project in my courses.

Translation work.  The work in the village is going forward.  The team has sent me four chapters of Genesis with minor editing changes this month.  They’ve also been making progress in Exodus and are just over one quarter finished the first draft of that book.  We continue to be in contact through email and chat, enabling me to hear their prayer requests, find out when they need more money for wages and consult with them about various translation issues like “impure animals” (Genesis), Does the Orient mean ‘where the sun comes out’?, What is a “grate” (for the altar—Exodus 27:4)? and, How can we say that the priests’ clothing was for “splendour and beauty” (Ex. 28:40)?

Family news.  Things have been going well at home, but we’ve recently succumb to sickness.  We had both Kyle and Dani home today—but not really that sick.  I’ve been sick today too, and hope it isn’t H1N1, which is going around here.  Please pray that I won’t have to miss school and especially that Alyssa won’t get it.

Here are our current praise and prayer items:
Praise Items

* Work is going forward on the translation.  Minor editing is being done on the early chapters of Genesis, and as well as the 1st draft of Exodus which is about one quarter done.

*My schedule for my university classes worked out really well so that I have all my classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and only have to spend two days/one night away from home.

*I’m really enjoying my classes and finding ways to integrate our work on the Mixtec language with them.

*Alyssa has been hospital-free for 21 months!

Prayer Items

* I’m sick with the flu and Laurel seems to be coming down with it.  Pray that Alyssa won’t get it—It’s pretty nasty—and that I won’t miss too much school.  I’m missing this whole week of school, and if Laurel’s sick next week we’ll have to work something out for caring for the kids, especially Alyssa, while I go to school, or else I’ll need to stay home.

* That I will be able to find God’s grace to not be anxious, and be able to manage my time and tasks effectively to get my school work done.

* Wisdom, motivation, perseverance, provision and protection for the Mixtec translators.

* Maragrita, the wife of one of our translators, is due to have a baby soon.  Her last pregnancy, several years ago, just about cost her her life.

Thanks so much for your partnership!  Do drop us a note when you get a chance (though it might take a while to get a response).

Grace and peace,
Kevin

It really happened!
This is actually going to happen!”  I thought as I left home at 4:00am, July 20.  Kevin had already been in Mexico for two weeks attending the translation workshop, and I had been enjoying the first weeks of the kids’ summer break from school, while lining up caregivers for Alyssa, and trying to prepare enough of her supplies and medications for the time I would be gone to Mexico.  Still, if I have learned anything in the last three years with Alyssa, it is to hold plans lightly, because things can change in a heartbeat.  So even though the plane  ticket was bought,  luggage packed and childcare arranged,  it didn’t really sink in until I was through  airport security  and on the plane that I was actually going! God  blessed me  with peace of mind  and  I was  able to  leave  the  children  behind without  worrying. It helped, too, that nearly every time we phoned home we were told that Alyssa was sitting there with a smile on her face!
by Laurel

Visit to the village
The drive to the village was one part of the trip I was not looking forward to, and it was just as bad as I remember! But it was worth it to finally get there and be welcomed so warmly by our friends in the village.  I wasn’t too sure how I would do speaking Mixtec after being away so long, but overall I am grateful for the facility that the Lord gave me in the language.
It was a great encouragement for me to see that the Mixtec church continues to grow, and to see for myself how much our friends there care about us and would like us to come back. They were gracious enough to cook some of my favorite Mixtec dishes to eat, and we were able to celebrate Francisca’s (Primo’s wife’s) birthday with them while we were there.
I was glad to be able to be there on a Sunday and see several new faces in church.  Miguel read from the book of Jonah, which they had revised at the workshop.  How wonderful to hear the scriptures being read in the language of the people!
Another joy was seeing the children.  I sorted through clothes and toys we had left in Mexico, and when word spread that I was giving things away, a small crowd of neighborhood kids gathered at our house. We also visited several homes and gave things away. It was a pleasure to see their delight in having a new dress, shirt or toy, even though they were second hand.
One day, we visited homes and read parts of Jonah to the people to see if it was communicating clearly.    At the second home, it was so encouraging to hear them answer the questions our translators asked in ways that showed they understood, and even more so when they wanted to hear another chapter! We pray that God will use even these bits of His Word to draw these people to himself.
by Laurel

