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W o r d s f r o m R o y

Prayer is our

lifeline to

accomplish

Gods will.

Its our link to

the throne.

R o y L . P e t e r s o n | PRESIDENT

Every year at this time we gather around our tables for Thanks-giving Day and thank God for our many blessings in this greatnation. At The Seed Company, we give thanks for you and ourfaithful partners around the world. And as we do, we alsoare mindful to pray for people groups who are experiencing great turmoil.One of the greatest and most urgent needs on my heart is for the Word

of God to penetrate and shatter the darkness and violence that has ripped

families apart, generated unspeakable atrocities toward women and

children, and claimed more than 5 million lives in the eastern Democratic

Republic of Congo (DRC).

Having recently met with representatives of six partner organizations atthe American Bible Society in New York, it was clear that we share the

same concerns and want to do all we can to reach out to the aected

people. Thank God, Wyclie and SIL have made available Trauma Healing

Workshops to minister to devastated people. But we must do more. The

Scriptures say, He sent his word and healed them, snatching them from

the door of death (Psalm 107:20, NLT).

With your partnership, The Seed Company is actively involved in helping

translate Gods healing Scripture for 10 people groups in the DRC.

But at least 25 groups in the Great Lakes region of the DRC and neigh-

boring countries aected by the ghting do not have any Scripture in their

heart language. We realize that for people to have a thriving relationship

with Jesus and experience His physical, emotional and spiritual healing,

they must know His Word in their heart language.

Prayer is our lifeline to accomplish Gods will. Its our link to the throne.

The needs are urgent on many fronts. We are so thankful for our new Prayer

Director, Bill McCoy, who will be coordinating powerful prayer initiatives for

the DRC as well as expanding our prayer ministry in other areas. Bill will be

networking with existing prayer organizations and providing prayer requests

to mobilize strategic, eective and targeted prayer, which will do much to

destroy the works of darkness while making a powerful impact for Gods

kingdom. (Be sure to read Bills column in this issue youll be encouraged!)

We are so thankful for the privilege of serving the Body of Christ through

focused prayer eorts. And, we are so very

thankful for your partnership with us.

I pray Gods richest blessing for you and

your family during this holiday season!Cover: Lughulu mother holding

her baby close and treasuring the

newly translated Scripture she

received. Because of your gifts,

her child can learn about Jesus and

know Gods Word! (Story page 8)

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An enthusiastic Mama Singihad been serving as a localchurch small-group leader when

she started working with the Ada

translation team as part o the

Basera Cluster in Southeast Asia.

Soon though, it became difcult

to carry out both jobs eectively.

She would have to choose between

the two. e decision was tough!While translating verses in Genesis,

Mama began to understand what to

do. She realized God had promised

Abraham he would be a blessing to

all the amilies o the earth. Ater

much prayer and discussion with

her amily, Mama told church lead-

ers, I can only help a small group

o amilies as a group leader. I can

help churches, even hundreds o

amilies, through Bible translation.

Mama Singi would ocus her eorts

on translation work.

Such commitment is the rule

rather than the exception in this

Southeast Asian cluster project. As

mother-tongue speakers like Mama

Singi gain translation training and

experience, they will become valu-

able in helping neighboring groups.

Translators rom the Edo, Ada

and Ampere people groups are

working jointly on the New Testa-

ment while the Hua team is com-

pleting their Old Testament. And

ve national consultant interns

rom Kartidaya, the National Bible

Translation Organization (NBTO)

also are in training.

Working as a cluster, translators

and interns learn rom and assist

one another. ey share acilities,

personnel and available resources.

Kartidaya and e Seed Company

have great hope that this training

model will multiply to reach the

remaining 200 people groups in

this nation.

Your partnership in prayer andgiving is helping the people o

Southeast Asia receive Gods Word

or the very rst time! ank you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A M u l t i p l i c a t i o n

S t r a t e g yorR e a c h i n g a N A T I O N

I can only help a smallgroup o amilies as a groupleader. I can help churches,even hundreds o amilies,through Bible translation.

Mama Singi, Southeast Asia

Join the latest phase of translation

among the Hua at

theseedcompany.org/project/hua-ot-im

seed l inks

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AGitin anyLanguage

Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace, good will

toward men!

What an honor! What a thrill it must have been orGabriel to announce that the Savior o the world had been born.

Gods messenger angel had waited 4,000 years to proclaim the

birth o Jesus and he brought the host o heaven with him as

they praised God, blasting the Good News through the heavenlies.

