It’s not just progress on translating the Bible in Guarijio that’s encouraging missionary Terry Reed.

It’s the way the progress is being made.

Terry recently spent four days going through the translation of the last eight chapters of Romans with Macario, a Guarijio believer, and it became clear that some adjustments were needed. But that’s not all that was accomplished. “It has been helping Macario to grow in his understanding as well,” Terry wrote. “God is touching lives in many ways here.”

Terry consulted Vicente for help with the adjustments. Vicente, another Guarijio believer, is in his last semester at NTM’s Bible school in Chihuahua. He intends to go on to missionary training and is considering being a missionary in Africa or going back to work among his own people. “Either possibility gives us great cause for rejoicing,” Terry wrote.

Vicente is also the son of the man who is primarily working with Terry on translation, Santos, and is Macario’s nephew.

Reading Vicente’s email about the changes needed in the translation was uplifting for Terry.

“It was encouraging because his translation very closely reflects what I had translated, meaning I am continuing to grow in my language ability and in naturalness,” Terry wrote. “It is also encouraging because I am discussing it with a young Guarijío man who has set his life apart for the Lord’s service, and he has studied the book of Romans in classes.”

Terry is also encouraged by the bigger picture. “This work is moving ahead and each day brings us closer to seeing more of the Word of God published in Guarijío,” he wrote.

Praise God for the work He is doing among the Guarijio people and the progress He is enabling in translating His Word.

New Tribes Mission’s emphasis on church planting is broadening the view of the missionary team in a Nahuatl village.

“One thing that has been heavy on the hearts of our team is the Spanish-speaking individuals in this village,” wrote Katie Moore, a member of the team. “We have couples who have intermarried from several tribal groups, families that speak only Spanish in the home, and … government workers who make their home here.” 

This means that although the team is focused on learning the culture and language of the Nahuatl people, they see current needs around them and they know that any church in the village will need to be multi-ethnic.

“Right before Christmas break, the Mexican teachers expressed an interest in doing a Bible study,” Katie wrote. “They said that they understood that we had studied ‘that sort of thing’ in college and asked if we would like to teach them some.”

Soon afterward, and before the team could provide an answer, a Nahuatl man named Hermilo came to them to ask for a Bible in Spanish. Hermilo does not speak Nahuatl, but speaks and reads Spanish. After he received the Bible he asked, “This is the real Bible, isn’t it?  It’s not one of those that people added a bunch of extra stuff to, right?”

“We don’t know Hermilo’s background,” Katie wrote, “but we imagine that he must have had conversations with a believer at some point in his life. We praise God for whomever planted the seeds of interest and pray that the Holy Spirit will bring about belief and fruit because of it.”

The missionary team is hoping to begin a Spanish-language Bible study this month.

Please pray that God uses this study in the hearts of people who attend. “Pray that we wisely balance our time between community service, construction, language learning, and Spanish evangelism,” Katie wrote.

 Missionary Katie Moore is getting settled into her home among the Nahuatl people. Right after her arrival a work team from the USA came to help.

“When they arrived, things really started moving. We raked and shoveled gravel, poured cement floors, framed walls, put up a fence, welded protection bars onto windows and dug a hole for a septic system.” Katie wrote. “We took a deep breath and then … built an outhouse, hauled water, tiled a shower, framed some doors and moved cement.”

Katie and her teammates used the cooperation and fellowship shown by the work team to show the Nahuatls how God’s family meets one another’s needs, something that is not a part of Nahautl culture.

“We are constantly trying to find opportunities to work on our language abilities, wrote Katie. “The phrase ‘niʔ neme moneštile mehikán’ means ‘teach me Nahuatl.’” 

“Please pray that our minds would be sharp and that our will to study will be strong until we can clearly communicate the Gospel in the heart language of the people.”

Lots of physical labor needed to be tackled as missionaries went back into a Nahuatl village recently, but that’s not the main thing.

“Although there are many things that will require our attention when we return to the tribe, we will focus primarily on reconnecting with the people,” wrote Katie Moore. “We have been gone during the rainy season and want to spend time visiting all our friends and neighbors.”

That also means time spent in language learning and review. “Time to brush the dust off our phrases and get back to work,” Katie wrote. One they expect to use a lot is Ni ki to kwal?, which means, “Did I say it right?”

The physical work mainly involved completing a house for new members of the Nahuatl team, Pete and Liesl Hypki. The outside is complete, but the inside needed to be finished, and before that could happen, 1,500 adobe bricks that were put inside to protect them from rain had to be moved.

Six missionaries from another part of Mexico came in to help with the task.

Pray for the missionaries as get back into ministry, build relationships and ask, often, Ni ki to kwal?