Doug Wright Update from Congo

Dear friends and family,

Most of you heard of my bouts with food poisoning and then malaria during my travel home from a very successful translation consulting trip with the Logo team in Isiro, DR Congo. I want to let you know that I sensed the power of your prayers and got progressively stronger from my lowpoint Thursday night in Bunia (with a 102 degree fever). I was amazed to see how God answered your prayers by sending people to help at every turn, from the Logo team who laid hands on me and prayed in Isiro, to John Vandermeer who took me to the airport and saw me off, to the sometimes-nasty-turned-nice Isiro airport officials who had compassion on me, to the British doc who gave me Immodium, to MAF pilot Joey who tried to give me and the other passengers the smoothest flight possible through thunderstorm-filled skies, to the University of Shalom pastors who met me at the airport, to Kent and Kim Rasmussen who took me into their home and cared for me, to Pastor Anguandia who came and prayed for me, to Ted Whitmer who took me back to the Bunia airport when my ride fell through...well, you get the picture. I arrived home Saturday night as scheduled despite some other BA flights being canceled due to a cabin crew strike. The way Beth greeted me at the Wilmington airport, you would've thought I'd been gone for more than a month or something (oh, I guess I was!). Each day since, I've gotten stronger - even enough to take a walk on the beach yesterday with Beth.


During my three days of travel with little sleep, I had a lot of time to reflect on the trip and the way it ended. From the great relationships among the Logo team members and me, the good translation checking progress, the many obstacles overcome through prayer, the deep spiritual discussions and growth among all concerned, it was obvious to me that my trial was a parting shot by the enemy (allowed by God, of course). But why, you might ask, would the enemy try to keep me from getting home? I found my answer in reflecting back to my low point with food poisoning. Now I don't know about you, but I don't do the nausea/throwing up thing too well. In fact, it's pretty repulsive to me. And the thing is, that's how I started looking at the whole trip - exactly what Satan wanted! That would of course made the next trip look like a pretty tall mountain, and the one following that, etc. So now I realize that your prayers were more about fighting the spiritual battle alongside of me, than just about getting me home safe and sound. And I can tell you the Lord has already replaced those feelings of repulsion and doubt, to blessing and satisfaction. The Lord is good, and his love endures forever! And blessings on all of you who continue to fight the battle with us, until the Logo people and many others have God's Word in their own language!

Here's what the Lord accomplished through us all:

• Two Catholic translation candidates evaluated, and Madrakele recommended as third full-time translator;

• Four more epistles checked and pretty much ready for publishing - rest of 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Jude, 1 Peter and beginning of 2 Peter (we've now final-checked about 73% of the NT);

• Times of deep spiritual challenge and growth for the Logo team members and me;

• Discussions with local church leaders and other partners to continue planning and providing for the Logo team's support;

• Broader meetings with my Eastern Congo Group colleagues and Congolese church partners to plan for the expansion of Bible translation work in north-eastern Congo;

So that hundreds of thousands in Congo may hear God's Word in their own languages for the first time, understand, and be changed...forever!

In Christ,

Doug