Imagine the reaction o the shepherds tending sheep and halasleep, when suddenly a bright ash shatters the darkness and

lights up the night sky with Gods dazzling glory.

Dont be araid! thundered the angel. I bring you good

news that will bring great joy to all people. Messiah has been

born today in Bethlehem, the city o David!

e messenger knew the tremendous impact o his declara-

tion. God had prepared him rom the oundation o the earth to

announce the arrival o the Savior o mankind Jesus Christ.Gods Word always brings light that pierces the darkness and

makes an impact. e watching shepherds ran to Bethlehem to

tell others the Good News they had heard.

Today, national Bible translators around the world are on

the same urgent mission to spread Gods Word to their people

group in a language they understand.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 | seed l inks

Gift-A-Verse lets

you and your loved on

continue to announc

the Saviorto peopl

who are still waiting

hear the Good News

Over 350 million

people are still waiting

for Gods Word to

pierce the darkness

of their world.

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Go To www.OneVerse.org Click on the Git-A-Verse link.Select e number o Git-A-Verse cards

you desire to give.

People groups you want to bless. e Git-A-Verse card design you preer.

Sign Up Fill out inormation. Order your cards by

December 10, and well printand deliver them to you beoreChristmas.

Or call toll ree 866-663-8377!

Git-A-Verse Cards or ChristmasA gift that will be remembered for eternity!

For more information or to order your Gift-A-Verse cards, go to OneVerse.org/gift.

A Gift-A-Verse card represents a life changing gift given in

honor of that special someone in your life. It is the translation of one

verse of Gods Word for a people without Scripture in their language.

For only $26, through Gift-A-Verse, you and your lovedones share Scripture with a Bibleless people desperately waiting for

Gods message of salvation and hope.

Its been over 2,000 years since that rst announcement and

still 350 million people wait for Gods Word to pierce the darkness

of their world. Together we are changing that, one verse at a time.

Gift-a-Verse cards are mailed directly to the purchaserwith an extra envelope. You can hand-write a special

message inside the card before re-mailing it in theenvelope provided.

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A translation o the Gospel inthe heart language o the people

can remove a cultural stigma anddraw many to Jesus.

In Mozambique, one Nyungwewoman a Christian elt thesting o rejection when her riendsreerred to her church as thechurch o those Changana people,a nickname that has carried thesting o rejection and a sense oexclusion in the community.

Now this woman has hopethat many will attend church andhear the Good News because thetranslation team has completedthe Gospel o Mark in the Nyun-gwe language. Finally, she cried,my people will stop using thenickname and come inside thechurch doors to hear Gods Word

in Nyungwe! e communityeven held a celebration or thecompletion o the rst transla-tion o Scripture in their language.

Translation work is ongoing sothe nearly hal- million Nyungwespeakers will have access to GodsWord. By 2016, the translationteam anticipates completing theNew Testament and portions o

the Old Testament.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

N Y U N G W E D E D I C A T I O N

Translation Removes Stingo Rejection

So now there is

no condemnation for

those who belong to

Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1 (NLT)

6 | seedl inks

Though I was a believer,

there was no change in

my inner life. I couldnt forgiv

others. I told lies and had a

kinds of unspiritual thoughts i

my heart. Reading Gods Word

my inner life began to change

My faith has grown. Now mwork, my talk and my deed

are changing.

Manta translator-trainee,South Asia

B i b l e T r a n s l a t i o ni s Evange l i sm

Celebrating e Word in YawaSenat smiles, revealing rough,

red teeth streaked rom years ochewing betel nut and lime. Shoul-der-length hair rames his darkace like a lions mane. Clutchedin his hand is a tattered copy o a

New Testament portion that hehas careully covered in brownpaper. e Scripture he holds waspublished in Yawa, his SoutheastAsian language, in 1990.

I the reading is rom theNew Testament, explains church

elder Senat, and thatportion has been pub-

lished [in Yawa], I alwaysread rom it.

His ragile book bulgeswith bookmarks, sermon

notes and an order o worshiprom last April, June 20, hed readJohn 3:5 to open the service andpreached rom 1 Timothy chapter 3.For that same service, Senat[let] had asked translator Man-

dowen [right] or thewording o a pas-sage rom Hebrews,which had not been

published at the time.Soon Senat will have the

entire New Testament. e teamexpects to get the entire manu-script to the printer by the endo this year. Next Junes planneddedication will be Christmas allover again . . . when Gods Wordarrives in Yawa!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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One Dea congregation witnessed a markeddierence in their pastor as his preaching in Kenyan SignLanguage took on a special glow. George, a member o thecongregation, signed, We started noticing that his stories were

clearer and had very strong lessons. How come? we wondered.

