God, please make me beautiful at the core of my being. I want to be a woman at peace. I want people to feel at home when they’re with me. I want my life to comfort and inspire, to nourish and invite, and to display Your character. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

* Gary enjoyed his few days with the missionary kids at “The Orlando Connection” in early August. We trust that their time with him was helpful as they settle back into life in the US.

* The missions’ conference in Callahan seemed to go well, and Gary had a number of opportunities to talk about the work. This church gave us money to rebuild our fence last year, and this year they gave us a new laser printer. We have wanted one for some time due to the cost of ink cartridges, so are thrilled with this gift!

* I have made good progress catching up with e-mail and still have hopes of emptying the inbox very soon. I’m down to 460 now! We are truly blessed by the many wonderful friends God has brought into our lives, and I’ve been reminded of how rich we are with these friendships as I’ve read their letters.

* Our small group has begun meeting again, (currently 12 people). We are delighted that 3 people who had been saying they wanted to join us have actually done so. Pray that we’ll be a blessing in each others’ lives and allow God to do His transforming work in us as we grow together.

* I am planning to work on my US citizenship application this month. As far as we know, I can keep my Australian citizenship too. Right now we are restricted with how long we can be out of the US because I only have a permanent residence visa. Having citizenship would free us up to be able to take an overseas assignment again without this restriction. Pray that I’ll be able to complete the paperwork accurately and that the processing will go smoothly. It can take over a year in this area.

* Esther had a positive time on the first outreach with her DTS. It was a sample of what they’ll be doing for the 2 months at the end of the course: clowning, drama, talking to folk about the Lord. Pray that she’ll stay healthy. She’s was sick with a stomach bug after the outreach probably from something she ate “on the road”.

* Josiah has made a good start on his new school year. He finally finished the on line Algebra II class he started in the summer and is most relieved to no longer have that to do on top of an already heavy study load. He joined the school swim team, but dropped out after 2 days when he found out how demanding it was, both physically and time wise. He would have had a difficult time keeping up with his study load had he continued, and no time for anything else. He has joined the debate club at school, the Christian group again (FCA), and is continuing as an AWANA leader at church again.

* God has provided ANOTHER vehicle for us, an unexpected blessing! Wycliffe colleagues were upgrading their vehicle, and offered us their current one. It has a lot fewer miles than the van, and that has been looking like it may need some major work soon. So even though we hadn’t planned to replace it just yet, we decided it would be wise to take their offer. It’s a ’92 Oldsmobile station wagon that can carry 8 people.

Thank you for praying for Gary in his new role. He is really enjoying some aspects of it, and is rather unsure with others. Please pray that he’ll have some positive encounters as he goes out into the community, and that God will empower him and use him in ways that ultimately result in more people in the Kingdom. (Churches and Christian schools are not a problem, but the business community is a new audience for him.)

Here’s his schedule for September:
1st Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting - meeting the movers and shakers in one of the biggest tourist areas in Florida. This will be my first time there, and I don't think I'll know anyone.
6th Attend "Vision Orlando" - a Christian networking get together. My first time there, trying to get to know who is doing what in Orlando in Christian circles, hoping to make contacts that will benefit Bible Translation.
8th & 14th Give a "Mission Encounter" presentation to our visitors here at the WordSpring Discovery Center.
14th Give a special presentation and tour to a large group of 5th graders from Masters Academy here in Orlando. Pray that God will touch these young hearts to consider serving in missions and Bible translation.
15th Give a tour of Wycliffe US to visitors to WordSpring.
18th Special tour and orientation meeting with Wycliffe's new recruiters.
20th, 23rd, 24th Speak to the youth group at Deltona Lakes Baptist Church (just north of Orlando) at their missions’ conference. This is a first for this church. Pray that I will connect not only with the youth, but the church leaders.
27th - 29th Man a display at the Florida/Georgia Lutheran educators’ conference - promoting WordSpring/Wycliffe as a place for field trips.

We’re grateful for the sacrifices you make as you partner with us through your prayers. God bless you for your obedience and love.

