The Kvale Connection

The current Kvale Connection is now available.  Be low is a quote from Steve:

“I am just an ordinary person that happens to be a computer programmer and it feels like I am touching the whole world for the Lord. As we focus on the tasks that need to be done to organize, make available, and protect information about people groups, translation projects, and prayer updates for devoted prayer partners assigned to specific people groups, I am in awe of the dimensions and devotion to prayer—it is incomprehensible.”

To read the entire Kvale Connection for January - March click here.

News from Kvales

A Long-Awaited Dedication:

“Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, ‘Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!” (Isaiah 40:3, NLT).

On January 23, people began praying for a shipment of New Testaments that were delayed at a port in eastern Africa. The Tira New Testaments awaited clearance by Customs authorities before they could be delivered to the Scripture dedication site. We are pleased to announce that the books arrived safely in the Tira homeland and the long-awaited dedication of the Tira New Testament took place yesterday 2-18-2009!  (Imagine if yesterday was the first time you’d seen God’s Word in your language!)

· Praise God for answering our prayers. Thank Him for giving His Word to the Tira people.

· Pray that God’s presence would be felt in a very real way as the Tira people celebrate the arrival of Scripture in the language that speaks to their hearts.

·   Pray that God would continue to work among the Tira as they read Scripture and apply it to their lives.

Thank you for the prayers that continue to go before us, cover us, and enable us through Christ.

We left MN a couple of days later than planned due to Neliana being ill.  It however delayed us enough to have clear roads as we passed through IL.  There were still several cars in the ditch from two days of icy roads.  Praising Him for safety as we go.

Answers & Praise: God provided means of travel (a good van), wonderful host families, safe journeys, an apartment on the Wycliffe campus to stay in, and we are now coming to a close in our time at the Wycliffe headquarters in Orlando.  Please pray that in the remaining time here, Steve’s relationship with other team members in this task naturally grows stronger, that the details and design of his assignment will firm up and he will be equipped with what he needs as he sets up in MN to serve.  More missionaries in Information Technology are desperately needed.  May God move on the hearts of those gifted in this area to move into Kingdom work with their skills.  Thank you for enabling us to do this through your prayers and financial support.  Pray for daily breakthroughs and progress.  Pray for protection of work accomplished.

We will be on our way the end of next week to share at a church in AL.  Pray we are encouragers and also set a challenge.  We’ll then head over to the Wycliffe Center (International Linguistics Center) in Dallas, meet the IT team there and see the center.   Please pray for safety in our travels, how the Lord provides for overnights, and for health.  Jason and Lenaya have not felt so good yesterday and today.  We pray it all passes before we hit the road again.

Answers & Praise:  Your prayers also helped us through whether Glenda should take a separate assignment or not.  Wycliffe has affirmed that Glenda remain free to focus on supporting Steve’s assignment and daily needs for the family.  Glenda found it a blessing to be with those in the prayer department and recruiting department for materials and encouragement as we continue to share as a family at various churches and schools.  Pray for peace and contentment (because I get very excited over the ministry I see and I need to keep my priorities consistent to avoid stretching myself too thin).

Praise/Pray:  We remain in awe and full of appreciation as the Holy Spirit moves those to give to our mission.  We remain at 85% in monthly support and one time gifts coming in have been covering the balance needed.  We learn everyday about trusting God.  He will complete our team to 100% or provide in unique ways who knows our need before we need it.  Stay in the center of His will. Rest in Him. Someone came to our apartment door and gave us their left over groceries before they left campus and it turned out to be ingredients suiting what we had in our pantry for a meal.

There continues to be concern for Glenda’s parents and their health. Thank you for your prayers for them as well.  We cannot tell you what it has meant to hear from some of you over email or even through our forwarded mail while we have traveled.  It means so much to know how to pray with you more specifically and to see your names signed or pictures you sent reminds us that you are a team member on this mission too.    Together we serve in the body of Christ.   We have intentions to write back and also send our thank you’s that are over-due.  Will you please forgive us for the delay while we get caught up?  

