Him We Proclaim

I think that Jonathan and I should win an award for being the worst bloggers . We've had so many huge things happen in our lives since we lost blogged... so many in fact that each is worth of its own post. Since, however, we have waited this long to post, I'll hit the majors so that it won't be too much to read. My Dad's Election Jonathan and I were blessed to get off work in Oxford for 3 weeks so help my dad with his campaign for US Congress in Georgia's 7 th congressional district. We really enjoyed our time helping my dad pursue such a big challenge. My dad is generally the behind the scene person, so it was very nice getting to be his support. The primary was held July 20 th , and I'm sad to say that my dad didn't get elected to run in November. We knew going into the race that the chance was slim, but this has opened other doors for politics. My dad now has a new hobby to pursue. Some Growing News... I was extremely exhausted the whole month of June he...

It seems that our first few months of marriage are on the move. We've been away from Oxford almost every weekend with weddings and family visits. Last weekend, we came down to Georgia to attend a rally in Duluth for my dad. He's running for U.S. Congress. The rally was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed reconnecting with so many people from Duluth. Jonathan and I were able to help out a ton, and we were glad to have the opportunity to serve my dad. My parents loved our help so much that they tried to convince us to stay. We didn't think it would work out, but we were flattered by the offer. However, we didn't stop thinking about the opportunity. Jonathan and I both had tough days of work the following Monday, and began to consider it more. Surely we couldn't get 3 weeks off of work with such a short notice! We decided if our employers would allow us the "vacation" then we would know we should go. Jonathan talked to his manager, and he said that Jonathan should ta...

so much has happened since we came back from Ecuador. We moved into our new place the same day we arrived. It was crazy, but we were so excited to have our own place. We are living just out of the city limits of Oxford, Ohio. It is just north west of Cincinnati, where Miami University is located. We are excited to be so close to Jonathan's grandmother and serve her as our new ministry. Moving in has been a fun process. We've been blessed with so many gifts, so thank you for helping us build our home. When we first got here, we only had a couch and a bunch of lamps. Thanks to Oxford college students and some generous families at our church, we now have a full house. It has been so neat to see how God has provided. I kept a list on the fridge of different things we needed. It took no time at all for God to provide. It seemed that as soon as I put something down, we would get a phone call or would find something on our list for an ideal price. All of this seemed to be more confir...

{Maggie} It is crazy to think that our time in Salasaca is now over and that we are leaving Ecuador on Thursday. So much has happened during these past 6 weeks, and Jonathan and I have grown so much as a result of the challenges and blessings the experience has brought. So here is our last week in Salasaca and some concluding thoughts... Monday and Tuesday I was sick most of the week before, so I was glad to be finally out of bed in time for conulant checking. The translation team had finished the comprehension check of the book of James --where they have a Salasacan read a passage and answers content questions-- so they were ready for the next step. We met with the consultant over Skype, and they went verse by verse through the book. It was a very neat experience. The consultant spoke a great deal of English the first day, so I was able to understand a lot. The next day he spoke mainly in Spanish, but Larry let me know what was going on. James was an internsting book to observe becaus...

More Youth Ministry [Jonathan] On Friday night we had some thirty students come for our second youth meeting at the translation center, probably half of them aren't believers, and maybe 7-10 of them I've never seen before. It was exciting to see so many people come. We played games as best we could, crammed into the room we had at our disposal. We barely fit everyone in, but fit we did! Afterwards we had a time of singing and a devotional. I talked about either being slaves to sin, or slaves to Christ. About 10 people left when we took out the Bible, unfortunately, and they came back after we had finished. I was a little discouraged by that, not for myself as much as for their own sake--I really wanted them to hear the truth and the good news. I keep praying for them. Please pray with me in this. On Saturday night, late, it all of a sudden dawned on me that I hadn't planned the lesson for Sunday! I was falling asleep and felt rather ashamed for having overlooked one of th...

[Jonathan] Many things have happened in the last two weeks that make us feel like we're finally beginning our ministry here in Salasaca. It makes it hard to think that we are leaving Salasaca in only 10 days. We've had more cultural experiences, deepened relationships, learned more of the language, and have grown even more, and it feels like we've only just begun. Linguists Hard at Work The back translation for the book of James has been sent in to the consultant. A back translation is the Quichua translated back word for word (pretty much) into Spanish. This is then checked for accuracy by the consultant before going to a committee which will then further check it for accuracy. Maggie got to sit in on the comprehension check of James: The book was read in the Quichua and a young man answered comprehension questions based on what was read. Maggie is currently hard at work on a tri-linear story using IPA, Quichua, and English. This short story about a bird and an ant serves...

