Jerry & Joyce McDaniels opening God's Word through literacy Countdown to the printers!
Newly designed mola for book covers.
If you’ve ever worked on a huge project for a LONG time, you know how wonderful it is to see things coming together! That’s how we are feeling about the Kuna literacy project.
Years ago we began developing a whole literacy program using all the things we’ve been learning about successful literacy training. Since it has not been our “full-time” ministry, we’ve worked on it here and there between other projects as we could.
Well, we are in the very final stages of editing and formatting in order to take it down to Panama in a few weeks to check a few questions we have, get some artwork done, and then turn the whole Kuna primer series into the printers! Woo-hoo!
Would you pray for us as we finish up the last details on this huge project? We are thrilled with the financial gifts that have come in toward the project. The Kuna literacy fund has received 77% of the total cost.
To follow the progress, please go to: usa.ntm.org/projects/kuna-literacy
Tags: God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, read, training, travel, write
lovin’ the grandkids!
our precious granddaughter, Claire
Trust you enjoyed the holidays as much as we did! Time with family and friends is so special! We are absolutely loving being grandparents!
We sent Reed and David (ages 3 and 2) one of those recordable books of the Christmas story. The other day they were listening to us “read” the story and Pam asked them who was talking. It was a page that Papa Jerry was reading and David reverently whispered, “God!”
Molly, age 4 has been asking when she can begin piano lessons with Grandma Joyce. Joyce told her that she would first need to know her letters. So later that day Molly took her Sunday school paper and wrote all the letters of the alphabet and gave it to David & Mari to show Grandma. Needless to say, Molly has now had two lessons and is doing great!
Tags: Family
in their hands!
reading Psalms for the FIRST time!
We had the most wonderful time in Panama for the Kuna leadership conference. It’s always a thrill to be able to reconnect with our Kuna friends, study God’s Word together, sing and hear reports of how God is working in the churches. But the thing that touched our hearts the most was something that they carried back to their villages.
Our Kuna friends received the first copies of the newly translated books of Psalms, Proverbs and Exodus. Let that soak into your mind for a moment…Makes us want to shout each time we think about it!!!
Most of us grew up hearing “the Lord is my Shepherd…” We have had free access to God’s whole Word through multiple translations in our language (often sitting in dust on our bookshelves), digital copies if we prefer, and even apps that go wherever we are. Praise God that by 2013 the Kunas will have the whole Bible in their language! Pray for the final steps necessary to get things finished up and off to the printers.
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Tags: changed lives, God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, read, travel, tribal, write
Kuna literacy project
Ever wish that you could somehow invest in strengthening the Kuna churches of Panama?
As you’ve gotten to know some of our dear Kuna friends, have you ever wanted a tangible way to reach out to them, to spiritually encourage them and their families?
If so, we’ve got an opportunity for you!
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Tags: changed lives, God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, read, training, travel, write
sharpening the axe
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
There is great value in taking time to be sharpened, equipped, and refocused for the tasks God has called us to do. This guards us from becoming dull and ineffective. The annual Kuna leadership conference in Panama, held early in November is a “sharpening” time for the church leaders and their wives.
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Tags: changed lives, church planting, God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, training, travel, tribal, write
welcome Baby Amelia!
Grandma Joyce and little Amelia
She’s here! Amelia Grace McDaniels was born on August 16. She is absolutely beautiful and already adored by big sisters Molly and Claire! We praise God for this miracle with David & Mari. Papa Jerry & Grandma Joyce can’t get enough time holding their newest little love!
Our family actually increased by 2 this week! The adoption of Ryan & Pam’s little David (age 2 yrs) was also completed. David Bravery Parsons makes them a family of six!
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Tags: Family
Kuna missionaries
Anelio & Silverixia
We have such a great respect for so many of our Kuna brothers and sisters in Panama! Anelio & Silverixia are a young couple that were sent out as missionaries by their church to a village upriver. You may remember that in 2009, while returning to the village where they minister, they lost their 3 year old son in the flooded river. God has used their faithfulness in spite of many hardships to win many to Christ.
A church has been established in the village. Every Saturday Anelio has also been traveling upriver with some of the new believers to the next Kuna village to teach “God’s Book.”
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Tags: changed lives, church planting, God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, read, training, village
may God’s name be made great in our pain
Edelfonso & Jerry
Hello from Panama! The checking of the Kuna literacy materials has gone very well. The Lord’s timing is so perfect! The Kuna Bible translation team has recently made some significant changes in the spelling of certain words and hyphenation. Since the literacy program’s main focus is to equip people to read the Kuna Bible, we want to make sure it completely follows the spelling and punctuation used in the Bible. Had we finalized the literacy books sooner, they would not have been correct. So we just have to smile at God’s amazing timing.
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Tags: changed lives, God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, tribal, write
don’t forget the recipes!
reading the Word
The countdown has begun! Next week Joyce & I travel back “home” to Panama. So much has happened in the lives of our Kuna friends since we last saw them – the flooding and devastation, intense pressure on the believers to return to the traditional ways and forsake the Bible, a dear friend’s death, the Old Testament translation nearing completion! It will be so good to have time together to rejoice and grieve. Plus we have a lot of work to do!
The Kuna literacy program is ready for its final check and then printing. This means there are 6 primers, each with detailed daily lesson plans for the teachers, student writing practice, worksheets, extra reading practice booklets.
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Tags: God's Word, Kuna, literacy, prayer, read, travel, village, write
how does grammar fit into literacy?
We trust this finds you well and enjoying Spring! There’s just something about being able to open up the windows and let in the sunshine. Our jasmine is blooming on the fence and it smells incredible. (And for you poor souls who are still up in the cold, hang on it shouldn’t be much longer!)
We’ve been explaining our ministry focus on literacy and some of the key elements that keep us busy. In our last post we looked at the importance of missionaries finding a good orthography and how alphabets are not simply “one size fits all.”
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Tags: changed lives, literacy, read, write