Thursday, February 24, 2011

Back in Thailand

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand. I am here for a 7 day conference along with 30 colleagues from Campus Crusade around the world. I don't really enjoy the trip getting here, but God is really blessing our time together.

One of my responsibilities as Operations Director for CCC Latin America is the area of measurements. Basically, measurements refers to keeping track of our effectiveness in the ministry: How many people have heard the Gospel, how many have trusted Christ as Savior, how many are in discipleship, etc.

These kinds of statistics are vitally important to us for several reasons. First, they tell us if the plans and strategies we are working on in the countries are effective. Second, they give us a measure of individual staff effectiveness. If a particular staff member or team is seeing tremendous fruit, we need to ask, “What are they doing? How can we multiply their experience?” Third, measuring activity and results allows us to be more accountable to our donors and leaders. We want to be sure we are being faithful with the resources God has given us, both human and financial.

Last, and most important, the Bible is very clear on our responsibility as servants to be wise stewards. In the end, our responsibility is to the One who loved us and called us to proclaim His name.

We are using some innovative technologies that allow staff reporting all the way down to the field level using the Internet. Our national and area leaders can have quick access to information to be able to make course adjustments along the way. Well, that may be more than you want to know about Global Measurements!

We are so thankful for your partnership with us at this time! Jeanie and I have had a very full February as we completed the sale of the house in Bolivia (thank you, Lord), and moved to temporary quarters in downtown Santa Cruz until September. Andrew will be graduating from High School in May and is making a decision in the coming days as to which of two fine Universities to attend: UF or FSU. He has been accepted to both.

Thanks again for your continued support! May God continue to richly bless you.

Ron and Jeanie

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Magdalena in Quechua and Aymara

We have a new video production from the JESUS Film called Magdalena, Released from Shame. It has had a tremendous impact on the lives of women around the world and in Latin America. The JESUS Film project has specialists in film translation and dubbing. In fact,the JESUS Film is now available in more than 1000 languages!

Tito Ramos, my friend and director of Campus Crusade here in Bolivia would love to have the Magdalena film translated into Quechua and Aymara, the two largest indigenous languages in Bolivia. Steve Baumann from the JESUS Film came down last week and we all flew to Cochabamba to meet with Rolando and his team with the Bible Society to work out the translation and recording details. In the photo they are reviewing the script.


God is good! The recording and editing have been placed on a fast track calendar. The recording will be done the last week of February and the first week of March, with the final editing and post-production work to be done before Easter!

Please pray for all of the details and the hard work ahead for the Bolivian translators and voice actors, and recordists who will come from the U.S. Then pray as well for the impact of the film on the lives of women who need the hope that only Christ can bring.

Ron