Uganda’s Gwere Celebrate their New Testament

Nearly 20,000 people attended the release of the Gwere New Testament in Uganda. That was just the beginning of what God would do for them and their neighbors.

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See what happened in the middle of nowhere.

Nearly 23 years ago they requested God’s Word in their language. Now this once-forgotten people group are getting ready to celebrate.

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     Good for Business and the Kingdom

Phil and Jamie Holtje discovered creative ways to give to God’s kingdom through their own business.
Read Their Story >>

Stories of people getting the “Word of God” in their own language! I never get tired of hearing about them.

Jim & Judy McCabe

jim_mccabe@sil.org

520 599-24790

   Three prayer requests for you:

• A prayer of thanksgiving. God provided all of our Wycliffe ministry budget. He is Good!
• Ask God to show us which section of the U.S. to start our Scripture Earth Promotion work.
• Pray for a mobile office and home, often called an RV.

Our next Wycliffe assignment will require extensive traveling, covering many parts of North America. In consultation with our leadership, we have decided that an RV is a critical component which would provide us with both mobility and a place to stay.

God knows exactly what we need, better than we do. We trust His judgment 100%. If you read our story below, you’ll agree, it’s good to pray specifically. Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted, though He knew already.

After research and talking to other RV owners, Please, pray with us for a:

¾ or 1 ton crew cab truck, diesel, 2003 or newer, with less than 150K miles.   Plus…

28 – 30 ft. 5th wheel trailer, 2003 or newer, with a cold weather package and generator.

Or

A class-A motorhome, 28 – 33 ft, gas or diesel, 2003 or newer, with a cold weather package, generator, and less than 150K miles.    Plus…

An economical MPG, flat towable, (doesn’t need to be on a trailer) car to pull behind the motorhome.

Our Story

 It was a warm summer day in July 1984, Norman, Oklahoma. Judy was driving our 1967 VW camper van that I had just restored when suddenly it lost power. She coasted to a stop and saw that smoke was billowing from the rear engine compartment. Our four-month-old son Josh was in his car seat on the back seat. Judy quickly got him out and ran to the closest house, asking them to call the fire department.  They arrived in just a few minutes and extinguished the fire. The van was towed to the university where we were training to join Wycliffe.

That afternoon, the Wycliffe director found us, and asked, “What do you plan to do now?” I said I wasn’t sure, but we would pray. He said, “Great! I’ll pray with you, what do you want?” I said, “I’m not picky, anything will do.” The director said, “No, no, no, be specific, what do you really want?” I said, “A station wagon would be good.” He said, “What color do you want it?” I said, “Color? Umm, blue.” He said, “Great! Let’s pray for a blue station wagon.” Then he took off down the hallway.

 In less than 24 hours he found us again and excitedly said, “It came in! Last night at our Dallas office”. The director had received a call from the Dallas office and was told that someone dropped off a blue station wagon leaving a note on the windshield saying that God had told them to leave this car for a missionary in need. (That Wycliffe donation program is no longer available.)  

Anything would have worked, but God gave us exactly what we prayed for.  We believe He knew we needed the assurance of His faithfulness as we began our full-time missionary service. We have seen Him provide in miraculous ways many times in the past 34 years.

Pray with us, that God would provide exactly what will allow us to be most effective! 

Jim and Judy McCabe
jim_mccabe@sil.org
520 599-2470

We are thanking God for all of you who let us know that you are praying in response to our last email. Prayer has been a vital element during this season of Partnership Development (PD). Over the past 12 months we have had an amazing time meeting and reconnecting with so many of you as we shared our vision for Scripture access and invited you to partner with us in this new Wycliffe ministry. It has been a GOOD year!

We are almost there so…KEEP PRAYING!  We are just $100 a month short of our Wycliffe ministry budget. Please pray today for 3 – 5 people who will commit to coming on board as new partners and for them to let us know.

Thanks

Jim and Judy
520-599-2470
Jim_McCabe@sil.org

To the Spirit’s leading

We have seen many of His people be led by the Holy Spirit to join our Wycliffe ministry over the past year. Last week we got a phone call from a friend and prayer partner. She said she’d been asking the Lord about becoming a financial partner for several years. She really wanted to, but the Spirit kept saying, “No”. This was discouraging to her because she really believes in what we are doing. Well, last week, the Spirit finally said “Yes!” I think she was more excited than us to finally be able to move in the direction of her heart.

Maybe you too have been asking the Spirit for His leading. Keep praying!!! We are almost at 100% of our Wycliffe budget. We only need $150 in monthly partnerships. (This can be accomplished by a monthly, quarterly, or annual donation). Will you pray earnestly and ask His direction about becoming a financial partner? Our faith goal is Nov. 1^st. Once we reach 100% we can begin to promote Scripture access through the amazing website www.Scriptureearth.org.

Urgent prayer requests:

• for new financial partners,
• for financial partners who will increase their giving,
• for us to get to 100% by November 1st,
• for you to know if you are to be part of the answers to these requests.

