WP Progress – February 2019

Jorge:

Only 28 days in February but so many things happened in such a short time. Many ‘long’ hours have been invested in developing and improving WP website. One of the new features, just introduced, is the ‘Verse of the Day’. This is a very useful feature as with a copy and paste stroke we can send a different verse everyday to our friends and acquaintances, and of course read it ourselves. Every day the verse changes with the date and therefore a different verse will be available for 365 days of the year. This feature is nothing new and actually being offered by several online Bible sites. However, what is more unusual is the fact that we offer it in many languages – and that is where those many long hours went. For the moment we offer it in 12 languages, besides English. You may try it here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/votd/

Just check and see what verse is there for you (us) today.

Coming down to the South has been a good break and it was suppose to be a short holiday. Indeed it was a break for our lungs, the air and the weather here is just fantastic. However, I have been more busy than before – mostly housekeeping. But the experience has been enriching: around us there are many people who are suffering, mostly from their ageing  ailments. It is natural to try to add some years  to physical life and some comfort and quality too. Life is beautiful but inevitably it has trials because, among so many other things, the decay brought by the “fall” (yes, Adam and Eve’s).  Healing and renewal are the antidotes for decay – but, most of all, we have to learn to rely on GRACE – that capacity to be resilient and to endure, to go through, not eliminate, pain and suffering. We hope to contribute to this great effort, with our modest but sincere contribution, broadcasting the Word of God:

Our stats this month show that again:  over 61,000 visitors per day, average, and almost 7 million page views for all our sites. We thank the Lord for that.

Analytics for WP site
Web traffic at WP
WP rank

APP: Some comments at our Android APP, show that we are moving in the right direction in that field to:

“Best Bible application in the market! Both text and audio, night mode, continues listening, offline mode. The only problem is that it can not be played if the screen is locked/turned off. The Apple iOS users do NOT have this issue. People here reported this issue but seems like the developer do not give a care about it as he answered like “click on continues play and listen only in screen on mode“. [A.R.]

Our answer: ” Thank you for your suggestions.  We are working on a new version of the APP that should solve that and a few other issues. Please, be patient and give us a little more time.”

Indeed, we are reaching a new phase in the development of the new APP and Phil, in Thailand, is doing a great job although long and laborious. Keep him in your prayers.

NEW APP features preview

On the other hand, about the same APP, we received this month super comments like these:

– “Excellent application, use constantly to read and listen!” [..]

– “Excellent, exquisite work, and a most precious work, the best I’ve ever encountered.” […]

– “It’s the best application I like everything.” […]

– “Easy to use It is important to have you open the Word with listening to reading the Bible” [Y.M.]

On other news: Raj came back from India but we have not yet met. Certainly he left the 50 audio Bibles there… Meanwhile, we shipped 100 audio devices to Portugal. They should arrive there soon. Cristiana is in charge to pick them up and they will be waiting for distribution. As we go back to our base, and now that the factories are back into production, we should place our new orders for this year. Specifying and quantifying languages is the hardest part because it depends on how we going to get the machines shipped and delivered to the field. Thank you for your prayers.

Sharing WP audio Bibles in India
Listening to WP audio Bible in Uganda

Family Update – February 2019

Donna:

Lo and behold, February brought to us the Chinese New Year of the Pig. The period leading up to this auspicious holiday is definitely the most exciting time of the year for the majority of the population here, as everyone is busy relinquishing their worn out possessions, cleaning house and excitedly purchasing new clothes, foodstuffs, flowers  and lucky papers to issue in good fortune. Millions of people are crisscrossing the country on high speed trains, planes and private cars to reunite with family for the New Year’s Eve dinner and TV gala! We had the privilege of participating in the annual dinner with Emanuel and Mandy’s family, which included Mandy’s parents from Shanghai! They prepared the traditional dumplings and fish and an amazing assortment of culinary delights! What a feast! Welcome 2019 once again!

Flowery Chinese New Year
Home-made dumplings.

On the 24th, we set off for Sanya, the southern tip of the country! Before the short winter ended, we decided to take advantage of the fresh air and beauty of the island. It just so happens that the day after arrival, I decided to take a swim, an activity which I believed to be advantageous to my precarious knee situation. Well, it just so happened that the knee dislocated once again, leaving a very painful and swollen joint. With some pain killers, anti-inflammatory meds and some TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) I got thru the acute phase and am now presently in the phase of immobilization and rest. For me, the hardest thing is to get thru the pain, and to mentalize myself that pain is actually a blessing…  Maybe I need to slow down and listen more. As C S Lewis puts it : ”Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.”

Actually, there is a condition named Congenital Analgesia, where people do not feel physical pain at all. This may sound wonderful, however the downsides of this are quite severe. If you do not feel pain, you may not get the treatment your body needs or you may ignore a potentially life threatening injury as there is no sense of urgency through the sensation of pain.  I recognize that if my joint was not painful, I would probably be limping around on the swollen knee eager to get things done, thus hampering the recovery process.  So even though God may be using pain to get me to stop, look and listen, He is still the source of all comfort.” Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2Cor 1:3,4. 

Our trip was touched by seeing old friends in the housing estate, who remembered us from so many years back. A special lunch was held with our good friends, the Fu family and the Chan family the ones who led us to our current abode in Nan Shan. So, all is well that ends well! Let us cherish each and every moment, as we don’t know what God has in store for us tomorrow.

Donna’s Knee: Assistance from our friend Wei Hong
Jason helping out with borrowed wheelchair.
With friends around trials are easier to overcome

We are glad to report that other members of our family are healthy and are doing well. We are thankful.

Philip and Zach in Seattle
Gloria in Portugal
Bel Bel in Macau

Not least, we had a wonderful time of fellowship and Bible reading, with Chinese hymn songs and prayer, at our own home, along with our long-time friend, Wei Hong. She has an amazing ‘after-death’ experience, after a car crash many years ago. She knows the spirit world is real and she loves Jesus Christ.

Sharing the Word with Wei Hong

And, finally, just a few images from the garden estate here in Hainan, near Ya Cheng Village, where we are spending 10 days: