Financial Support

Mark and I are excited to announce that all of our necessary financial support has come in! We have been continually blessed and challenged by the sacrificial giving that's flooded in on our behalf. I know I have been brought to tears more than once as we've been made aware of who has supported us and how. We have felt God's affirmation of this trip over and over, as He has not even give me time to stress (and as many of you know-- that's saying something) over the money before it was there!

This isn't going to be a long post today, but I wanted to make sure to let you know that our support is raised. If you would still like to support us in our trip, you have a few options:

1) You can pray for us (and let us know you're praying for us)! Every prayer and word of encouragement means a great deal to us.
2) You can still choose to send money to support our work in Mozambique. At this point, extra money that is sent will go to aiding Wycliffe Bible Translators in their work or in support another mission in Mozambique.

Watch for a few more updates coming soon on:

• how you can pray for us in the one-month count-down to our trip
• what I might possibly be doing while Mark is immersed in ethnomusicology work
• why learning Portuguese is fun

Two Snapshots Into Mark's Head

Scary prospect, I know, but fear not.  We tend to fear what we do not understand, and since the purpose of this post is to promote understanding, specifically of what makes me (Mark) tick, I am hopefully reducing your fears.

Anyway, I have two videos that will help to give a picture to those who may be confused about what music can have to do with missions.  The first video has a neat story of the way an arts consultant changed the way a group of people viewed their own cultural music- turning something that was used in the traditional religions of that area into scripture songs.  The second gives a good idea of part of what an "arts consultant" does. 
http://www.wycliffe.org/Go/Careers/TypesofWork/LanguageWork/ArtsConsultation.aspx

These activities are likely ones in which I will get to participate on our trip, and if the phrase "geeked out" means anything to you, you'll know how I feel about this!
~Mark