Category: Christian Missions
3 Ways The Gospel Applies to Awkwardness
by Stacey There are hundreds of unspoken social rules for every society and when these cultural rules are broken, awkwardness ensues. Here are some examples of cultural rules that might be easy to violate: -> Crossing your legs in Cameroon communicates that you feel superior to those in your presence.-> Our son Kaden came home from school the other day sticking up his middle finger. Although I could not tell him the “why” behind the social rule, we explained to him that it was very rude to make that gesture in American culture. -> In some languages (like French) it is important to…
Heaven Welcomes a New Martyr
by Dave For French practice I chose an article in a French Christian magazine to translate and respond to. Below is my translation and some of my thoughts: New Martyr in Kenya On February 7, 2013 at 10am, Ahmed Abdi Welli, a Somalian Christian living in Kenya, was assassinated in the middle of the street while talking with a pastor in the city of Garissa. We suspect the Al Shebabs to be the origin of the attack. The pastor with whom he was found, Ibrahim Makunyi, was injured and drove to the hospital to undergo an emergency operation. Abdi…
God Does Not Need Missionaries
by Stacey “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” Acts 17:24-25 Sickness and Death We have been studying French with a friend here in Albertville who is preparing to go to West Africa to serve as a pilot. He is married with four young children. A couple weeks ago, he found out he had a tumor on a Friday, flew…
Do We Evangelize Like Jesus?
by Dave In my daily devotions I have been reading through the Gospels and I was struck by the way Christ responded to what we would call “seekers.” Three people approached Jesus, seeking to follow him, and he responded in a surprising way to all three: Seeker 1: As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Seeker 2: To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me…
5 Non-Financial Ways to Support Bible Translators (A Blog Post With Homework)
by Dave Do you know anyone working in the field of international Bible translation? While financial support is always good there are other ways to support Bible translation. Here are 5 *free* ways that you can support Bible translators (like us). Read to the end for some homework! 1. Keep Them Up to Date on Spiritual ResourcesMost languages that do not have the Bible are found in extremely rural parts of the world. This means that the missionaries that you love and wish to support are cut off from the stream of spiritual resources that you are immersed in. Many…
Living Crazy: Some Good Reminders from Fellow Missionaries
By Stacey In class the other day a friend was sharing that she visited a country in Africa in order to determine if she could serve there long term. After a few days of observing the living conditions (dirt floors, rampant illness, unsanitary food preparation), she went back to her room and determined that she could not live there. She cried out to God and said that she could not do it. His response was: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32 In coming to the realization that…
Closed Doors or Hurdles? Hope for the Aspiring Missionary (like me).
By Dave If you have read our most recent newsletter, you know that upon arriving in France we realized that the school that we chose is not going to work out. I have to admit, it was pretty bewildering. I mean, we found cheap plane tickets, got our visas on time, received a free ride to the airport, survived 12 hours in the air with four young children, all of our bags made it to France…and the school is closing and cannot offer the hours they promised. How does that happen? You might think we should be discouraged. And to…
Leaving Everything but Possessing More than Everything
By Stacey Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1 Well this is it. 9 years of preparation, hundreds of prayers answered, lots of goodbyes, and finally the mission field is here. Our bags are packed and we are leaving for France tomorrow. When people ask us how we feel about leaving, we often respond that we are apathetic and just so in the zone of all the logistics that surround moving a family overseas. But here and there when the dust has settled a bit, and in the quiet…
“Go Into All The World”: Your Translation is Right
One of our Greek professors said that Greek should be like your underwear: it is important, you should have it, it should support you, but no one needs to see it. When I write posts on here I try to follow that principle, but today I must address Greek head-on. I have heard a lot of people recently challenge the common translation of the Great Commission with an appeal to the Greek participle used. So here is the Great Commission as you know and love it: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth…
The Good, The Bad, and the Different
As we think about moving to Africa, one of the many things we have to consider is money. Turns out, Americans view money very differently overall than Africans. Consider the following story from the book African Friends and Money Matters: “Three single men were renting an apartment together, sharing the cost of utilities. One of the three, Mr. Ekwa, was designated to collect the agreed upon amounts from the others each month and to pay the electric bill. Just before the due date on one occasion, Mr. Ekwa had a personal bill that had to be paid before the due…
