Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of communication the past few months. We moved back into Dem-land in December and our internet was horrible. Emails didn’t load/send and it was barely working up until just this past month because we were able to get a new internet system. So in this update we will try to fill you in a little with what’s been going on in Dem so far in 2024 (And end of 2023) and add some pics and videos since everyone usually likes those. lol

As I mentioned, we moved back into Dem in December and celebrated Christmas with the Dem, along with another baptism of 25 Dem believers, (We had another baptism in February of another 25 people and have another 25 planned in a couple weeks. PTL!) also partaking in communion for the first time with the Dem Church. This is something that was very special as we have been carefully teaching on what communion is Biblically. The Dem have had a distorted (or as the Dem would say “crooked”) view of what it was, so we as a team took time to make sure they truly understood why believers partake in communion.

Our co-workers who are living in town right now were able to come in during school break and we celebrated Christmas in Dem-land together, but then they had to go back to town after and that left just us living in here full time for the remainder of the school year. Many of you have been praying for this transition as life in the tribe is very stressful at times, and very demanding also, so we appreciate all the prayers for our family during this time of a “new norm.”

The Lord definitely went before us and these last few months haven’t been as stressful as we anticipated. Don’t get us wrong, the people have had a lot of medical issues that we’ve had to arrange medivacs for and talking with doctors to get the needed medical assistance for the patients. We’ve seen some victories with some of these medical issues, however last week 3 babies passed away which was very sad. It was encouraging however to see the difference in the mourning/grieving rituals now, compared to in the past before we had believers.

Our kiddos are doing well being back in the tribe. The little 2 enjoy playing with friends just like before. Eden has been having a harder time as it’s more difficult for her to spend time with a couple of her old friends that are still here (because they are married and pregnant now) and she is missing all the social things in “town” to keep her busy. She’s been very helpful around the house, doing school and still able to spend some time with her old friends every now and then. The kids are excited for the school year to almost be over as Eden is finishing up 9th grade, Jericho 6th grade, and Noelle 2nd grade. None of them enjoy school even a little bit, so that makes homeschooling a challenge, but we are so grateful for the gift and opportunity it is to do school at home here. Just if you think of it, prayers appreciated for all with school!:)

Translation of scripture continues as Dylan and Jared have been translating full time still and in March they both were able to do some language checks with our translation consultant. Acts is officially finished and the first 8 chapters of Mark as well. This is such a blessing, and exciting to have more Scripture translated and now finished going through all the steps of making sure the scripture is clear & accurate. Please continue to pray for Dylan & Jared and they continue on with the translation. Jared is working on the rest of Mark and Dylan is working through Ephesians.

This past week I taught the final lesson of Acts and finished off Paul’s final missionary journey and death. The people were sad to hear about Paul’s death, but also amazed at all Paul did for the Lord even while in prison and suffering persecution. The thing lots of people love the most about Paul is once he was a murderer (which lots of our guys can relate to), but then Yagwe changed his life and he began to follow Jesus and it gives them hope that the Lord can save, forgive, and redeem anyone and draws them to Himself.

The next couple months we will be going back over some earlier lessons and hopefully in August start teaching through Ephesians, which we are very excited to start! This will be good for them to hear Biblically how a husband should treat his wife, kids, and different roles the Lord has given to us to live in unity. Please continue to pray as Dylan finishes up the key verses and key terms in Ephesians so we can begin teaching in August.

We know many of you have also been praying about the security issues for us being back in the tribe. We have to be really careful what gets shared on a public platform like this, but as many of you know the pilot that was taken last year still hasn’t been released and there are many rumors that spread throughout the mountains as far as when/if he will be released. We know these groups can show up any time really and a few weeks ago we heard rumors of some of the people in the “group” coming our way, but it never happened and we are just trusting the Lord and grateful for our Dem friends who are constantly listening to rumors, and wanting to protect us if anything should “pop off” as they say. lol But thank you for your faithful prayers.

There’s much more we could share but I’ll keep it short for now and just use this as a little “check-in”. Please know your prayers and support is never taken for granted or forgotten about. We thank you all so much for the faithful support over all these years & with this new norm of being in the tribe “alone” we know we are never “ALONE” as we serve a God who “…never leaves or forsakes us”.

*Below are some videos of the local market in town when we do supply shopping (not in Dem). When we go to town and buy our supplies, buying fresh produce looks a little bit different then at Walmart or local grocery store and thought some of you might wanna see for yourselves.

*One more side note- (Kind of a long note) for any of you who might have asked in the past about how you can help. The Lord has been so gracious in providing consistent support over the years here on the field for our family & our team. Now that our team is translating scripture more, and our literacy program is booming with so many students that want to attend (3 classes at a time have been going!), we (our team) have usually paid for all these materials ourselves, which includes getting portions of scripture printed, literacy curriculum printed, more recorders for people to be able to listen to the lessons at home, and many other things, our team account is in the red.

If anyone out there would like to contribute monthly or just a 1 time gift to our team account please let us know. These gifts would go straight to our team account and go directly towards printing of literacy materials (Curriculum, school supplies for the people) also portions of scripture that have been checked and get it into the peoples hands. Also airstrip tools, (lawnmowers, gas, etc) supplies for working on teaching building, equipment to install some lights in the teaching building for night meetings, and anything else that will directly be benefiting the Dem. If anyone would like more info on this please email us and we can tell you how to do so.