Spring 2025

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. (Luke 17:3-4)

One of the things we miss about Romania are Romanian songs. This passage reminds me of a song we used to sing, which also teaches about forgiveness. It has a catchy tune thanks to the additional syllables in Romanian. But the truth remains that we should always be willing to forgive--big offenses or small, one-time offenses or multiples. Why? Because God has forgiven all our sins. So, we should do likewise by forgiving others.

Ministry Update
It is hard to believe we are more than halfway through our first year at Bibles International. 2025 started off with the annual leadership retreat and strategic planning meeting. The purpose is to set the agenda for the coming year, and having it away from home and the office allows us to focus on the task at hand while enjoying the time together.

In February, Dave began planning for our next fiscal year, which started April 1. When it came time to finalize the budget, the process went very smoothly, since each department had submitted their individual budgets ahead of time. The Lord continues to bless Bibles International, and a number of key translation projects have been completed or are scheduled to be dedicated this calendar year. We plan the budget by faith that our work will continue as the Lord provides. It is our role to steward those resources responsibly.

After Ruth finished The Toolbox children's ministry material, her focus shifted to promoting it. She created a special display for the area Church Ministries Conference in March, and she has had several additional opportunities to present the new material at BI, in addition to our church meetings.

In March, our director, Tim Fink, asked Ruth to also serve as BI's Marketing and Communications Coordinator in addition to Children's Ministry Coordinator. These roles are very important to BI, and they allow Ruth to combine her previous education and work experience with her love for children's ministry.

Church Meetings
Now that winter has mostly passed, our meeting schedule has picked up. In March, we visited five of our supporting churches. That will continue in April and May. In April, we are scheduled in three churches, while in May, Ruth will be speaking at a mother-daughter banquet, and we will present in three more churches. If we have not been to your church yet, please contact us to schedule a meeting.

May we have a desire to forgive others as God has forgiven us!

Dave and Ruth

Children's Missions Project
Alongside the 2025 BI Children's Missions Program material, The Toolbox, BI has launched the 2025 Children's Missions Project, to raise funds to print Bibles and literacy materials for the Mbum-Nzakambay tribe. The Mbum-Nzakambay tribe is spread out across three countries in Central Africa-Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. There are more than 31,000 people in this group, and the largest number (over 18,000) live in Chad. In March, the Mbum-Nzakambay New Testament translation project was formally accepted by BI. Please contact Ruth if you would like to learn more about The Toolbox or to give to the 2025 Children's Missions Project.