If God is speaking to you about becoming a partner, please email us or text us so that we can know before November 1st. We will keep you updated on how God answers your prayers.

Imagine that…God allows us to be part of His plans!  What a privilege and responsibility He gives those of us who have responded to the Gospel of Christ. What a joy to reach out and communicate the Good News (Gospel) with people He loves and those who still need to hear. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Rom. 10:17 NLT

We truly believe the Bible is the foundation for the growth of a believer. As young believers, the Bible came alive to us and studying it helped us grow in our faith. The amazing library of Scripture resources found at http://www.ScriptureEarth.org, is an easy way to access God’s word on a smartphone, introducing someone to Him, so they can grow in their faith.

So what will we be doing when our partnership development is completed, Nov. 1st? As we have shared often over the last year, we will be promoting access to Scripture resources through the website scriptureearth.org as well as other scripture resources. Did you know that 20% of people living in the US speak a language other than English in their homes?  Many of them don’t yet know they can easily access Scripture in a language and form they clearly understand.

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com

Photo by Nextvoyage on Pexels.com

We will be crisscrossing the USA in a very strategic method making face to face contacts with churches, ministries, Native American and immigrant communities, refugee aid organizations, and individuals, introducing them to www.scriptureearth.org and helping them learn to use it.

We will continue part-time travel to Chad, Africa as well, leading teams to accomplish special facilities maintenance projects for Bible Translators. I (Jim) will also continue traveling internationally as part of the JAARS Land Transportation Team. I’ll be training expat missionaries, national Bible translators, and literacy workers how to safely operate and maintain motorcycles and four-wheel drive vehicles required for their work. All of these things help connect individuals to Jesus and get them into God’s Word.

Just one square left! God is our provider and He is faithfully building our Wycliffe ministry partnership team. If you haven’t already, would you pray about joining our Wycliffe partnership team? We are so close to our Nov. 1st faith goal date. The last un-Xed tile is open for claiming!

Jim and Judy McCabe
jim_mccabe@sil.org
520 599-2470

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Isaac came to the US from Egypt as a young man to find a better life for his family. He is a follower of Jesus and pastors an Arabic Baptist church in Murfreesboro, TN. He worked in the hotel business for several years until he opened a Greek sandwich shop. We ate at his shop (which was excellent) and shared with him about the Scripture resources available on ScriptureEarth.org in his language. He was very interested in the resources for children.

Gi, a young Chinese man, sat across from us at McD’s. Judy got into a conversation with him and found out he was a believer who had been in the US for 6 years going to the University. She showed him the SE website on his phone and he was very excited to see all the digital resources available in Mandarin, his mother tongue. He attends an English-speaking church in town because he wants to improve his English. We exchanged each other’s contact information. We hope to visit a local Chinese church with him next time we’re in town.

Thanks for praying for these opportunities and partnering with us!

Our goal…Bible access for all! Sharing the website www.Scriptureearth.org is one way to make this happen. Today we found out about #illumiNations18, a gathering of Bible translation organizations working together for the same goal, Bible access for all! Wycliffe is one of the ten who are collaborating with unprecedented unity to see over 1 billion people gain access to God’s Word in a language and form they clearly understand. Praise God for their vision and leadership. What a privilege to share in the same goal!

Because of what we shared in our last email, about supporting survivors of hurricane Florence, we have set a new faith goal date of Nov. 1. At that time, we are trusting that our Wycliffe partnership team will be at 100% and we will be released to begin our new Scripture access work. Please begin praying with us for God’s direction as we plan where we will focus our efforts in 2019.

We are back in Tucson for now. We expect to be here until mid-November when we will need to travel back to NC for Jim’s trip to Papua New Guinea Nov. 28 to Dec 18. Jim and another JAARS Land Transportation trainer will be teaching a 4 wheel drive maintenance and driving course to national Bible translators.

This is probably one of our favorite hymns. We sang it at the church we visited with partners near Knoxville. It reminded us again of the mercy, love, grace, forgiveness, and hope we have in Jesus each new day. Lamentations 3:22-24. Boy do we need it each day! How have you seen His faithfulness this week?  We have seen His faithfulness in protecting us as we drive across the US sharing about Scriptureearth.org with our partners and new people we meet. We have seen His faithfulness by leading many more to partner with our Wycliffe ministry both financially and in prayer. As a result, there are less tiles to choose from this week! Thank you Lord! If you are still praying about partnering with our finance team, the un-Xed tiles represent the amount of shortfall in our monthly Wycliffe ministry budget. Pick one or a part of one or more than one.

