Donna:

In China, Chinese New Year is known as chūnjié (春节), or Spring Festival. Paradoxically, it is the coldest time of the year, but it marks the turn-around in seasons, when people begin to look forward to spring (and in the old days, new planting). It symbolizes new beginnings and fresh starts. 
Chinese New Year is also called the Lunar New Year based on the traditional lunar calendar and this year we welcomed the Year of the Ox in February. Traditions include fireworks and firecrackers, large variety shows and banquets and lots of food, clothes and flower shopping! However, due to the ongoing pandemic, things in general were very quiet as compared to previous years: less public decorations, very few tourists and no large scale public events were held. We enjoyed a lovely home celebration with Emanuel and Mandy as our gracious hosts which included the traditional menu of dumplings, fish, spring rolls, meat, veggies and so much more! Good friends and the TV Gala event welcomed in the New Year!
One thing that continued on was the spirit of good cheer within the community! By far, the most common greeting in our Cantonese speaking world is “Gong Hei Fat Choy” This greeting means something along the lines of “Wishing you prosperity and good fortune.”  “Sun Lin Fai Lok ” is the Cantonese equivalent of the Mandarin “Xin Nian Kuai Le”, the all pervasive ” Happy New Year” greeting! The New Year was a great time to connect with family, neighbors, colleagues and friends. Wishing everyone a good one!

Keeping this increasingly wide ministry takes a lot of supervision and no small amount of detail. There are things that brake, others that have been broken all along and only now it is brought to our attention. There are shipments to be sent, bills to be paid, communications with developers, distributors and users, etc. etc.

One of our every day’s tasks, one we enjoy the most, is sending out the now almost indispensable ‘verse of the day’ to many people (friends) in 4 Continents. It is rewarding to see that many, who perhaps otherwise would not open the Bible to read the Scriptures, often find encouragement and guidance, which is expressed in their reaction to many of these randomly selected verses.

We also receive reactions, or more accurately, reviews, in the control page of WP apps. Many express the blessing of having the Word of God now available so easily in their lives. Here are just a couple of comments received this month:

“Hello dear friends. This app is a great way to listen to the word of God. It is easy to use and listenable anywhere. I use it regularly to follow Bible reading while traveling. The readers’ voices are exceptional with a very significant flow. Thank you and be well in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST“. (translated from French – see image below)

“Very nice app with lots of languages and audio available. Adjustable font sizes and night mode are comfortable to read. The section of themes of verses are handy even though that doesn’t have audio for the verses. I will keep using this app as is more stable without a huge download” (see image below –

These two apps, also available for IOS, are going through a constant expanding process. The WP Plus, a more complete and substantial version of the original WP, requires the indexing of the audio (adding timecode for each verse). This is a long and tedious process. Right now we are working on Russian, Hebrew and Tamil. The Tamil work is being done by our dear friend Raj, in India, who has just started it. Please, keep him and this process in your prayers.

After waiting several months for audio material from our friend/brother in the Lord, in Brazil, for the recording of the Old Testament in PT-BR, we have been disappointed for the procrastination, as very little has been done. Thus, we have been looking into alternatives. Recently we found a good recording of the book of Genesis on an app that also offers our audio recordings, which is free for non-profit use, and we have included it in our PT-BR pages. When our Brazilian friend decides to continue the project we aim to replace this recording with his. Please keep this situation in your prayers. Thank you.

Genesis PT-BR:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/po-BR/01/1.htm

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/audio/02_portuguese-BR/b01.htm

New banners have been incorporated in the Portuguese English and Chinese sections of the WP website. We have been inspired to use our own images, taken from scenic locations around our area, which makes it more meaningful and personal.

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/banners/english/index.htm

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

Not least, we have been flooded with images from our friends in Kenya, especially sister Mary, who has been tireless in distributing the Audio Bibles we sent to hundreds of visual impaired or blind people in that region. We are blessed to be part of this and share here some of the many touching pictures of precious people who find great comfort and encouragement receiving the Word of God. Praise the Lord!!

Among several events, this month we commemorated the birthdays of Cristiana, Emanuel and Philip, who were able to congratulate each other via Skype/Zoom, while the rest of us joined in the fun! For Emanuel’s birthday we organized a picnic and the team of “the cowboy”. We went to a small local farm/park with the children, and really enjoyed the outing. We celebrate the gift of life and the grace that is bestowed upon us. Also, our dear friend and neighbor Joan just reached the age of 91 and is still going strong;). I found it interesting to read the beginning and end of Psalm 91: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty….With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation!

