Macau Update

Prologue:

So I realize that it’s been over two months since my last newsletter, a phenomenon that I will attempt to explain but not excuse. At the end of December I took a whirlwind trip (25 Dec. – 1 Jan.) to the States, where I was able to see all of my mother’s side of the family. I returned to teaching on 2 Jan. and have been teaching a full load of about 20 hours plus Bible studies since then. I spent 10 days in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand for Chinese New Year (3 – 13 Feb.). I’ve also been wrestling with some important decisions (more about that later).

Scene 1:

The time is late afternoon on 25 Dec.; the setting a small airplane filled with Asians (and me) bound for Taipei. The woman sitting next to me is reading a book about yoga. I know this because the book is written in English. I ask her about the book, and eventually she tells me that she lives in the States and had come to Macau to bury her father. Then she says, “So you’re a Christian, right?” (Quick glance at myself reveals that I am not in fact wearing a cross or carrying a Bible.) Then she seems not to want to talk anymore, so I begin reading my book. Several chapters later the woman interrupts me: “So how do Christians deal with death?” What an opportunity!
Flash forward to my next flight: Taipei to San Francisco. It is perhaps an hour before arrival when the little Chinese girl in front of me turns around and starts talking. “I like to speak English,” she tells me confidentially. “I don’t like to speak Chinese because it’s too hard.” The girl’s mother is Taiwanese, her father American. The family lives near Vegas, but the mother and two daughters have been visiting relatives in Taiwan. The five-year-old girl chats for some time before asking suddenly, “Are you a missionary?” (Am I wearing a halo today that everyone but me can see?)
“Yes, actually, I am,” I answer.
“I thought so,” she announces triumphantly.
“Why did you think so?” I ask curiously.
“You look like a missionary” is the simple but confident reply.
Isn’t it wonderful to know that even when we feel inadequate and exhausted, God’s light still shines through us?

Scene 2:

This time the setting is the ancient temple of Angkor Wat in sunny Cambodia. We are walking through one of the four main galleries, gazing wide-eyed at the intricate carvings, in the company of our English-speaking tour guide Tom. This particular carving depicts the Hindu version of Judgment Day, the 37 levels of heaven, and the 32 levels of hell. I find it interesting that the worst punishment (the lowest level) of hell is something strongly resembling crucifixion. At this point Tom begins to talk about how fair Hinduism is: people who do good things are rewarded, and people who do bad things are punished. “Not like Christianity,” he says. “Christianity is unfair. It is not fair for someone else to take your punishment.”
“No, it isn’t fair,” we reply. “It’s love.”
“But it is not fair. It’s like looking into a mirror. You look into a mirror, and you see yourself. You can’t look into a mirror and see someone else. Every person must take his own punishment. Someone else cannot take your punishment for you.”
We all feel that it is neither the time nor the place to continue the discussion, but we leave saddened by Tom’s comments. Sometimes slaves don’t want to be freed.

Scene 3:

A less crowded temple in the Angkor area. As we step out of the van, we are, as usual, instantly surrounded by children.
“Okay, you buy my postcards.”
“Okay, you buy my bracelets.”
“Okay, you buy my hat.”
We do our best to ignore the children and welcome the relative silence of the temple ruins. Just inside the gate sits a young girl with an animal on a string. We have never seen such an animal before. We ask to take a picture of the girl with her pet. Something in her eyes is so sad. We would gladly give money to this little girl, but we don’t want to encourage the children to beg. Once again we face the question we have wrestled with since our arrival in Asia: What about Jesus’ command to “give to everyone who begs from you” (Luke 6:30)? Jesus did not say that we are to give to the deserving poor. He did not say that we were to give as much as we could afford. He said to “give to everyone who begs from you.” So how do you carry that out in a country where children and the disabled are made to beg and allowed to keep little of what is given to them? Where if you give to one person twenty more will immediately surround you?

Narrator’s Aside:

I mentioned earlier that I have been wrestling with some important decisions. There is a verse that has frequently come to mind over the past few months: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” You see, I had my plans for the next few years carefully laid out. But as I’ve prayed about my future, I’ve watched those doors gently but firmly swing shut in front of me. I have to confess, it’s a little unnerving to let go of everything I thought I wanted to do with my life, but that’s just where the trouble comes in: everything I thought I wanted to do with my life. Oops. So this realization is the background for Scene 4.

