The Gourley Story
June 2024
Lois has just returned from her final trip on behalf of Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International, as she will be joining Pat in retirement July first. This trip was a time of reflection and appreciation for a God who always leads, always upholds, always strengthens. . .and is always with us!
Lois' travels once again took her to the EMDC conference in beautiful Chiang Mai, Thailand. She was there for two weeks, and represented the Wycliffe family of organizations at a booth during the first week. More than 600 participants from all over the world attended in order to learn about new technologies that can be used for scripture translation, and to join together in fellowship. Lois was able to answer many questions as well as help several organizations learn how to either become members of the DBL (so they can also share their language community's scriptures digitally), or access our texts or audio files to share on their apps and websites.
During the second week of the conference, Lois spent one-on-one time working with the precious person whom God has brought alongside to take over her responsibilities with the Digital Bible Library. Lois has been praying for just the right person for over two years, and was committed to continuing with this ministry until God gave her peace that He had touched the heart of His choice. At least a year ago, as she prayed for God to bring just the right person, one name kept coming to mind—Priscilla Higby. Lois talked to Priscilla at the time, but she was not interested in changing her assignment. However, somewhere between then and January of this year, God changed her mind!
Meet Priscilla. She agreed in January to step into Lois' position with the DBL beginning July 1 so that Lois can retire from Wycliffe on the last day of June. Lois has been working remotely with Priscilla for the past 6 months. In May, Lois and Priscilla both traveled to Dallas where they worked through the 150 page training manual Lois had put together. At the beginning of the following week, they flew to Albuquerque so Lois could introduce Priscilla to colleagues at Faith Comes By Hearing. This was an important step, as FCBH does most of the audio recording of Wycliffe's scripture projects, and a good partnership is critical to our work
Here's some frosting on the cake! At EMDC Lois ran into a very special couple, the Carlsons. They are missionaries from Vanuatu whose translation into the Tanna language Lois helped typeset in 2009. What a precious gift it was to see them again and to hear that, of the translations on Vanuatu, Tanna is the most popular (This has nothing to do with Lois' contribution, but is kind of awesome!)
Lois spent quality time with a number of partners from other organizations. She has worked with this man, "Studge", since 2010. He represented the British and Foreign Bible Society. He is mostly responsible for bringing old print texts back to life in a digital format. (The matching outfits are only because we were required to wear these smocks so that the mud from the elephants would not rub off on our clothing!)
It is very difficult for Lois to leave a ministry that she deeply loves and has been committed to since its inception, but we know that the timing is right. We are truly humbled by the many emails she has received from translators all over the world thanking her for what she has done to help them spread God's Word in their language via websites, phones and apps. We'd like to share just one short note that was at the end of a longer email exchange. This is from a brother who works in India. Lois began assisting him in 2012 at a workshop in Nairobi, and has continued to listen to the needs of his group, and do what she could to help:
Finally, dear Mrs. Lois Gourley, on behalf of the entire NLCI, TFBF team and myself I want to express our sincere gratitude for your dedicated service. Your contributions have not only benefited our team, but also the entire Kingdom. We are incredibly grateful for all you've done, and we will miss your presence dearly. As you embark on this exciting new chapter, we wish you continued success and fulfillment. May you continue to bear much fruit in your future endeavors. It has been a true blessing to work alongside you.
Your brother in Christ, Benjamin
Upcoming News: So what's on the horizon for the Gourleys?
Currently, we are looking forward to spending more time together, more time with our children and grandchildren, more time being creative, and time pursuing new ministry opportunities that God is laying on our hearts. We will send updates in the future as new direction becomes clear!
Praise and Prayer Requests
- Pray that God will guide and give His wisdom as we seek His face for the future.
- Praise for all of the prayers that sustained both of us while Lois was on her trip to Thailand. Thank you! She was ill for about half of her time there, and came home with a bug as well. Praise God, after two trips to the ER, she is on the mend.
- Pray for Priscilla as she steps into Lois' shoes.
- Pray for continued health, especially for Pat.
- Praise for travel mercies. God is so good. . .whether it be a flight halfway across the world or a drive to Northern California, He has been there for us guiding and protecting.
- Praise for our wonderful team of prayer and financial partners. You have meant so much to us over the years.
Just a note about finances for those of you who have faithfully supported this ministry. We love you so much, and understand the sacrifice you have made for God's Kingdom.
Financially, we have partial retirement both from teaching and Social Security (which we also had during our time with Wycliffe). However, the cost of living in California is very high, and we have counted on the support provided to us by Wycliffe to help cover our basic living needs. We know that God will continue to provide, and want to assure you that if you would prefer to take what you have been sending to Wycliffe on our behalf and invest in other missionaries, we completely understand. You have blessed us! If however, you would like to continue sending support to us in the form of a pension, Wycliffe is available to accept those funds and send them on to us. Here is what you need to know:
- If you currently have an automatic bank transfer in place, you do not need to do anything else.
- If you have been mailing your gift, you just need to begin adding the following note along with your check, "Preferenced for Patrick and Lois Gourley's pension".
- Wycliffe will continue to send tax-deductible receipts for gifts toward our pension.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
Abiding in His love,
Pat and Lois Gourley
And the gospel must first be published among all nations—Mark 13:10