Family News
June found us trying to get in some family time before I left Mexico.   We managed to squeeze in a trip to West Edmonton Mall and a camping trip tied to a lacrosse tournament.
I had a busy four weeks in Mexico starting July 4.  The kids, on the other hand, had a pretty laid back summer.  They went swimming,  to reading club at the library (the girls), Kyle had a couple backyard  sleepovers with friends, Gabby spent a week at camp with her cousins (a first for her) and they went to Build-A-Bear  and  a movie for Dani’s birthday.
When Laurel left for Mexico (July 20), the kids stayed with Laurel’s folks (15 km from here) for a couple  days until my parents arrived  to stay with them at our house.  To ease some of their burden, one of Laurel’s aunts came periodically to sit with Alyssa, and Laurel was able to schedule some extra hours for Alyssa’s regular caregivers.  We both missed Kyle’s birthday, but Papa made it up to him by taking him to a Calgary Stampeders football game, complete with a stop at Peter’s Drive-in!  We were so blessed to have such great care for our kids!
The Mexico trip was very full, and I was quite sick when I got back, so August was my laid back month-at least until it was time to re-roof our house.  We are so thankful for all the help from Laurel’s dad, and the big crew that came for the final big day.
The challenge before us now is me commuting to Edmonton (2.5 hours away) each week for my Masters (Linguistics) program, while trying to juggle family and ministry commitments. Thankfully, all of my classes are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, requiring me to only be away one night a week.  I’m really enjoying my studies, and see concrete ways to apply each of my three classes to our Mixtec work, and to structure assignments around it.  We trust that these studies will result in a better Mixtec translation and opportunities for me to help train others. Please pray for strength and wisdom to see this through.
by Kevin

Translation Workshop
Kevin’s first three weeks in Mexico were spent attending an advanced translation workshop where we worked through the books of Jonah and Philemon with four members of the Mixtec translation team who attended.  Although it wasn’t their first such workshop, it was the first time they had gotten there by themselves (by bus), which was a valuable experience in itself.
We had already revised both books, but there were still many things that needed changing. Sometimes it was just something small like using a pronoun instead of a name, or changing the conjunction (connector) to make it flow more naturally in Mixtec.  At other times, we realized that we needed to make explicit something that was implicit in the original in order to make the broader meaning more clear and natural in Mixtec.  We did this in Jonah 1:17 where we explicitly stated that the fish swallowed Jonah before saying he was in the fish for three days and three nights.
Laurel arrived for the last week of the workshop.  Not only did she get a chance to visit friends she hasn’t seen since 2006 and eat tacos (!), but she was also able to work through final editing of our first literacy primer with the team, and then publish 100 copies of it.  This book will help people who can already read Spanish transition into reading Mixtec.
by Kevin

Items for Praise!

• 20 hospital-free month
• Laurel went to Mexico!
• Good care for our kids while we were in Mexico
• Good translation workshop
• Finances for Mexico trip
• Kevin’s Mexico visa
• We got our house re-roofed

Items for Prayer

•  Kevin’s Masters studies, safety in travel
• Extra burden on Laurel with Kevin away and so busy
• Wisdom, health, provision, motivation for the translation team as they edit early chapters of Genesis and translate Exodus
• Get more chapters to the consultant

Hi,
You haven’t heard much from us this month.  I was pretty sick when we returned from Mexico Aug. 2 and have taken some time off to recover, take a break and re-roof our house.  What a big job that was, and we are so thankful for the help God provided to help us get it done!

