February 2, 2005

Dear Friends,

The suitcases are being packed, and, Lord willing, on February 4 we will be on our way to Lima again. Roberto, Waldemar and Tufi arrived here in Yarinacocha-Pucallpa on Saturday, January 22 after 5 very long days of waiting in Esperanza for a plane. "Time to spare? Go by air!" We were very glad they made it and we were all more than ready to get back to the translation work.

Now we are getting packed up to go by bus to Lima, another "delightful" trip. If all goes well, it will take about 22 hours. Dick and the three men had an 11 hour delay in August and he and I had a three hour delay on our return trip from our Mission to the World Conference in Lima two weeks ago. However, one becomes especially grateful for the Lord's protecting hand as we travel along these long, winding, bumpy roads. The road climbs to about 12,000 feet in the Andes and there are many breathtaking sights along the way. We all take Dramamine to ward off altitude sickness, but then we just "sit back and leave the driving to us!"

In Lima we will be working with our friend Jim Wroughton, a translation consultant who has very kindly set aside a good chunk of time to work with us. It is our goal to check the Old Testament portions through I Samuel and also some Psalms. That is a lot to do at once, and will be the equivalence in pages to about one third of the New Testament.

We are finding that our work is slowing down some now that we are no longer revising the Old Testament translation we had published in the 1970's. Some of the Old Testament books are quite difficult and are totally new information for our co-translators, so we have to lead them through a lot of research in order to come out with a clear translation.

Would you be willing to try to pray daily for us as we are in Lima for probably two months? Please let us know if you will.

• And claim these verses for us:
          "Though youths grow weary and tired,
          And vigorous young men stumble badly,
          Yet those who wait for the Lord
          Will gain new strength;
          They will mount up with wings like eagles,
          They will run and not get tired,
          They will walk and not become weary."
                (Isaiah 40: 29-31 NAS version)
• Ask the Lord to bless us all with His wisdom, efficiency, accuracy, patience, endurance, protection and grace as we work for long hours. We anticipate working with Jim mornings, as he is available, and then continuing on with the next Old Testament books in the afternoons. Dick and Tufi are currently doing the first draft of II Samuel and Roberto, Waldemar and I will do that book next, as Dick moves on to the first draft of portions of I Kings.

We thank you for your faithfulness to us. We are deeply grateful for your faithful prayers and gifts for us. You are God's way of keeping us here. May the Lord pour out on you His great blessings as you share in our ministry.

Yours because He cared enough to send His very best,
Sue for Dick and Sue Montag

Tax-deductible support gifts payable to Mission to the World and designated for Dick and Sue Montag may be sent to:
MISSION TO THE WORLD
PO Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

Please confirm you have our correct mailing address:
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Montag
ILV-Apartado 52
Pucallpa, Peru, SA

E-mail: RMontag@mtwla.org or dick-sue_montag@sil.org
When replying to e-mail, please omit the text of the original message.

If you want to check out our website, go to:
http://www.mtwla.org/people/rmontag.htm