OneVerse | Sonlight Project

Update on the Meetto and a New VBS Curriculum

A New Church is Planted

In Muaruwa village, Chief Kotope received a booklet and audio recording of translated Scripture portions from Genesis, Jonah, the Gospel of Mark, and James. He liked the cassette so much that he replayed it again and again. He sent word to Pastor João and asked him to plant a church in the chief's village, declaring, "I like these words that I read in the book and listen to on the cassette. Therefore, I urge you to bring the church to my people. I won't go to church myself because I belong to another religion. But my nephews and others will get converted because this Word is good. We must not be without it!" Read the complete PDF report from the Meetto here.

OneVerse has Partnered in a VBS Curriculum

OneVerse has recently partnered with the creative GoFish Guys to produce a mission module for the VBS curriculum called "Backstage With The Bible." You can check out the full curriculum at the GoFish Guys' website. Of course maybe you have another VBS program planned for the summer. That's great! But you can still take advantage of the FREE OneVerse missions module—it easily adapts to other VBS programs. We're offering the OneVerse mission module for free to all Sonlight families. Learn more at oneverse.org/vbs.

Gift-a-Verse this Mother's Day

Give your mother a gift of eternal value and share God's Word through Gift-a-Verse this Mother's Day. Honor your mom by gifting a verse of God's Word for $26. Consider other women you could also honor—your grandma, aunt or even your pastor's wife.

This is a unique opportunity for Sonlight families to continue your impact among the Ning people for Christ—and to share the treasure of God's Word at Mother's Day! When you Gift-a-Verse, you are providing the funds to translate one verse of Scripture. And with each gift, you receive a card to give or send to your mom. If you order one or more Gift-a-Verse cards for $26 each, on or before May 2, you should receive your order by May 8. International resident shipping times may vary.

Thank you for continuing to share your passion for God's Word by gifting a verse this Mother's Day for the Ning people. Order your card here.



Changing Vision, Building Dreams

Thank you so much for helping make the Meetto New Testament a reality as part of the OneVerse | Sonlight Project! Because of your efforts, children like Samuel, a Meetto boy with a keen imagination, great artistic talent and a big dream, are being introduced to God the Creator. Now Samuel has the opportunity to learn a biblical worldview. Imagine the impact he might have as a young man among his own people.

A few weeks ago we received the following from the Meetto translation team for all of you:

In the name of Jesus Christ we greet you all. With humble hearts full of thanksgiving we read that the Meetto translation project was fully funded during the month of December. We want to express our gratitude to all you people who have contributed to this great miracle. We pray that the Lord will bless all who prayed and gave to reach this goal. Please continue to pray for us that we may reach our long-term goal of translation, and that the Lord will protect us. May the Lord give you a Happy New Year, full of His grace and mercy.
Thank you all, The Meetto team

Stay tuned for more regular updates from the Meetto translation team.

Your generosity did not stop with the Meetto people but extended to the Ning people of Tanzania who now have one-fourth of their New Testament funded as well. Along the way I trust that your family experienced some new cultures, and your vision for God's work grew.

Become a Monthly PartnerIn the days ahead you will receive a letter in the mail inviting you and your family to become OneVerse monthly partners for the Ning people. As OneVerse monthly partners you can expand the impact of Sonlight families and bring God's Word to two entire people groups.

This opportunity to extend your family's ministry borders by offering Scripture to those who still need it can also be a valuable discipleship tool for your children. Each month you will be able to pray through the update from the Ning Bible translation project and the national translation team. You’ll be able to discuss with your children the specific verse or verses your family sponsored that month for the Ning people. Your children will develop a spirit of generosity.

Thank you for prayerfully considering our invitation. You can begin your family's partnership with the Ning people right now.


Did you love participating in the Sonlight project? OneVerse | KidsDiscover will begin on March 1, 2010. Based on the OneVerse | Sonlight Project, this program has incorporated your feedback, using the same lesson materials, but sponsoring translation for a new people group. Now other families can also be involved. If you missed lessons and would like to participate in this program, or if you wish to invite others to join, you may register for OneVerse | KidsDiscover.

OneVerse | KidsDiscover Project


Homeschool families give One Quarter Million Dollars to translate God's Word.

Thank you for your generosity and sacrifice. OneVerse | Sonlight Project gifts of nearly $126,000 matched by Sonlight Curriculum will fully fund the translation of the New Testament for the Meetto people of Mozambique and one-fourth of the New Testament for the Ning people of Tanzania. That's close to 10,000 verses! Nearly 1,200 Sonlight families participated in this amazing accomplishment.

A special thank you to John and Sarita Holzmann who agreed to increase the match by Sonlight Curriculum up to $125,000, allowing us to reach one quarter million dollars invested in Bible translation.

We celebrate your participation and thank God that two entire people groups – representing over 1.5 million speakers – will begin to hear God speak to them in their own language. In December we also celebrated the incarnation of our Savior Jesus Christ, an event so significant that Scripture tells us God had been working since the beginning of time to prepare us for the arrival of his son in Bethlehem.