Tomorrow is the beginning of something new and big and exciting for us.  I begin my classes at the University of Alberta!  Wow!  It was 20 years ago this year that I finished by Bachelor of Education degree at this very university.  Much has happened in 20 years!  Probably the most striking difference is the proliferation of cell phones, laptops and email.  Pray for wisdom and good time management for me.  Pray for Laurel holding down the fort in Three Hills.  Thankfully I have all my courses on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this semester so I should normally only have to be away one night and two days per week.

Alyssa is doing well, but had another weird high fever (39.5°C/103.1°F) this week for just one night.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Hi again,
Here are our prayer and praise items for September, 2009:

Praise Items

• Laurel made it to Mexico for two weeks this summer and everything went well back home!!  This was the first time she’s been able to get back since we had to leave suddenly when Alyssa was born 3½ years ago.  It was good for her to reunite with colleagues, friends in our village and eat the foods she’s missed for the past 3½ years!
• We are so thankful for Kevin’s parents who stayed at our house with the kids for most of the time Laurel was in Mexico, Laurel’s parents who took the kids for a few days, Laurel’s aunt who helped with Alyssa, and Alyssa’s regular care givers, all of whom took great care of the kids and helped give us a worry-free trip!
• Four members of our translation team found their way safely to Oaxaca for the advanced translation workshop (they’ve never done that by themselves before), and the three week workshop went well for us.  Although Jonah and Philemon had already been revised once, we were able to make many improvements.  The workshop leader was impressed with both the spirit and understanding of our team.
• Kevin got his visa, which is good for one year and can be renewed yearly for four additional years.
• We got our house re-roofed this summer with the help of many friends.
• 19 hospital-free months for Alyssa!

Prayer Items

• Kevin starts a full time masters program studying linguistics at the University of Alberta on Sept. 2.  He will be commuting from Three Hills, which is about 2½ hours each way.  Thankfully, he has been able to schedule all of his courses on Tuesday and Wednesday which means he will normally only need to be gone one night per week.  He has also been given a research assistantship which allows him to do all the work from home.  This is a great blessing!  Please pray for Kevin to have wisdom in doing his course work, and the ability to manage his time effectively, as well as safety in travel.  Pray also for Laurel who won’t have Kevin to help her with Alyssa and the other kids while he’s in Edmonton.
• Pray for our translation team in Mexico as they work on spelling revision (mostly) of the early chapters in Genesis, and then as we prepare them for consultant checking.
• Pray for the consultant checking and preparation for publication of Jonah and Philemon.
• There was a murder of a prominent believer in one of the churches in the town of Tyoñuu.  We don’t know why the man was killed, but pray for the safety of the other believers, for grace, peace and provision for his family, and especially that the church will grow.
• Please pray for Margarita, the wife of one of our translators.  She suffered a life threatening miscarriage several years ago, and has recently become pregnant.  Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery for mom and baby.  Pray that they will be able to trust God and experience his peace.
  
  

Hi,
I trust you received our May 09 newsletter in one form or another a few weeks ago.  (If not, please let us know.)  Here is an update on some of the things that have been happening since then.

Mexico trip
The Mexico trip is on for both of us: tickets are bought, care for Alyssa and the other kids arranged, but still no visa for me.  We’ve given up trying to get my visa through the consulate in Calgary and are going through our regular channels in Mexico.  I will apply for the visa right away after I arrive in Oaxaca, which isn’t ideal because it will mean skipping out on at least part of the first day of the workshop.  I was able to get my personal documents legalized at the consulate in Calgary, however, and they are on their way to our office in Oaxaca by UPS right now, so that they can be translated and ready for me when I arrive.

I will be leaving for Mexico on July 4 and attending the level II translation workshop, July 6 – 24.  Laurel will leave on July 20 to join me for the last week of the workshop and then head out to the village when it’s done.  We will both fly home on August 2.

