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Caquinte New Testament Dedication

In December the Caquinte New Testaments arrived from Korea. We celebrated the opening of the first box. Shortly after, the New Testaments were shipped to our center in the jungle; the final step was getting them to the village.

On July 12, 2006 hundreds of people gathered in the Caquinte village of Tsoroja to celebrate and to dedicate the first printing of the Caquinte New Testament. It took many trips by small airplane to get all the guests to the village.

The celebration included lots of singing and a special encouragement by Ken Swift, the translator, to make daily reading and meditation a regular habit.

The Caquintes are a quiet people with a strong family structure. In the past they lived in small family groups. Three times in their history they attempted unsuccessfully to live as a community. One time many died in an epidemic and they dispersed. Two more times they were scattered after attacks from neighboring groups. At that time the Caquintes split into three separate groups. One group left the area and went to live in a Machiguenga community for several years. During that time the New Testament was in process of being translated into the Machiguenga language, which is closely related to Caquinte.

The Caquintes who heard the Gospel for the first time in Machiguenga, desired to start their own village, build their own school, and have the Scriptures translated into their language. In 1975 they established the village of Quitepampani, inviting many Caquintes still living in fear and isolation to join them. Ken and Joy Swift began learning their language in July of 1976.

The Caquintes now live in three main communities. They have a health post and an elementary school in each village. Two of the communities have a church. The Caquinte people were not accustomed to an authority structure, nor having to work together.

Changes in these areas have slowly taken place over the past 25 years. In the largest village of about 160 people, Tsoroja, the people have enjoyed good spiritual and educational leadership. The same is true in the village of Quitepampani. The majority of Caquintes in both villages are believers. Ever since the founding of the first village, the Christians have met daily, a practice that is especially important for the spiritual growth of those who cannot read.

Thanks for your part in bringing God’s Word to the Caquintes in Peru.

On the home front

Official Baby Announcement…

Ondrej and Jessica have promised us a grandchild in December! So now we are looking at purchasing tickets and figuring out how to fit a timely visit into a schedule that is already more than full.

University for Laura

In three weeks I will travel to the US to accompany Laura to Harding University for her first year of studies in Interior Design. Harding offers a great educational experience that is strong in academics, faith and friendships. These strengths make Harding a very special place to help guide their students down the road to collegiate success. Well, at least that’s the claim on their web site. We were very impressed and excited about Harding when we visited last summer. And we pray that God will use this experience in a significant way to help Laura become all He intends. May God bless her.

US Citizenship

With great sadness I received notice that my application for US citizenship was denied on the basis that insufficient information had been submitted in time. I feel very frustrated at this conclusion to a four year process. My immigration lawyer suggests I could appeal the decision but it would probably be more effort than simply reapplying. And since I have held my green card for so many years the requirements are easier to meet through a different application process. We are praying for God to clearly direct us in this matter.

Prison Break

I took a break to visit with Sally in the Women’s prison (that is Sally and I made a visit ?). I was very impacted seeing the spiritual hunger and need of several of the English speaking women in the prison. We had a great discussion on forgiveness. Many of these women were victims, being talked into carrying drugs. Only with an understanding of God’s forgiveness of them can they be able to forgive others.

World Translation Statistics

New Testaments/Bible translated:

623

Programs in progress:

1,640

New Testaments remaining:

2,529

People without Scripture:

272,000,000

Volunteers needed:

2,978

Christian population:

2,410,000,000