We are not always quick with our camera to get photos.  If you’d like to see snap shots of this trip so far just visit our Photo Album at www.TranslateTheWord.org.  Our latest Newsletter is also available there that was mailed this week.

In His great love and mercy we serve with you for the sake of those waiting to see God’s Word for the very first time ever,

Steve & Glenda Kvale Family,  ALFC Missionaries on loan to Wycliffe Bible Translators

Prayer Requests from Becky Abel

Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,

Most of you who receive this update are still battling snow and cold temperatures – one thing I have never missed during all these 24 years in Brazil.  Here we are having a bright sunny day and our hopes are high for a wonderful week of Youth Camp!  I have wanted to write for ages, but there really has not been a free minute.  Our house has been full of company ever since Christmas.  Lots of wonderful things happen day by day and I would love to tell you all about them, but that is an impossibility right now.  I just want to leave a few prayer requests for those of you who are dedicated to pray for us and for our ministry.

• Youth Camp -  We are expecting 150 youth (ages 13-30) on Friday night through Wednesday morning.  Pray for this wonderful spiritual opportunity. Pray for conversions, for consecration, for unity, for protection, for blessing.  We once again have a great staff of dedicated, prayerful people who are willing to invest in the lives of young people for eternity.
• Our short-term assistant Alisha Benton who is doing her Missionary internship here.  She is adapting well and doing great with her limited Portuguese and enthusiastic attitude.  Pray that these five intense days of immersion in the camp setting will be a blessing and not too overwhelming.
• Pray for Agnaldo, a recovering alcoholic who has been living with us for three weeks now and is in victory.
• Pray for Gabriel, Yara’s nephew, who will have to have a surgery in the next couple of weeks to relieve the pressure of the liquid that has accumulated in his brain.  He is having trouble with his vision and headaches.  We are praying for a miracle!  (We were encouraged to hear of God’s grace of healing for Ingrid Giles and pray that God’s mercy would be poured out upon Gabriel in the same way.)
• Pray for John and Ruby Abel as they fly to Brazil in Monday to join us for a few months.
• Pray for our son Matthew who has been sick for  over a month with a bad cough and cold.    Wish I could be close to help the healing process with chicken soup and Mom’s TLC.
• Pray for Edival who has started his pastoral internship with us.

Guess that’s plenty for you to think about for now.  I promise to get a letter out after the camp is over. 

Our love to you,

Becky for the Abels

Great News from Ingrid Giles

Hello, Everyone.

I'm healed!!!

The doctor said that things are a little bent out of shape as evidence that there was a tumor there, but that the he says they can work just fine as they are... also that the tumor is completely gone, not just shrunk.

He said, "Which saints did you ask for help?"  I told him, "I have been praying to God."  He said, "It worked!" 

He wants to see me again in six months, but he said, "You are healthy."

PRAISE GOD!!!

And thank you all for your prayers.

Ingrid

Amos Dyrud Heavenbound

Missionary and AFLTS Dean Amos Dyrud died on Sunday February 15, 2009.  Amos and his wife Ovidie served on the mission field in Madagascar from September 30, 1950 to May 28, 1968.  Amos started teaching in the AFLC Schools in 1969 and served as Dean of AFLTS from 1971 to 1981.

Pray for strength for the family during this time as they mourn the loss of their beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather.

He will be greatly missed.

Funeral plans are being made for Sunday, March 1, 2:00 p.m. at the AFLC Seminary Chapel in Plymouth. Visitation before the service from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Pray Letter - Dan & Marcela Giles

We hope and pray that you are doing well!!!   God has blessed us abundantly this past month.  He has been an ever present help to us and our loved ones.   Thank you for your prayers.  We can genuinely "see" that you are praying for us. 

