This month was another great celebration of life! On the famous 4th of June we were able to share in Mandy’s birthday festivities and recall what a special day that was in her hometown in 1989. On June 16th, Gui took that great big step into his third decade! He actually had a great time and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t so bad after all! Gui had the added joy of sharing the day with Jorge, being as it was Father’s Day so it was double happiness indeed!

Later in the month we were blessed with the opportunity to come to Portugal! Jorge, Jason and I were the first to arrive in Lisbon, and Benjamim arrived from Macau a few days later. The clean, dry air and indefatigable sunshine of Portugal in summer are very welcoming and we immediately felt right at home!

On June 25th we were able to spend the day with our daughter Gloria who was celebrating her 20th birthday! She gave us the royal tour of the Lisboa Nova Medical University and the nearby São José Hospital at which she had participated in shadowing doctors in the wards. It is a very classic UNI and it felt like we took a journey through time to Europe past! (see pics) Gloria is still finishing up her first year exams and plans to have more time for visiting in the next few months.

Jason is back with his team mates in the local Football Academy, every evening. No chance of playing in the daytime, the sun is way too hot. He is also having tennis lessons twice a week. Oh, to be young and enjoy the relaxed pace of summer holidays from school! 🙂

Ben will spend one month (at least) in the city of Braga, to study Portuguese and explore the surrounding area. Also, he will be putting his photography skills to great use.

Another great news is that Cristiana just announced her engagement to Nuno. We congratulate them and wish them all the best in the future!

Not least, Gabriel has opened his house /office across the border this month. He has a fantastic space, great location and awesome view of Macau! Blessed indeed!

APP: Great news from our friend Phil, the developer who is helping us with the new APP. The prototype, trial version has been finished and we are now testing it. Due to the fact that all audio files have to be indexed verse by verse and there are 31102 verses in the whole Bible, the process of preparing the audio for the App is long and tedious, even with the help of a program Phil wrote specifically for this task. This month we were helping with the Spanish audio and it took us well over 40 hours. But, the outcome is working good and there will be some amazing new features  in this APP.

Servers: One of our servers gave as some trouble again this month and we have moved to another new one, this one located in Hong Kong. It seems we are finally getting somewhere in that department. Changing from one server to another is not as easy as it sounds… there are always some things that don’t work the same way and need to be configured. Thank you for your prayers for this.

SR600: We went back to the factory in China to order another batch of Audio Bibles this month. After receiving them we called the shipping company and immediately forwarded them  to Portugal, Kenya and Mozambique. The new shipping method to Mozambique works very well and the goods get there in less than one week. Pt. Paulo, and Dr. Arie have been kind in receiving the Audio Bibles there and they are also in charge of distributing them according to the need. Because of the recent disasters in Mozambique we felt compelled to also pay the delivery through  customs, so that they won’t have yet another burden. We hope these will be the blessing they were designed to be.

Other fields also have been blessed with free Audio Bibles. India, Uganda, Congo. Here are some of the pictures:

Media: We are producing more banners with Bible verses to be used with social networks. Hopefully they will be a blessing and we hope to offer them in other languages too.

Family Update (Donna)
On the family front all is well! Little baby Riley is crawling with only 5 months to her name and bigger baby Aurora is walking at 13 months! They are both so eager to get around and experience life on the go! It is a challenge to keep them safe now, especially Aurora whose inquisitive little mind goes faster than her little feet can carry her!! Sweet Isabel continues to charm us with her wit and songs, and we have heard that Zac will begin to ride his pedal bike very soon!
As for the teens, Jason has finished the academic year and is officially a junior in high school. Gloria is tediously battling out studies on genetics and health and nutrition in her second term of the first year of med school. Our dear Benjamim has officially graduated from UMAC, this time with cap and gown, photos and diploma to prove it! He will take a break and enter the real world before continuing any further studies. All the teachers, students and parents are glad to reach the end of another year. Every one else is busy as usual and the Lord has blessed the works of their hands.
Other good news is that Donna’s knee is feeling much better! It’s strength and flexibility have returned and she is able to get around a little more! She has touched the hem of His garment and gives thanks to God for the healing!
It has been an extremely rainy month, but once the downpours end, the aftermath is gorgeous! Blue skies and clean air galore! We are truly grateful

Last, but by no means least, here is our pick of the month
WP comment:
Dear friends, Greetings in the Highest name of Jesus Christ!! I am very Happy to see that Bible is in multiple languages at the same place. This is just amazing. Thanks for making such an excellent and exciting work for all though there are a few minor errors, which could be rectified. It is bound to happen in such a mega project. Kudus to all work worked behind this project. My prayers, love and wishes remains with all who worked for this. In Jesus I remain, Dr. G. M. George

All Audio Bibles devices (SR600) arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, in Pemba, Mozambique and in Portugal. We are thankful for those who help to get the devices through the customs, and we are glad that only in Mozambique they had to pay customs. We are investing in producing and sending off these audio Bibles now, while we are in China, and while these channels for shipment are available to us. We will concentrate more on their proper distribution later. From Nairobi, for example, we hope to be able to send audio Bibles to Uganda and Congo.

Our Audio Bibles devices, or audio players, are just a small fraction of the WP outreach. Our web site, which also contain the audio, offer a much wider outreach, which allows us to bring the Word of God into countries where we would not be able to go otherwise (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, etc.).  Also, our App, even though in a great need for an update, which we are hoping will happen soon, is still going strong, and we have a permanent base of 50,000 users whereto our audio servers need to be able to supply audio without interruption. Audio bible downloading is now averaging 12 Terabytes per month, with well over 1.5 million visitors to all sites.

Here are some of the comments received at the WP Android App during the month of April:

GU:
[Auto-translated from French] : Our life is described in the word of our God. Highly wonderful and Eternal is our Lord Jesus Christ.

JK:
every one should download this app …if u r thirsty of God’s verse it will help you abundantly.

MO:
[Auto-translated from Portuguese]: very good, easy to access, large letters and easy to understand, I loved.

SM:
[Auto-translated from Spanish]:  Excellent resource for spiritual growth! Thank you for making the word of God available for free.

LK:
Finally one full ads free Bible with audio in so many languages. Thank you.

MH:
[Auto-translated from Spanish]: what a good app the voice is everything …. pleasant and serene.

BW:
wordproject change my life in just one look

SJ:
[Auto-translated from French]: Really thank you very much for this job. Because I could better understand the word of God. Shalom.

CA:
[Auto-translated from Portuguese]: Great app, perfect, congratulations …

SV:
[Auto-translated from Portuguese]: Fantastic and uncomplicated.

///

On our mail box we receive requests for corrections, explanations, new features and some encouraging notes like the following (in April):

SM:
Wonderful work that you are doing to uplift the word of God. Do keep it up .

FG:
I am looking for an audio Bible in Farsi on CDs for my father-in-law who is not able to read any more due to eye problems.  Thank you for your help.

AJ:
Hi there, Thanks for this website which is very helpful to read bible easily and you are doing very very fabulous work for Jesus Christ. I’ll always keep you in my prayers may God bless you and your work.

JS:
I am pastor jagram Singh from Ghatampur kanpur nagar in up india. I have study your project. thank you so much. please give me more information about ministry.

ES:
My wife and I are reading passages daily from the Bible in different languages. We enjoy also to listen to some of them. We are trying to read Icelandic, but we miss the audio part. Are there any hopes that you might get the Bible or the New Teastament read in Icelandic?

These and other comments manifest the variety of uses and purposes for our content. We are grateful for the participation of users who constantly point out where we need to improve.  

On another note, we returned to Macau, from China, and for awhile, among other things, we have been fixing and improving our base here. We have worked in several areas, such as bracing our roof for possible stronger typhoons this year, drainage for rain water, etc., and we have improved our WP office space. In general we are trying to make the place look better and function better.  

Easter was very special and we shared beautiful moments of prayer as we celebrated our Risen Savior. Hallelujah! 

On the family front, we celebrated two birthdays: 1 year old Aurora, of Emanuel and Mandy, and Benjamim, who turned 23. It is beautiful to see how the Lord is working and moving in everyone’s lives.  

General maintenance: Wordproject site contains near 100,000 pages. When a design change is required, most likely we have  to multiply our efforts those many times. Even with search and replace tools and a fast computer, it takes time. Wordplanet was redone this month and has now a different approach to pagination – one book per page. We needed that format for other parts of our site to work, like multi-display, etc. Also, we introduced links to Instagram, where some Bible verse images have been placed by Ben. Google+ links were taken out from our sites, as it is no longer a service offered by Google.com. In order to prepare a more secure alternative for our audio files, we have now a server in Hong Kong, which will support one of our audio servers that has been overloaded. Our International Biblical Association web page is hosted there for now.

Audio Bible Devices: We have sent a new shipment of audio Bibles to Kenya, with Swahili for Kenya and French for Congo, and these devices should be arriving soon as they have already been shipped (air) from Guangzhou. Meanwhile, we placed a new order for 500 units. Part of this order, the Portuguese audio Bibles, which will be ready next week, is destined to be sent directly to Mozambique. The contact has been made with the Chinese company that will take care of that. If successful, this will be a much better way of sending audio Bibles to Mozambique, as through Kenya, it has been costly and difficult. On the other hand, our Shipment of audio Bibles to Europe (Portugal) was received successfully by Cristiana, in Lisbon.

Mozambique: As you know, there was, and still is, a catastrophic situation in Mozambique, and some of our friends there sent their report and requested for prayers.

“Just in Beira´s case, the combination of the cyclone, the rain, and the flooding from heavy rains upstream, left a huge inland lake of 30km wide and 100km long, trapped in by the elevated coastline!”

“Pray specifically that the help, food, etc will get to those who needs it most first; pray against an outbreak of cholera and typhoid; pray that the Church (the body of Christ) will be just that in this time – being Jesus to people whose lives have been uprooted.“

The situation in the North of Mozambique remains of concern. Mission work is difficult due to lack of security. One of our missionary friends sent a report where he explains:

“ The key challenge during this training was insecurity. This was because of the Al-Shabaab attacks which began in the region in October 2017 (Several people have been killed, many houses burnt, many people displaced, a lot of property destroyed, and farming activities interrupted). This caused our training which began in January 2018 to end in December 2018 instead of June 2018. We had to send the students away in January because of continuous fear. The local Government leadership asked us to send them away since they feared that anything would happen to them now that they were new in the community. This is because attacks had increased in the surrounding villages. …  Many hours were spent in meditation and individual study of the word. This was to help each one to learn to feast on God’s word as a means of remaining fresh in Him no matter the surrounding circumstances.“

We were requested by a mission in Mozambique, to find a solution for their website. We have created and we now host, at least for a time, their webpage – they are reaching out to locals and also they also have been recipients of our donated SR600 audio Bible players.

China: Here we continue with our efforts to learn Chinese. We share the Gospel daily with several persons through Wechat and we held a meeting with long time friends Yuqin and Rachel, who continue to be very active with the House Churches and also have an online ministry within the Chinese “stratosphere”. It is very encouraging to see Chinese leaders leading their own and how the Lord is  blessing them and prospering them with fruit that remains.

Office:  WP receives very interesting letters every month. This month we selected this one, as our favorite:

“I am listening to the King James Bible in your site because I can read and listen at the same time. Because of my age (80), I have to make the print big so I can read, but I am very happy to be able to read the Bible. My Lord Bless your Ministry. I will pray that those that can give will do it with love for the Word and the Lord. I have prayer contacts in the Internet and we pray for all Ministries. In Christ Jesus, [H.E.]”

It is never too much to remember that as we write this message over 200 people all over the world are reading the Word of God at our website. Last month we recorded over 93 thousand visitors PER DAY, and an audio output of 15.5 Terabytes (equivalent to an estimated 15 million Bible chapters downloaded or heard at our website). We thank God for that as we realize how thirsty for the Word of God the world really is.

Family: On the family front, Donna has been struggling with her knee problem and recently has found some relief with  physiotherapy. There is progress, although slow. Thank you for your prayers.

Benjamim, at the UNI, took part in the graduation photo ceremony. The year is not yet concluded but the photos are already made… no guarantee that you terminate the course, although he is confident that will be so and in May he should finish his Bachelors in Communication. The opportunity for some great pictures was there and we share some here with you.

The grandchildren are all a joy and we see  them often either through Skype (Zach and Reily) or personally, in Macau, (Bel Bel and Aurora). Some beautiful children who are the delight of their parents and ours (grandparents) as well.

We try to hold our regular (sometimes not so regular) house Sunday Fellowship, with the presence of some of our team members – where we sing, read the Word and pray together for the things we have to pray for – and there are MANY. We appreciate everyone’s help and we can only do it as we do it together. Thank you.

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.

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.

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.

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!

On the 24^th, 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.

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

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.

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

As we look at the world today and its ideological  and social struggles, we have to be thankful for the Word of God, which gives us direction and comfort daily and overall brings meaning to our existence. The quest of millions everywhere: from Africa to Korea, from Brazil to India – is to fulfill a need for Life, Spirit and Redemption. We hope to make our contribution towards the goal of bringing the Word of God to every creature. This month these were some of our efforts:

As expected, we have received the 500 Audio Bible units before the closing of the factories for Chinese New Year. Sure enough, we got busy distributing them. Half of those are in Tamil and therefore Raj is in charge to get them to India. He just left for India a few days ago and took with him, in his own suitcase, 50 units. Meanwhile, we are praying for an effective and low cost way to get audio Bibles into that field.

Phil, in Thailand, continued to develop the new WP app. The first samples, or prototypes came out this month and it is looking very promising. It is not easy to work with so many languages, and the real challenge is to make the text and the audio work together, specially since this update will have scrolling audio-text synchronization and verse reading, But so far so good and it is coming along.

Online, we finished  a new language this month: Sinhala, or Sinhalese, the language of Sri Lanka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language).  This language is spoken by largest ethnic group in that country and an it is also the official language there. We also made several changes in the design of the webpage, improving some features and making it easier and intuitive to navigate.

On the not so good news, we registered an attack to one of ours audio servers, which lasted for about 2 days, causing most of the data to disappear, according to the report from the company that runs it. Fortunately they had backups and restored it, but we experienced some audio breakdowns and in consequence we received not so few notifications/reminders  from our users, as here:

“I’m trying to listen to and download the Somali Bible but continually get an error page for every book of the Somali bible “Not Found: The requested URL /bibles/app/audio/36_1.zip was not found on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.” I’ve tried it on two different browsers. Can you help? “[J.]:

“Hello, my name is K. and I have a terminal illness called ALS and i use a special computer that uses my eyes for everything. like a mouse does on a computer. i have really enjoyed listening to the bible using your website. i listen to the english version of the kjv bible audio, but recently i press the play button and nothing happens. it doesn’t play the bible anymore. did you turn your website off? or is there something you can do to fix it? thank you. i love to listen to the word of God using your website. can you please fix it? “[K]

“Hi, I have not been able to access the audio for the Polish Bible for the last couple of days. Please could you advise? I had been able to access before. This is a great work, God Bless You All, “[YML]

“I found Malayalam Bible Audio “not working” last 2 days, can you check these error. Thanks. “[B.P]

From these comments  one can feel how important it is to have a reliable system. We have been working on that but apparently there is progress to be made. We are taking steps to improve the reliability of our audio servers.

New Year, 2019, entered in with much joy. Once again, Christ makes all things new! We give God thanks for every day of life and every year of life!

In January we welcomed Philip and Emanuel into new decades and Cristiana into her 27^th year! God has been good to them and multiplied them and has accompanied them every step of their journey, making them a blessing to many!

Jason has been on fire with his Chinese lessons, continuing in his pursuit of the HSK5 examination. There were also some fun activities at the school which Jason and I [Donna] were able to participate in. We also met with fellow Christians in our area for departure prayer for one of the couples leaving for Europe.

We struggled with a few ailments, namely the flu and consequential coughs and colds, to which the air pollution, very high in this part of the world, makes worst and prolongs healing cycles. We dream of a world with no pollution but come to the realization that is not to be and therefore use air filters and masks to minimize the damage.

As the end of January rolls around we are preparing for the Chinese New Year! This year’s Spring Festival will begin on February 5th, according to the lunisolar calendar system, using both lunar and solar cycles to mark time. As the world’s largest human migration  begins, we will stay put right where we are and enjoy the sunshine in our corner of the “motherland”. Happy to have Chinese in laws, we will “guo nian” together and enjoy the simple customs that make it a family holiday above all!

End of the year: This is always a good time to think about all that happened during the past year and especially to remember what was accomplished. Mostly, we remember the good and we forget the battles and trials. In spite of the appearances, we had many throughout this year! But now the trials are forgotten as we sit down to count our millions…indeed:  76 million Bible page views, 19 million visits to our sites and 154 million megabytes of audio served from our servers. This and much more you can find in our end of year summary here:

http://www.wordprolog.org/action/_2018_wp_homereport_.htm

Also, although maybe less important, we moved from around 46,000  to 27,610 in Alexa’s international ranking, throughout this year, which means, basically, more people are reading the Bibles in our site now than one year ago and we are one of the most visited Bible site in the world. Thank the Lord and all those who faithful and enthusiastically pray for us and support this ministry.

Furthermore, we went ahead with the manufacturing 500 additional SR600 audio devices this month. They will be ready in middle of January, right before the factories close for Chinese New Year. Also this month, we supplied a box of 50 audio Bibles to Raj, who is taking them to India when he goes for CNY. We have been receiving news and photos from the field concerning its distribution. Our friends in Africa are ready for more and this coming year we hope to have the financial resources to continue to bless them with these free gifts.

The development of a new App is on course and our friend Phil (not the one in Seattle) is working hard to bring it to us soon. If all goes well, we should have a full featured APP with all the features on the present one plus search, highlight and sharing capabilities, etc.

One of our team members is working on a youtube version of our old Christmas carols singalong tracks. These will be available in our (WP), just started, youtube channel, where we hope to place that and other materials to be produced by our competent media experts. These singalong Christmas tracts are maybe one year too early but it is a way to make sure they will be there when people need them. The first demo is available here.

And last, but by no means least, here is our choice for the user comment of the month:

“Thank you for making these recordings available.   Listening to the Scriptures encourages my faith in Christ Jesus as my mind is renewed with His Word.   May our Lord continue to bear fruit through your ministry to His glory.” D.S. (Israel)

Donna:

The blessed month of December has come and gone, nevertheless, the gift freely given remains to be enjoyed all year round! Here in the mainland there is very little outward evidence that people are worshiping the newborn king. Actually, the authorities have made it illegal for institutions to celebrate the holiday. However, I do believe that there are millions here who are singing the praises of the One who came to set us free from the law and whose grace is sufficient for our salvation in this life and in the next!

Although we understand that by most accounts and scriptural analysis, our Saviour was not born in December, we have decided to appropriate the artificially created date of December 25th as a time to celebrate the coming of Jesus into our world.  There is so much depth and meaning to the simplicity in which our Lord became one with humanity and so many prophecies fulfilled, that it deserves more than a month of contemplation and study. Also, it is a golden opportunity to pass down to the next generation the seeming incompatible idea that the King of Kings was born to be a servant and the fact that both heaven and nature were involved in the reception of baby Jesus to a lowly stable on planet earth. What a joy to see the wonder on my granddaughter’s face as she observes the Nativity scene and smiles at baby Jesus in the manger. Her eyes sparkle as she sees the big star in the sky, the angels and the animals and their faithful shepherds. The grandchildren dressed up as shepherds and Philip, Julie and baby Riley reenacting the blessed birth are engraved memories. This is Christmas joy!

Our family Christmas celebrations were wonderful! The highlight is always the Christmas Eve caroling, heartfelt worship at its best. The old classics seem to tell the story the best! This year we were also blessed with the traditional Portuguese style Christmas Eve dinner prepared by Top Chef Su Zuo Zhi (alias JorgeJ) and the traditional “What a Wonderful Life” film.

Family and friends were present to celebrate the birthday anniversary of Gabriel Soares on the 23rd. We prepared the annual BBQ and the annual rain that usually accompanies it held off till after the cake was served! Gabriel is such a blessing to us all and we are praying that he has many wonderful years to come.

The good weather held out until the end of the year. Gradually, the temperature decreased, yet we increased our winter apparel and joined together for our Candlelight Service. This traditional ceremony represents the fact that Jesus is the light that lights every man that comes into the world. As we light our candle to the Light of Jesus, we bring to Him our thanks, prayers, resolutions and hopes for the New Year.  We quote scripture as it is the truth upon which we stand. The encouragement we receive from  seeing last year’s  prayer requests answered serves as a reminder that the Future is as Bright as the Promises of God!:)

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

It has been another amazing month, with much work in all fronts. I am actually physically tired and my brain sort of ‘fried’ with so much thinking and computing and all that comes with running an online ministry. Most people at my age are ‘enjoying’ retirement. I am enjoying this work for the Lord.

Taxing is to hear the constant buzz of the media, the frenetic drive to ‘debunk’ and move old landmarks and replace them with new ones, new values, change the times and the seasons, not in one country or region, but basically everywhere. Recently I was sent an online youtube joke about praying before meals, (the blessing), a parody by a very talented comedian where he basically makes fun, clean but caustic, about people who pray before their meals. Personally I think it is such a waste of talent, because so much in the world that could be fixed, and humor could contribute to point out wrongs and encourage rights. Praying before meals, giving thanks for the food, or the blessing, should be respected and encouraged, if nothing else for the simple reason that it is not doing the world any harm and those who, because of feeling ridiculous, stop praying before their meals, are not going to make the world any better. “Pray without ceasing”, Jesus said, “in everything give thanks”.  Jesus prayed a blessing for the loaves of bread He gave to His disciples. Anyway,  praying or not praying before meals is not the issue, the constant erosion and poking fun at “old” traditions is the issue, especially when there are a lot of important matters that need to be tackled, and are not. I don’t know if it is just my impression, but this kind of media seems to be straining the gnat and swallowing the camel.

some people have more reasons to pray and be thankful than others. 

On another note: We have finished the recordings of the Tamil Audio Bible. Raj, who holds a secular job and does the Bible work on his spare time, did an excellent job and it is has been a long road with some long hours of recording and editing but it is finally completed. We have already placed the audio to some SR600 players, ready to be sent to India, which should happen very soon, as Raj is having some visitors who are to take some back with them. But the audio is already reaching India through this wonderful means to reach the world with the Gospel.

Raj and family with Donna

Meanwhile, from Uganda and Kenya we received news and some more pictures concerning  the distribution of SR600 going on there. This is still a small effort, but if repeated many times, can become a big effort. “For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zachariah 4:10). So, we are praying and planning the manufacture of more devices to send not only to Africa, but also to India and Europe. This is a great time to invest in this production as the contacts are here ready and willing and, so far, we find no impediment. PTL.