Scene 4:

This scene takes place on a boat in HaLong Bay, Vietnam. It is a cool, overcast day, and we are surrounded by hundreds of rock islands that appear in shades of blue and grey. I am sitting across a table from a young man and woman from Israel. One of them is reading “The Kite Runner” in Hebrew. They are speaking to each other in Hebrew. And that’s when I fall head over heels in love—with Israel.
“I hope you make it to Israel someday,” the man tells me as we part.
And I can’t stop thinking about it. The more I pray about it, the more strongly I feel that this is where I am supposed to go next. God has already made it clear to me that my time in Macau is drawing to a close. And now, finally, I can see the one open door amid all the closed doors.

Epilogue:

Maybe you’re thinking right now that I’m a little crazy. And maybe I am. But this is what I know: God called me to Macau for a time. And that time has been full of growth and trials and blessings. But that time is nearly over. It’s time to move on, to follow where He leads me.
One more thing. After much prayer, I have decided not to finish my deaconess internship. (Another one of those closed doors.)
So, as things stand now, I will be leaving Macau in mid-August. I am applying to study Hebrew and Jewish beliefs at the University of Haifa in northern Israel for one year. And then . . . we’ll see.
I am so thankful for all of you who’ve supported me over the past year, and I’m looking forward to sharing with you what God does here in Macau over the next few months.

Prayer Requests:
• Praise God for providing opportunities to share His Word.
• Thanks for the ways we can see the Spirit working in the hearts of our students, and continued prayers that God would remove all barriers from these students’ hearts.
• Praise for improving relations with our partner church in Macau, and continued prayer that local believers will take ownership of the church and mission.
• Pray for two of our missionaries, who are waiting to find out whether or not the government will approve their visas.
• Pray that God will send more workers to Macau to replace those of us who will leave in August.
• Pray for continued guidance for me as I seek to follow wherever He leads.

September 2007

“ We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb.”
--Elizabeth Bennet to Mr. Darcy
(Chapter XVIII of Pride and Prejudice)