Hurricane Florence

We are so grateful to the Lord that our friends in North and South Carolina were spared the worst of Florence. But our hearts go out to those suffering from Florence and will have months of recovery. We can’t imagine how devastating it must be! If you are feeling led to join our Wycliffe ministry team but are also feeling compassion for the immediate needs of those suffering from Florence, please follow His lead. Jesus often met the physical needs first. We will still receive partner promises even after our faith goal date of Oct. 1

Announcement

On Aug.18th our newest grandson, Everett Forest Depp arrived. He is our 3^rd one, all belonging to our daughter Jody and husband Caleb. We had been in Hickory since Aug 8 awaiting his arrival and then we stayed several weeks to help in the adjustments of a new baby. He’s absolutely, adorable! It is so very hard to leave. We are on the road now, as we trek back to Tucson stopping along the way to visit partners and family. We expect to arrive the end of the first week of Oct. It will be nice to be home.

Thank you again for faithfully partnering with us for Bible access and engagement.

Click to partner  https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/JimandJudyMcCabe

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Jim and Judy McCabe

More Than Rice

by El­yse Patten      Photo: Andy Kris­t­ian Agaba

Happy kids pose on a small rice farm in Uganda. While west­ern me­dia of­ten fo­cuses on this na­tion’s strug­gles, Ugan­dans are per­se­ver­ing, gen­tle and strong in faith. Over 82% of Ugan­dans call them­selves Chris­t­ian. Al­though many Ugan­dans have ac­cess to the Scrip­tures in the na­tional lan­guage, that doesn’t en­able the same level of un­der­stand­ing as a heart lan­guage. For ex­am­ple, af­ter at­tend­ing a ba­sic Bible teach­ing sem­i­nar, Mr. Za­ve­rio, 97, said, “I was not ex­pect­ing to wit­ness the Word of God be­ing read in Bwisi while I was still alive. This week I have learned the true mean­ing of sal­va­tion, and I have ac­cepted Jesus as my Savior. I will die in the Lord. They used to tell us that a true Chris­t­ian is the one who at­tends church all the time, gives gifts, does good works and prays every evening. But now through these teach­ings in my lan­guage of Bwisi, I am un­der­stand­ing that God for­gives our sins through Christ!”

This is what ScriptureEarth.org is all about. Helping individuals who want to know God, learn the true mean­ing of sal­va­tion, in their heart language, through His Word.

It’s just a couple of weeks till Oct 1. That is our faith goal for having our Wycliffe ministry budget fully met. We are so grateful to God for all of his faithful sons and daughters who have come alongside us in this ministry. If you are still praying about joining our finance team, the un-Xed colored tiles represent the amount of shortfall in our monthly Wycliffe ministry budget. Pick one or a part of one or more than one. Please keep praying.                                                                         Click here to partner.

The above article was from the Wycliffe Global Alliance website, and was used with permission. https://www.wycliffe.net/inspiringimage?id=3750
P.S. Bwisi language resources are found on Scriptureearth.org but under another name, Lubwisi.

Click to partner  https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/JimandJudyMcCabe

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Tools… 

Everyone uses them for their jobs. IT people use computers, auto mechanics use wrenches, and carpenter uses saws and hammers.

Missionaries use tools of all kinds in their work too!  The Bible has been a primary tool for centuries helping introduce people to God. One of our newest tools is ScriptureEarth.org. This is a website created to house scripture resources in thousands of languages. We have had a blast showing people the website. So many are amazed at all the information that is found there.

What will you find?  That depends on what has been completed in a specific language. In some languages, you’ll find the whole Bible, or perhaps just the New Testament, or Scripture portions in text form, audio, and video. Often there are multiple versions of Scripture, study aids, and children’s material. Even if the scriptures are not linked to it yet, one will often find the Jesus Film, which is a great introduction to the life of Christ through the eyes of the apostle Luke.

How is it used?  With a smartphone, you can quickly access the web page. The opening or splash page shows a list of all the countries of the world. Choose one. The next page shows all the languages spoken in that country. Choose one. The next page shows Scripture and other resources that have been completed in that language. If you don’t have a smartphone you can always find it on your computer!

We used it to show Philip, a store employee who was helping us find something. We could hear by his accent that he was from Africa. We told about our time serving there. We asked him what country he was from, he said Uganda. We told him about scriptureearth.org and showed it to him on his phone. The Scripture Earth website showed 31 different languages spoken in Uganda. After a few swipes, he found his language, Luganda. He was so excited he couldn’t wait to check it out after work.  A quick internet search showed us there are about 9,000 Ugandans in the USA right now with the largest concentration being in Chicago.

This ScriptureEarth.org tool is for everyone to use. Those who find it will love it because someone honored their language enough to develop it into a written form and translate materials into it. Because it is their language they will read, listen and watch whatever is published in it. Then they will forward it to family and friends.

Pray with us that God will provide the team to meet our Wycliffe budget requirements and prayer support that will allow us to get started on this important assignment. Click here.to partner with our Wycliffe ministry.

The un-Xed tiles are open for claiming! Pick one or a part of one or more than one. God is our provider and He is faithfully taking care of us. Thank you, partners, for all you do!

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The following link is a good look at a missionaries life. Judy and I experience this. While on earth we will always be the odd ducks. I have been calling us, “American Nomads”, our real home is waiting for us. Enjoy the read.

https://omf.org/us/missionaries-can-never-go-home/