Here are some  recent images of the distribution in Kenya and Congo:

Pictures received this month from Africa

The online work has been intense this past month as we improved several pages on the site. We also created some new pages containing a Chick Tract called “This was your Life”. We have included the tract, which contains the full message of Salvation, in several languages, such as Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Korean, Amharic, Bengali, and now available here: https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/tracts/index.htm

This was your life in Persian

We have worked on the text and updated thousands of files and we are now building the updated files for our online app for multiple display in Mobile phones. WP continues to be in demand from countries such as S. Arabia and Emirates, where Bibles are obviously not available in any other form. For many, our site is a easy and inconspicuous way to get connected to the Word of God, anytime and anywhere in the world. Here is an email we just received:

Dear Web Administrator, This is really a great job. I am very much happy that people like you are really done good job. I am from Pakistan but living in Scotland, I want to share a little views about the website and specially URDU Language which is really not in good shape. I would be obliged if you upgrade your website for Urdu language I can help you out in writing the biblical verses very clearly in Urdu Language. If you people would like to involve me in this project would be a great. I am happy to help you in this regards. God bless you. L.D.

We are, of course, accepting the offer, as we usually do, we hope to make further improvement.

In what concerns our APP, here is an encouraging comment we received this month:

I want to say – from a grateful heart – how much I am enjoying your app . . . it’s on my phone and my laptop.  Not a day goes by that I don’t listen to the Word of God – the power to save to the uttermost – and praise Him for your dedication to His calling.  I am especially grateful for the topical verses, one right after another.  I use these daily.  My favorite?  Love.  For He IS and ever shall be.    Thank you again to this lovely family – the pictures are a delight! – and my brothers/sisters in Christ.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord! [K.B.]

New Page on our website

In a month traditionally associated with Thanksgivings, we admittedly are on the receiving end of a multitude of mercies graciously bestowed upon us. We can in no wise confine our giving of thanks to one particular day, but are constantly in need of expressing our gratitude to the One who has given us everything! In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being! Actually, I think God delights in  perfecting in us the art of being thankful. The Bible instructs us to thank God for His goodness and loving-kindness.  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endureth forever.” Psalm 136:1. It actually instructs us to be thankful for everything.  “ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS, unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ .Eph 5:19,20.  Could that include thankfulness even when our activities are limited due to physical restraints; thankfulness even when we are separated from loved ones; thankfulness for life itself although it doesn’t always take the shape and form we expect it to? Job summed it up perfectly; “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1: 21

Thanksgiving dinner on a Sunday –

This month we were so happy to receive a precious gift from God naked out of her mother’s womb! A beautiful baby girl was delivered into her mother and father’s arms on Saturday, December 1st at 10: 26 am, in Seattle, Washington. Julie was blessed with a very easy and short labour. The delivery proceeded without any complications and the nurses were so impressed with Philip’s aptitude as a coaching support that they allowed him to assist in the receiving end of the delivery! Both mommy and baby are doing well and returned home the very next day and we were able to see them on Skype! God is gracious, and as grandparents and uncles and aunties we are anxiously awaiting the next family reunion!

Philip and Julies’ precious bundle of joy.

Back at home, we continue learning.  Jason continues with his Chinese studies. Also, after studying about viruses and bacteria in Biology class, he came down with a very high fever and it was no longer only academics on how pathogens wreak havoc in our body systems. After recurrent knee issues, Donna is researching natural sources to replenish cartilage, synovial fluid and collagen in joints. Gloria continues to study anatomy in Portugal everything from the nerves of the brain to those in the tips of the toes. Emanuel has one last exam to pass and we are all looking forward to Christmas holidays!

Jason with his Chinese teacher

With friends on Sunday morning fellowship

Playing with local football team

It is amazing to find out how people, from all corners of the earth, are so interested in the word of life, the light of the world, the way of Salvation. When lies and deception seem to be becoming the ‘new normal’, it is encouraging to see that more and more people are searching for the free, true and faithful Word of God. Revelation 21:6 – “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

The following comments will tell you where we spend a great part of our time each month. We frequently receive requests for repair, improvement and amendment of text and audio on our site, and when dealing with almost 70 languages this can become a huge task.

Comments from users:

Thanks for your Bible reading website. I use the multi view on my phone for language studies. It is very nice, but I would like if it could remember which chapter I was reading. Every time the browser choose to reload it jumps to Gen. 1. Is it possible to remember the chapter e.g. by setting a cookie when selecting the chapter. Regards, S.

I work among Iranian – Farsi speaking people in Denmark. I experience that some have Bibles with to much storytelling language instead of exact translation. Therefore I found your translation, which is very solid and good (THANK YOU!!). My question now is if you know if anyone have made it available in print – or if it only exists at your webpage. K.S.

Thank you so much for this wonderful and selfless  ministry for the word of God. Dear friends our God will increase you more and more. I thank God for all of you. If i can do something for our god with you, kindly remember me. God bless you. G.K. 

I want to know more about Jesus. I am trying to study “New Testament – PSALMS” , KING JAMES VERSIN BY THE GIDEONS. But I am not able to understand the words of the book. Could I get the Bible in simple English with Hindi version too. Please guide me asap. D.G.

Hi, I very much enjoy your audio version of the KJV bible, and I’ve been trying to find out who produced it, so I can ask permission to use it in a non-profit bible app I’m making. Your app/website is the only place where I’ve heard this particular recording of the KJV. Is it available for use in other Christian non-profit ministry related apps? Thank you, B.R.

1 kings chapter 20 of Amharic interpretation to English is not the right one. It’s right interpretation is found in 1 kings chapter 21. Please correct it by making it vise versa 20 to 21, and chapter 21 to 20. Thank you for doing this great job by bieng engaged to his kingdom. God bless you. T.K. (fixed)

I like to take this opportunity to thank you for providing such a valuable source of information on the holy word of God. I was going to send you a request for the permission of using the contents of this Website but according to your disclaimer (https://www.wordproject.org/contact/new/disclaim.htm), we do not need to do so. However, I truly appreciate your great work. May our LORD bless you all. Sincerely, R.

Thanks for providing the bible in this format particularly the Somali bible. Please look at chapter 1 of your App for Genesis 1 or Bilowgii.  At the very end, some unwanted text displays: “</DIV></div>”.  Thanks. J.R.

