Historic Ngöbe recording, Amazon trip Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Historic Recording of Creation Song... "Two to shine by night and in the day..." Last month, the Heavens rejoiced to hear the first composed Ngöbe traditional song about God. However, this one song did not come about as easy as it did for us with other cultures. Before moving to the Ngöbe region of Panama, we had been working for 3 years on and off with the Ngöbe people. I have attempted 3 songwriting workshops, spent hours discipling Ngöbe leaders, and have conducted much research—looking into the cultural music of this unique people group. Prominent missionaries tried to inform me that the Ngöbe no longer had any cultural music. Several Ngöbe leaders attended our EthnoArts training school. For some reason, every time we tried, we ran into some sort of obstacle to composing and recording a traditional song about the Creator from the Bible. Part of the struggle may have been my relative lack of knowledge about the culture as well as trying to be sensitive to not push too hard until I had built up stronger bonds of trust with the leaders. In April, I went with a group of 3 short term workers from Oregon to the capital of the Ngöbe reservation. There, we partnered with my long time Ngöbe friend, Rafael, and his leadership team of church planters to compose the first song. This trip, I was able to explain the importance of heart music to these young church leaders. While I was explaining, the knowing nod and look on their face was much the same as other indigenous leaders I have seen in the past. It's the look that plainly says "It's about time" and "This is how it's supposed to be". Out of the various traditional Ngöbe song genres, Rafael's team chose to select the chant storytelling genre. This genre has been the main vehicle for telling cultural stories for generations going back as far as anyone can remember. It is so old, that the majority of the songs are sung in an ancient dialect that no one today understands. Traditionally, the songs were memorized phonetically, sung, and then explained in contemporary Ngöbe language. Some elders once informed me that they do not usually play this music or talk about it with foreigners.  Rafael chose to compose this eerie and solemn-sounding (to Western ears) song about the Biblical account of creation. It was an effort of four of the leaders working together to pick the most poetic sounding lyrics. Rafael declared that this song is the first of many that he will introduce to the church as well as use for evangelism in the years to come! Here are the lyrics to the song (Click to play the song): Dodte Ngöbe Kwe "Kena Ngäbe kwe kä dodtabare, Kä Küinbti ämne Kà temenbtä... oh, wait, you wanted them in English? "In the beginning God created the heavans, the earth and two to shine in the night and in the day Also the mountains placed all around trees, flowers, rivers, and birds that sing and he also made people in His image" Amazon invitation In August, Heart Sounds International (HSI), an organization that we have been following and admiring for almost 10 years, is leading a trip to the Urarina tribe located within the Peruvian Amazon. HSI focuses on encouraging the ethnic arts of people groups from Mongolia to Senegal, with a unique focus on professional recording and teaching locals to record their own music. The leadership team of the organization that I am currently directing, ALDEA (Latin American Association for Ethno-Arts) has been invited as consultants to this workshop, for our unique experience in Latin American indigenous people groups. My ALDEA associates from Brazil and Argentina will be there with me. This trip will serve a double purpose, allowing us as a team to spend much needed time together for strategic organizational planning.  At the end of our 10-day workshop, we hope to have several traditional songs, dances, and oral stories recorded that will communicate to the heart of these people so dear to God. More importantly, we hope to see these people released to know The Creator and make Him known in a way that is personal and meaningful to their unique culture. Each member of the team is responsible for raising his or her own funds for the trip. The funds needed for this trip are not covered by our regular monthly support. I will need $1300 for the trip which covers airfare from Panama to Iquitos, boat and bus transportation, and food. We're using a creative way to raise funds for projects such as this one. It's called Kickstarter. The way Kickstarter works is that if I don't raise my goal by the date set, then I don't receive any of the pledges. It's all or nothing. Please pray about pledging towards this goal that we believe is on God's heart. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE or if you would rather pledge cash or check please e-mail us with your pledge. Lanugage Learning, Finals, and a busy summer  This month I officially started my Ngäbere language lessons. Last year I took a course called “Acquiring a Second Language” taught by a seasoned Wycliffe linguist. He taught a method that Bible translators use to learn a language that is not taught in a traditional classroom setting. It relies heavily on recording, visual, and listening methods, not so much on reading and writing. I had been searching for the perfect Ngöbe guide to help me daily and Kristina suggested a pastor that we had met briefly. I asked him and he said yes. It turns out that he is one of the most influential pastors and worship leaders in the region and beyond! A very good contact for future ministry.  Learning a language from scratch like this is not easy, but it is well worth it. It will give us a chance to speak to the hearts of the leaders we so desire to reach. It will also give us insight into the culture like only a heart language can. The other day I learned that in Ngäbere, you cannot say, “I have three kids,” rather, “WE have three kids,” because one cannot have children by oneself, right? Makes sense. Also, they have different numbers for counting objects than for counting people. Obviously, it would be absurd and offensive to count people with thing numbers, right? I am only beginning, but I spend an hour every day with my friend, and then time in the town square practicing everything I learned that day with as many people as I can. In other news, I finished my first year at UAF Center for Distance Edcuation with a 4.0 GPA, one step closer to helping the Ngöbe people in rural development. So far, the benevolent US government has paid for all my classes. I will be taking 2 classes this summer semester. Together with language learning, traveling for teaching, and creating a website and online Ethno-Arts course for ALDEA, I will be pretty busy. We are really happy that, in this new phase of our lives, everything that we are involved in brings us closer to realizing the vision that God has placed on our hearts since the beginning: seeing the indigenous peoples of the world know and worship God in the way He created them to.  2012 Nations Will Worship Ministries Inc. Please send us an e-mail address of a friend who would like to recieve these updates and we will add that person to our list. Please prayerfully consider being part of our support team by partnering with us financially.  Please write us at: nationswillworship@yahoo.com We accept tax-deductible donations through our nonprofit organization. Cash or a check made out to “Nations Will Worship Ministries Inc.” can be given or sent to Marge Garcia at P.O. Box 232096, Anchorage, AK 99523-2096 We will issue you a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the year at your request. To donate online please go to  http://nationswillworshipdonate.blogspot.com  *|FACEBOOK:LIKE|* *|TWITTER:TWEET|* *|GOOGLE:PLUSONE|*  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