When God wanted us to understand him the best, he sent Jesus to live among us and to speak in the common language of the first-century Jewish person. Because of your gifts, the Meetto and Ning people will now understand much more clearly the significance of the incarnation and God's gift of salvation. You made it possible for the Meetto and Ning people to hear God speak in their own language.

God's Word in Meetto is already making a difference. When translator Jacob's niece was dying with cholera, her grandmother prayed for the first time in the name of Jesus. She remembered that Jacob's stories of Jesus from the Bible showed His power, so she promised to trust Him if He would prove Himself strong in healing her grandchild. When the child was healed, the old woman believed. Jacob and the other leaders look forward to the day when the Scriptures are completed in Meetto, so that those coming to Christ will have God's Word to help them grow.


Meetto Progress
Verses Funded So Far




The 1.2 million Meetto people wait to hear God speak the language they understand best.

Ning Progress
Verses Funded So Far




The Bible will have a dramatic impact among the 384,000 Ning where less than one percent claim to follow Christ.

Vidunda Progress
Verses Funded So Far




The 56,000 Vidunda, of whom 60% claim to follow Christ, need God’s Word to understand better who He is and what He wants of them.


 

Sonlighters' Stories

We've enjoyed hearing stories about your OneVerse experience. Here are some stories - if you have one to share you may email it to us at oneverse@oneverse.org.

Mrs. Nichols writes: My son (9) and my daughter (5) are praying for the Bibleless people and we are learning about different groups of Bibleless people in our studies this year as well as missionaries. I believe OneVerse and Sonlight are giving missionaries a special place in my children's hearts. Whenever missionaries visit our church, my children are eager to go and speak with them and find out more about what they are doing.

Thank you so much for this project! I love watching my children's hearts grow a love for missions!

Cynthia writes: The start of the translation is great news. My daughter Rose Swehla and fellow Sonlight student Calvin Bauer started a change drive at our church (Church of the Open Door). When we showed the video to the church, a counselor at a Christian school asked us if we could include her school in this drive. We are keeping it open until the last minute. I called The Seed Company and got the deadline. We will priority mail it in before Dec. 11. Our church has agreed to add $500 on top of what we raise. God has been working on our hearts and it looks like He has brought in several hundred dollars already (including the church contribution).

Denise from Georgia writes: Each morning [our home school] comes together with our journals and our Bibles to learn about this wonderful project. This morning our 11-year-old son said, 'I want to read the whole Bible this year. I'll read two or three chapters every day.' Because of OneVerse, we are more aware of the blessing of having our own Bible.

Ethan (age 12) from Colorado writes: I did a presentation at my church and had fun. I want to get more people involved. I can't wait to meet all the people in heaven who were able to hear and read God's Word in their language because of The Seed Company.

Jennifer in Pennsylvania writes: Our family has been really excited to share the project with everyone we can. First, we told our homeschool group about it, and now several of our friends have joined us in helping fill the pages of the Meetto Bible and hopefully the Vidunda and Ning as well! It was one of my personal goals that along with this project, my older two girls (9 and 5 yrs.) would have at least one opportunity to share publicly about their desire to help the Meetto people have the Bible in their language.

"A fellow OneVerse participant helped four families get a table at her church yard sale. Each family worked on different pieces to put on a display board. We had maps, facts about the Meetto and facts about The Seed Company. The children were shy at first, but after the first few people were willing to hear their story, they quickly got brave enough to call out to people that walked by, "Can we tell you about the Meetto people?" They shared about the project. They shared about the Meetto and in some cases even answered questions about WHY it would be important to help the Meetto people have the Bible in their language.

We were so proud of them. Although it was a dreary, rainy day, the children were thrilled when they discovered they had raised over $75 to help the Meetto Bible come to reality!!

In addition, a family from our small group was so inspired by what the kids were doing and learning, that she offered profits from business sales toward the project! She is a Tastefully Simple Consultant and has offered that we have a fund-raising show, and ALL proceeds would go to the Meetto Bible translation!! We hope to get that into action this week!!

This has been such a faith inspiring project! It's so encouraging to see how actively involved the children can be. I enjoy taking a backseat and letting this be their project!

Jennifer writes: I just wanted The Seed Company and Sonlight to know that this project has really touched the hearts of my children. The first week after our lesson from the OneVerse project, we designated a jar to hold all of our collections for this project. My oldest son (12) quietly slipped into his room and came back with a substantial amount to place into our jar. This started a chain reaction and we all scrounged around for money to place in the jar. We were more than thrilled to find we had come up with over $26 just from our own piggy banks!

Today we watched the OneVerse DVD that came in our packet. We were all deeply touched, to say the least. Once again my children headed off to their bedrooms to gather more money. My middle son (10) came out to me and said, "I feel that I need to give the money I was saving to buy a Star Wars DVD to the Meetto people. It is more important for them to know God's Word than for me to have the video." Let me tell you my heart soared! We have all given the money that we have been saving back and oh the joy in our hearts is immense.

Thank you so much for all that you do to spread the word and love of our Savior. You have truly opened my children's hearts and eyes to those in this world who so desperately need to hear of God's love.