I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 89:1
Looking Back
The highlight of July was the Ontario trip where we participated in the Plautdietsche Medien Konferenz in Aylmer by leading a workshop on translation, reporting on our work, and performing the closing concert. We spent several weeks in Ontario singing, preaching and sharing resources in various churches and communities.
Back at home we continue to be heavily involved in Low German Sunday morning services in the Winkler area. This is a growing group of mostly young believers, and it is exciting to see their enthusiasm and joy in the Lord. Our holidays for this year fell in the month of August, which we mostly spent at home, working on various “home” projects, with plenty of ministry work (such as local music events and church services) sprinkled in. We were able to spend time with family and were refreshed and excited to get back to a full-time work schedule. September was spent getting back into a routine with regular practices, team meetings, new writing and translation projects and even some office renovations. A lot of planning goes into the fall and winter seasons; booking events, working out who is responsible for which projects, negotiating all the details and dates of future trips, practicing new songs for the season, etc.
A few miscellaneous projects we completed include:
1) Editing and uploading a library of over 400 Low German songs to our website. These are lyric only versions (not audio files) that are available for everyone to download and print.
2) Our PowerPoint project, which involved putting all those 400+ songs onto PowerPoint presentations so they are ready to use at any event, from Sinjstund, to Sunday morning song leading.
3) Finishing the rough draft of the second Low German songbook,
4) Writing and translating a number of new songs that will make their way into our repertoire in the near future!
Looking Ahead
Our calendar has filled up nicely with local events for the rest of the year. The monthly Sinjstund starts in October, new recording projects are in the works, a new devotion book and coloring book are almost ready for printing, as is the new songbook. Two projects that have been neglected during the summer are the Sunday School curriculum and the young Adult Bible study series based off of Andrew’s radio program “Kjikj Nopp.” The plan is to pick these up again in the fall.In the turbulent times we are living in, we are reminded of how important it is that our Low German people not be forgotten. We praise the Lord for your partnership in this work. Thank you, all, for your prayers, and support. May you be richly blessed by our Father in heaven.
Jason’s Journal
A major highlight for me in the past three months was travelling to southern Ontario to attend the Low German media conference and perform at several evening programs. I have made some updates to the website, designed posters etc. as well as continued writing songs and practicing for an upcoming Low German album. I have also been busy at work on the guitar lesson videos on YouTube, and I’m excited to say that the last one is completed and online! All 24 videos are now finished and should provide enough training for viewers to start leading music in churches and small groups, which is thrilling! Since then, I have been making good progress on the notated songbook, which is my next major project.
Nikki’s Notes
This summer felt like it just flew by! With D’Friesens on the road, I was at home holding down the fort. There was a huge interest in our products, which is what kept me busy: tracking stock, email inquiries, making POs, packing and shipping orders, keeping records etc. In addition, I worked on uploading more music to the internet, some music events with Matt, helping out at Pembina Valley Bible Camp and various other things that came up. We are so thankful for the abundance of support, and that people are hungry for Low German resources.
Mark’s Remarks
It always surprises me how much work there is to do when my parents are on the road. Answering all the phone calls, maintaining equipment, quickly cleaning the RV and other vehicles during their brief stops at home keeps life interesting. I was able to finish the PowerPoint project I had been working on, as well as participate in quite a number of local events. I picked up the guitar again, and have been playing more during our practices and performances. I look forward to editing more activity books in the next few months, as well as working on our recording projects. Thank you to everyone who prays for and encourages me in this work. God bless you all!
Praise God For:
- Safety in summer travels
- God’s answers to prayers
- A faithful team of co-workers
- Great responses to the products we offer
- Generous supporters and prayer warriors
Pray for:
- Health for all of us Friesens, particularly Nikki and Teya
- Wisdom to make God honoring decisions in all that we do
- Adequate energy and enthusiasm for this work
- Continued financial support
- The right words to answer those who are seeking new life in Christ