Bill Patterson: August 2018 Prayer Letter

Staff Retreat

Trip Report: The conference in Tlapa was attended by over 1,000 delegates from four indigenous tribes. We were blessed to see 200 souls come to faith in Christ, 50 young people who were called to full-time service, and 37 baptized! The day after the conference, we hosted the annual staff retreat for the Bethesda Children’s Homes and the Cuernavaca office staff. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement as we learned from God’s Word and rejoiced in His blessings.

Tlapa Conference

Bible Translation: Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of joining Dr. Ken Fielder at his WorldView Team Meeting. This was the seventh time in eight years that I have been at this conference for Bible Translators. During that meeting, I was invited to teach a course in October at their school of Bible translation on the subject of Advanced Linguistics, with a focus on Bible translation. Since then, I traveled again to Indianapolis to meet with Dr. Fielder, his assistant Bro. Matthew Patenaude, and a young man who desires to translate the Scriptures into Sarnami Hindi, a language spoken in India and several other countries.

Trip to Mongolia: In just a few days, I will be back in Mongolia. For this trip, my family will not be able to go with me. Once a year, I travel to Mongolia to meet with our Old Testament translation team. While there, we hope to review their translation of five books that are finished. Additionally, I plan to teach the team on the subject of translating Hebrew poetry. Only with God’s help will we be able to do all we are planning!

Family News: Our oldest daughter, Heather, is now working for a graphic design firm in the Washington, DC area, helping conservative government leaders with campaign materials. Our son, Ryan, is still in treatment for Lyme’s disease, and appears to be recovering slowly. Tricia, our youngest daughter, has started her final year of high school. Marcy and I are so grateful to the Lord for blessing us with family and friends that love us and encourage us. Thank you for praying for and supporting our ministry!