Dear Friends,I’ve been studying with London School of Theology for over a year, but a couple of weeks ago I went up there for the first time for a Study Weekend. It was great to connect what had been names on emails with real faces as I met some of the distance learning tutors and fellow MA students. It was a good opportunity to compare notes with students in very different situations, here and abroad, as well as take part in seminars. A very worthwhile weekend. Although we are all at different stages in our studies, we may be able to get some email discussions going on different topics and feel less isolated as we study by distance learning.Spring is definitely in the air, but I’m going to miss seeing the blossom on the cherry tree once again as I am making a another trip to Madagascar, leaving on Friday 21 April. It has been great to hear of very positive reactions to the translations of the Jesus Film in 5 Malagasy languages which have been released over the last few months. A couple of weeks ago I finally received my copy of the film in Bara which I worked on and am really pleased with the result. The lip-sync seems to work pretty well, despite the fact that Bara words tend to be rather long (eg God is ‘Ndrianangahary’)!! The film in Tandroy in particular is really in demand, and having completed Luke’s gospel and the Jesus film, the translation team
have moved on the gospel of John, and that is the reason for my trip. The team have asked me to go and help them to check their translation for accuracy. I’ve not worked with this team before and don’t know Tandroy, but it is somewhat similar in structure to Bara, which will help, and we shall be working through French. Do pray that I would know the right questions to ask and that I would be alert to spot any potential inaccuracies in the text and be able to suggest areas for improvement. A week after I return, Eddie leaves for two and a half weeks in Kenya.

It seems to have been a fairly eventful few weeks, though Eddie has largely been home for the last month. The Missionary Weekend at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh went really well and Sam had a good time with his cousin Luke who is a student there. The day with the Wycliffe UK board went well, and now Eddie is back to essay writing again. I was doing some study and making arrangements for my trip when my well-traveled laptop computer suddenly died! (Ironically I had just been wondering to myself: ‘Shall I print out my e-ticket now or later?’ and foolishly decided it could wait….!) Anyway, we decided that we needed to go ahead and replace it, and fortunately Eddie was able to rescue all my data and email. Phew! Then last week after meetings in London with the AIM board, Eddie lost his wallet on the way home and had to cancel credit and debit cards. Fortunately the wallet was found and is making its way back to him this weekend.

Meanwhile Dave has been home for his Easter vacation and goes back to Bristol tomorrow. It’s also back to college for Sam tomorrow and for our Malagasy friend, Ranaivo, who has gone back to Atlantic College in Wales after spending Easter with us.

Eddie has been posting lots of things on www.kouya.net lately including a whole gallery of family photographs from when we were rather younger. I’m going to try and update the website by email from Madagascar, so you should be able to get news about how my trip is going from there if you can look at it. I can’t include any pictures because the Internet connections are very slow, but we will update the photo gallery when I return.

Thank you for praying for us and supporting us.

With love,

Sue.