Later we discovered our pastor had been watching theKenyan Sign Language Bible on DVD in his ree time. Sundayservices were never the same! ey have become more moving,interesting and touching.

e Seed Company has a vital partnership with Dea Opportu-nity Outreach to support Dea translators in Kenya. Since 2009these gited translators have produced translated Scriptures onDVD to minister to 200,000 Kenyan Dea people. ank youor your part in helping the Dea community receive Gods Word

in a remarkable way!

D E A F O P P O R T U N I T Y O U T R E A C H

Preaching Aglow

Take the challenge!Start the 28-day interactive

devotional challenge anytime!e 15-minute daily adventuresare great or personal study, am-ily devotions and small groups.

While growing in appreciationor Gods Word, you and yourchurch can team up with nationaltranslators rom a specic peoplegroup to help provide Scripture intheir language or the rst time.

Get started atblankbible.org

G O D S W O R D C H A N G I N G L I V E S

A R O U N D O U R W O R L D

The kids REALLY loved all the

OneVerse information and videos.

You guys did a great job!

Emmanuel Baptist ChurchAppleton, Wisconsin

Read more about these and

other projects around the world at

theseedcompany.org

seed l inks

Children rom 50 churches raised$22,000 during Vacation Bible School(VBS) to und Scripture translation or theLughulu people o Tanzania! e 2010GoFish curriculum ocused on Puttingthe Bible back into Vacation Bible School, and included a missionscomponent about Bible translation rom OneVerse. Churches, parents

and students alike gave the program high marks.OneVerse and GoFish are now working onVBS curriculum or 2011. Watch or it!

Catching on to Bible Translationrough VBS

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Their First

SCRIP

A Lughulu village leader o another religion also

acknowledged the eect o Scripture in his language.

He said, I am very pleased to hear what you are saying

to the people it gives me peace.

In addition, community members are requestingliteracy classes so they can use the Lughulu Scriptures

more eectively.

Testimonies such as these have motivated neighboring

language groups to ask or help with Bible translation.

As a result, e Seed Company is now partnering with

local translation teams rom 12 languages to make

Gods Word available to more than 4.5 million people.

It was thrilling or the OneVerse team to hear and

see how portions o Gods Word are blessing the Lughulu

When Seed Company/OneVerse stamember Jill Monaco was accompanied by university

students Kellen and Amanda to visit several OneVerse

translation projects in East Arica, the impact o the

recently translated Lughulu Scriptures was evidentand creating a stir in the community.

For instance, ater the JESUS lm rom the Book

o Luke was shown in the Lughulu language, believers

began reaching out and praying or others. When they

visited their neighbors, Edina gave her lie to Jesus.

e Lord healed her, and her daughter came to Christ

that same evening! Edinas relatives were shocked! ey

had been expecting news o Edinas death, but instead,

they heard o a miracle.

br ings

One Book

to the

Lughulu

people

8 | seedl inks

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TURE

people. It was especially rewarding or Jill, Amanda

and Kellen to accompany Lughulu translators to a local

church, bringing the newly published Book o John.

When they stepped inside the mud-brick church

where purple, green and blue cloth anned out to coverthe expanse o one wall, they sensed the presence o

God. Woven strands o owers hung across the abric,

lending an air o dignity and reverence to the simple

structure. e crowd o believers swayed to the beat

o tall drums, a hand-made marimba and a variety o

shakers and rattles. While worshipping the Lord, the

people began spontaneously synchronizing their

bodies in a beautiul dance rhythm while their voices

were ringing out in clear harmony. For the OneVerse

Lughulu The majority of

Lughulu speakers, including

Christians, still live in fear of

spirits, rather than experiencing

the redemption and freedom

they could know in Christ.

Scriptures in their mother

tongue will oer believers the

tools for deliverance.

You can sponsor one verse for

the Lughulu people too! Visit

oneverse.org/project/lughulu

View the video online at:

theseedcompany.org/lughulu-visit

A Mounta intopE x p e r i e n c e

visitors, this was a mountaintop experience.

e pastors daughter sang a song that almost

brought me to tears without even knowing the words,

said Amanda. e words to the song were simply,

You are able. Kellen added, Having the Word o Godin their language meant the world to them. Bible

translation is so important; we must make it a priority

in our oering to missions!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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OneVerse team members Kellen,

Amanda (pictured upper left) and

Jill embrace the Lughulu people and

accompany translators bringing the

newly published Book of John to a

local church. (lower left).

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