Every day, it is almost inevitable, we are the object to all kinds of information, misinformation, propaganda, agendas and narratives in the media whereof it is increasingly hard to know the truth. The Holy Bible, the Scriptures, or more profoundly, the Word of God, is indeed the sole and only source one can trust. Therefore, more than ever, it is imperative to pursue this media ministry bringing the Word of God to every corner of the earth. We have been steady at about 1.7 million unique visitors per month, who read or listen to Scriptures in over 70 of the major languages of the world. Audio output and download has also been steady at the around 25 Terabytes per month (see stats tab ). Our job is to maintain good operation of the sites but also to keep improving the outreach.

     Matheus Barreto, a Brazilian friend and brother in the Lord, has finished the recordings of the New Testament in Brazilian Portuguese. It has been a process that lasted over one year. We had to send back some parts for re-recording, due to some errors, and after receiving the corrected parts, we had to localize the section in the original audio files and make the corrections ourselves. This method has been time consuming thus we are glad it iss now concluded. Next for Matheus is the recordings of Psalms and Proverbs, which he is already working on. This time we hope he can find someone over there in Brazil to do the proofing and editing. Just for your information, there are two Portuguese Bible versions that are good: The ARC (Almeida Revista e Corrigida) and the ACF(Almeida Corrigida Fiel). These versions are based on the Text Receptus (like the KJV) and they are very similar. We use both versions: the ARC for European Portuguese and the ACF for the Brazilian Portuguese.  Check them below.

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/po-BR/43/1.htm

We continue to receive word of appreciation from the communities in Kenya, for the Audio Bibles they have received this year. Despite Covid 19 restrictions and difficulties the Audio Bible production and distribution this year has been encouraging. Now, with the closing of the China border to foreign persons, we have not been able to go across and properly supervise this, thus we are assessing the possibilities of the factory sending the units directly to Africa, however, we do not know how reliable that would be. Thank you for praying with us for a solution to this situation.    

Maybe you already know that our website has many hidden or less obvious features. For example, you may download a language Bible and have it in your computer, without the need to go online. This is useful for many people who wish to create a Bible site of their own, in their own language, or even in multiple languages – a cloned version of our site. This is actually great for us because it represents an exponential multiplication of our efforts to broadcast the Word of God to the whole wide world. Here is the link to the page where you may download just about any language or version present at Wordproject website:

https://www.wordproject.org/download/bibles/index.htm

Another less obvious feature is the illustrated Bible, which we have setup a while back in the resources section of the site. There you find the public domain illustrations of French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883), who produced hundreds of quality Bible story illustrations in his lifetime.  These illustrations were used in Bibles of many languages in Nineteenth Century. Doré’s realistic style breathed new life into these real stories.  These illustrations stand the test of time as good physical representations of important Biblical events. If you have not seen it before, please check it here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/dure_bible_pictures/index.htm

This month we introduced a new page to our resources containing the “fear of death” tract. For those who are afraid of dying, all of us, to be honest, this tract deals with how to face that fear and the prospects for our lives after death. Interesting reading for people of all ages in this very troubled and death-prone world. Go read it here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/tracts/parachute/en/index.htm

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“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” [John 11:25]

Even though we are in a relatively safe area here, as we do not have local cases of the Corona virus, we are indeed very concerned about other regions of the world where the pandemic is now severe. Thankfully for us, at least for the moment, we are able to move around, within the boundaries of this tiny territory. Also, we are blessed to live in one of the few places in this territory where nature is abundant. We can enjoy lots of outside activities and even some sports. Jason, for example, has been able to join a local football team, therefore training and playing the scheduled games is now part of our weekly routine. Donna loves to swim and while the public swimming pool was open, she was there swimming regularly. Jorge takes to the local hills and walks the trails looking for locations of photographic interest. Well, we try to exercise anyway possible in our situation..

With a more professional approach, Ben has also been putting his photography skills to good use. His recent photographic session with Emanuel, Mandy and their children, shows his photographic talent and insight.

Sunday fellowship happens every week around 11 am at our home. We are not many in attendance, but we are persistent in praising God and reading His Word together. We always close by committing our cares and concerns and everything else that needs, to the Lord in prayer.

Also, in October, Zach (of Philip and Julie), turned 5 and also Donna turned one more year on the 26th… Great weather and small but meaningful celebrations were held here at our home, with the presence of the whole family – some through Zoom. We truly enjoy our birthdays and we are thankful for them, especially considering the alternative….

From our family in other parts of the world we receive news that they are well – that is what we are praying for.