Update from Valerie and Nicasio - Aug 2022

Update and Prayer Requests: August 2022 
Valerie and Nicasio Martinez
Translating God's Word with and for the people who speak Quiatoni Zapotec
The end of July a lady from the small Quiatoni town that we had been visiting pre-pandemic every month (we’d take our Zapotec music group and Nicasio would preach in Zapotec) contacted Nicasio asking him for songs in Zapotec. She said that her son is in the hospital recuperating from surgery and she wanted the songs to share with him. Nicasio was happy to send them to her. Isn’t it a joy to see how God makes the seeds grow?! (You can hear and read a translation of two songs here: https://youtu.be/-mSUdVE7z0k)
Our church council asked us (those who attend the Zapotec service and who didn’t go to church for two years during the pandemic) to meet with them on August 7. It was a long but a good meeting. Some points were cleared up and we are once again members in good standing in the church. The best news is that we started in-person Zapotec services the following Thursday evening! We were surprised and pleased that the pastor, the assistant pastor and one of the men on the council have attended the service. Thank you for praying about this; please continue to pray as we reintegrate into the church and for the Zapotec service to once again be a normal service.
Nicasio and Beto have figured out a way to pay for internet service and rig up a cell phone so that those who are too far away to join in-person can still attend via zoom since our church doesn’t have internet. (One lady is in Mexico City and one couple is in Quiatoni.) One of the good things that God has made out of the pandemic is that these folks can attend the service; we are thankful for technology that allows them to join us!
Just last night, Nicasio found out that his US visa should arrive in 10 business days! We have been invited to participate in a missions conference Oct. 1 to 4 at the church that my parents belonged to (The Chapel, Sandusky, OH). We plan on visiting folks in the area (let us know if you’d like a visit!) and seeing our kids while we’re there. I’ve bought my ticket for Sept 22 to Oct 10, and we’ll buy Nicasio’s as soon as his visa arrives. Thank you for praying for his visa and for safe travels for us.
Two weeks after we get back from that trip, we’ll be driving to another conference a little north of Mexico City. This four day conference (Oct 25-28) is on reaching people with the Gospel through diverse media. Nicasio will be making a presentation on Indigenous Identity and the Use of Digital Strategies. He appreciates your prayers as he prepares his presentation.
Beto’s trip to Salinas (Quiatoni’s second largest town) turned out very well! Thank you for praying for him. The trip in the new-to-them car went well as did his participation in the church service. They asked him to reading the opening Psalm in Zapotec (good thing he’s been working on translating them!) and pray for the offering as well as preach. He had told his brother-in-law, who arranged for Beto to preach, how the car had been given to them. The brother-in-law was very surprised when Beto didn’t preach about how God gave them the car and instead gave a clear presentation of the Gospel in Zapotec. They would like him to preach again some time.
Nicasio and Beto have finished going through all the comments and questions that were brought up by the back-translation of the Book of Acts. Please pray that a consultant will have time to check our translation of Acts soon. (The consultant who said he would check has had to say that he won’t be able to after all.) This will be a big step towards finishing the New Testament translation. (Acts is a long book!)
Beto has also been working on translating and revising the book of Proverbs since he will be in a workshop from Sept 19 to Oct 7 on translating Proverbs, focusing especially on problem areas. Thank you for your prayers for Beto and his family!
Nicasio is coordinating another course for the Master’s program in Translation and Interpretation in Oaxaca City’s university. The first class was this morning  (August 25). It’s very encouraging that the university and the students want to have Nicasio and the SIL teachers continue teaching them.
Mike and Tara say that they are doing really well. They’ve seen a lot of improvement in Royan even with the first couple of visits with the therapist (for his speech delay). They appreciate your prayers as they make adjustments through his therapy.
Rusty would like you to pray for his CT scans on Sept 23 and his doctor’s appointment the following Friday. (He had surgery for testicular cancer in March 2021.) He’s been cancer free for 1.5 year and wants it to go for 2 years!
We thank you for taking our prayer requests and praises to our heavenly Father. We appreciate your faithfulness and interest in seeing that the people who speak Quiatoni Zapotec hear God’s Word in their own language. Thank you!
love, Valerie and Nicasio
www.cten.org/NicasioMartinez