November Highlights
· The Logos Answers website is now live in English (logosanswers.org).
· Alexis is continuing an in-depth study on the Gospel of John with another sister.
· Scott began an in-depth study on the Gospel of John with another brother.
· Scott taught the book of Hosea for the Young Professional class at Woodstock.
· Scott wrote a research paper on the meaning and significance of water in John 3:3.
· Fellowship meals with families in ministry.
Logosanswers.org
This month, we launched the English version of our website. It has taken a little longer than expected because we wanted to have a certain number of articles written and our first video posted. Our first video is really what took the longest. Since we are learning many new programs and new skills, the learning curve has been quite steep. Fortunately, we have made a lot of mistakes, and through trial and error, we have a better idea of what to expect going forward.
The idea behind this website is that we want a
place for non-Christians throughout the world, who are seeking the truth, to come and learn about Christ and the Bible. On the website, truth-seekers will be able to ask questions, read articles, and watch videos. The content is designed to be foundational, but for the critically minded. We want to encourage you to share the website with any non-Christian you are interested in evangelizing to. Hopefully, the site can serve as an interesting way to engage them with the truth.
We try to involve other Christians in helping us. For example, Wayne Burger, one of our teachers from Bear Valley has contributed a couple of articles. Also, Danielle O’Dell, a member at Woodstock who studied English is offering her proof-reading services. (Don’t worry about all that ink you see on the paper!)
The next steps are to promote the site on social media and search platforms, continue to develop content, and to begin translating. All the content on the website was created for the purpose of global translation. As much as possible, we try to keep the content universal. Videos are generally the most impactful and engaging. We have chosen to do animated videos instead of live production. Animated is more cost efficient and they can be reproduced in different languages quicker.
The Work in Mongolia Continues
While we were in Mongolia, we translated and recorded our first video lesson. This was an interesting learning process. We were not sure how it would work out. Our first challenge was to find someone to translate. Before we travelled to Mongolia, I contracted with a non-Christian translator as a test, but when we shared it with the brethren in Mongolia, they felt the translator missed a lot since she was not familiar with the Biblical terminology. So instead, one of the sisters in the church, Ariunzaya, who studied English in school with top marks, volunteered to do first-level translation for us. Eric, the preacher, will then do a second-level translation. Recently, Ariunzaya has relocated to Ireland for work and study, but she has still been translating.
A second task we had in Mongolia was to record voice-overs for the video. Since, we will not be there for every video, we also had to train two brothers on how to do the voice-overs and edit the audio. This was interesting because Eric used to work at a radio station. We spent a day trying to borrow an audio setup and eventually had to travel to a smaller radio station in another small town. Once we arrived, Eric and the other brother, Abu began recording. However, the studio was not professional or quiet. People were talking and playing instruments while we were recording! Eventually we had to tell them it wasn’t going to work. Finally, it was decided that a quiet bedroom in Eric’s apartment and the use of a lapel mic to record worked best. After some editing, Eric was able to get a complete audio track for our first animated video in Mongolian.
Another exciting thing that came out of our trip to Mongolia is that Eric is now speaking at the juvenile detention center weekly. While we were in Mongolia, sister Solonga arranged for Eric and I to speak there. We were both amazed. Over twenty boys who had been incarcerated for sexual crimes listened as I spoke about three types of suffering from the Bible. For most of the boys this was the first time they ever heard a message from the Bible. Afterward, Eric fielded questions about life and the Bible. Several boys stayed after to tell us they would like to hear more. So, we spent the next day scouring the capital city for Bibles. We finally found a publisher, and I think we bought all of the Bibles available for sale in Mongolia… all 15! Now, Eric has decided to return to the detention center weekly for study and encouragement.
Please be praying for the congregation in Mongolia. They are facing many challenges.
Thanksgiving
The Ihle Crew would like to let you know how much we appreciate your support. Not only because it is Thanksgiving week, but because we are always indebted to you, our generous supporters and encouragers. The church at Woodstock has been especially gracious for overseeing our work, allowing us to live in the parsonage, and providing an office space to work out of. Several other congregations and individuals have also contributed financially to our work, allowing us to focus on full-time digital evangelism throughout the globe. Your support has also allowed us to travel to Mongolia along with other potential trips planned for the future. Your prayers for us have made a difference. God has been so good to us in providing for all our needs and challenging us in this great work. Please keep up all the prayers, encouragement, and support!
Love,
-The Ihle Crew
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