Update on matching gifts
We are pleased to let you know that because of the matching gift campaign held in March we received 99% in commitments toward our financial support! However, as missionaries we do see people having to stop giving for various reasons. We are seeing this happen already as one of our churches has just given us notice that their support will end at the end of the year. For this reason we continue to look for new partners so we can maintain our budget needs for the future. If you would like to become a partner with us in our Wycliffe ministry we would be happy to talk with you about how you can do that. Because our financial support was low for a number of years we are still playing “catch up” with our financial picture, but we have a good start with the matching gift campaign to get us going in the right direction. Thank you to all who have increased their giving or joined our team. If you are not a part of our partnership team please consider joining us as we provide much needed resources towards the Bible translation task.
New and improved maps!
The new Ethnologue.com is up and running with many updated maps. Click on a continent, region, country and then the MAPS tab to see maps of a country’s languages and how those languages are related linguistically. Matt is responsible for creating and maintaining maps for countries in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific. It’s exciting to make these available for use in a wide variety of ministries around the world!
Intern and helper
Pray for Matt and TJ as they work together this summer to improve geographic data and create several new maps. Pray it will be a good time of learning together.
Judy’s summer line-up
A Role and Reference Grammar Analysis of Kankanaey should be in print by the time you get this letter. Prophetic Rhetoric: Case Studies in Text Analysis and Translation will not be far behind it. The index is in and being checked by the author. Don’t worry about Judy not having enough to do! She recently started typesetting another new book. It’s called The Heart of the Matter: Seeking the Center in Maya-Mam Language and Culture which is about a language spoken in Guatemala and Mexico. And there is still another new book in the queue for Judy that hasn’t arrived yet, but was expected before Heart of the Matter.
The Baobab Tree
In the parched expanse of Southern Africa, a mammoth tree known as the “baobab” grows. The locals have a saying, “No man can embrace the baobab tree.” The goal is only accomplished when many people join hands together. We recognize that reaching a Bibleless people group involves stretching one’s heart around a colossal goal. It requires an all-out team effort with ministry partners like you.
Thank you for joining hands with us around the “baobab tree” with us to help send the Word of GOD to people around the world. Contact us any time at Matt_Benjamin@SIL.org
Benjamins' Bits 