Hi Friends!

Welcome to the very first installment of “hey Hortins”. We hope that we can share some of what’s been happening in our lives with you, and give you some fuel for prayer. We also hope that some of the things we share would encourage you, or get you thinking – please share your responses and stories with us!

This way of sharing is new to us, and we are working things out as we go, so would also love your feedback on what has been helpful, or changes you’d love to see in the way we communicate.

Usually, our posts will feature stories of what we have been up to. But to kick things off, we wanted to give a bit more insight into why we are here (pursuing ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia that is).

Without further ado, come meet the Hortins…

Our interruptions are God’s opportunities

Do you love to be interrupted? We are yet to meet someone who loves interruptions.

But we are learning to see interruptions to our plans, as one of the ways God shapes our path.

We met in bible college in 2018, in Greek class of all places! Neither of us expected to fall in love with languages (and certainly not each other)! But God clearly had other plans. Jess loves to tell the story of the annoying student up the back of the class… But that’s for another day.

But God brought us together, and together we started pursuing work with Wycliffe Bible translators before we got married at the end of 2019.

Although COVID was unexpected and brought it’s own challenges, it was in July 2022 that we grappled with interrupted plans.

At a time of peak excitement in our lives – anticipating our first child, and beginning the membership application process with Wycliffe Australia, our beautiful Aloysius was born. But then he spent 2.5 weeks in the NICU, where he was diagnosed with down syndrome, a heart defect, and a bowel condition. And so our plans were suddenly placed on hold, as we found ourselves surviving as a family and trying to meet our son’s needs, including a feeding tube, two surgeries, and ongoing physiotherapy and speech therapy.

What would happen to our plans to be involved in Wycliffe Australia? We had no idea. But God knew. And he gave us a peace that somehow it was not the end of our journey with Wycliffe. It felt like an interruption, but to God, it was an opportunity. But God in his wisdom used our extra support needs to slow us down enough to see a Hortin-shaped need in the Wycliffe Australia National Office in Melbourne.

What is this Hortin-shaped work? Hint: it’s not cleaning…

Never forget the cleaner!

Now Jarod and I are planning to do a similar kind of essential but hidden work… Administration. Jarod is hoping to join the personnel team to help organise data and streamline processes, which just happens to sound like his dream job! And Jess hopes to get involved in caring for Wycliffe Australia members who are out doing translation work, preparing to leave, or returning home, which they call ‘member care’. It just happens to be the kind of thing she naturally does wherever she goes.

Back in November 2023, Jess got the chance to visit the Wycliffe Australia National Office in Melbourne where she completed some training. And so she got to meet the team and see the place we plan to live. It was a wonderful confirmation for us to realise that this was not a back-up option, but essential work, and the kind that would allow us to serve the global work of Bible Translation, while also maintaining access to the awesome medical and disability services in Australia.

Now you may be wondering, why leave everything we have in Perth; to move to Melbourne? Is the coffee really that good over there?! We will update you after we try their coffee. But it’s not the main reason.

Language is the currency of communication

When was the last time you didn’t understand what someone was saying?

Aloysius often tries to communicate with us. He has gotten quite proficient with his grunts, eye gaze and grabby hands, particularly when we ask “would you like an ice cream”. He is even able to use a Key Word Sign to ask for more. But nothing will be as clear as the day he says “mummy, I want an ice cream.”

What a gift it would be to enable all people in the world, to have the bible in their heart language! To be able to hear God communicate with them in their currency. This is what Wycliffe Australia is all about. And that is why we are so determined to join this work.

Check out this video that paints the picture with a great analogy of a bible banquet.

There’s no I in team (how you can get involved)

Have we just convinced you to move to Melbourne with us? Perhaps not. But I hope we have inspired you just a little. Just like Wycliffe Australia needs administration workers, we need a team of people to partner with us in our work with Wycliffe. We would love you to consider whether you are in a position to partner with us, and therefore be part of the global work of Bible translation. You’d be like the suppliers to the cleaners!

There are a number of ways you can partner with us, and we would love to get in touch to talk about having you join our team. We are particularly on the look out for people to become prayer or financial partners. But we also need your encouragement. And there will be times where we will need some really practical support, like lifts to the airport or someone to host an event.

Is that you?

Click this button to let us know you are interested, even if it’s that you want to think some more, and would like us to follow up with you.

For now, the big thing to pray for, is for the review of our membership application in late February/early March. That God’s will would be done and we would have patience as we wait.

And if you do pray, let us know.

Well enough about us. What can we be praying for you?