Now in general that quote describes me about as well as it describes Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. (For those of you unfamiliar with the book, that is to say it doesn’t.) I say a good many things in the course of a day that deserve to be forgotten as promptly as they are in fact forgotten. Nor does that fact bother me. But when it comes to writing a newsletter, that’s an altogether different story. You see, I had this subconscious idea that every missionary newsletter should, well, inspire and “amaze the whole room.” And so, while I’ve been waiting for “inspiration” to strike, the summer has flown by.
I’m writing this as a confession of sorts. It is so easy to slip into thoughts of: “I am a missionary. I am a deaconess intern. I’m serving God. Therefore every newsletter I write should be inspirational and uplifting so that the readers will say, ‘Wow. I’m so glad I read that. So-and-so writes such wonderful newsletters.’”
“I . . . I . . . I . . .” Oops. How did that happen?
And so this newsletter will simply tell you a little about what life and work have been like here in Macau this summer. And if anything should happen to inspire or uplift you, be sure to thank the Holy Spirit . . . not me.
It’s been an ideal day by Macau standards: overcast but without rain, thus eliminating the need for an umbrella to keep off the sun. (When I first came to Macau, I couldn’t understand why people were always using their umbrellas. Now I don’t go anywhere without one. It’s amazing how the slight temperature difference created by the shade of the umbrella can make the heat bearable—or at least almost bearable!) I spent the day cleaning my apartment in preparation for the arrival (next week) of four long-term teachers, one of whom will be my new roommate. We are in the middle of a three-week term break, although I expect to spend next week teaching (so that I can take the first week of September to accompany one of my students to her hometown), and the following week will be spent in orientation with the new teachers.
I visited Hong Kong twice this past month: once to fulfill a short-term teacher’s lifelong dream of seeing live pandas (we saw four) and once to visit the U.S. consulate to add pages to my passport. Since I finally have in my possession the long-awaited and much prayed-for blue card, I can now apply for a multiple entry visa to China as well.
It has been a real blessing this summer to see how God calls exactly the right people to be here at exactly the right time to reach out to students. The summer has been full of “praise God stories”: a discussion with a student about Christianity, an opportunity to pray with a student, a student requesting a Bible. We’ve also seen a number of new faces at our weekly Bible studies, and two of the new students took Chinese Bibles home with them this past Tuesday night. (Speaking of Bibles, we are hoping to purchase new bilingual Bibles for use at the Center, as well as to give away to students. Our current bilingual Bibles use the Good News translation, which, as far as I can tell, manages to eliminate much of the good news from Scripture. Take as an example John 10: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd is willing to give his life for the sheep.” But whether or not he does so remains a mystery. Or Psalm 23, where instead of an overflowing cup, we receive a cup filled only to the brim. We can purchase bilingual Bibles using the NIV translation for about $20 USD apiece. If you are interested in helping to purchase new Bibles for the Center, please let me know!)
We’ve been implementing a number of changes at the Center recently, including rearranging the furniture to make the main room more open and inviting. We’ve also decided to close the Center on Sundays as well as Mondays to give the teachers more time to spend with their students outside of the classroom. One of my students, for example, will be coming to my apartment to learn to make American foods and to ask questions about the Bible, which she began reading after I gave her one a few months ago. Although she was raised Catholic, she was astounded when I told her that Jesus did not come into existence when He was born of Mary. Or that the serpent of Genesis 3 is Satan, whose head was crushed by Christ on Calvary.
Perhaps our most exciting “praise God story” is that our accountant is now a believer! Please pray with us for the strengthening of her faith, that she will come to the waters of holy baptism, and that her husband and four-year-old son will come to faith as well.
I recently purchased some new clothes, and I realized, as I showed them to one of the short-term teachers, that nearly everything I had purchased was white, a color I’ve never really been drawn to before. But as I thought about it, it occurred to me that perhaps it’s a subconscious reaction to the darkness of Macau. And Macau is very dark, in spite of all the “praise God stories” of the past few months. You see, some of those “praise God stories” are very different in nature. I’ve come to realize just how real Satan and his evil spirits are—and for the first time I’m beginning to understand why people live in fear of the spirits. When you’re lying in your bed, alone in the apartment, feeling as though an evil spirit is standing at the foot of your bed with sword drawn (picture Fellowship of the Ring, and you’ll understand the feeling), all you can do is cling to your baptism and whisper Jesus’ name until His presence fills not only your heart, but your whole room as well. I’ve taken to singing “A Mighty Fortress” at the top of my lungs to remind any evil spirits that might be wandering the halls of my apartment complex that this is one apartment where they do not belong. In the United States we like to pretend that such things are not real, but in those parts of the world where Satan rules through fear, someone who claims to have felt an evil presence is most likely speaking the truth. Praise be to our God, who has “called [us] out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). He is indeed a mighty fortress, shield, and weapon.
On a lighter note, I thought I’d share a few of the things you can order at the restaurants here in Macau:
cow gut congee
pulled noodles with duck breast in French
instant noodles with bum beef in hot pot
soaked chicken
black pepper pig’s hand in hot pot
edible wild herbs hand pulled noodles
the edible frog with XO sauce
Canada beef spare noodles
scorch vegetables
relish coffee
hash brows
drunken chicken
My new favorite is papaya milk tea, although the Ube milk tea is a close second.

Please praise God with me:
• for signs that He is working in the hearts of many of our students
• for the short-term volunteers who served here this summer
• for bringing our accountant to faith
• for my blue card
• for His Word
• that He is “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble” (Ps. 46:1)

Please pray with me:
• for our new long-term volunteers—safe travel, provision of blue cards, adjustments, etc.
• for those students who no longer have contact with our Center, that the seeds that were planted might be watered and nurtured
• for all our students, that God would remove any hindrances that Satan might place on their road to faith
• that God would breathe new life into St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and its leaders
• for God’s light to dispel the spiritual darkness of Macau
• that God’s light would shine through us in our interactions with our students and all the people of Macau