Thank you for this blessed work. I am fluent in Luganda and was wondering if there is something I could help with. May God Continue To Bless. Kosea. K.

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate all that you have done already and are continuing to do to make the Bible accessible in so many languages! My question is: Is there a way to download the English/Chinese/Chinese Pinyin version of the full Bible for offline use?  I am in China and I do not always have access to a good internet connection. Thank you, in advance, for any suggestions you might have! God Bless You! K.H.

I have downloaded the audio bible freely. May God bless your ministry. The bible says ”Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. rev 1:3” Yes there is blessing through reading, hearing and keeping the word of God. Comment: In the audio bible, the epistle to Galathians is replaced by Philiphians. The word Philiphinas is written twice. please edit it. May God bless you D.B. Wolaitta Soddo, Ethiopia  

I stumbled across your web page.  I’m the administrator of www.ReinaValeraGomez.com.  I’m looking for a better way to host the Bible online.  I like the way your website has the Bible formatted.  I would like to make the Reina Valera Gomez Bible available in this same format.  Please contact me.  Thank you! Sincerely, S.R.

Alexa ranking for WP on October 31st.

Here you may see, South Arabia and UAE on the list of users online. These are countries where the Bible is not permitted to enter…

The Tamil audio Bible recording is now entering the final stage and this month Raj finished all the way to the book of Ezekiel. That means we are less than 50 verses away from concluding the Old Testament, therefore the whole Tamil Bible. This has been a long road and Raj has been faithful in recording and also editing the Tamil digital text to match the printed version of the Bible as published by the Bible Society of India. Here you may listen to Tamil audio Bible recordings online (Ezekiel):
https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/tm/26/1.htm

Raj has been very busy recording the Tamil Audio Bible. Bless him.

From Samuel, in Africa, we heard that the audio Bibles in French have arrived at the destination, in Congo where they are a blessing to the Lord’s work there. Here are a few pictures sent in by Samuel:

Package of audio Bibles arrived in Congo

Passing out the audio Bibles in Congo.

By Donna.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph 6:12).
I really felt an intense spiritual battle this month, a battle in which the enemy was trying to hamper our efforts to make progress in our witness here and in our personal lives and endeavors. As stated in 1Pe 5:8,  our adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour and that is why we need to be sober and vigilant.  The negative forces of fear and pride and rebellion have been trying to wreak havoc here, and we are convinced that they can only be conquered through the Holy Spirit of God and the Power of His Almighty and eternal Word. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against Him. (Is. 59:19).

We have been praying intensively, memorizing more Bible verses, absorbing less negative media input, and filling our minds with positive thoughts from the Word of God.  The mind is such a powerful part of our soul/spirit/body makeup and we definitely fight on the battlefield of the mind.  Jesus’ first commandment  is: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. “Mt 22:37. So, harnessing our mind is one of the major challenges in life, and has been a major focus for us this month. Paul says in 2 Co. 10:3-5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”.  What a challenge! We continue in the battle.

There have been  many glorious victories this month here in China ! We have been in contact with local Christian brethren whom we have been able to fellowship with and encourage to get back on the active battlefield for Christ. Developing deeper relationships in Christ with friends and acquaintances has been fruitful and inspiring.

Eagle sharing some songs with us.

Jorge and Jason sharing some songs with Eagle.

This past month we saw young Zac turn 3 years old! Even from very far away we can observe that he is an extremely energetic and happy little fellow who is growing by leaps and bounds!! We are praying that he adapts gracefully to his new role as older brother in the next coming weeks! He will definitely be a great blessing to mom and dad and baby sister that is arriving! Not least, I thank everyone for the wonderful birthday reception back home and all the prayers and wishes from far and wide. What a blessed celebration of life, having so many things to be thankful for!

Little Zac of Philip and Julie, learning the art of football

Donna’s birthday lunch in Macau with family. – (L.R.) Mandy, Isabel, Joana, Jason, Benjamim, Gabriel, Donna, Jorge and Emanuel and Baby Aurora.

Happy Birthday to Donna!! (Emanuel and Isabel watching attentively…)

Expired Image!

Donna teaching Jason. A daily job for a homeschooling mother

Expired Image!

Happy grandmother with happy granddaughter – Donna and Aurora (Rou)

At the end of each month we are able to assess the progress of our websites and there is always a sense of expectancy to see if we maintain the levels of outreach of previous months or if there is any decline. We thank the Lord that we receive many emails and comments during the month that tell us that people are listening and reading the precious Word of God, which is the main and almost sole content in our sites. Still, the assessment at the monthly stats gives us a better perspective of the extent and the impact of our labors. This month, for example, we noticed a raise in page views to over 7 million,  1.8 million visitors and 12 terabytes of audio downloaded. That output brought us to the highest international ranking ever, 33,500, on the international website ranking and 7,500 rank in India. This are just cold numbers, of course, but we do receive  warm messages of appreciation  from those who love the word of God and use It daily in our site everyday.

International ranking on October 2nd 2018

other rankings on Oct. 2nd 2018

Not least, our indirect outreach is becoming increasingly important as we have noticed that several sites all over the world use our materials to publish the Bible in their respective languages. This comes as a result of us placing all Bibles on a  download format, where they can be used offline. This has resulted in several sites using our materials and even our format to implement new Bible websites and even a few apps.  We find it interesting that in several cases our format and design is maintained and sometimes, even  links to  our disclaimers and resources. Here are a few examples of what we found this month:

A Luganda app (Android) which is a copy of our site.

An Hindi App based on our pages

Our narrations are also found on youtube, with some interesting combinations, like this one for the Portuguese book of I Kings, Chapter 22

This youtube video in fact scrolls the text as the image and includes a link to an APP for Android devices that is also quite good.

We thank God that others are using their time and energy to broadcast the Word in this way and we continue to encourage it by placing our site free for download and copy for mission purposes.