The good weather has allowed us to do some repair and improvements around the house. Besides the upgrade and installation of aircons we also put some effort making the back of the house a ‘rat-free’ zone, with the installation of stainless steel net and gate.

We are blessed in the fact that in spite of all difficulties and problems around the world we are relatively healthy, and the children (grandchildren) are growing almost as if nothing was going on. We thank God for that.

The year of 2020 has been an exceptional year. The Corona Virus came to change many things: it changed the way we communicate, travel, learn, exercise, recreate, interact and even our perspective of the immediate future.
This pandemic is bringing many to their knees in desperation, searching for answers about life and death and the meaning for our existence. No doubt that those who really wish to find will look in the Scriptures for answers, beyond natural realms. In China, or in India, in Africa or America, just about anywhere, people have now access to the Words of Life.

A summary of our main activities and outreach has been compiled into the 2020 Worproject Report, available HERE. If you are interested, please go there. Thank you so much.

Some Images sorted in December 2020:

By Donna

The month of December has been especially blessed as we celebrate the Advent, the fact that God the Son entered into humanity so that we could enter into eternity! “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
What an amazing truth!! Reading on is the admonition that as God so loved us, we should love one another! 1John 4:9,11
This Christmastide gave us just such opportunity! A time to give and share! A time to sing and a time to worship! A time to connect and a time to be alone with our God! All because of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem! Especially precious was sharing the story of the Nativity with the children and watching them get so excited with baby Jesus’ birthday!
Ever thankful for the new technology available, we connected with family far and wide to celebrate Gabriel’s birthday on the 23rd. Gabriel was and continues to be a blessing of the Christmas season as well as the whole year through!
We began the New Year by committing our hearts and future to the Lord in prayer. By symbolically lighting our light to Jesus, the Light of the world, our desire is for His Word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path!
Graced with some beautiful sunny days amongst the cold we went to a few places we had never visited before. Considering how small our territory is, that is truly amazing, and for such we are truly grateful 😉

We have started the production of a new batch of audio Bibles, with the factory in China, which should be done within the next week or so, that is right on time to ship them to Africa before Christmas. These audio Bibles will be a joy to our friends from the blind persons’ community in Kenya, who have been so appreciative of this gift in recent past. Also, we are preparing a new order of Audio Bibles for the beginning of next year, which we hope, at least some, will reach the troubled lands of the North of Mozambique, plagued by war and refugees at this moment. We have received pleas for donations in kind to help with the situation there and together with a few others of our team we have put together a monetary gift, which was just sent.

Precisely from Mozambique we received these images of Audio Bible distribution to some local people and the following commentary:
“Quanto às Bíblias: são muito úteis, sobretudo neste tempo de calamidade pública. Há uma boa parte de pessoas que não sabem ler e, com a Palavra de Deus ouvida e não lida, só pode ter maior utilidade. As famílias escutam-nas em casa. Na minha nova Paróquia ( entrada da cidade de Pemba), onde estão muitos deslocados internos, as Bíblias áudios são uma benção. Há muita procura!” (roughly translated) “As for the Bibles: they are very useful especially at a time like this public calamity. There is a large part of population that do not know how to read, and hearing the Word of God, rather than reading It, is very useful. Families listen to It at home. In my parish (at the entry of Pemba), where many refugees are staying, the audio Bibles are a blessing. They are in great demand!”

We could say that online work is never done as we are constantly challenged with new technical hurdles. Technologies keep changing and become increasingly complex and sophisticated. Recently, with the help of one of our App developers, we updated our old WP app to be compatible with latest API… (technical term that basically means, something, something interface…). Wordproject Plus, the “younger” app, was updated to include the Brazilian narration of the New Testament – which we finished recording just last month. Check it out, it is a great blessing.

On another development, the Word banners we have been regularly publishing on social media, with Benjamim’s help, have been a blessing to keep us in the Social media environments, with a new set of banners being posted almost every month. Recently we have prepared a new fresh batch of banners, using our own images, mostly taken around natural sceneries not far from where we live. We have greatly enjoyed doing this glorifying God for His awesome creation. See sample below.

Let us not forget the IOS app, which quietly keeps serving its purpose. We are happy to see that it is in great demand in China. The number of users of this App is actually larger than the Android counterpart: over 42 thousand regular users. The increase in the number of users on the apps along with the large number of users of our audio pages on the websites, results in a greater demand for audio (bandwidth). A greater demand for audio requires servers that can deliver – we are now better served than before with new servers at Amazon, well administrated by Philip, an expert in these realms, as we all know. Great to have help, wherewith this project is able to satisfy the great need for the Word of God in the world today. Thank you all.