Love in Christ,
Anna Moore

July 2007

seeking miracles

Every Friday night, at our free English Bible study, we read a story from Jesus’ life. The stories have been rewritten in simpler English. Last week’s topic was the healing of a paralytic. The story began:
“One day Jesus was teaching. Men had come from many distant towns to hear the strange new things He was saying. The Pharisees, the enemies of Jesus, were also there. They wanted to find some fault in the teachings of Jesus. While Jesus was speaking, some men brought their friend to see Jesus. Their friend was lying on a bed. This man was paralyzed and could not move.”
You can read the rest of the story in Mark 2:1-12. In fact, please take a moment to do so now.
Although the passage I quoted is not taken directly from Scripture, it is only too true. Note the three very different reasons that people came to see Jesus. Some came out of curiosity: “to hear the strange new things He was saying.” Some came seeking—expecting—to criticize and find fault. Still others came because they believed.
I wondered how many of the students there that evening had come merely out of idle curiosity or in hopes of improving their English. Few of them would openly admit to being Christian. When asked about their faith, most answer, “I’m not a Christian. Maybe someday.” “Perhaps in the future.” God has been working in some of their hearts for many years, but something is still standing in their way. Sam and Tim are two examples. Sam has been attending Bible studies at the Center for four years now. Tim seems so close to believing, but he is waiting to see a miracle.
Interesting. Look again at Mark 2:1-12. How many miracles can you find in the story? There is the obvious: Jesus healed a paralyzed man. There is the hidden: Jesus read the Pharisees’ minds. And then there is the most important miracle in the story—one that we frequently read over without noticing. Jesus forgave a man his sins. How incredible is that?
Sometimes, like Tim, we are so busy looking for the big, showy miracles, that we miss the greatest miracle—the miracle of our salvation.
And then there are those who come because they truly believe. It is such a joy to watch people like Susan, to see their eagerness to learn more, to witness their “aha” moments. Susan is a baptized Christian. She is a young believer, but she is eager to learn and to grow. She attends our Bible studies on Tuesday nights, Wednesday mornings, and Friday nights. She also interprets the sermon for us on Sunday mornings.
Pray with me for all who attend our free English Bible studies, whatever their reason for coming may be. Pray for those, like Tim, Sam, and others, whom Satan is working hard to keep from believing. Pray for Susan and other believers as they seek to grow in their faith.
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ, [. . .] that [we] may make it clear, which is how [we] ought to speak. [Pray that we may] conduct [ourselves] wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time [and that our] speech [may] always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that [we] may know how [we] ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:2-6)

a birthday gift

Gift giving is an important part of Chinese culture. When someone takes a trip, s/he brings back small gifts for his/her family and friends. I have received dried squid, preserved quail eggs, and Coke-flavored candy from Taiwan; spicy dried fish from Thailand; dried cheese candy from Mongolia; and dried prune(?) strips from one of the Chinese provinces. When John and May returned from their honeymoon in Thailand, they brought me back a Thai skirt.
One of my students in particular loves to shower me with gifts. When my application for my work visa was accepted, she bought me two kinds of (expensive) dark chocolate (only after I told her I couldn’t drink wine). When she went to Taiwan, she brought me back the above-mentioned food. When she found out I wanted to learn Chinese, she bought me several different text/workbooks designed for younger students. (That’s right—I’m back to learning to write like a kindergartener!)
I had every intention of giving her a birthday gift, but her birthday came and went before I knew it. When she found out my birthday is in July, she asked me what I wanted. I reminded her that I had missed her birthday and told her that she didn’t need to give me anything. Her answer was the greatest gift she could have given me.
“I don’t want anything,” she said. “I think that money is not so important. The only gift I want is for you to pray for me.”
Tara is nominally Catholic but does not attend church regularly. She seems to have a basic knowledge of Catholic teachings, but I am not sure if that knowledge includes knowing her Savior. Her request for prayer took me so by surprise that I almost didn’t know what to answer.
Please pray with me for Tara and my other English students. Some, like Tara, are nominally Catholic but haven’t set foot inside a church in years. Some claim no religion at all. And a precious few of them “do not despise preaching and [God’s] Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.”
If you would like to commit to praying specifically for one of my students, please contact me at anna.moore@trinitydowntown.org. I will be happy to send you a name and some specific requests, along with regular (or perhaps slightly irregular) updates.

Praise God with me:
• for partners who faithfully lift me up in prayer
• for the students who attend our free English Bible studies
• for the students who show a real hunger for God’s Word
• that His Word will not return to Him void
• for John (long-term teacher) and May (team coordinator), who were married on May 11

Please pray with me:
• for opportunities to share God’s Word and love with my students
• that God’s Word might be clearly and lovingly proclaimed through our words and actions
• that God’s Word would work in the hearts of those who hear it
• that Satan might be crushed under our feet and that every hindrance he places in the way of those who are not yet believers might be torn down

If you or anyone you know is interested in serving the Lord in Macau, feel free to contact me, or contact Bruce Wall at LCMS World Mission at 800-433-3954.

