MANN “Declare His glory among the

nations, His marvelous deeds

among all peoples.”
Psalm 96:3

c/o Misión Nuevas Tribus, Casilla 274, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, South America bill_mann@ntm.org February, 2011

WRITING PAINS
OUR NEED? Simba believers who can write Bible lessons in
their language. Up until now, Bill has written Bible lessons What is so hard about writing
the Simba language?
for all the Scripture he has translated into the Simba
language, which has required a lot of time … time he could
have spent instead in translating Scripture.
OUR FIRST VICTIMS! Julio (and his wife). This past Christmas * Simba letters totally foreign to Spanish:
break, Julio and his wife were staying at our house to protect
it from robbers, while we were out in the Simba village of
Taperillas. As of December 1st, Julio had quit his night
ɨ, ɨ ̈, ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ng, nd, mb
watchman job and doubled his hours with us in the
translation work for the Simba New Testament. We knew * Simba Post-Positions which must be remembered
we'd be gone for two weeks at Christmas, and so wanted to and 'stacked' at the end of sentences:
provide Julio with a project for which we could pay him
wages while we were gone. Hence …
THE PLAN Lessons to accompany the new translation of the
eg. Jae iko tëta tïi wae pe.
book of 1 Corinthians. Bill diligently prepared detailed He lives house white that (is) in.
outlines for three lessons for 1 Corinthians, and then began
to teach Julio how to use an outline in preparing a written * Suffix or separate word?
lesson. Julio only had two years of education as a child, and
only learned to read later by teaching himself as an adult. He
had learned how to write the Spanish alphabet as a child,
eg. esha, ñotái, awe, ete, ñoi
and basically that was the end of his writing skills. So, before
Christmas, Bill explained the basic concepts of sentences and * Spelling and punctuating correctly.
paragraphs. And after a little practice, we prayerfully left the
outlines in his hands, and departed for Taperillas. This is all extremely difficult for the average
THE RESULT Well…… Julio can teach effectively for hours, Simba adult, who has usually had less than four
so we had hoped for a few pages of lessons. Instead, Julio years of elementary education.
had just added words and phrases to Bill's outlines.
NOW WHAT? Plan B. Bill once again explained that a lesson
should be like he teaches, only in written form instead of
verbal. So Julio took it home to work on it some more … we
are still waiting for that product. In the meantime, we are
Julio
thinking to start smaller. The Simba Hymnal needs revising,
and
as many songs in it are written according to another dialect,
his
but not as the Simba sing them. So, when we next head for
wife,
Taperillas, we hope to leave him the songbook to revise. We
Flora
know he has the ability to write in words and phrases, which
is what is needed for the hymnal.
BUT PLEASE PRAY Julio can yet write lessons for us.

Christmas in Taperillas
Although our family seemed too small this
Christmas (Josh and Jonathan were both in North
America), the time we spent in the Simba village of
Taperillas where we used to live was good. The
group of believers in Taperillas this Christmas was
also small, and they seemed encouraged to have us
celebrate Christmas with them. Several believers
have left Taperillas in the past year, and the church
there is suffering now for lack of leadership.
While in Taperillas, we had a brief visit with
Lorenzo, the former chief. Lorenzo has been an
alcoholic for several years, and was very
antagonistic towards the believers and missionaries
in Taperillas. It was Lorenzo who convinced the
community it was better off with fewer
missionaries, which is why we have only been able
to visit rather than live in Taperillas since 2005. At
the Simba conference this past September, Lorenzo
stood up and testified that he had returned to the
Lord. When we saw him at Christmas, he was both
sober and friendly … a great change!
When Lorenzo was a young man, he professed
belief in the Lord, and became involved in ministry.
Between political ambitions and alcohol, Lorenzo
has been separated from the Lord for years, and his
family has suffered greatly. May he now be
strengthened in his faith and serve the Lord again!
Box 707, Durham, ON N0G 1R0 CANADA
US Address: 1000 E. First St., Sanford, Fl 32771
Prayer and Praise Items
Please pray for Julio as he continues to attempt to
write Bible lessons for the Simba people.
Praise the Lord for the changes in Lorenzo's life,
due to his return to the Lord. Please pray he will
grow in his faith, and resist the temptation to drink.
Please pray for the Taperillas church, especially for
men who can teach and lead.
Praise the Lord for the increased hours Bill has to
do translation work with Julio, and for their progress
in translating the Gospel of John. Please pray our
translation consultant will find the time in his busy
schedule to check the translated material.
Please pray for wisdom and endurance for Bill as he
prepares each day the rough draft of Scriptures to
check with Julio.
Please pray for Felix and Arturo as they continue to
teach the Bible to the Simba where they live. Bill was
able to give them the new lessons in Ephesians this
Christmas to teach.
Please pray for Simba who are listening to the Bible
lessons on the radio and mp3 players … may the Lord
grant them understanding and draw them to Himself.
Praise the Lord as our boys continue to grow in Him.
Please pray they will continue to be sensitive to the
Lord's leading as they make decisions, and that they
will be able to learn well the things set before each
of them where they are studying.
Praise the Lord for you, our family and friends, who
continue to support and pray for our work with the
Simba. May He continue to keep you close to His
gracious loving heart, and reward you for your
faithfulness!
In His Great Love,
Bill & Kathleen Mann