Back in Iowa

We are back in Iowa for a few days between trips. It feels good to be home for a few days to worship at Carmel Church and see family and friends again. Although we're not sure about this 40 degree weather! It definitely changed seasons while we were gone.
This past week Brian worked with the Turkish Bible Society. The individuals who work there were incredibly hospitable to us as well as excited about the assistance Brian was able to give them. He worked with and trained four individuals on two different translation projects. The main project he worked on was a Kurdish translation. This New Testament was completed a few years ago, and now they're working on the Old Testament. The translators are hoping to finish it in the next 2-3 years.
Another translation Brian worked on was converting a Turkish text that had done over 300 years ago. This translation would be comparable to our King James Version and is still the preferred translation for many people. The text was not in a usable electronic format, so Brian spent several evenings converting it to Paratext. Now they'll be able to refer to both this translation and a newer Turkish translation while working on the Kurdish project. Also, it will be much easier to reprint it later in this format.
You may have noticed that while we were in Turkey we didn't give a lot of information about the work Brian was involved in. Turkey is 98% Muslim with less than 1% Christian. Christianity is legal, but discrimination against Christians is relatively commonplace. One of the translators Brian worked with has been imprisoned 20 times in the past 25 years because his credentials say he's a Christian. He also was unable to get a passport for 5 years. Most of the people at the Bible Society office have had difficulty getting visas to travel to other countries. There is also discrimination against the Kurds. Until a few years ago, it was illegal to speak the Kurdish language. So please pray for the Turkish Bible Society and their situation. They also have many projects they would like to do, including a Turkish Children's Bible, and are hopeful funding will become available to complete them.
Our next trip is to Mexico and South America. We leave Friday (October 9) for one week in Peru, two weeks in Ecuador, and two weeks in central Mexico. Then around the middle of November we make our way down to Chiapas for a number of months. It will be good to be settled somewhere for more than a week at a time. And it will be even better being "back home" and working with the Tojolabal project once again after so many years.
As always, we appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we serve in the area of translation. We love your feedback and comments (hint hint!), so if there's ever anything you want us to write about, please let us know. Take care, Donna