Our best friends here in Jerez, Abril and Cesar Banuelos, lost their baby girl shortly after delivery.  God helped them in an amazing way and they are trusting the Lord knows best.

Also my sister, Ingrid, is having health issues.  She was recently diagnosed with cancerous tumors but God is working and apparently the tumors are benign and they are shrinking, literally.   Please pray for her.

We had a special celebration for Valentines.  We had the youth group over for a barbecue and two of the girls were new.  So we praise the Lord for them, their names are Tere and Luz. 

On Sunday, we had the church over for a potluck. We ate, played games and had a great fellowship time.  We all loved it.

Well, until next time.  God bless you.

In His Service,

Daniel, Marcela, Ari, Andi, and Roberto Emmanuel Giles

Update on Ingrid Giles

I just picked up my results this afternoon of the cancer antigen test, and the doctor heard that they were in and asked me to come in right away.  He read the results and declared them excellent.  He also took some more pictures of the mass and said that if anything, it seems like it might be shrinking.  He says that if it's true, I might not need to have surgery after all.  He can't quite believe it, though, so he wants me to go in again on Monday or Tuesday so he can get another look.  Whether it is natural or miraculous, it seems like God might be healing me.  I know God is in control either way.

Please keep praying!

Thanks!

Ingrid

Update of Ingrid Giles

Dear praying friends,

As most of you know Ingrid Giles has been working down here in Jerez for several years as a short-term assistant, translating our Sunday school curriculum, teaching Sunday school and doing some individual discipleship with several of the ladies in our church.  She also teaches our girls Spanish.  She was recently told that she had a couple tumors in her abdomen that needed to be removed as soon as possible.

A couple days later Ingrid received some good news from a second opinion she got from a doctor here in town.  He said he seriously doubted if the tumors she has are malignant and though she needed the surgery to remove them, it wasn't as urgent as was originally thought.  They are going to go through all the normal tests before hand anyway, just to make sure.  She is going to be staying here in Jerez for the surgery and her mom is going to fly down from Phoenix to stay with her.  From what I understand she'll probably have the surgery in about 2 weeks or so.  If you'd like to drop her a note of encouragement her e-mail address is xe2ab9ku@gmail.com and I know that she would greatly appreciate your prayers.

In Christ,

Todd and Barb Schierkolk

India/Uganda Prayer Update 8

Sunday

We traveled to the village of Buwenge where we had the Sunday worship service.  Just as the service was starting we found out that three children would be baptized and that they wanted Elden to baptize them.  Elden also spoke at the service.

Monday

We observed pastoral training in a village north of Jinja.   Nate used the oral method of telling Bible stories to relay Scriptural truths.  The training was well received and the students practiced on each other so that they could pass the training on to those in their congregations.

Tuesday

We will be having a crucial meeting with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Uganda.  This meeting could determine the future path of AFLC mission work in Uganda.  Please Pray.

Another Subject - from Todd Schierkolk

Would you please also be in prayer for our fellow-worker, Ingrid Giles?  Ingrid is facing some challenging health issues and may have to spend some time in the USA.  Please pray for peace for her as she decides whether to stay in Jerez or to go up to Arizona to get this taken care of.

Prayer Requests

• Praise that those with colds are feeling better
• The meeting with the Evangelical Lutheran Church
• The health concerns of Ingrid Giles

Many Blessings in Tanzania

I am grateful to have many blessings to report from here in Tanzania.  Thank you so much for your part through prayers and support.

One blessing to report is that we have gotten rain for the fields!!  As I am sure many of you have been hearing in the news, this year has been predicted to be a “year of hunger” in East Africa.  We praise God that rain has been falling here and even the timing that God orchestrated seems to have been perfect for when we were able to plant, etc.  In fact, as I write this email, the corn in the field is about 4-feet tall!  Your prayers are still needed, however, as not all areas within this region have been so fortunate as we have with regards to rain.