Alyssa
Thank God that Alyssa has fought her way through another infection (not respiratory).  She had high fevers for several days and we finally took her in to see a doctor and got some antibiotics for her.  She responded well and is doing much better.  Another answer to prayer is that we just got someone to help with day shifts, which we asked prayer for in our May newsletter!

Prayer Items
-That my documents will arrive on time in Oaxaca, get translated and that my visa application will go through smoothly.
-Good health for Alyssa
-For Pastor Miguel, his wife, Andrea, Francisco, and Andrés who will be attending the workshop with me.   
-Pray that their families, houses and crops will be safe and properly cared for while they are at the workshop for three weeks,
-that they will be able to get to Oaxaca by Sunday, July 5,
-that they will be able to let me know when and where they will be arriving so I can pick them up.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

Report - April 22nd

Hi,
Many of you are probably wondering how Pastor Miguel’s wife is doing.  She was diagnosed with a cyst on her ovaries and colitis, and was having some terrible headaches. I chatted with him yesterday and he said that she has less pain now, but it’s still there.  Her headaches are mostly gone.  She is going to have an expensive (for them) blood test in May, but I’m not sure exactly what for.  Please keep praying for her.

Yesterday I was able to work with the translation team as they worked through suggestions I had sent them with more revisions to Genesis 4.  I was also able to get the printer from my house installed on Miguel’s computer since the toner cartridge on his printer isn’t working.  He can now print off the forms I sent him for people translating the Mixtec Scriptures into Spanish for consultant checking.  Please pray that he will be able find people who will be able to do a good job at this and who will get it done fairly quickly.

We asked you to pray about finding caregivers for Alyssa.  God blessed us by getting all the nights covered so far, and some of the 4 hour day shifts (5 days per week).  Not having as much day help makes it hard for Laurel to get her work done, but we are so thankful for the night help.  This week marks 15 months since Alyssa has been hospitalized!  Her stability has been a great blessing to us.  Just this morning, however, she had a fever of 39.4°C (103.1°F).  She responded Tylenol/Motrin and has done well throughout the day.  Please continue to pray for her health.

Things are also coming together for Laurel’s plans to come to Mexico in July this year.  Please continue to pray about that: health for Alyssa, enough caregivers for her, finances for the trip.  Pray also that the translation team will be able to come to the workshop in Mitla—it’s a pretty long workshop.

Enjoy the attached pictures of Alyssa and Gabby and Dani jousting.  Thanks so much for your continued prayers.

Report - April 27th

Miguel emailed me last night to say that Cecilia’s husband had called to say that she had passed away that day.  Please uphold this new believer in prayer and pray that Miguel will have safety and wisdom as he goes to that town today (I assume) to conduct the funeral tomorrow.

Report - April 28th

Please pray for Alyssa who is struggling right now.  The high fever of last week has not returned, but she is requiring a lot of suctioning and struggling with her breathing.  

Report - April 30th

I should let you know that Alyssa seems to be on the mend from her sickness.  Also, Laurel had a good meeting with Alyssa’s social worker.  It looks like all her current funding will stay in place, and there are some new opportunities for help as well.  More good news: this Saturday is Alyssa’s 3rd birthday!  Thanks for your prayers.

Grace and peace,
Kevin

TRANSLATION TEAMWORK by Kevin

When I was a kid I loved team sports, especially hockey and football. In team sports, despite the fact that some positions and players get more recognition than others, it takes the whole team to make it happen, and every member of the team shares the prize!

I’m not much into athletics teams anymore, but Laurel and I are definitely still into TEAM—the Kingdom of God team and the Bible Translation team in particular. And we’re winning too!   When we joined the Bible translation team in 1999, it was estimated that there were 3000 languages needing a Bible translation program, and at the 1990’s pace, it was going to be 2150 before one was even started in each of them! That’s 150 years!  However, over the past 9 years the pace has quickened since Wycliffe adopted Vision 2025.  Simply put, it says that we’re going to cut 125 years off that estimate and begin a Bible translation project for every language that needs one by 2025!