The month of November has been a month of giving thanks. The most important of all is the fact that it has been 249 days since this territory has had no reported cases of Covid 19. Most people are still extremely cautious and use masks, etc, but in general we feel quite safe. We have been enjoying good health so far and for such we are truly thankful.

The weather has been dry and very convenient to undertake house repairs that need to get done. There is tiling and roofing and cleaning and we undertook an entire reorganization of Wordproject’s office, now featuring a new adjustable height desk, which makes sitting or standing up an option for work. Since there is more time to be spent at home these days we also invested in a simple but very effective exercise bike. Our team here has pedaled 900 plus kilometers in less than 2 months… imagine a distance that would take us almost all the way to Shanghai.

The thanksgiving celebration was a time of gathering here with local family members and Donna prepared a delicious turkey, as required by tradition, and, of course, pumpkin pie. That brings us to the need to use that exercise bike and pedal all the way where our imagination will take us.

Next to thanksgiving, as usual, comes Christmas preparations with Donna. She counts on some priceless helpers, the granddaughters, who behold and get excited with Christmas that is approaching. This week, in our family Sunday morning fellowship we start reading the scriptures the Christmas story on Luke 1 and in the next couple of weeks we will read Luke 2 and Matthew accounts in our study of those celebrated events that changed the world forever!

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

“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.

We finally finished the Tagalog recordings. Nehemiah, Esther, Job and Proverbs are all done and uploaded at the website. Check here

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/tl/18/1.htm

Our Filipino friend/sister in the Lord, Lisbet did the editing, while her brother, Judah did the actual narration. This project has been going on since February 2019, when Lisbet, after seeing our message online, offered to help. Since we prefer a male voice to keep uniformity with other narrations, she contacted her brother who accepted the challenge. As with most of our narrations, we are blessed to share some financial support with those who help us and they were truly thankful to have also a source of income while doing God’s work. We are vey pleased with the recordings and appreciate very much their efforts. This was one of our goals for this year and we feel accomplished in being able to pull it through.

Although we place less emphasis on Wordplanet.org, the “other site” that offers the Word but in a slightly different format – all chapters in one book on the same page, scrolling down – there are users out there who rather have that and keep asking for updates and new languages. Recently we were asked to include Khmer, the language of Cambodia, on that site. It took many hours to produce but we finally complied and now for all Khmer speakers, we have it on Wordplanet. See it here:

https://wordplanet.org/km/b43.htm

Our most used APP is actually in the Apple IOS domain, with over 40000 regular users, but the new WP plus for Android is coming along and climbing in the number of users (5300). The most amazing thing about this App is the fact that it scores almost perfect 5, with ratings averaging 4.94 in 438 reviews. The comments below, all from this month’s records, are a testimony how satisfied our users are with this very useful and blessed App:

“Really great bible audio and reading. Voice is good, strong connection is felt. Ability to read along with audio as it scrolls, by choice. Wake up alam if wanted to scripture. Excellent. Really valuable. The ads, I didn’t see. Thank you. God Love Ya  //  Thank you all for this gift from God. There are people who prefer to listen to it than read it. Only there are audios that his voice is heard far away and in others a strange background is heard. Keep improving the audios. Greetings to all and keep doing good in the name of Jesus. Jehovah’s blessings // A blessing to have The Word in audio with all the improvements made. I especially like the continuity of reading without stopping between chapters. I appreciate your work and I ask God to bless you greatly. // How good it is to use the internet to always have the Word of God rooted. // Beautiful is this Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ bless and protect the brothers who gave this blessing give the desire of his heart to all who gave this blessing // I love the audio. I am able to listen to the scripture when I can’t read it for myself. // It’s a great app. Those who cannot read bible they can hear it. I am using Hindi version downloading chapter wise and sending to Hindi believers. Thank you All team. May God bless you // It is the most effective, I appreciate the effort of its makers, this application has a very special anointing, the best praise for its creators. Blessings !!! I recommend it for sure, I did not find a better one.” (all words copied from users reactions and comments at Android App interface)

And here are a couple of testimonies from the blind communities that receive our audio bibles in Kenya. Very touching to see and hear what the Lord is doing in these precious lives:

