Update on Ann

We asked prayer for Ann in our previous post, about her possibility of surgery with Mercy Ships. We received word that she can hear some out of her ear, but they have decided not to do cosmetic surgery on the ear. They have many, many requests for help and end up choosing to operate on those who are most needful. One blessing for Ann is that women in Benin, West Africa usually wear head scarves, so she can easily hide the deformity! ...and let God use it to conform her to His image--an even better gift!

Mittower Memo August 2009

Mitch was helping one of our SIM missionaries, Ken Baker, with a computer problem. He and his wife are with our Culture ConneXions program, which reaches out to internationals living in America. He’s pretty computer savvy himself, but had run into something that he didn’t know how to solve. After Mitch helped him with it he said, “I’m sure glad we have someone like you on our team.”

We could tell many other such stories of how Mitch’s work has contributed to the missionary work here and abroad. All the appreciative comments of those he’s helped have meant so much, and keep reminding us how important even computer work is to the cause of missions.

We have learned that the Mercy Ships ministry has a ship now off the coast of Benin, West Africa, giving free medical care to the Beninese until December 2009. They came to Benin around 1996 when we were in the country and we heard of lives literally changed by dramatic cosmetic surgeries and won for Christ as a result. SIM missionary Dodi Forsberg has a young friend, Anne, who was born with a malformed ear. Now at about age 13, she has an appointment August 21st on the Mercy Ship to see if her ear is working properly and whether something can be done to make it look nicer. Pray that Anne will not be frightened by the trip to Cotonou or all the new things on the ship, the constant motion of the ship and the doctor! Pray for other lives to be won to Christ and a greater hearing for the Gospel as a result of Mercy Ship ministries.

Bible Translation in Benin

The Fulani New Testament is nearing completion! Pray for the team as they work on the final checking. It will then be typeset there in Benin, so pray for that as well.

Pastor Isaac Matchoudo, a wonderful Christian we had the privilege of working with in Benin, is part of the Fulani translation team. He’s also the president of the UEEB—the evangelical church association in Benin. Uphold him in prayer as he is trying to balance the responsibilities of his leadership position with the translation checking work.

Many times Satan tries to hinder Bible translation projects--especially at the beginning and end of the project. So they especially need our prayers.

Prayer and Praise

Pray for 13-year-old Anne, and her Mercy Ship visit as mentioned above.Pray for the final checking of the Fulani New Testament.

Pray for strength and wisdom for Pastor Isaac Matchoudo as he balances his responsibilities between the Bible translation team and his role as UEEB president.

Pray for the Sola Translation team as they soon have their last checking session with their translation consultant and incorporate the last corrections into the NT scripture text. Praise the Lord for the good partnership they’ve had with this consultant over the years.

Continue to pray for the Yom Translation team that Dodi Forsberg heads up. They are working on the Old Testament.

Pray for wisdom, discernment and patience for Mitch in resolving computer problems. Often missionaries coming home from the fields have multiple needs.

Both the U.S. and International offices of SIM are feeling the effects of the financial downturn. Pray the Lord will provide.

Praise the Lord for again providing scholarships for Anna’s college. Pray for strength for her in her studies this coming year, and sensitivity to the Lord’s leading for the future.

Pray for wisdom for Teresa in the midst of planning Abby’s school for the upcoming year, and planning for her piano students this year.

A Precious Life Well-Lived

Last Sunday, August 24th, my (Teresa's) father made his transition from this life to his eternal home. He had prostate cancer and complications with that were the cause of his rapid decline in health. He was 80 years old. We will miss him greatly--my mother has already gone to be with the Lord 7 years ago. We also will have to sell his home of nearly forty years and our childhood home.

On the other hand, we are so happy for him to finally be reunited with Mom and with his Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven! He was ready to meet the Lord.

Dad became a Christian when I was about 9 years old. Before salvation, he wouldn't mind if we didn't feel like going to church with Mom on Sunday nights. Afterward, he went with us, and insisted we go and said we'd feel better once we got there.

Dad always loved to tell people how many years, months and even days he'd been a Christian, especially when a new Christian. This translated in a love to visit church visitors and make sure they knew the Gospel. He also handed out tracts wherever he went, even insisting we children give tracts to the nurses who treated him at the end when he didn't have the strength to hand them out. He worked on the bus ministry, bringing unchurched children to church.

He had the gift of giving, and laid up much reward in Heaven through his gifts to the church and various ministries, including ours. Giving 10% was only a beginning for him.

He was a faithful husband to our mother and a loving father. Considering the fact that he grew up as a child in a home where alcohol and verbal put-downs were present, it just shows how much Christ can change a life.

Please join us in rejoicing for Dad in gaining Heaven, and in grieving for our loss.

Reflections on our school year

With summer here, we're evaluating how the past year went and reflecting on the things we enjoyed about it. In November we were privileged to host a young lady helping at Samaritan's Purse. She had just graduated from high school and wanted to participate in a ministry trip, so her mom recommended something in the country for starters. She chose Samaritan's Purse, helping prepare shoeboxes of Christmas toys to be distributed around the world. She searched for a like-minded family with whom she could stay, and ending up choosing us!

We found Alyssa to be a young lady who loved the Lord and was well-trained by her mother in many areas. She ended up blessing us as we met her needs and sought to be a blessing to her. We praise the Lord for helping us show kindness and sensitivity to Alyssa, and for the blessing she was to us. Pray for the salvation of the children receiving these shoeboxes of toys along with a brochure explaining the Gospel. Pray for their discipleship as they enroll in a correspondence course upon accepting Christ.

Another highlight of our year was helping with the schooling of a missionary candidate's daughter while her family was here for training at SIM. Claire and our daughter Abby did their school work side by side for 2 weeks. We praise the Lord for being able to help with the children of SIM candidates during SIMCO (orientation). Pray for Claire's family to raise their support so her father can do veterinarian work short-term in Paraguay.

This year I also had the privilege to teach beginning violin to Abby and 2 other girls, ages 6 and 9. This is not my instrument of study, so I was learning also! We were not using Suzuki method, so at this point what they've learned would not "awe" anyone, but we've laid a good foundation that they can build on. Praise the Lord for giving me His patience and endurance to teach something new and open my home every week. Pray for these three girls, Abigail, Abby and Brianna to learn further music skills and use them for the Lord's glory.

Laptops!

Imagine walking into Mitch's office at SIM and all you see are laptops! Right now he is working on several at once. One of them was hand-carried from a lady in Benin, Sara, and will soon be hand-carried back to her. I'm sure she's counting the days until it returns.

Sara works at a dispensary in Northern Benin. Often her medical treatments are things that should be taken care of at SIM's hospital, but the patient can't travel that far. She works alongside local pastors who counsel the patients in their native tongues. She, among many missionaries, depends a lot on her laptop for correspondence, record-keeping, etc.

Praise for Benin: The Lokpa Bible was dedicated in May! This is a translation Mitch helped with when we were there. Pray this Bible will be well-read and will bear fruit in the hearts of the believers and non-believers.

First-time blogger

Our daughter, Anna, has graciously agreed to help us enter the world of blogs and websites this summer! This is mostly so we can keep our family, friends and supporters updated on our ministry and lives. I hope to post the latest prayer requests for us at least once a month, so check back for updates. If I'm able, I'll post happenings in our lives more frequently.

If you don't know what our ministry is, go to the "About Us" section which explains who we are and what we do.

We hope to hear from you as well if you have time to leave a comment or prayer request!