That sounds crazy, but according to the latest estimates we are now on pace to cut off 109 years, accomplishing the goal by 2041! The only way this is possible is through teamwork.

But teamwork isn’t just something that happens in boardrooms, seminars or church services. It’s what happens on the playing field that matters.  So let me tell you about some of the teamwork that we’ve been enjoying the last few months:

❦ Mara, a friend in Guadalajara, Mexico helped Laurel and I with the Spanish in two literacy primers that we are developing.
❦ Jan, a Mexico Branch literacy specialist, consulted with Laurel on the publication of a Mixtec alphabet leaflet, counting leaflet and alphabet picture book.
❦ Hans printed the literacy materials for us in Oaxaca, staying late on Friday so they could be delivered to my box in Mitla before I left for the village.
❦ Tim, a branch computer guy, made a change to our Mixtec keyboard mapping software and helped us get our antivirus licenses up-to-date.
❦ Joel, a branch mechanic, serviced our truck so it would be ready for me to drive out to the village in February.
❦ Mike, a friend in Canada, donated and set up a computer server in our house to host our language data and other files that Laurel and I share.
❦ 66  different  individuals  and churches  invested  in our ministry—money  that  paid  for translation team wages, satellite Internet  fees,  software,  printing  literacy  materials,  plane tickets, servicing our truck, our personal living expenses...
❦ Countless people prayed! At the tower of Babel God said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” Just think how much we can accomplish when we work together as one body united by one Spirit!  Not only will the Ixtayutla Mixtecs get a Bible translation, but also the other 2300+ language groups who still have no Scripture. Thanks for being part of the team!

MEXICO TRIP REPORT by Kevin

Since completing the first draft of Genesis in the fall, the translation team has focused on translating Jonah andPhilemon for the translation workshop we plan to attend this coming July.

When I arrived in El Mosco in February the team had ¾ of Jonah and the only chapter of Philemon translated.During my brief time there, they translated the final chapter of Jonah and we revised all of that book, Philemon, and a literacy primer that Laurel is developing!  I was wishing for this, but didn’t think we could do it!

We also had 100 alphabet leaflets, counting leaflets and alphabet picture books printed-the first Ixtayutla Mixtec publications!  Some of these I gave to the translation team and most to the bilingual school teachers, who were very pleased with them and want more! We hope this will result in a broader exposure and acceptance of the alphabet.

Pastor Miguel decided that the team will continue working on Exodus.  They also need to find people to translate Jonah, Philemon and much of Genesis back into Spanish from Mixtec for consultant checking.

Laurel and I have lots of literacy and linguistic work to do and getting Genesis material ready for consultant checking. We are praying that God will help us find care for Alyssa so Laurel can come to Mexico in July.   It will be her first time back since we left in 2006!

FAMILY NEWS by Laurel

Alyssa’s capabilities remain about the same, but her health is much more stable. It has been over 13 months since she was last in the hospital!   Her improved health, together with seven nights/week night-time care for her, have made such a difference in our lives, and has given me time and energy to work on the translation project, especially pre-paring literacy materials.

Keeping regular care-givers, how-ever, continues to be a struggle. This year I had to prepare T4s for 15 different caregivers! Although keeping up with all the scheduling and paperwork is sometimes difficult, we are so grateful for the wonderful care she receives. Pray that Alyssa will start sleeping better at night so that we will be able to handle her night care ourselves. 

Kyle continues to play clarinet in the school band and he loves to work out songs by ear.  He still loves to read, and was one of the runners up in a national writing contest. He played hockey again this year, and he plans to play lacrosse this spring.

Gabby started the year with her 10th birthday.  She invited all the girls in her class to go bowling with her and then to our house for games and a Mexican dessert.  Fifteen girls can make a lot of noise! Gabby played hockey again this year and greatly improved her skating and scored some goals. She also plans to play lacrosse this spring.