[9/15, 20:57] sent by Mary Mutahi – Blind Ass. Kenya: I Pst. Elizabeth I thank God for having received this Bible reader, it will help me for it is going to be convenient in scripture searching for my own spiritual nourishment and the church to, i lost my sight at the age of six months it was not easy but God saw me through. My sight came back gradually although it is very little, but now instead of straining am glad I will be listening and I appreciate so much and it is my prayer that God will bless the donor and strengthen him/her. Thank you.
[9/15, 20:57] Sent by Mary Mutahi – Blind Ass. Kenya: “I Ann I thank God for this Bible for it will help me for references in both at church and also at school, I believe I will be transformed daily to attain Christ like character, So am grateful to the donors and God bless you so much. Thanks alot

Here. Our Father prayer sung in Swahili, an accomplished musical piece. We still rather have the simple prayer, but striking to see how the teachings of the Bible are a reason and inspiration for so much song and praise in all languages:

We continue to offer free Bible verses banners on WP Instagram account. They are produced by Benjamim who is also managing the WP Facebook and Instagram presences. This month we have been rendering Hindi language banners:

As we have mentioned before, everyday we try to send a Bible verse to our friends through their WhatsApp or Wechat contact. We are always eager to find new ways to share the Word as we experiment with different methods:

[Donna:]

All is well on the home front. Jason and mom continue to discover the wonderful world of physics and how all of the natural forces in the physical universe play out in everyday life. The interaction and interdependence of gravity, magnetism, the natural force, friction, velocity, acceleration etc., etc. holds the universe together and keeps everything orbiting in it’s prescribed domain. It is an amazing study and points to the necessity of intelligent design behind this intricately crafted universe. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth… And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:1,31!
Hebrews 1:2-3 “God.. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”.

In Portugal, Gloria, who is in her 3rd year of med school, is scheduled to work in the hospital alongside the doctors. The problem is that the new outbreaks are making it difficult for the students to do their training. We ask all to join in prayer that the health care services have the wisdom to deal with the increasing number of covid cases and that the virus will weaken and eventually die out.

We are blessed to have family members who live near us and who sometimes join our Sunday fellowship, which includes songs of praise and worship as well as Bible reading, discussion and prayer. We continue to read through the Gospel of Luke, and welcome all, far and wide to join us each week in the Bible readings. Last week we studied Luke 14. So, join us this week for Chapter 15! “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” PS 119: 105.

These days who celebrating Middle Autumn Festival, one of the great celebrations in Chinese tradition. The lanterns on the night of the full moon are usually great fun for the children (and adults too). We went out with the grandchildren Bel and Ro, and we experienced a surprise storm… Nevertheless, it was still fun.

Meamwhile, Jason joined the local youth soccer league and has begun weekly trainings. Jorge has signed up for the veteran’s league and will train with them when possible. All are happy for the exercise and the opportunity to play ball again!

The tree next to our house, the braches thereof have fallen on our roof several times when winds of typhoons blow stromng, have finnaly been trimmed by the city hall. Every movement of the workers was followed with interest and thankfulness.

We are blessed to have a piano and we are blessed to know how to play it – Music can be a real balm to the soul and spirit specially in the uncertain times we live in. Jorge never misses an opportunity to gives us a few minutes of sound here and there as we go through the day.

Lately our work here seems to be reduced to just “keep the fire burning”. Many tasks are repetitive and every month we have to do many of the same procedures: Update and monitor web servers, answer emails, upload files, download files, solve issues with Bible texts and audio, etc, etc.

Thus, we are much encouraged when we hear from the field, from the recipients of our labors who write or send pictures to us. We love to see how somewhere in the world someone is being blessed with the Word of God. Recently we have been receiving many (more) pictures from the distribution of Audio Bibles in Kenya, especially among the blind people there. Mary, a friend of Wordproject, who has a ministry to the blind, has been faithful to distribute the Audio Bibles we have sent during the past few months. Here are a few more collages of the latest distribution campaign, in spite of covid 19 related constrains and difficulties. See the pictures and pray for these precious people:

On the App domain, the relatively new WP plus audio Bible App for Android is being a great blessing for us personally and we notice that it has reached over 5000 permanent users this month. In spite of the numbers, we feel that the app is being undervalued, because other apps reach that number much faster than ours. Thus, we are trying to give it a boost with a short video promotion to explain the amazing new features that integrate the app. With just a few strokes of the mouse, so to speak, we put together the following video, which, and you may be surprised, shows some of the more hidden features contained in the App, which even the most attentive may have missed… Above all, it is important not to forget, that the app has the simple aim to help us to place more Bible in our lives and reach new levels of acquaintance with the Word as we go on our (sometimes busy) daily schedules. Check the video here:

For your information also, here are a few of the reviews we received this month from people who seem to have discovered a good way to enrich their lives, exactly by making more place for the Words of Life, as we mentioned. The comments are in their original languages with the respective translation (Google).

