10 Oct Update on Roger and Marilyn Reeck

Roger and Marilyn Reeck (right) are UB endorsed missionaries serving with Wycliffe in Honduras. They sent this update on October 4, 2014.

The bone fusion operation Roger underwent in February is successful and he is walking on that foot. But the pain caused by nerve damage has continued and has been quite intense. So far, the meds prescribed by the surgeon here and the doctor at the pain clinic have not lessened the pain.

Last week Roger saw Dr. Owen, the orthopedic surgeon who travels to Honduras every 6 months. X-rays indicate that the tibia bone and the talus bone in the ankle are touching, and arthritis has set in which together lead to part of the pain. The doctor injected steroids into that area, but it will be a few weeks before he feels the full effect. Please pray that this will be a solution bringing about a reduced amount of pain. If this is the case, then he could be re-injected every few months.

We were excited to be in Venezuela again and spend time with the teams that we work with. Over the last few months, we have continued checking their stories remotely. It was fulfilling and exciting to see them bring the work on their story sets to completion and record the stories. These can now be distributed to their people and used in many different venues such has fellowship groups, radio,etc.

On October 6, Roger travels to Brazil. Please pray for his trip and his time there. He will be working with a group of translators that speak Yaminahua. The Yaminahua Indians live in the most remote part of the Amazon where Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil meet. The translation is especially difficult because some of the men speak Portuguese and some speak Spanish. Last time Roger was with the team (in Bolivia), they spent hours and hours on this phrase (from the story of the “Prodigal Son”): “I am not worthy to be called your son.”

It is exciting to work with a people group that doesn’t have even one book of the Bible in their language yet. Please pray that God will help us to make good progress during the two weeks time. Another goal during this time is to train Victor, a Venezuelan Curripaco Indian who will meet Roger there, to begin translation into his native language.

In the meantime, Marilyn will stay back home working on perfecting the two sets of Spanish stories that are used in training courses.