Week of March 21st [Jonathan] Ok, so it wasn't black but it did have over three bags full! On Tuesday we walked down the valley to Chilcapamba to Juana's house. We had earlier helped her wash her sheep, and now it was a perfect day to take some shears to it. We met Juana at her parents place and were fed a hot breakfast of salty oatmeal mixed with potatoes, barley flour, and a piece of beef. We ate as we sat in the building that functions as a cooking area, 'kitchen' would not be the word to describe the cement block building with open windows, no doors, and a fire on the floor. Juana's dad hurried us to finish our meal. We stepped back outside onto their cement patio where he had tied the sheep. We pushed it onto it's side and tied it's feet together. Then came the process of slowly but surely cutting the wool off of the sheep, making sure we kept it all in one large piece. We used kitchen scissors, and with two and sometimes three of us working on it we go...

Friday morning, Jonathan woke up at 5:30 with a stomach ache. It was so bad, that he had to stay in bed all day. We really don't know what it could be from, but we are guessing that it either has something to do with the Ecuadorian Pizza or water. Considering Jonathan was out for the day, I had quite the experiences. I had to take our bike--which has a permanently flat tire and the chain comes off the gear every 5 minutes-- into town to make copies of our language lesson. I'm proud to say that despite the embarrassment caused by the bike, I was able to get the copies I needed and a Sprite for Jonathan with my Spanish skills. It was quite an endeavor because I had to follow directions to another copy center because the place we went before was closed. In addition to using my Spanish there, I also met with Bertha, our Language teacher, for an hour. I had to communicate instructions to her with my mad pointing skills and Spanglish. Somehow, it worked out. I was rather happy about ...

[Jonathan] Where are you going? This standard greeting in Salasaca is rolling around in my head with about a dozen others like a song that, no matter what, you can't get out of your head. Language learning has bee really good and my comprehension and speaking abilities have jumped an enormous amount since we've been here in the past less-than-a-week. Maggie and I helped wash one of the Co-translator's sheep in a ditch so that they could shear it in several days. We each held a leg, and one man held the sheep by the ears, and there it was, laying on it's back as we scrubbed it with laundry soap (Which I reflectively thought appropriate). That was a very neat new experience. I have been working on a study to give to the youth on Sunday--we'll be going over basics of Christianity, starting with what the Gospel is all about. I feel like this is an ambigous term for so many people, when it is the core of our faith! So we will be covering Rom 1:1-6 this week, and probably...

[Maggie] At last, we are finally in Salasaca, Ecaudor. I have been waiting to do my internship for quite a while, and it officially started today. We left Latacunga Saturday afternoon to drive down to Ambato, where the missionaries we are working with live (they are the Salay family). We had dinner with them before heading over to our little place in Manzanapamba Chico area of Salasaca. Manazanapamba Chico means "the small apple valley". It is so beautiful here; as far as you can see are little fields of crops and little homes. It is great. Today we went to the Quichua church service. Shedd and Chris Waskosky, two other missionsaries, took us to church. It was suppposed to start at nine, but when we arrived at 9:05, we were the first to arrive. The service actually started about 20 minutes later. I'm glad I will never be late. More and more people arrived as the service proceeded. We sang several songs in Spanish and Quichua. Jonathan and Larry did a good job of letting m...

Salasaca is located South of Ambato on the way to the city of Banos. According to The Joshua Project there are 16,000 Salasacan Quichuas, and we know that there are only two evangelical churches. The majority of the area is syncretistic Roman Catholic. For the linguists out there, Salasacan Quichua is lexically distinct from Chimborazo Quichua (who already have a Bible in their language). For the rest of us, this means that the vocabulary of the two dialects of Quichua is different, resulting in the need of a Bible translation specific to the Salasacan Quichua people. The Bible translation project began 20+ years ago, and it is this project that Maggie will be working with. The two missionary families in the translation team are the only missionaries working with the Salasacan Quichua people and the church. Maggie and I are excited to work with these missionaries in the translation project and the church. We hope to learn a lot about a new culture, new language, and the same ...

[Maggie] Jonathan and I have now been married for 20 days, and we have been traveling since we left the Church. First it was to Florida for the wonderful honeymoon, then to Georgia to pack up the rest of my things. Then it was a trip up to northwest Georgia to explore a cave. Then 6 hours later, we were in Ohio for a few nights... just long enough to unpack from Georgia, pull or stuff out of storage, and pack again. Finally, we made it to Ecuador on Tuesday evening. We are so thankful to be here in Ecuador for me to complete my internship. I am just 6 weeks away from graduating and couldn't be more excited. We are both ecstatic about doing my internship in Salasaca. I will be able to do some linguistics work, and Jonathan will get to work with the church. It couldn't be a better match. We can't wait till Saturday when we actually get to settle down for a little while. We hope that this blog will allow you to be a part of our trip and allow God to teach you as He teaches us....