“Es la más eficaz , valoro el esfuerzo de sus hacedores ,esta aplicación tiene una uncion muy especial ,los mejores encomios para sus creadores . Bendiciones !!! La recomiendo con seguridad , no encontré otra mejor .”

“It is the most effective, I appreciate the effort of its makers, this application has a very special anointing, the best praise for its creators. Blessings !!! I recommend it for sure, I did not find a better one.” EGR.

“Excelente pude bajar los audios y escucharlos sin conexion y puedo escuchar la poderosa palabra de dios todo el tiempo los bendigo a todos con la inmesa misericordia de dios”.

“Excellent I was able to download the audios and listen to them without connection and I can hear the powerful word of God all the time I bless you all with the immense mercy of God”. MP

“Simplesmente fantástico. Não há nada melhor. Deus seja louvado por este projeto. A voz do senhor que faz a narração é o melhor do que pode haver. Vcs estão de Parabéns! Muito obrigada. Somos privilegiados por ter a nossa disposição recursos tão bons como este que é disponibilizado para nós. Somos realmente um povo mui abençoado. Shalom 🙏🙏🙏”

“Simply amazing. There’s nothing better. God be praised for this project. The voice of the lord who does the narration is the best that can be. Congratulations! Thank you. We are privileged to have at our disposal resources as good as the one available to us. We are really a very blessed people. Shalom 🙏🙏🙏” SA.

“I haven’t had it long but I appreciate being able to listen to the Bible as well as be able to read along, if I wish, as it scrolls by automatcally as it’s read. It is read with feeling but no extra background sounds and no put-on voices. The Word of God just as it is. Not much extra just basic controls and maneuvering, which are simple and easy. I haven’t come across any tech problems yet so I am pleased to give it a good rating and recommendation.”
LLR

Other than that, we are still restricted from entering China, or leaving this territory for that matter, very confined but hopeful that, as in so many other aspects of our lives: “all things work together for good to them that love God”. Praying for you.

We experienced our first typhoon of the season. Initially, the tropical storm was headed close within our vicinity but of no imminent concern. Suddenly it turned and came straight towards us! Typhoon Higos was a No. 10 direct hit and we sure felt it in the wee hours of the morning. Wind and rain in all its fury. Fortunately, Jorge was able to brave the storm and venture outdoors to secure the roofing on the top floor. The storm moved quickly and there was no substantial damage to us personally, just a lot of cleanup from the fallen trees and branches.” The lower areas of Macau suffered from heavy flooding as is per usual in any tropical storm. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”, Psalm 46:1.

August was a big month for celebration. After Isabel and Joana, on the 2nd and the 3rd day of the month, on the 23rd Jason celebrated 17! He has begun his senior year studies this month, with basketball as his free time pursuit Last, but not least, we finished off the month with Jorge completing his 70th year of life! Ben produced a great video featuring a few of the highlights of his life adventures! All the family was present for the celebration via Skype, and each was able to share some precious memories with dad. We can only give thanks to the Lord for the fact that each of these beloved members of our family are all found to be in good health, employed in fruitful pursuits and each has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ! That is a lot to celebrate!!

The Brazilian audio narration was one of our main jobs this month. We continued to edit the audio, and we have finished the Book of Acts, which you will find here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/po-BR/44/1.htm

 The other big job was the update of ‘sister’ site, wordplanet.org, (https://www.wordplanet.org ) which displays the books of the Bible in a different format (each page contains one full book, instead of one chapter one page, as in wordproject.org). Some people rather have that format, although, at least for the moment, the site still has a relatively small number of users, something we expect will change in the future.

This pandemic is bringing many people to their knees in desperation, searching for answers about life and death and the meaning for our existence. No doubt that those who really want to see will look in the Scriptures for answers that have to be beyond the natural realms, beyond what we see with our own eyes. The light of the Word guides and reveals, warms and encourages and most of all, Saves (John 6:68). In the Scriptures we find the path to forgiveness of sins, redemption, reconciliation with God and fellowmen,  all essential to finding Peace. Thus, we are here to offer Peace, which surpasses all understanding, to the hearts that are eager to find It. In China, or in India, in Africa or America, just about anywhere, we are blessed to be able to share the Word of Life.    

