I had this image in my head, and this is my poor representation of it given that I'm not very good at photoshop.
I wanted to communicate a few things with this image.
The people at the top are all the missionaries here in PNG.
The person standing on the pillars represents my family.
As support staff we free up translators to do Bible translation while supplying for them services and help that they would otherwise have to do on their own.
Here are a few quotes:
"If we had to find or provide for ourselves the
services [support staff in PNG] has provided for us, I don't know how I'd make any
progress on translation." - John --translator
"If I had no support here, I am convinced I would need to spent hours to get those done otherwise. So firstly: a HUGE 'Thank You' to ALL our departments." - Hans - translator
If we as support staff are unable to do our job, then the translators are unable to do their job.
Notice in this picture the people up top are holding hands? If I can't fix computers and provide email, telephones, internet access, file storage... then EVERYONE ELSE is affected and can't do their jobs as well if at all. If we fall, they fall.
Now see the pillars?
The pillars represent financial support and prayer support.
Underneath the pillars are shaking hands, representing partners.
YOU are are partners. We don't call you 'financial support' or 'prayer support' even though that is what you do. You are more than that, you are partners with us in this ministry.
If our financial support went away, we'd fall and thus the entire ministries here would be affected.
If our prayer support went away, we'd fall, and the same would occur.
If they went imbalanced, we'd have to do a lot of work to maintain our ministry... we'd have to adjust in unhealthy ways.
If they decreased significantly, then the others would have to hold more weight. That's assuming they would be able gain the skill sets we have. Many translators have said they would be unable to do their work without our help, and that means without YOUR help.
You uphold us, we uphold many. Our jobs are such that we support many families here. Should we go away, there would be large holes left behind. We've spend the last 3 years carving out a huge niche and filling needs.
We do not mean to say that God NEEDS us. No.... but God uses us. God uses you and us together to accomplish a great work that will glorify Him!
I like this image because it shows the delicate balance of support. How you support us, we support Bible translation. We support Bible translation because it changes lives, it changes cultures, it changes countries. The Word of God transforms.
I wanted to take a moment to show you.... what others have said about our jobs. Not as a form of bragging but as a way to share some of the encouragement we've received over the last 3 years.
Thanks Chad,
Think we might have just gotten one of these... and because I read your note I was suspicious :).
Your ministry in this way has saved us lots of time getting uncorrupted.
Appreciate your partnership.
Douglas
Dear Chad,
Thank you SOOOOOOOO much! You've saved our marching band software and made it so I can be so much more productive on Finale (sharing the computer amongst three of us gets pretty tough sometimes). To replace the marching band software with new software would cost us at least $400. I couldn't have done what you did, but I
THINK I can take it from here. Blessings on you.
For Him,
Bruce
The network support guys apparently had our DSL activated in the Lewis house before we even arrived. It worked as soon as I plugged in the router.
So today I want to say, 'well done' to CTS for helping us get our communications going immediately.
Serving our King together,
John
Dear Chad,
Thanks so much for all of your help with this. Their promise of within 15 business days was the "outside" chance - and I just received the number today, so was able to get the license renewal into the hands of someone flying to the US who can mail it this week. Would never have happened without your hard work and without your very willing friend. Please pass my extreme thanks on to them as well.
And thanks for all you do to keep us up and running - not an easy job with hours that almost rival those of the clinic docs (sometimes more), so thanks.
Dr. Helen
Dear Chad,
Well after all your patience and perseverance talking me through the procedure of getting the e-mail working it has paid off! The office and my personal computer are sending and receiving. I just haven't got around to changing the team one yet, anyway they are all connecting individually on their own computers.
Thank you very much for the time you spent on the phone with me this morning. I was much appreciated! Hope you can get out to Kavieng sometime.
In Him,
Rhona - translator
Thank you very much, you are wonderful, efficient and terrific! Really appreciated your contribution this
afternoon, I can tell that you are passionate about the subject!
Sandra - translator and director
We just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped get it going again.
Today
(Tuesday) at noon, we were able to make a good connection again. We know that you all have many things going on. Thank you for what you do to keep this system running. It is a great blessing and help to us out here in the village! Please pass this message along to all those involved in fixing the HF e-mail.
Gratefully,
Danny and Becca - translators
Thanks for fixing that! It has been a real blessing for me to be able to get email while in the village. There are "some things going on" with our daughter that I really need to keep up with, so your work has been a life saver (for me). I hope you realize how important your work with village email is to the translation teams. I am sure each team has similar stories!
Thank you so much!
Blessings,
Debbie - translators