Salvation is simple and easy to understand, but to make it even simpler we are now using some of our favorite tracts offered by Chick Publications, and with permission we are now publishing  ‘This was your life’, an illustrated tract available in several languages, on our site. For the moment we are offering the Chinese version:
https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/tracts/cn/life/

This was your life tract

and the Portuguese version: https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/tracts/pt/life/

and the English version: https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/resources/tracts/en/life/

This was your life, English version.

plus the Swahili, Hindi, Spanish and French.

Meanwhile, the Audio Bible devices we sent to Africa are being  distributed. Our friend Judith, in Nairobi, who is part of a ministry for the blind,  sent some very touching pictures of  her group receiving the audio Bibles and reported that they were very thankful for such a precious gift, which they can use to listen to the  Word of God personally any time.

Blind people are greatly blessed by our Audio Bible devices (machines)

Ruth, part of Samuel’s team in Nairobi, giving out a French Audio Bible to a gentleman from Congo. (photo sent by Samuel)

Not least, we sent another package of 50 audio Bibles to Portugal, which were well received by Cristiana and waiting there for opportunities of distribution.
We thank God and those who have the vision and vision and faith to continue to support this ministry with their gifts and prayers.

by Donna

The month of September was a month to remember! We were kept on high alert by the advance of the Mega Typhoon “Mangkhut” during the middle of the month. After last year’s event with typhoon Hato, neither the general populace nor the government agencies were taking any chances, consequently the supermarket shelves were emptied, low lying car parks were evacuated, loose debris was duly secured and windows were taped. Actually, a great debate whether to tape or not to tape was held, and each household had to decide in favor or against the suggested procedure. (We decided not to tape, just for the record.) Eventually, Mangkhut arrived with a reduced velocity than was forecast but, we were pretty much situated in the pathway of a direct hit. We withstood the wind and gusts and the intense rain. Our village remained practically unscathed, however other low lying areas in this city were deeply flooded as per usual. The aftermath clean- up crews were extremely efficient and after one day the city was back in function. Thank God for His protection! “For thous hast been a strength to the poor, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. “ Isaiah 25:4

Typhoon Mangkhut strong winds

Floods in the city

Near our house: less damage than last year but still bad. This was a road.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aK3_9Kpy-ZI6Hyk3NNgEfyRp7veh_lXL/view?usp=sharing

Another big wind of change blew thru on Sunday, September 9th. Gloria received an acceptance letter from Medical School in Lisbon. This was quite an amazing event and because of the timing of the academic schedule and the forecast arrival of another tropical storm which threatened to shut down the Hong Kong Airport, Gloria boarded to Lisbon within two days! It was definitely a whirlwind of activity with tickets to book, bags to pack, and good-byes to be held, but she was off in time to arrive for class sign up! She is staying with a friend who is enrolled in the exact same medical course so they can travel together to school by train  early in the morning! God is faithful and has answered Gloria’s repeated prayers for entry into a medical school! We uphold her in prayer as she gets used to the intense curriculum and also learns Portuguese!  “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

Departing Gloria

Gloria at the entrance of the old building of the “Nova” Medical School in Lisbon

More changes were around the corner as Jorge, Jason and Donna stepped over the border into the mainland. On the local school front, Jason is pushing forward is his 10th grade studies, i.e., Portuguese, Biology, Algebra 2, English as well as his Chinese lessons. There have been several personal victories and accomplishments by other members of our family and we met regularly to read the Word and pray together on Sunday morning, which continues to be an encouraging time for all.

Here some family images:

Gabriel holding baby Aurora of Emanuel and Mandy.

Joana, Gui and Gloria

home time

Donna and granddaughter baby Aurora

Clean up time

Donna and Jason in China

Buying second-hand furniture in China

Second hand furnitured office in China

A month of trials and tests and a struggle to remain focused. Still, made progress in several fronts: We took weekly trips into China among other things to collect the Tamil recordings concluded this month. In fact we have reached the recording of the book of Job this week. From September we should be living closer to Raj and his family as we found an apartment that meets our needs and therefore we will be staying on that side of the border and dedicating more time to that field.

The rented apartment in Zhuhai

Meanwhile, the shipment of audio Bibles to Africa arrived in Nairobi and distribution has started. We have several main contacts who in turn will distribute the audio Bibles to individuals, according to their criteria. Those main contacts are people whom we met when we were there and in whom we bestow  a lot of trust, namely, Samuel, Paul, Grace, Pamela, Safari, Issac, Benjamin, Jack, Judith and Sserugo.

Packages of Audio Bibles arrived in Nairobi

Samuel has sent us the following pictures of individual who were blessed with the new Audio Bibles in Swahili, and Safari sent us the picture of his football team, which he manages in this predominantly Muslim area.

Audio Bibles gifts to Africa

Not least, the Cantonese audio narration has been greatly improved with a new narration granted to us by an online Chinese ministry. That is something we have been praying for  a long time and although we are still searching for a male narrator, the female narrator in this version does a very good job and quite pleasant to listen to.

APP comments are resumed here: *separated by a slash (/)

Super nice best /  Praise the lord / Very nice application! / God bless you / Love this audio Bible / It’s what I was looking for / The holy Bible is word of almighty God. This is true and effective / Nice app, God bless u all, Calist from Tanzania / Good / Great. Just what I was looking for. Offline + audio / I keep getting the message unfortunately word project has stopped working. / This application is excellent, be blessed. / best / Auto-translated from Indonesian – Nice /  God bless you all and your family. / Very Nice i liked this. And BEST BIBLE ON PHONE.ever. / I hear god s word daily / I like this app. It is helping me read the Bible in Portuguese. / good app / Auto-translated from Portuguese – Need to put voice options in Portuguese BR a Portuguese Portuguese both male voice and another female option and some incomplete audios although this does not prevent reading / Amazing thanks for making this app amazing.

