Chris and Lynn Toney
Summer 2018 Update
Dear Friends and Family, So far, 2018 sure has brought much challenge but also much joy. We hope you find our Summer 2018 Update interesting and informative – It will be great to hear back from you! All the very best, Chris and Lynn
Double Portion of Blessing
When is the last time you felt truly cared for? When was the last time you felt truly blessed? A few weeks ago, Chris and I felt and received both a sense of care and were blessed beyond measure. During our 22 years in full time missions our sending church in Bothell Washington, Canyon Hills Community Church have been right there, side by side with us, interceding for us, cheering us on and providing the much needed funds so that we can bring the gospel to the far corners of the globe. The first of two blessings is a video produced by the CHCC communications team, highlighting our journey as a young family, the call on our lives and the many stories of Gods faithfulness. Pictures of us from so long ago reminded Chris and I that we are not getting any younger (lol) but more so of Gods amazing love, provision and grace that has been extended and bestowed to our family. Thank you Canyon Hills, for wanting to show that an ordinary family can do extra ordinary things for the Lord. May our call to serve in missions, bring forth many to be released into the amazing journey of full time faith based missions.
The second blessing came in the way of retreat. A retreat is a place to get away, to leave the world of missions for a brief moment and to commune with the Lord. Canyon Hills blessed each of their supported missionaries with a 5 day retreat. We were pampered, loved, cherished, loved on well in those 5 days. A time to renew, refresh and remind each of us, our mandate. The theme was “ The Grove”. The idea of how does one cultivate that place in our hearts, in our minds to do the work we are called to do. How to nurture and protect what is precious to the Lord and to oneself so that we can go out again into this world and be at our best to bring Gods love, Gods peace and Gods light to those who do not know Him. A big thank you to our head pastor off CHCC, pastor Steve Walker and to our missions pastor Corey Mortimer who prayed and brought this retreat into being. You two and the team that supported us during the retreat have no idea the impact you have made for us all that are blessed to be a part of CHCC.
Seasons
Ecc 3:8 states: “To everything there is a season.” We have all been a part of seasons that provide revelation, clarity, unknown, character, hardship, joys and most of all growth. Seasons come and they go, much like the wind, sometimes swift and sometimes more in a calming way. YWAM DP the ministry and training base that Chris and I founded back in the early 2000’s and where we handed over the reigns 2 ½ years ago has had its fair share of seasons. The season of training and ushering in countless students and staff on a physical YWAM base has officially come to an end. Due to governmental issues, and other unique circumstances the doors of the base in Belize has closed. We are sad to say goodbye (again) but also are trusting the Lord for the possibly of new season, new vision, to potentially blow in once more. Thank you to DP’s amazing staff and to all students who have been and are yet to be a part of the many seasons of DP. A new season is beginning with the introduction of University of the Nations Online – a ministry of YWAM Destination Paradise. Stay tuned…
What Is Chris Up To?
If you ask me to summarize what I do in one sentence, I would say that I am working hard with many people from many ministries to end bible poverty. There are still over 1500 living languages that have no biblical witness at all and we are working hard to bring this number to zero.
I am currently hard at work in 4 primary areas: VerbView, Greek SourceView, Teaching Hebrew and Greek to students in the UofN Masters of Applied Linguistics in Bible Translation and putting the finishing touches on Biblical Hebrew Online course. I typically travel, teaching and speaking a great deal, but since the demise of YWAM DP’s campus in Belize and the many unpaid ministry debts that were left on the table (meaning… we get to cover them ourselves), finances have severely limited travel so far this year. In 2017, I was blessed to travel to, speak or teach in Nepal, India, Russia, Israel, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Turkey, Jordan, Cyprus, South Africa, The UK, Belize, and locations in the US.
VerbView is a soon to be added element to the SourceView Bible App which was produced by the Bible Innovation Team of which I am a part. VerbView looks at every verb in the Bible (yes, every verb) and identifies whether the action is something God did, does or will do – or is it the action of someone other than God. The idea is that if we want to know God, we look at what He has done and does. This very exciting project has already revealed some amazing insights about God and is defined to be the source of great discoveries about the Lord!
Greek SourceView If you are not yet familiar with the SourceView format of scripture (the first format change in Scripture in 500 years) it is quite innovative. I have completed formatting the Greek Scriptures into SourceView and am currently working on Hebrew. A number of other gifted folks are working hard on this and additional languages and tools will be included the SourceView Bible App soon.
MALiBT is short for Masters of Applied Linguistics in Bible Translation, one of a number of Masters level programs offered by the University of the Nations. I was asked to facilitate the teaching of both Hebrew and Greek to the students in this current program. What a privilege and joy!
UofN Online is a new ministry of YWAM Destination Paradise. I am nearly finished with our first University of the Nations Extension (online) Studies course, Biblical Hebrew Online and will have Biblical Greek Online available next. We plan to have many online course offerings in the future!