Successful Tung Oil Season - Sustainable Development
My Dong business colleague and I have now established that tung oil (and possibly other related crops) can both provide the benefits for which we had hoped and still remain a sustainable business platform, making back the money invested.

• It provided my Dong brother and me with a non-suspicious reason to be anywhere in the countryside. It also provided the income necessary for him to support his family and continue doing much of the Christian work he does.
• Because the tung project is limited to the fall, during 2005 he and I will be testing out a few other small business opportunities using the same idea: self-sustaining economic development and support.
• The tung project itself is only the platform for the greater work, though. What eternal work has been accomplished? Besides keeping a Dong believer from leaving home to find work, what has the Lord done in the past couple months?

40 Stories - Bible Storying Project
I finally have some good news on the 40 Stories (Bible storying) Project. We have been praying for months that progress could be made on these recordings, and starting with the last newsletter, we prayed a very specific request for this project: all forty stories recorded and checked before the end of the year. First, I should explain that I did not fully understand the process needed when I wrote the last newsletter. Now, I can more clearly explain what is needed for a story to reach completion: initial recording into Dong, back-translation from Dong to Chinese, checking by an outside consultant, and final corrections.I intended for us to pray for all forty stories to be recorded and back-translated, but I used the confusing term “checking,” which is unclear because the back-translation and the consultant check are both checks on the quality of the recording. Anyway, explanations aside, what was accomplished?

• I knew that we had little chance of arranging for a translation consultant on such short notice, so I focused on completing the tasks we could do before the consultant check: recording and back-translation. We did not reach that goal, but instead we got something better—God arranged a consultant for us. So, instead of bringing all forty of the stories through the first two steps, we have stories in all four stages. Having gone through consultant checking on some stories helps us produce a better recorded product from the very beginning on the remaining stories, one that needs less correction during checking.
• Before this end-of-the-year push and God’s answer to prayers, we had half the stories recorded, none back-translated, and none checked by the consultant. As of the last day of the year, three-fourths of the stories are recorded, all of those are back-translated, and one-fourth of the stories have been checked by the consultant! We have been praying, and God has been working.
• The stories that the consultant has checked need only some technical work to add in the final corrections in order to reach their final form. I did not expect any such answer when we started praying, but just to think: one-fourth of these stories need only a little technical editing and they will be complete!
• We are, by no means, finished praying for the 40 Stories Project, but God has provided the opportunities to complete some very important work, bringing some of them to the verge of completion. Praise the Lord!

Strength of the Dong Church - Admonishing and Teaching
We have requested God to open doors for our Dong brothers and sisters to communicate the Good News and for God to work through them to start a new Dong church.

After talking to some Dong believers this past month or so, I see the need is less for new Dong churches than for the strengthening of the church of Christ that is already present.

 

There are many more villages with believers than I previously knew (so, in a way, God did start new Dong churches as per our request), but several of them do not or cannot meet.

• Let us continue to pray for God to open doors for our Dong brothers and sisters: may the Lord open doors for the Dong church to be strengthened. For those closed in fear, may the door of fellowship and love be opened. For those closed in complacency, may the door of teaching and encouragement be opened. And for those who are open, but only just beginning their walk with the Lord, may they learn to exercise their faith and grow in the Lord.