Below two favorite emails received this past month:

• To God be the Glory for the good online Holy Bible which has made life so wonderful to everybody. I have read SWAHILI BIBLE for more than a year now and it has changed my life since I can listen or read. In SWAHILI version I would like you to make a simple correction in (Isaya 45:1) there is a word written (name instead of nami) Thank you and God Bless you H.M.
• To whom it may concern: Greetings in the Lord. My name is H.K, a M.div. candidate in Graduate School of Baekseok University in Seoul, Korea which follows reformed theology. At the same time, I am a producer, composer and guitarist in Korean jazz band “Tough Talk”. My team is a small group which consists of 4 musicians who compose and play instrumental music with christian world view. I’m writing to get your permission for using audio resource provided by “WordProject” in my upcoming track of which the theme is Matthew 13:13-17. It is an instrumental piece named “Eyes to Open” in which I add sound effect of flipping through pages of the Bible and I would like to embed audio bible source to make the theme remarkable. I ask for your assent to use your audio resource of Matthew 13:13. You may find how it would like to used if you listen to the sample track attached. Thank you for your time. I look forward to a favorable reply from you. Sincerely,H.K.

Alexa ranking August

By Donna

August flew by like the wind. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it rained 3 weeks out of 4, so our forecast of swimming and outdoor activities to enjoy the end of summer holidays was out the window! But God has been good to us and there is no need to complain. The rain did lower the heat level, it did not enter our house, no big typhoons and wind like last year, no serious flooding, and we are alive and well to tell the story!

August Macau skies

Many of us returned to school this month. Both Ben and Gloria resumed uni studies. Gloria was granted a monetary scholarship for her high academic achievements last year and she made the Dean’s List.  Jason has entered his 10th year and is currently studying, among other things, English, Portuguese, Algebra 2 and Biology. Guilherme has been studying for his upcoming law exam in September and little Isabel will be starting her kindergarten tomorrow! Teachers Mandy and Gabriel will be back in class this week. A high learning curve is forecast for this coming academic season!

Gloria, 5th from the left, receiving her award

Jo and Guilherme made a trip to Portugal, and were happy to spend time with Gui’s family in Seixal and Cristiana in Lisboa. It was a short visit but filled with fun days and great memories.

Cristiana and Joana – two sisters in Lisbon

Cristiana ventured to Morocco with her colleagues and was introduced to the culture there, including camel rides and culinary treats!

Cristiana in North Africa

This month was another birthday bonanza! 24 yr. old Joana started us off on the 2nd of August, 3 yr old Isabel followed close behind on the 3rd,  Jason checked in at 15 on the 23rd and Jorge’s birthday was on the 31st! We enjoyed every celebration of life, with Isabel definitely blowing out more candles per year than anyone on the birthday roster!

Jay’s Birthday

Jorge’s birthday (with Bel-Bel)

Just yesterday we received the news that the 300 audio Bibles we donated to Africa are finally ready to be picked up at the warehouse in Nairobi. There were more formalities and what used to take around 10 days took one month this time. Samuel is ready to pick them up on Monday and we are getting ready to send the second shipment of 300 units, most likely next week. The package of 50 audio Bibles that we sent to Portugal arrived without any problems and it was much easier than we thought to get them through customs, thanks to a Chinese freighting company that did everything for us. Cristiana was a blessing in picking them up and is now holding them – this week we are donating 25 of those to a ministry we know from Africa and that is also present in Portugal – the Word of Life ministry.
By the way, since we receive requests for a manual explaining how to use the SR600 audio Bible, we decided to make a quick video clip explaining the basics.

Meanwhile, Raj has been making progress with the recording of the Tamil audio. We have uploaded up to 2 Samuel (link). Some of the text had to be corrected therefore we are not only recording the audio but also correcting errors in the digital online version of the Tamil Bible to comply with the printed Bible book. On another development we were granted the use of 2 new audio narrations: Ukrainian and Turkmen – thanks to the dedication and hard work of IBT, the Institute for Bible Translation, a Russian based organization with offices in Moscow. Check here (link) a sample of those two central Asia languages now available in our site.

Ukrainian Audio Bible

We dedicated some time to upgrade our office and implemented a larger screen – bought in China for a very reasonable price – besides some furniture to increase our work space and the possibility of working while standing up – sitting so many hour in front of the computer is definitely not recommendable and our backs have been trying to convey that to us for awhile now.

WP office

Now, let us see what the people say: To make it easy to read, we just compiled all the comments we received in July in one string separated by a slash (/):

Excellent / What I was looking for! Thank you, God bless you / Very good app / Very very delighted to down load and see the HOLY BIBLE in the digital form. Thank you very much for giving this wonderful version. / Excellent App / Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17) Thank you for the audio bible / The Lord blesses you for what you have done for this application. / App is good, but which version? / Praise the Lord / Love it super bible app / I love this app as me and several other people have eye sight problems.This is the best app around.Thanks. / The voice is pleasant, with an expression that reads. I like listening. Pleases that offline. All works well / Great Blessing / Very good help / Excellent application. / Love it / Bible study / Tank’s / God bless you / May God bless you all at WordProject.”

And I separated just two emails from users of our website.

“Dear brothers in Christ I loved the the work you have done and effort you have put and the trouble you have faced but when we see the fruits of your efforts and the grace that God as been given. Ohhhh no words to elaborate   I am from India and India needs your help we need audio device that you now discontinued we need and I have 2001 model of your device it helped lot of uneducated people but I have only one device I am ready to pay for it I searched in all Bible society of India I didn’t find one  so please we need your help hope you reply soon waiting for your reply thanks for your continuous support to all.” U.

**

“Hi good day, I’m very impressed with your bible and audio bibles, i would however like to ask something, is it possible to download your audio bible onto a CD? What we want to do is give out audio bibles on CD for free to those who attend our gospel crusades, because we sometimes do not have enough bibles and the need is so big”. R.S.
It is good to know that others are using the Word and ready to multiply our efforts by starting their own ministries, adapting and localizing what we offer for free to bless their own communities. We are all blessed to be part of this effort.