With the cousins, waiting for the 4th of July
parade in Frankfort, Michigan
March 2006
On July 27 we returned from a wonderful seven weeks in Michigan. We rested and visited and did sightseeing and soaked up time with Kirsten. Highlights included berry-picking, sand dunes, a week at Crystal Lake and lots of family time. Here are some memories:
A few days after we returned home, Danny left for a week-long mission trip to Guatemala. He has written a report; please contact us if you'd be interested in receiving a copy.
Another mission trip back in May saw a group of children from our local church going up the Chagres River to spend a day at an Embera village. They made friends and brought gifts and shared Christ's love, learning a bit about being missionaries.
Now we are back home, back into the rhythm of work, school and church. Danny and Laura have started school, 11th and 4th grades, respectively. Helga is back in the kindergarten classrooms, helping out in both 4 and 5-year-old classes. She will return to Michigan in late August to help Kirsten move back into the dorm at U-M to start her sophomore year.
The Embera Translation Project
These few weeks since our return Chaz has been working through the Gospel of Luke with Maximiliano, a local Embera Christian. He also recently attended a meeting at the nearest Embera church and found out a number of interesting things happening. Cornelio, a trained Embera teacher, had gone to the Indigenous Education office to find out whether there was anything of interest going on. It turns out that there is an opening for someone to work in that office, especially someone who can review spelling and handle alphabet matters. Both Cornelio and Feliznita, another college grad (and one Chaz has worked with), were encouraged to apply. During the meeting, the local pastor felt that Cornelio was the right person for the job: he's a teacher, knows the alphabet and would represent the church well even though the position is not "church representative." Pray for this to work out the way God wants it.
The Embera in charge of educational materials also told Cornelio they were doing some teacher training in a more remote community sometime after August 20 and asked the church to encourage teachers to attend. Cornelio was also told that the education people wanted to be able to consult with a linguist who knew Embera. The church people at the meeting thought that would be a good idea for Chaz to be available for this. He has agreed to do it as long as he still has time for translation work.
A local Embera pastor, Gregorio, asked if we had any of the provisional Mark-1&2 Thessalonians-1&2 Timothy books. He wanted ten copies! Chaz was pleasantly surprised at this because he thought all those able to read from that church had their own copies already.
Chaz also received a call last week from Enrique, an Embera high school student, who is helping a Christian radio station make 3-minute recordings of portions of the Embera Scriptures. The segments are played one per day. We had been hoping for a long time that the station would do this. It is important that Enrique is not afraid to speak into a microphone. He has a nice, clear voice and reads fluently.
About 125 of these provisional books have now gone out. We really wanted them to go to truly interested people and we believe they have. Please pray for people to read them carefully and come up with helpful suggestions for their improvement. And ask God to speak to these people through his word.
Prayer for upcoming events
There are a number of things coming up in the next few months for which we'd like your prayers. In addition to the literacy issues mentioned above, we are hoping to hold a number of one-day literacy workshops in villages closer to Panama City where people already read Spanish well and just need a day of orientation and practice to be able to read in Embera. One church in Michigan has already expressed a desire to fund some of these.
Doug is also back after spending a month with his mother in Indiana. Soon we will be getting back together to finish the team check on Matthew. Pray for harmony and that we would finish the job in a timely fashion.
I also will be moving to a different office where there is a translation library as well. Pray for the arrangements in this; it is not simply a matter of moving things.
Our visas will be expiring soon and we need to make arrangements for new ones by November 23. The time is not convenient but we trust that God's timing is perfect.
Finances
Most of this year we have been receiving sufficient support to carry on our lives and work here, thanks to many of you and your faithful giving. These past couple months have been tight, due to extra expenses and some dips in giving. Please pray with us for God's provision to get out of debt and be able to meet financial obligations. We continue to thank God for our many regular supporters, generous one-time gifts (like a recent one from a church which has provided for several expenses), work funds from Wycliffe and Helga's job at the school to cover the kids' tuition costs. We have been able to help Kirsten some with her college expenses as well.
Thank you all again for your prayers and support!
In Christ,
Chaz and Helga Mortensen
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Panama News -- our Web Log has much more complete and frequent updates on us and our work and lots of pictures.
March 2006 Mortensen Memo
Live Action at the Panama Canal
Last update Monday, August 28, 2006
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