Robyn, for the Petersons

Another Happy Update from Argentina

Hi everybody! Here’s another update from way down in South America.
I can’t believe it’s been two months already! In just one month our DTS team will be splitting into two groups and going to Peru and Chile for two months of outreach. Please pray that God will show the leadership who to put in each group and that He will open doors for where we will stay and minister in the countries. It’s going to be very sad when we have to divide.
Last weekend we went on a mini-outreach, a two day preview of what the real outreach will be like. We split into two groups of five plus our leaders (this did not include the married couple because they had just had the birth of their second daughter! Praise God that baby Brisa was born healthy and please pray for the family as they try to complete the school and the outreach with two very small children. The mother is only 21 years old). My group went to a small town called Palmar Grande. It was a pretty place, a lot cleaner and neater than Corrientes, and the kind of place where the grass streets are used more for horses than for cars. We were ministering to a very small church. The building was average sized but the congregation consisted of about five people (including the pastor and his wife) and a hand full of children. Nevertheless, it was a good time. We did a number of skits, led worship, and shared some testimonies. We also held a program for the neighborhood kids where we dressed up as clowns and did more skits, songs, and a short message. We slept in two rooms in the back of the church and ate some very interesting food. One meal was a soup that included cow’s tongue and intestine (both of which I tried a tiny bit of, just for the experience) and another meal of some animal called carpincho. I’m still not sure what it is but it’s apparently like a large beaver or something. Very interesting, but it tasted pretty good. The next evening back at the base I was very sick with vomiting, but I believe it was food poisoning from an apple I had eaten that day. In future I will give in and remove the skin first ; )
Praise God my Spanish is improving! Thank you so much to all those who have been praying for me! I’m still not the greatest communicator but it’s really exciting that at times I can have long, deep conversations with some of the Spanish speakers and understand almost everything. Please keep praying that I’ll continue to improve.
I found out from my parents that I have been accepted to Trinity College of Florida, a small Bible college near Tampa, for the spring semester. I’m still praying for confirmation, but I believe that’s what God has for me when I return home. I’m also considering doing a school of art (dance and drama) with YWAM somewhere in the world in the near future. The taste I’ve had of their art ministry has really impressed me and I would like to receive more training. I would also appreciate prayer for receiving God’s direction for my future.
One more prayer request is for the other members of the DTS and also for the School of Mobile Missions that is going on at the same time. God has amazingly provided for all of my financial needs for this time through the willing hearts of many of you. However many of the other students have come in faith, not knowing how they are going to pay for the rest of their school or their outreach. Some of them have had problems withdrawing money from the bank. Some of them need to get passports for the outreach, and some have parents and family members who are not Christians. They could all use your prayers, too. And if any of you just can’t get enough of giving away money , what I mean is if God puts it on your heart, there’s always an opportunity to donate towards the other students or to the base itself.
Thank all of you who even take the time to read my updates. It’s so special to know that so many people care about me and are praying for me. This is such an amazing time for me. Someone gave me the comparison that this five months is like the year of beauty preparations that Esther in the Bible went through before she was chosen as queen. This is my preparation time for serving my King. Thank you all so much for being a part of it!
In Christ,
-Esther

Pray for Utah

Hello from Utah!

We are gearing up for another school year. New students are arriving this week and we are planning our first few events.

Please pray for:

New leaders, as students return from summer missions.

Students to lead praise and worship-we have a real need here

God's wisdom as we plan outreaches and other events


Thank you all again for a wonderful time at the 75th Celebration!



Rob and Miriam Gunn, Campus Crusade in Utah

A look at what John does in Kenya

When I saw a video clip produced for Compassion International where a local Christian radio station took a team in Kenya of a slum outside of Nairobi, Kenya, I thought of the work that Living Water International is doing in a neighboring slum (called Kangemi). The two areas have the same desperate need for clean water, sanitation, trash removal, hygiene, and the love of Jesus.

In response to the needs in Kangemi, Living Water International has drilled a high-capacity borehole in the middle of the slum. In the center is a water kiosk. In addition, water is piped to three kiosks, each about 1/3 mile from the well. A Christian, health-worker is at each kiosk to answer health, family and faith questions. A local water committee sells water to the local community and they charge a few shillings (about four cents) for a five gallon jerry can. While I was there, there was a steady flow of people filling their jerry cans. People had carts to carry jerry cans so I'm guessing that they traveled pretty far to get the water.

All together, somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people have access to the well water. Money collected will be used to pay for the small salary of the heatlh worker(s) and to pay for maintenance on the pumping equipment.