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Newsletter Sent

Hola a todos!
Just a note to let you know that we just sent out our newsletter. If you do not have it in your mailbox and you thought we had your e-mail address, it might mean that we have an old one. Please send us your current and most checked address so that we can get it to you. Also, you might want to check your spam folder and un-spam us.

Thanks,
The Henry's

Change in Newsletter format

Hello friends,

I am writing to say that for many reasons, we will not be posting our personal newsletters on this blog anymore. We will be sending them to contacts who have indicated in the past that they wish to hear about what is happening in our lives. We will continue to use this blog for any Ethno-Arts related reports, videos, or ramblings. If you haven't already, please see some of the old posts on this blog about our songwriting workshops and other cool things we have been able to be a part of over the years.

If you do not receive our semi-regular newsletters by e-mail and would like to stay up to date with what we are doing, please drop us a quick note with "newsletter" in the subject line.

Also, if you are currently on our mailing list and for any reason wish to not be please just send us a note saying "opt out" in the subject line. We will not be offended and will understand.

Thank you,
John and Kristina Henry
nationswillworship@gmail.com

Colombia-Chile here I come!

Hello friends!

Just a quick note to let you all know that tomorrow I will be traveling to Bogotá, Colombia to be part of LINK Juvenil COMIBAM, where major Latin American missions leaders who are equipping youth will be meeting. I was invited to represent ALDEA, the Ethno-Arts network we set up in Bogota exactly two years ago! Our facebook group is now 125 strong with many national and international missions leaders eager to see our next step. Our goal is see training in the Ethno-Arts (cultural music and traditional arts redeemed to make Jesus known among least reached) in every Latin American missions training center!

God has opened up so many doors and given us favor with so many people. I am honored to represent ALDEA and expect God to move mightily in this networking event! I much appreciate your prayers!!!

Then I am off to Pichilemu, Chile. A cold water surfers paradise! I have been invited to teach about Ethno-Arts to South America's first ever YWAM School of Worship. All in all I'll be traveling over 6000 miles!

I'll be gone for a little less than two weeks. Please pray for my wife and mother-in-law at home with the three kids. Kristina has been battling severe bronchitis which set in A DAY before the C-section. You can imagine the pain she has been through. The rest of the household has been sick as well, and it is only a miracle that Titus has remained healthy. Please pray for Kristina, and all the family, but especially Titus' health.