After months of saying, “What?” Daniela finally had tubes put in her ears in January. It went very well and her hearing has improved noticeably, especially by her teacher at school. Dani’s one disappointment at Christmas was that she didn’t get a guitar, so she saved up her Christmas money, did some extra chores and on the day she got her tubes put in, she bought a child-sized pink guitar. Now we just have to teach her how to play it! Dani wants to play soccer again this spring.

Kevin was off to Mexico in February and to a mission’s conference in Kelowna in March.  He coached both Kyle and Gabby in hockey again this winter, and plays badminton with a friend on Tuesdays when he can.

- The Penner Post

Dear KCC Family,

We are finally getting over the “cold” that has been going through our family, although Alyssa seemed like she was getting it yesterday. I haven’t gotten it yet and am praying that I won’t with my departure to Mexico on Sunday (Feb. 1). Please pray for my trip. I will be gone February 1 – 17, and there is a lot to get done. My main objective is to revise as much of Philemon and Jonah as I can. We are preparing these books for a workshop that we plan to attend in July, if it is the Lord’s will. Philemon is already drafted as well, as are at least three of the four chapters of Jonah. We need to have all of it drafted and revised before the workshop. The goal of the workshop is to have those books ready to publish. Won’t that be cool! (You may be wondering what happened to Genesis: well it’s on hold right now, until we get through the workshop in July.)

Another thing I plan to do is to print draft copies of two literacy primers that Laurel and I have developed, to help people who already know how to read and write Spanish to learn to read and write Mixtec. We are going to hand them out to our translation team and to a couple teacher friends of ours. We need to get people reading Mixtec so that they will be able to read scriptures when they are ready! Pray that the primers are well received and that people will give us good feedback if there are things that need to be changed before we publish them.

I would appreciate prayer for my truck. It really gave me problems last time, particularly the transmission, but I’ve had some work done on it and am hoping that it will be okay. Pray also for safety. Pray that we won’t be distracted from accomplishing what we need to, and that we will be “distracted” by the things God wants us to do but may not be on my agenda!
Pray for Laurel and the kids here that she will have strength to do everything by herself, and that there will be people to fill all the shifts for Alyssa’s care. Pray that Alyssa won’t have major health issues while I’m gone. It’s been a year now since she was last in the hospital! Praise God!!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
Grace and peace,
Kevin

We've been in mostly in Three Hills throughout July, working and taking some holidays.  It's been fun to enjoy the BRIEF warm summer weather before heading back into the deep freeze of winter!  This month I spoke at a fund raiser golf tournament in Edmonton for the Canada Institute of Linguistics, which trains Bible translators and literacy workers for Wycliffe Bible Translators, and I've been preparing to speak at another one in Medicine Hat in August.  I've also continued working on finishing up our Working Orthography (Alphabet) Proposal.  When we get this proposal submitted (to our organization) and approved, we will be allowed to publish materials in Mixtec including Scripture.

It sounds like our Mixtec translation team hasn't done a lot of translating this month.  They've been working in their fields and on other projects.  Also, there was a big hail storm that punched holes in many roofs (including our own house).  We were able to pass on some money that was donated to help people buy materials to fix the roofs.

We are thankful that Alyssa's health has been quite good this month.  She hasn't been in the hospital since the end of January, which is her longest stretch ever!  She has had some fevers lately which we think are just teething.

The other kids are enjoying summer.  Daniela just turned 6 on July 13, and Kyle turned 11 on August 1.  It's hard to believe that school starts back up again in just a few weeks!

Please pray for...

• Alyssa's continued health and healing
• That the translation team will be able to get into a schedule of regular translation work
• That we will have the funds to keep paying their wages
• That we will get more Genesis material ready for a consultant
• That we will get our Mixtec Orthography proposal finished and approved
• That God will continue to call Mixtecs to himself and give them a hunger for his Word
• That God will provide approximately $6000 pesos (about $600 CAD) to replace the roof of the church in our town in Mexico that was damaged by the hail.