Dear Family and Friends,

It's hard to believe that 2007 is already half gone! It's been a busy year, filled with lots of activities, work and fun times. We'd like to share some highlights with you.

Family Highlights

In February we had a weeklong visit with Kirsten, who came down to spend spring break with us. We had lots of good family time, including some time at the beach. She has now finished her second year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and is preparing to start in her new RA position this fall. She continues to major in Linguistics and is exploring career options. She continues her job at the Alumni Association office and her involvement in the Women's Glee Club.

This summer Danny worked as an assistant to a local photographer, both in the studio and on photo shoots. No two days were the same and he enjoyed being paid for learning. He anticipates his senior year of high school as being a busy one, with new teachers and classes to challenge him. Some highlights for him were the school production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" and the formal banquet. At press time he is on a 10-day mission trip to Peru.

Helga survived another year as the teacher's aide in the 4- and 5-year-old kindergarten classes. She has counted at least 8 nationalities of kids in these classes, reminding her of the mission field right there in the classroom. These precious children keep her feeling young and well-loved, as they are free with the hugs and the gifts. They are delightful. It has been very satisfying to see the progress and development each child has made over the year.

Laura has completed 4th grade and ended the year with a good showing at the Battle of the Books. She was her team's captain, but they didn't win. She got a lot of reading in, though! She decided to stop gymnastics and took up modern dance instead, having class twice a week. Highlights for her these past months have included performances with Psalm 8:2, the church's children's performance ministry, a day-long mission trip to an Embera community, and a weekend kids' camp.

Work Highlights

Since the beginning of the year, our translation team has been given approval by our consultant to publish the Gospel of Matthew, seven of Paul's epistles, and the three epistles of John. The group pictured below met in June to check Luke, 2 Corinthians, and 1 John.

Our translation progress is displayed on a separate page: click here to view it. A blank space in the status column indicates the book has not been started. Please pray that we can finish all the drafting before the end of this calendar year.

We also would like to start our final revision committee right after Easter of 2008. This will involve re-reading every verse of each Bible book we have translated in Northern Embera. Please pray for the Embera church as they select committee members and for Doug (in photo, back row at left) and me as we organize everything. We project that this committee will be meeting for about 18 months.

Thank you also for praying for our visa situation. We are now permitted to renew annually for up to five years! We also thank the Lord for providing for our kids' school tuition.

Please pray for some literacy workshops coming up. We hope to hold reading classes for the first time in a few Embera villages and defend the alphabet the church has been using in another area. Pray also for Chaz as he has been asked to be a consultant for the team working on the Embera-Katio translation of the New Testament. This will likely involve more travel to Colombia in the near future.

Pray also for God to guide Danny as he researches colleges and fills out applications.

Below is a chart displaying the financial support our administrators recommend we have, compared to the amount we actually receive. For the first six months of 2007 we received an average of 93% of our support need. Thank you for your faithful giving!

Thank you! We could never have done this work without your financial support and prayer!

Blessings,

Chaz and Helga Mortensen

Quick Links

Panama News -- our Web Log has much more complete and frequent updates on us and our work and lots of pictures.
Our Picture Gallery
January 2007 Mortensen Memo
Live Action at the Panama Canal

Last update Sunday, August 5, 2007

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