April 2012 - Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses

Oh how encouraged we are to be surrounded by so many retired missionaries who have ran with endurance on the field.  They are witnesses who bare testimony to God’s sustaining power all over the globe.  They are witnesses to the peace that comes when one obeys the Lord, even in the face of great difficulties.  They testify to us that God’s Word is power and we have heard story after story about how the Gospel has compelled tribes of people to renounce their false God’s and bow to Jesus Christ.  The Lord continues to use others here at GIAL to educate us, encourage us, and grow our excitement for the mission field.

A couple weeks ago, there was a “Cameroon night” hosted at a retired missionary’s house where missionaries at all different stages in the process gathered.  It was so encouraging to see the missionaries who completed their translation work and to hear stories of how the Lord used his Word to bring many to Christ.  The task ahead of us seems insurmountable, but if the Lord sustained these missionaries than he can sustain us!  There is nothing impossible with God! We walked away tremendously encouraged (read more here)...

Feb 2012 - The Wonderful World of Linguistics

What a privilege and a joy it has been to study linguistics at GIAL here in Dallas. We have walked not only into the exciting world of linguistics, but have also entered a world flooded with missionary wisdom. All of Dave’s professors are return missionaries and some are about to head back to the field. We live in a neighborhood right across the street from our school that is mostly composed of retired or aspiring missionaries. One of Dave’s professors took him out to lunch to talk to him about parenting our children overseas. We had a couple over who spent 32 years in Cameroon translating New Testament...(click here to read more).