Richard & Susan Montag

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Family & Ministry Profile

Richard grew up in a Church going family but had little knowledge of what it meant to accept Christ as his savior until he was in his mid twenties, when he realized that before God he was a sinner, that Christ Jesus was the only way to God, and he accepted Christ as his personal savior. Life changed dramatically after that. While attending seminary he was challenged to investigate Bible translation, which he did through courses provided by Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT). He went on to serve with WBT as a translator with the Cashinahua Indians of Peru and, with his wife, completed the New Testament in 1981.

Susan also grew up in a Church going family and received Christ in high school. She is a registered nurse, an occupation that has served her well over the years. She also felt God's call into Bible translation, and met Dick during the course work of Wycliffe.

During the years of 1969-1981, under the auspices of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, Richard and Susan translated the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament for the Kashinawas of Peru. As they became increasingly proficient in this indigenous language, they wrote bilingual school books and helped in the preparation of men and women to teach their own people in their native language and then Spanish. The Gospel spread slowly but there was much seed planting, for the bilingual teachers were committed Christians and daily taught their students from the Word, as book by book it was translated into the Kashinawa language. In 1981, the Montags presented them with the completed the New Testament in the language of their hearts. There were about 12 sincere believers at that time among a population of about 1000. However, because of the good school system, there were readers in all the homes and the 700 copies of the New Testament were soon purchased and well read and studied.

In 1999, the pastors among the Kashinawas of Peru contacted the Montags and asked them to return and help them again. Their New Testaments were worn out and there could be no reprinting without a revision. So, with much joy, the Montags joined Mission to the World and returned to Peru for a six-year term to resume Scripture revision and translation. Now, however, there were about 700 professing believers and 50-100 worn out New Testaments among the 18 Kashinawa churches that had been established, one in each village, and their population in Peru had grown to about 1500. Also they had begun their own Bible Institute, meeting in various communities annually, to further prepare the believers and potential leaders.

In August of 2004, the revised New Testament for the Kashinawas of Peru was presented to them (now 2,500 copies were made available), with much rejoicing and celebration. While this NT was in the process of being printed, an adaptation was made into the dialect and alphabet of the 4,500 "Kaxinawá" who live in Brazil, working with men from the distant Brazilian rivers who came to Peru to work with the translation team. This second edition New Testament has been presented to the Brazilian Bible Society for publication, and in early 2005, it should be available for the Kaxinawá in that land. Many "Halleluiah's" can be heard in all parts.

These first four years of the Montags' six-year term have been very busy and the Lord's strength and blessing have been their surrounding armour. They are currently continuing to work on preparing selected portions of the Old Testament, the 40% deemed by the Peruvian Bible Society to be the most important to understand the New Testament. Genesis through Joshua and a few Psalms have been translated so far, and Richard and Susan are working with two teams to try to complete this great undertaking in the time remaining of their six year term, which will end in December of 2006.

Please do join them in prayer that that Lord will continue to surround the complete translation teams with His protecting power, give the continued endurance during the long, long days ahead, and that He will meet the spiritual, physical and financial needs of all involved in this translation.

If you would like to take part in the financing of the Old Testament portions, gifts could be so designated and sent to Mission to the World for the Montags' Kashinawa Scripture Fund. What wonderful, untiring missionaries are God's own Word.