Donna:

February was another month of beginnings, as we peacefully entered the Chinese New Year!

CNY decorations in Macau.

Actually, the symbols and traditions of the Chinese New Year are deeply rooted in more than 5,000 years of human culture and beliefs. Unfortunately, many of the traditions have roots in astrology, religious horoscopes, feng shui , lucky superstitions and the ambition to become prosperous and wealthy. As we know from the Bible, these practices are forbidden for those who serve the Lord God.  For this reason, the Spring Festival can be quite challenging for Christians of Chinese descent who no longer believe in luck but believe that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and that every good and perfect gift is from their Father which is from above.  “Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all” 1 Chr 29:12.  Christians are challenged to abstain from the cultural practices based on luck and instead focus on the good Chinese New Year traditions such as visiting family, friends and relatives (some traveling thousands of kms home on crowded buses and trains), sharing  foods and the exchange of small  gifts etc.  Hopefully, they can use the opportunity to share how thankful they are that God has blessed them.  An interesting thing to note is that with so many Christians in China, ( some estimate that there are now more Christians than members of the communist Party !)  a new culture of texting Christian greetings and prayers for the New Year is proliferating. Besides the new fad of on-line sending and receiving of hongbao, or red envelope gifts, wishes for peace and eternal joy from God are now circulating on social media sites! Praise be to God! Pray for the innovative Chinese Church in China to find new ways to share the gospel of His love!!

Jorge:

After one year in the mainland we have closed the apartment and we are back in Macau. This year we have several goals we will try to attain from here. A possible trip to Portugal this spring is in the works. Not least, there is the arrival of Emanuel and Mandy’s new baby expected for April. We also hope to assist and encourage those of our family who are studying and working in Macau and strengthen our unity to face future challenges. We also are enjoying fellowship and activities together. Always enjoy hearing from family near and far.

Assorted pictures:

All together in Taipa

At Emanuel and Mandy’s home for CNY dinner.

Expired Image!

Picnic around the island.

Bel Bel being cute

Brave Zac in Hawai

Philip, Julie and Zac in Hawai

Cristiana and sher singing teacher in Portugal

This month we have been busy making corrections and updating. Several reports were sent to us concerning links that did not work, chapters that were missing, audio that was wrong, etc., which, for the most part, we have fixed.

Here is one of those reports:

“Hi friends, I appreciate very much what you do. I was looking for an audio Bible in my language (Bulgarian) I  found you. I appreciate that you have a Bulgarian page. Probably you have used an automated translation. The text is understandable but there are few words that are a bit different. If you would like I could give you some small hints how to improve the Bulgarian text (since it is my mother tongue) It is so funny I helped with spreading English Bibles you help with Bulgarian… we are all helping in this big work to spread the Word of God.” M.

We did receive the corrections from this Bulgarian friend and we made the relevant changes. Here:

Bulgarian audio page

We also received this email from another user:

“I am not using the parallel function.  I click on Farsi, and then the Farsi bible is shown (without another book in parallel).  Until about a week ago, I could click on a book of the Bible and the chapters in that book would be shown above the text.   Then I could click on the chapter I wanted to see, and I could go right to that chapter.   Now that feature seems to have been eliminated.  Chapter one is shown, but in order to go to chapter two or to later chapters, I need to go to the bottom of the page and click the arrow for the next chapter.  To go to chapter 20, I need to do this many times!!!   Are the chapters in the book no longer shown right above the text, so that I could immediately go to chapter 20,  or am I doing something wrong?  Is there a way for me to find the chapter indications again?   Thanks for any help you can give me.  Sincerely in Christ our Lord. ” J.A.

In this case we had done some updating and change the way the links work for the chapters. This was just an overlook because everything stayed there and just a simple scroll upwards will reveal all chapters links. We explained and the user is now able to navigate the chapters without any issues.

Here are the changes we have implemented. Notice the new SEND mailto button and the new location of the increase/decrease font buttons:

New location of buttons. Notice also square frames on chapter numbers.

IOS New Version

Our dear brother in Korea, Hison Khang, has done  a wonderful job in updating the IOS app. He made some improvements and solved compatibility issues and also included 3 new languages in the APP. Now, the IOS app offers Bulgarian, Burmese (Myanmar)  and Luganda (Uganda) text and audio Bibles.  We are very thankful and his efforts are to be appreciated by those who speak those languages and are able to read and hear the Word of God in their own languages on their iPhones. The Android version was also updated and includes Burmese and Luganda as well. A great blessing.

Burmese. (Myanmar on the IOS platform)

February APP comments

Excellent app, I really like multiple languages, whether to read it or listen to it and read it. I recommend it widely. Thank you very much, God bless you very much for this work. FC //// I have arrived at right destination of audio bible, offline is wonderful. NA //// Very good serve our Lord Jesus Christ also very good. P. //// Clear voice, narration speed perfect. Continuous play very useful. God bless you all. Excellent work. JD. //// Thank you for a no strings attached free audio bible.  Great work and very much needed. CH.//// Thank you for creating this god bless you. TR. ////  Excellent best ever. I.

Language Menu in Android APP. Notice the two new languages: Luganda and Burmese.

Our outreach is much amplified by through several websites that have practically copied ours and present themselves online under a new name. (This is a compliment to our designer – Gabriel – who sees his design being copied by several developers). Some of the most relevant:

http://aservicodoreijesus.com.br/bibles/audio/01_english/index.htm

http://aservicodoreijesus.com.br/bibles/audio/31_kannada/b01.htm

http://coo2cwr9gsf.bible1audio.xyz/Book/EnglishKJV/index.htm

http://biblep.pro/kj/

This site streams Bible audio from our servers:

http://bibleaudiointelugu.blogspot.in/2016/12/01.html