Victor and Patti Labutes Your connection to tribal missions
Mike, Tania and Katelyn
It was almost a year ago that Katelyn came into Mike and Tania’s home. Since then, they have been working through the process and paperwork necessary for an adoption to take place. Yesterday, that happened! Katelyn is now officially a Labutes. We are so pleased to have this sweet little girl as our granddaughter. Thanks to each one of you who prayed that this would happen.
Katelyn Asia Labutes
Helping a student in language analysis.
One of the Linguistic students, Matt was not able to go with the rest of his classmates to Oklahoma to do his practicum. Since there are no Cherokee speakers available here, we arranged for him to do an analysis of a different language – Cantonese. Another student, Lisa speaks Cantonese and is meeting with Matt regularly to give him the information he needs. One of my responsibilities is to sit in on their sessions once a week and coach Matt as he works on the project. It is always a blessing to see the progress Matt is able to make in a week.
I only wore the patch for the first few weeks.
This summer has not turned out as we had planned. Near the end of May I noticed a new distortion in the vision in my left eye and was diagnosed with a macular hole. This was treated with a surgical procedure called a vitrectomy. Then, there were several complications and more surgery followed by numerous visits to 3 eye specialists.
This meant that we had to cancel our trip to North Asia to visit Andrea, Ben and the Grandkids. And, since my right eye is not quite good enough to handle driving on its own I have been grounded. Thankfully, Patti has been willing to chauffeur me around. I do miss my independence but am thankful that there is hope that it will return. I have at least 2 more minor surgeries to go before I can be re-fitted for a contact lens. By the end of the year it should be all over.
I am so thankful for the Lord’s grace and for my family and coworkers that have been such a blessing during this ordeal. Please pray that my sight will be restored to the point that I can drive again.
On September 9th our daughter, Andrea, her husband, Ben and their 3 children arrived in Florida. This was not an expected trip. Read the rest of this entry »
According to our original plan I was supposed to be in Oklahoma at this time. I was to be assisting the students that I taught last semester in a practicum. Since my responsibilities would have involved quite a bit of driving I had to ask a coworker to go in my place. He and the class are currently near Tahlequah, Oklahoma involved in a preliminary analysis of the Cherokee language. This is to help prepare the students for analyzing a tribal language. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike and Tania are breathing a sigh of relief. The birth mother did not reclaim her baby and now they can proceed with the adoption process. It looks as though the Lord has finally provided the little one they have been praying for. Thanks for praying.
On October 21 Mike and Tania were informed that a lady that was about to give birth had chosen them to be the adoptive parents of her child. They dropped everything and headed for the hospital. The next day they brought home a beautiful little girl, Katelyn Asia. We have been praying for some time that the Lord would provide a child for them and we need to keep praying. The birth mother has until about Nov.2 to change her mind and cancel the adoption. Mike and Tania are "cautiously optomistic" and would appreciate your prayers. (There are more photos under our "Photos" section.)
Until recently, Patti’s main area of responsibility in the bookstore was as Special Projects Coordinator. She has enjoyed that ministry but has been asked to begin doing more of the bookstore bookkeeping. This fits well with training she received in college but she still senses a need for wisdom from the Lord. Please pray for her as she is learning many new things and taking on new responsibilities.
In January, 2009 I plan to begin teaching Linguistic Analysis. At this time, the current linguistics class is in Oklahoma working on a 6-week practicum. They are making use of the skills they have learned in the classroom and are doing a preliminary analysis of a live language – Cherokee. Soon I will be making the 5-hour drive down to Tahlequah where I will spend a week observing the students at work. I expect to be asking many questions of the teacher that is with them. I need to get the “lay of the land” so that I can be ready to take a class down there next year. Pray that I would have a profitable week and learn as much as I can to help me be an effective instructor.
In a pre-season practice Lee injured his ankle. After surgery on some “shredded” ligaments he was on crutches for over a month. Once he was cleared by the doctor he worked hard on physical therapy and recovered quickly. He is so glad that he has been able to play the last half of the season. On Monday night Junior varsity games he has played quite a bit as one of the quarterbacks. On Friday’s Varsity games he usually gets to play a little as well. His ankle still hurts but he is a dedicated member of the team and doesn’t let it stop him. 