May Newsletter

Photograph courtesy of Philip Greenspun

Despite this gray-shaded day of rain and wind, where the trees smear down my windowpane until the world is pieced together like stained glass, spring is coming. April showers bring May flowers, the old rhyme predicts—a forecast that in Minnesota is only reliable if you’re willing to overlook that the flowers might still receive a dusting of snow. Nevertheless, the early purple flair of crocuses at the feet of my mailbox has come and gone, and now the hostas and day-lilies engage valiantly in a double-pronged battle against both moles and deer. The trees are faintly glazed with green, and I watch as earthworms stretch out across my driveway, their narrow escape from drowning made even more perilous by the winter-hungry robin.

The fever of spring cleaning is catching: this morning, my friend and I scoured through our church with sleeves rolled up, armed with sponges, extension cords, and an extra supply of toilet paper. As I scrubbed down the full-length glass doors in the foyer entrance, I was reminded of a quote by an Indonesian believer when she heard the Word of God in her own language.


“It was as though we had washed years of grime off a window and could suddenly see the beautiful landscape outside for the first time.”

The barrier of language needs more than Windex—Bible translation is only made possible by the grace of our Lord and through your teamwork and partnership. Thank you for being a part of this spiritual “spring cleaning!”

I sent out my May newsletter today. If you didn’t get a copy and would like one, please send me an email at catherine_rivard@wycliffe.org.