In summary, the conditions are terrible, and we all need to try and help people in these slums. Living Water International is trying to help by providing

- a sustainable water system (anyone can get water)
- health and hygiene training
- a few jobs
- an opportunity to see the Gospel in action ('and where necessary, use words')

If you would, please pray for people of Kenya, Living Water International, Marcia, and me.

Your fellow servant,

John (and Marcia)

Petersons’ Prayer Guide - August 2006

“I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken… trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:5-6,8

Gary has begun his new role with Guest and Event services at our Wycliffe Orlando office. He did take on the position described in our last prayer guide and has the title of Community Relations Manager for Wordspring, the visitors’ center. Pray for him as he gets to know his team mates better and learns to work effectively with them. His job is to get out into the community to let people know we’re here and introduce them to the needs of the Bibleless people, as well as to engage with the many visitors who come. He is trying to figure out how he can best balance his time and the limited resources to educate, encourage and engage people in the work of Bible Translation. Gary is still “Mr. Interruptible” if anyone wants to talk with someone. He is also helping to train volunteers to connect with visitors and tell the story of what God is doing here and around the world.

Some extra events Gary agreed to help with before he started this new job:
Aug. 7-9 The Orlando Connection. This is a program to help reorient Wycliffe missionaries to life back in the US. Gary will be helping to run the program for the kids. Pray that Gary and the team will really help these kids and their families make a smooth transition “home”. For most of these kids, “home” is overseas.
August 9 – 13 Global Impact Celebration at 1st Baptist Church, Callahan, Florida. Gary will be sharing with a wide variety of groups through this time. He will finish up late on Sunday the 13th, and then drive 4 hours home. Pray that he will inform as well as inspire these folk as to how they can be involved in Bible Translation.

I (Robyn) am really grateful to be spending some of this summer at home. I’ve enjoyed having a bit more time to read, and getting some projects done. I’m acting as Esther’s personal assistant handling her college application paperwork while she’s in Argentina. (She just received her letter of acceptance to Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey with plans to begin there in January.) Gary and I took a short getaway last weekend while both our kids were overseas. We enjoyed the chance to reconnect and relax together. This is a new season in our lives, and it’s been good to have some time to talk and process everything. Please pray especially that I’ll be able to get caught up on the e-mail backlog that has been on our home computer for a long time. I was thrilled to get the inbox down from nearly 1000 to below 700 last week! Pray too for a balance in the use of my time. I want to make time for relationships with our neighbors, and will be getting much more involved with our small group as we recommence soon after the summer break.

Esther has been in Argentina for more than a month now. We eagerly look forward to her e-mails and the occasional phone call. She seems to be settling in well and enjoying most of the new experiences. Her biggest challenge is the language barrier. Having 6 roommates who don’t speak much English makes it hard to enter into conversations… Pray for a sharp mind and that she won’t get tired of making the effort to keep learning Spanish. She doesn’t get as much time to do e-mail as she’d like, so if you’ve written to her and haven’t had a reply, just be patient. She has to walk to an Internet café in the evenings after dinner (when she doesn’t have duties), and has to round up others to go along for security reasons, so it can be difficult.

Josiah has just returned from his mission trip to Ecuador. Let us know if you’d like to read his report about that experience. He says he’d love to do it again, so that tells you something! And his team leader said he’d welcome Josiah on his team again any time. He helped in a number of ways, from carrying bamboo poles, to sharing the Gospel using a special tool, playing with children, and praying. God seems to be building a real passion for prayer into our son, and we’re excited to see that! He will be a busy young man between now and when school starts on Aug. 7th, finishing up some assignments for next year as well as his on line Algebra II course. Pray for the strength and motivation to work hard and be ready for a busy new year.

God has provided another vehicle to replace our aging Honda. Our church here had one donated (a ’95 Dodge Intrepid), and it was offered to us when they heard of our need. It has required some mechanical work and a lot of cleaning to prepare it for our use, but we think it’s going to be a good car for us. Thanks so much for praying for this need! We’re also very grateful to a number of folk who helped us financially with the extra expenses we’ve incurred for all of this lately.

Thank you for your invaluable role as a prayer warrior for our family. You are truly a gift from the Lord to us! Robyn for the Petersons