I am also happy to report that classes this semester have been going quite well.  I am especially excited about the material I have been covering in “1 John” (with the first-year students) and “Evangelism” (with the third-year students).  Continue to pray that everything the students are learning would not only be head-knowledge but would have an impact on how they live their lives and the work they do in their churches.

Our evangelism schedule continues to move forward.  We are excited about the places we have already visited as well as all the places we are scheduled to visit in the coming months.  This weekend we were in the region of Daudi and showed in two different villages (Friday night and Saturday night).  Both of the places we visited are new areas of work for the church here so it was good to be able to encourage the people in each place with a special event like this.  In each place we also had opportunity to share testimonies and do some brief teaching.  We had some rain on Friday night that threatened to disrupt the film showing.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to talk to some of my family back home while the showing was happening and it seems their prayers kept it from becoming anything more than a light drizzle.  This weekend we traveled together with 3 of the students from my “Evangelism” class in order to give them a chance for some “practical training”.  It was so encouraging to see them at work, applying some of what they have been learning.  I was also extremely blessed to hear their testimonies with regards to what God has been doing in their lives through their time at Waama.  Please pray for this coming weekend when we will be in the region of Kansay visiting two different villages that are said to be in desperate need of the Gospel.  As a matter of fact, all the people we have talked to refer to this area as an area of mission work for the church.  There are churches that have been started in these areas but the work is slow and difficult.  We actually don’t have students from either of these two villages but felt like it was important for us to go due to the significant need and, again, students will be accompanying us.

Since my last email, we also had a safe trip to Arusha.  We were able to be there from January 29^th to February 2^nd.  The goal of that long weekend was simply to recharge before beginning this busy month of teaching and village ministry.  We have found that we have to schedule weekends off like that every 4 or 5 weeks or we will burn out.  Even this past weekend in Kansay with all its blessings left us exhausted by the time we made it home Sunday evening…and that is at the beginning of a week of teaching!  Speaking of which, thanks so much for your prayers for our health and endurance.  Especially challenging are these weeks which, in addition to teaching, include a busy schedule of village ministry on the weekends.  Your prayers make a difference!

With regards to another blessing, the electricity project continues to make exciting progress.  Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers and also for those who have been led to give toward this project.  As it currently stands, the main office/classroom building is almost completely wired and will likely have electricity in the next week and a half.  From that point, we will proceed with other buildings as funds become available.

I will end here for now.  Thank you again for all your loving prayers and support.  I am often reminded of how blessed Ben and I are to be the ones sent to this place, to be involved personally in this work, and to be able to witness first-hand the fruits of your prayers and generosity.  God bless you tons!

In Christ,

Jesse Long

Mbulu, Tanzania

Emiliana Finally Came Home

Dear praying friends,

Little Emiliana finally came home from the hospital last week!  She spent the first three months of her life in intensive care.  As you remember, she was at risk of having one of her legs amputated but God mercifully heard many prayers on her behalf.  Finally, she had to have her toes amputated and then she spent several more weeks battling problems with her pancreas after the surgery.  The hospital was 6 hours away from her in the big city of Guadalajara.  The first day she came home her mom brought her to the Tuesday Kids' Club to thank all the kids who had been praying for her.  The kids were so happy to see her and encouraged to see the way that God granted their prayer requests for her.

Would you please also be in prayer for our fellow-worker, Ingrid Giles?  Ingrid is facing some challenging health issues and may have to spend some time in the USA.  Please pray for peace for her as she decides whether to stay in Jerez or to go up to Arizona to get this taken care of.

In Christ,

Todd and Barb Schierkolk

India/Uganda Prayer Update 7

The Distance Education training has gone extremely well over the last two days.  The pastors in India are very excited about sharing their faith orally through the stories of the Bible.

