Habari ya Morgan

We will be arriving back in the US for our Home Assignment on July 21. As overseas missionaries, our time spent on Home Assignment is an important part of our ministry. We would like to share with you what our plans/goals are during this time as we continue our ministry.

Home Assignment Goals

• Renew relationships with family and friends.
• Spend time continuing to share our vision for Bible Translation in Africa with churches and supporters. We have already plans to visit churches in Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. If you would like us to come speak at your church, bible study, or have us over for a visit please let us know!
• Complete our adoption and bring back our child from Taiwan.
• Jonathan will be continuing much of his finance work for the Uganda/Tanzania branch remotely from home.
• Rachel is planning to volunteer in her home church in Kansas City.
• Jonathan has been able to help many missionaries with their US taxes (they are complicated for missionaries). He is planning to take an income tax course so he can get some formal training in this area and can develop this area of ministry.
• Raise more prayer and financial support. We have to be back at 100% support before Wycliffe will release us to return to Tanzania.
• On our way back to Africa we plan to spend time with our family and friends in England.
• Have a few weeks to rest, debrief with other missionaries and take some vacation.

The Rangi team recently had the opportunity to make audio recordings of the books of Jonah, Ruth, and portions of Mark. These recordings have the potential to reach a larger number of people at one time than the written books of the Bible. They will reach people who cannot see well enough to read, those who are older and find learning to read difficult, as well as very young children.

In preparation for the recording, the Rangi team sat together to discuss which chapters in Mark should be recorded first. With Easter approaching, the team was very interested in recording the crucifixion and resurrection chapters. We decided to read those chapters together to listen for flow issues and to test the translators’ abilities to read aloud. I was following along in my printed copy of Mark when I realized that the translators were not reading their copies, but rather, they were reciting the section completely by memory. This really surprised me. “How have you memorized so much Scripture?” I asked them. They replied, “We have read it so many times when translating it that we have memorized entire sections. It is easier for us to memorize God’s word in our mother-tongue.”

I was so excited to see how the work of translation into their own language has helped the translators hide God’s Word in their hearts!

Dedication of the book of Mark (NLB-HD) from Jonathan Morgan on Vimeo.