Love in Christ,
Anna Moore

Macau, March 2007

where the shadows lie

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, I sat with one of the teachers from Jiangmen (an English center in China), waiting for the fireworks to begin. Macau’s newest casino, the Grand Lisboa, had opened a few days earlier, and its giant sphere was illuminated in ever-changing patterns of colored lights, ranging from an aquarium to a globe. All of a sudden, we were confronted by the image of a giant eye scanning the city. Both of our thoughts were instantly drawn to the sleepless eye of the Dark Lord Sauron from Lord of the Rings. The comparisons between Macau and Mordor at once became clear to us.
Earlier that evening, we had ventured inside the Grand Lisboa just to see what it was like inside one of Macau’s many casinos. Whatever the casino owners and advertisers may like you to believe, a casino is not a happy place. The despair inside the dazzling room was almost palpable. The hundreds of people losing their life savings were not smiling. Even the workers looked sorry to be there.
The spiritual darkness of Macau is overwhelming at times. The apartment next to mine, like so many other homes, restaurants, and businesses here, is marked by a small red shrine outside the door where incense and food are offered to the ancestors. I can smell the incense burning from inside my apartment. Inside the shops, homes, and businesses a second shrine houses an image of one of the favorite Buddhist gods or goddesses. A special red light bulb illuminates the idols day and night, so that looking out the window of my old apartment, I could always see the shrine in the apartment across the street from me.
So here I am in a land covered by darkness and despair, a city driven by greed and lust, a land where the shadows lie. And who I am to be here? How can I do anything to penetrate the darkness, to relieve the despair?
I once heard that what we actually see is not an object itself but the light reflecting off of the object. I never understood that concept until this past summer when I was using my cell phone as a flashlight. Once I moved close enough to an object for the light of my phone to reflect off of it, I could see the object.
I have in my apartment a beautiful shell. But that shell only appears beautiful to me because the light is reflecting off of it. In the same way, I am only beautiful when God’s light is reflected in my life. I cannot penetrate the darkness and despair of this world. But God can. It is my prayer that His light would be reflected in my life—and in yours.

no one knows who I am

I spent the Chinese New Year break (18-27 February) in Singapore and Malaysia with three of the teachers from Jiangmen. During one of our hostel stays we met McKenzie, a twenty-one-year-old Canadian who had worked in the oil industry for several years, grown disillusioned, and set out on a two-year tour of the world—traveling here and there as and when he pleased—hoping somewhere along the way to discover the meaning of life.
It reminded me of a song from Jekyll and Hyde:

look at me and tell me who I am
why I am
what I am
call me a fool and it’s true I am
I don’t know who I am

it's such a shame
I’m such a sham
no one knows who I am

am I the face of the future?
am I the face of the past?
am I the one who must finish last?

look at me and tell me who I am
why I am
what I am
will I survive? who will give a damn
if no one knows who I am?

nobody knows
not even you
no one knows who I am

We are surrounded by people who wander about without knowing who they are or why they are alive. People like McKenzie, searching the whole world in an attempt to find the meaning of life.
But we are different because we know the answer to those questions. In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul writes: “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.”
Who are we? Children of God. What are we? Holy and blameless. Why are we holy and blameless? Because God chose us in love. Why are we here? To live to the praise of His glorious grace. To share with others the reason for the hope that we have.

God is smiling on us

During our time in Malaysia, we found ourselves running late and in danger of missing our flight. We prayed that we would make it to the airport on time to catch our flight. Then we sat on the bus, glancing anxiously at our watches. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1:40. It was now 1:45, and we still weren’t to the terminal. There was no chance of making our flight now.
Imagine our surprise when we finally reached the airport and discovered that our flight had been “retimed” (i.e. delayed)! God had granted our request, but not at all in the way we expected.
God is full of surprises. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we can count on Him to give us the best, even when we aren’t asking for the right thing?