Today each member of the team is traveling:

• Kevin Olson - Returning to the USA
• Del Palmer - Traveling to Uganda
• Elden Nelson - Traveling to Uganda
• Lyle Mattson - Traveling to Uganda from USA

Please pray for Del Palmer as he has a bad cold and cough.  Pray that will be able to take cough syrup onto the plane, even more that he will be healed from it.

Saturday and Monday we will observe pastoral training in the Ugandan village.  Sunday we will attend church in the village.  Tuesday we will be having a very sensitive meeting with the ELCU in Uganda.

Prayer Requests

• The meeting with the ELCU
• Travel for team members
• Del Palmer who is sick
• Pastoral Training in Uganda and India

Prayer Update for Darwin Jackson

"To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts. It is not our prayer which moves the Lord Jesus. It is Jesus who moves us to pray." O. Hallesby

Thank you for being moved by Jesus to pray for the IMPACT group and us the Jackson's these last couple of weeks. You can read some of their own experiences here. They were a great group of students (disciples), willing to go anywhere, do anything at just about anytime. They are a real credit to the CLBI. I was especially impressed by their desire to go out visiting on the streets in a strange place, listening for long periods of time without knowing what's going on. That can be scary and tiring, yet they were eager to do it.

Yesterday in Buenos Aires when we had our testimony and prayer time appreciation was given, in tears, over how good the church looks, and how the kids and even Dan and Leonie Gomez spent so much time on their knees cleaning and painting. Pastor Antonio said that even the folks out in Mascarenas were inspired to make and sell food to earn money to improve their church.

They were also a blessing to my family. This was the first time our Michelle has seen a group of youth on fire for Jesus. She cracked us up when she first discovered that Canada was not part of the USA ("but they look like Gringos." Gringo is a Latin American term for a white foreigner, especially for Americans). Gracie of course is very much at home with groups like this, growing up around this sort of thing. Cesar, nonstop questions about who, what, and why they're here.

Our brother Alfonso had some bad news from the doctors office on Thursday. They said his kidneys are bad and that it's terminal. He is seeking another opinion, but it doesn't sound good. He is a trooper though, and says he'll continue to serve the Lord until He takes him home. His own words, "the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!" And that with a big grin. Praise God!
Pastor Antonio wants to start visitations with Alfonso and I, so he asked if we would preach once a month each to free him up to come. So, I will preach this coming Sunday there. I also have been invited by Pastor Paul in Tucson to preach a bilingual message this Saturday with the hopes that they will be able to reach out to the Hispanics in the neighborhood and even had Spanish services in the future.
Thank you all for your prayers. I hope to work on our website soon. Sorry it is soooo far out of date. Your friends and fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann, and Gracie Jackson (Michelle and Cesar too!)

India/Uganda Prayer Update 6

We are spending Monday through Thursday working with pastors and Bible women teaching them how to relay the Word of God by telling the stories from the Bible.  The objective is to take the stories and teach them to people in the congregations.  These people will then learn the stories, the truths they contain and teach them to their neighbors.  Because many of the people are illiterate, this is a way that the normal person can share Jesus with their friends.

A teaching team from Simply the Story is working along side of Pastor Kevin Olson helping him teach this concept.  The team is from India.  Therefore, they find if very easy to communicate the idea to the students. 

First they read the story, try to tell it to themselves without looking at their Bible, then they review to make sure they didn’t add or subtract anything.  They then develop questions to ask the hearers so that they can engage their minds as they think about the story.

We will be leaving the Chiralla area early Thursday morning and will be traveling on to Uganda.  We will arrive at the Jore’s early in the morning on Saturday.  Saturday morning we will go out into the village to observe Nate teaching.

Prayer Requests

• God would work through the telling of His Word in story form
• This new way of bringing the message will be an effective way of bringing the Gospel
• Traveling mercy as Kevin Olson returns to the US and Elden Nelson, Lyle Mattson and Del Palmer travel to Uganda
• We will be able to rest as we travel without going to bed
• God would lead in sensitive meetings in Uganda