In India, for example, because we offer no less than 12 languages from the Indian subcontinent, we have a very steady flow of users, as you may see in the chart below. But there is much more to be done. We are, by no means, at the end of anything but at the start.

Many, even in our own team, do not realize the variety of tools we have available in our sites to read and study and understand God’s Word. One of the features that is often overlooked is the multiple language online APP, which displays 2 or 3 languages simultaneously. How is this useful? Actually, very useful if you speak more than one language but also just to compare 2 versions of the Bible, or the Greek and Latin versions with our own version. Also, to show or share a verse with a person in a language you do not know. Many are the uses  for this tool, which we have spent a lot of ours developing and updating. The link is here:

http://www.wordfree.net/bibles/multiview/index.html

Our IOS app (for iPhone and other Apple devices) has been object of increasing interest from users and is now reaching 40 thousand permanent users. As you probably know, ours is a very simple but effective audio Bible app. It contains some 36 of the major languages of the world with some very useful features. We must again thank Hison Khang, in Korea, who built and has been faithful in updating this app and monitoring our interaction with Apple Store. It is a great blessing to have his help, and we pray for him and his family.

Some good news is that the packages of audio Bible for Mozambique have finally arrived to their destination (Pemba) and are now being distributed. The languages are Portuguese and Makwa, in the same device.

From Kenya we heard from the blind association, who is now resuming distribution of Bibles, after a period of confinement, when it has been hard to contact people as gatherings have been cancelled. Apparently, the situation with the virus in Africa is still dangerous but the communities are learning how to deal with it and trying to keep some activities.

[Donna:]

Here are some highlights from our family team: Benjamim made it across the border safely back from China and we are very happy to have him close by once again! Ben has been faithful to produce the Word Banners which we post on various social media every month. This month’s banners are being published in Swahili.

Over in Portugal, dear Gloria was able to finish off her second year in Medical school. It was a very strenuous semester with online learning and testing, due to the exemption of practical experience in the labs and the lack of personal teaching input from professors. But all is well that ends well, and now she has a nice summer break to chill out a bit before it starts all over again in September. Meanwhile, she helped with the wedding of her sister.

We are firm believers that fresh air, exercise and a wholesome diet contribute greatly to good health and wellbeing. Thankfully, we are blessed with many outdoor sports facilities here at our location. Emanuel and Mandy introduced us to paddle boarding and it is fantastic! We have a small bay area at the Hac Sa Beach, where we can get out and appreciate the sun, sea and sky at the end of these hot humid summer days.

On other developments, the highlight of the month was July 31st, the day of Cristiana and Nuno’s wedding! They met many years ago when they both were studying and working in Macau. In the summer of 2019, they were engaged, and plans were put in place for a summer 2020 wedding with all members of our family planning to attend. The situation with the pandemic foiled the plan and we had to cancel.  Thus, like so many are doing all over the world, we were able to celebrate the union of Cristiana and Nuno in the ties of Holy Matrimony via “Zoom”. It was a simple but meaningful ceremony where Pastor Ruben was presiding and Nuno’s family members were in attendance. Desperate times call for desperate measures! The experience far exceeded our expectations and we wish Cristiana and Nuno a very blessed and fruitful life together!

On the birthdays front, Joana entered a new year (Aug 2^nd) and is looking as good as ever! She is always ever so busy, so we were grateful to catch her for a birthday meal and small celebration. Jason prepared us some mighty fine pizzas for that occasion.

Also, sweet Isabel is now 5 years old (Aug 3^rd)! Time flies, and we still remember the day when we first held her in our arms when she was just 5 months old! Isabel is very loving and caring and is an exemplar older sister to Aurora. It is so much fun to watch her learn so many new things and grow so tall so quickly! She is interested in everything and always ready to lend a helping hand. She is a blessing indeed!

