Hi everyone,
Here is a prayer request from Terry Reed, a translation consultant with Ethnos360. This is in regards to plans for working on the Tarahumara Bible translation this month. Terry explained it so well, that I didn’t feel the need to rewrite it!
Please pray for Fernando, Tony and Lauren Finch, Dale Taylor, and Terry as they pour themselves into this project during the month of April, and that the enemy would not hinder them in any way. Thank you!
Greetings prayer warriors,
I am very grateful for all of you who pray when we share our needs with you. You are all a blessing to our family.
A few minutes ago, I got off the phone with Dale Taylor. He is the Translator I’m heading to Nebraska to train in just a few more days. He has made arrangements for a Tarahumara pastor, Fernando, to come from Mexico as well. Fernando has some experience in Bible Translation, but because the missionary team wants him wants to be the primary translator for the Tarahumara Bible translation, we want to give him some more training along with hands-on experience.
Tony and Lauren Finch have been missionaries among the Tarahumara for decades. They are planning to bring Fernando all the way from his village in Mexico (Caborachi) to Lincoln, Nebraska. Unfortunately, the Finch’s truck blew its motor yesterday and may need a new diesel engine. Tony and Lauren are planning to use the Caborachi church’s van to make the journey. Tony and Lauren have gone through the process and have both U.S. and Mexican citizenship, so they don’t believe there will be any issues with them crossing the border in a Mexican van. I don’t know what condition the van is in, but because it’s a Mexican van used in the mountains, my guess is they’ll be praying their way all the way to Nebraska. They are requesting prayer that there will be no glitches in getting across the border in the van, and that it will perform well on the journey.
The other prayer request is for Fernando. Fernando has his Mexican passport and a visa for entering the United States, but when he gets to the border he will still have to go through one final interview with a border official before he can legally enter the U.S. The missionaries have done all the legwork of making sure that Fernando has the legal paperwork in order to show that he has been invited to the U.S., that he will be provided for while he is in the U.S. and that he has strong enough ties to Mexico to guarantee his return on the specified date. However, the border official will be the final determiner of whether or not Fernando will be granted entrance to the U.S. for this training.
I’ve been working on materials in Spanish for training Fernando and Dale Taylor (Dale speaks very good Spanish) in anticipation of this trip. Our prayer is that the church’s van will perform well, that they’ll have no issues at the border with either the van or Fernando’s paperwork, and that our time together will be beneficial in helping Fernando and Dale develop good procedures for the advancing of God’s kingdom through the Tarahumara translation.
Thanks for reading all of this, and thank you for praying,
Allison