I’m settling into a schedule of teaching English, leading Bible studies, and learning Cantonese, Mandarin, and Macau Sign Language. I’m hoping to start working at Concordia Special Education School in the near future.
I have moved into my “permanent” apartment on Taipa and will be hosting a short-term volunteer next month.
Thank you all for your prayers and the encouraging letters I have received.

Prayer requests:
• for Concordia English Center, as we are very short-staffed right now
• wisdom for Sharon, our director, as she makes decisions about the future of the center
• that God would provide workers for the harvest field of Macau
• for me as I build relationships
• for my language learning
• praise for a safe and relaxing trip to Singapore and Malaysia

Please also prayerfully consider whether you or someone you know might be able to serve as a short-term volunteer in Macau.
No experience necessary! All we ask is a heart willing to serve God and the people He loves.

In Christ,
Anna Moore

$7000 needed by January !
Thank you so much for your financial support and prayers during my preparations to leave for Macau in January. By then, I need to have raised 2/5ths of my total expenses for the two and a half years. I am in prayer about you prayerfully considering a partnership with me in this mission ministry. Please pray that the Lord would continue to raise up for me a support team back here in the states! Thank you! Anna Moore
To continue to support Anna Moore leaving in January for Macau, make your gift payable to LCMS World Mission, “For the support of Anna Moore” in the memo line, and mail to: LCMS World Mission, P.O. Box 790089, St. Louis, MO 63179

After a full day of classes and homework, a group of GIAL students decided to start watching The Lord of the Rings. Now I’ve seen The Fellowship of the Ring more than once, but watching it with a group of linguists and missionaries was a very different experience. We can’t seem to hold any conversation without the topic turning to something linguistic, so it wasn’t surprising when, in the middle of a serious scene, someone would comment about the use of code switching (i.e. Aragorn or Arwen switching from the Elvish language to the Common Tongue or vice versa). Not all of the insights were linguistic, however.

Among the leaders of men, elves, and dwarves gathered at the council of Elrond, Frodo Baggins, a lowly hobbit of the Shire, seems the least likely candidate to carry the Ring safely to Mount Doom. He is small and unskilled as a warrior, and he doesn’t even know the way to Mordor. Yet, Gandalf tells Frodo that “Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Isn’t that an encouraging thought? God looks at His children and chooses the least likely candidates to do His work. He calls the weak, the small, the insignificant in the eyes of the world—and often in our own eyes—to serve Him in ways beyond even our imagination. You see, it doesn’t really matter how ill-equipped we may feel to do the task He calls us to do—because He Himself provides the strength and the skill we need. It matters only that we are willing, like Frodo, to say, “I will take the Ring to Mordor, though I do not know the way.”

And then—when we say, “Here am I, send me, weak and helpless though I am”—then God provides the support we need. It is then that Gandalf says, “I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, so long as it is yours to bear.” It is then that Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli and Boromir and Sam and Merry and Pippin step forward, pledging their protection and assistance. It is then that people like each one of you freely offer your prayers, encouragement, and support. I am so thankful for your willingness to be my companions on my journey, wherever the road may lead.

I thank you also for your prayers. The second session of classes has started, and I will be learning Mandarin Chinese for my Second-Language-and-Culture-Acquisition class. I am also extremely grateful for the opportunity to begin learning Cantonese from a native speaker. I ask your continued prayers as I study and as I spend time with others who have answered God’s call to serve Him in the areas of translation and Scripture Use. Pray for me—as I pray for you—that God will make perfect His strength in my weakness.

In Christ,

Anna Moore

August 9th, 2006
Greetings from Dallas!

We are nearing the end of the first session of classes: Principles of Grammatical Analysis 1, Principles of Articulatory and Acoustical Phonetics 1 (the sounds of languages), and Language and Society. Grammar, Phonetics, and Phonology are designed to enable us to write down a previously unwritten language. Language and Society is focused more on the interaction between language and culture. Next session I will begin Phonetics 2, Principles of Phonological Analysis (putting sounds together to create words), and SLACA (Second Language and Culture Acquisition).

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. I am currently at about 20% of my funding. I ask your prayers that God would grant me energy and concentration for my continued studies and that He would provide the remainder of the funds that I need. I praise God for each of you and the ways you are supporting me.

In Christ,
Anna Moore

P.S. If you would like to receive information by e-mail, please send your address to lrmoore856@yahoo.com

Anna Moore