As you probably know, we send out a Bible verse everyday to friends, family and relatives. This verse is generated by a script on our website – it is a verse selected from the topic verse selection on the website. It is usually very encouraging, and we find an amazing response even from friends who were not propitious to read the Bible or accept spiritual input (so we thought). Several people have asked us how they also can share a daily verse with their friends. This is the idea – to create a chain reaction where the Word of God is the main and sole ingredient, speaking and touching the hearts daily. To satisfy the demand we made a small page of instructions, with a couple of images. It is very simple indeed and you may want to try it yourself. Go here for the instructions:

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

This month we have invested a lot of time in the recording of the Tagalog Old Testament. Our Filipino narrator has been working on Psalms, and he is almost done, but meanwhile we were offered the use of another recording and we are using that until ours is finished. However, as this was a recording only available on an app, we had to record the audio from the mobile app into the computer, chapter by chapter, which took many hours of work. It is finally available here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/audio/46_tagalog

Also, the Portuguese, Brazilian, narration has been in the works for several months, we have to edit the audio that we have been sent from Brazil regularly, but unfortunately there are mistakes in the recordings and we had to send for corrections. Needless to say, this is more work for us as we have to find the passage for the correction on the audio file and insert the corrected passage sent to us. We have finished the 4 Gospels, which are now available here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/po-BR/40/1.htm

We are happy to announce that the New App, the WP Plus, has been finished and should be available in a short while. This version includes there more languages: Italian, German and Swahili.

On another development, we have been trying to find the origin of the excess of traffic in our audio servers. After much trying, we found the main culprit, a developer that syphons our audio into his own APP. This would be not so much of a problem if this was an isolated case. We found that several apps are doing that and places some strain our servers with potential for breakdown, as their user base and ours increase. We are praying for a solution for this as we do not wish that people are deprived of the Word of God, even if supplied by others, but the technical part of this needs to be addressed (by Philip) before it becomes a problem and no one would benefit.

From Africa we continue to receive news that our Audio Bible devices arrived in Maputo (Mozambique), but have been retained there for a while, apparently due to excess of customs zeal trying to get import taxes. Being solved right now and appreciate your prayers. On the other hand, the packages to Nairobi, Kenya, arrived without any problems (or customs taxes) and they are being distributed by our dear friend brother Samuel. He reported some amazing testimonies expressed in the following collage image.

The situation in the North of Mozambique requires more prayers, as the latest developments show an intensification of the attacks, apparently by the so-called Islamic militants active in the area. This is the area where we have been sending audio Bibles and where some of our dearest friends live, whom, along with the effects of the pandemic crisis, are indeed going through trying times and should be object of our earnest prayers.

There are always numerous online comments, both to the apps and the website. Here are a couple of comments in the following images:

And this rather unique email we receive just a few days ago:

Dear Brother/Sister In Christ Jesus: In The Lord Jesus Christ, I greet you! I am trying to write short evangelical literature  to distribute for non-profit purposes.  I would like to send a copy to the Prime Minister of North Korea.  I have found your organization online, which has a Korean-English Parallel Bible translation that would help me to compose my work in Korean.  I would like your permission to copy and paste the Korean words into my Microsoft Word document.  If you will charge money for this, please let me know how much, and if you have instructions I need to follow to use the verses of the Korean language.  Furthermore, should you require, I would be glad to provide you with a copy of the work I attempt to do, if you wish to review it. Thank you very much for any consideration you give to this matter.  May God save bless and keep safely all your loved ones and yourself. Humbly in God’s service, M.R.G.

Thank you for yuor prayers and support.

[Donna:] In our part of the world the sun is shining replete with the intense heat of the South China summer. Every morning we are graced with intense rain showers, which water everything and clean the sky to brilliance! We are grateful that this territory has been free from any focuses of Covid-19, for at least the past 2 months. The government is doing a great job with quarantine measures for anyone who enters the territory, and although we are restricted in our ability to travel, we feel safe right here at home. We make the best of what we have waiting for better days.

Mandy and the girls were able to spend some time at our home investing time in their home school assignments. Isabel is learning to read and write in both English and Chinese! Aurora always keeps herself busy with learning activities!

Not least, there were a few birthday celebrations this month. In the beginning of June, we were blessed to celebrate Miranda’s birthday. Guilherme was next, and then it was Gloria’s turn,  in a kind of virtual celebration attended by different members of the family in several locations! Happy birthday to them! 😊

One cannot be indifferent to the bad news being broadcasted in all media, from Europe to America, from Africa to China, everywhere it seems, there is  a constant flow of dreadful events that monopolize the airwaves. The world is changing before our very eyes and it won’t be back to “normal” any time soon, so they say. Nevertheless, thank God we still find space to broadcast the Good News of the Gospel – ‘The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life” {John 6:63} “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” [Matthew 24:35] . We are thankful to be here for such a time as this, when through our online ministry we are able to comfort and encourage people who ultimately have no one but the Lord to turn to for peace, strength and grace.

We received news from Mozambique where in the North the situation remains critical, with new attacks by Islamic radical groups to villages and the indiscriminate killing of civilians. These are the same areas where we maintain a strong connection with local Christians, and where our audio Bibles have been and continue to be distributed freely. We pray for peace and wisdom and the grace to endure these trying times and for the healing and strength only the Word can bring. Watch the following video from the North of Mozambique:

On the cyber front, keeping everything up and running is sometimes a challenge. There are frequent reports from people in different countries about some discrepancies or errors they find in their respective languages. We try to comply but not without checking whether these are genuine, as sometimes there are corrections which are not correct… some people may decide something does not sound good in their language and decide to change it —  In such a case, we have to double check with the respective Bible Society or other reliable source, to decide whether it is indeed a situation that needs attention. This can happen several times per month and it has been particularly frequent recently when people spend more time at home reading and scrutinizing the Scriptures. There is also an interesting “phenomena” where more and more people are studying Hebrew bringing suggestions for changes to the original translation as they discover new  and better ways to translate some passages in Hebrew. This is a matter for further study as we go along.  

Our email box received an abnormal number of emails requesting for permission to use our resources, both the text and the audio – most of which are unnecessary since permission is granted in our disclaimers without the need to seek approval when non-profit, evangelization purposes are intended:

– “hola, me gustaria comprar o tener un permiso para descargar los audios y usarlos en una apps de la bíblia.”  [JK] – (translation: hello I would like to get permission to download and use the audio in an Bible App).

– “I would like to use your Swahili translation in a project I am doing that will require portions of each of the four Gospels to be copied and pasted into a book. The book will be a chronological compilation of the four Gospels. According to your “Disclaimer” and “Copyright” information, I believe it is completely legal for me to do this. Can you give me your agreement? Or, let me know if this is not possible? Many thanks for your time. Blessings” [S.]

Also, we receive encouraging emails like this:

May my Lord God bless your Ministry and enlarge it. I am 80 and need to read The Bible in big letters, so I found your site that for many years I know but did not use. You may know that in the Internet there are people offering Bibles to download, and when the victim try to have a Bible, they send a virus to the computer. I only can help with prayer because I am a pensioner and the money I receive is good to pay for the services in this house that my Lord has provided or I would be sleeping under a carton box as many people here. But I have nothing complain for my Lord is good and His mercies are great every morning, praise The God of My salvation.  [H.E.]

As for the APPs, they are in great demand and the comments are mostly encouraging:

“Undeserved blessing, without excuse to get out of ignorance, motivates us to read the Word of GOD abundantly. Automatic change of chapters and texts, I have read complete books thanks to the excellent audio, pleasant voice, diction and modulation of ten. The LORD honors Whoever is honored, may He prosper them and reward them for their effort and courage in proclaiming their kingdom. 5 stars and commitment to pray that they continue to reach more people every day.”

As confinement and restrictions continue to affect our activities in China, with difficulties in crossing the border, Benjamim has been taking up the slack by receiving and shipping the audio Bibles to their destination. The production of a new batch of Audio Bibles is going on right now and the following clip gives a glimpse of some of the process:

Thank you for your prayers and support.

[from Donna]

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a significant reduction of activity within the manufacturing sector of the society, we have enjoyed unprecedented benefits of clean air and water in our local territory. Our previously habitual thick gray skies are often blue and clear! Statistics prove that this reduction of pollutants, specifically PM2.5, PM10 and NO 2 in the air brings increased benefits to health, especially drastically reducing issues associated with respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and asthma. We are very thankful for this as we enjoy the local park, beach and trails in our community.

However, outside of this area, the use of masks is required and there is still a lot of confinement and restrictions in public places.

Also, this is rainy season, and many days of heavy rain have been falling upon our area. Impeded by weather conditions, we have inside camping, an alternative, and the children love it. We try to take time together with Sunday morning fellowship at home, with praise and worship and some fun around the house for the children.

From further away, we receive news from Philip and Julie who are also busy with their children. The Lord has been gracious to provide for them with a nice house and good environment where they can grow and learn. (homeschooling seems to be on the upper turn, for this time at least). We pray they are fine and encouraged through their trials and tests as we keep in touch via skype or zoom. Here are Riley and Zac enjoying the good weather:

Home improvements are always part of our lives and in these times of confinement there seems to be more things to be fixed. We have a long list of ‘TO DOs” and it promises to be a busy summer.

On other news, Jason has passed his 11th academic school year with flying colors! He is now more informed in areas of trig, chemistry, economics and literature, all the while improving his language skills. He awaits a seat for standardized tests which have been shut down given the global pandemic.
Bless you all.