Forever and always people have avoided going into missions because they have to raise support. Just recently I saw a thread where men with PhDs in biblical studies were lamenting the lack of employment opportunities in American Bible schools and seminaries. Someone commented on the thread saying, “There are plenty of opportunities overseas.” One of the few responses to this was (paraphrased), “Yeah, but then you will have to be raising support for your entire life!” I understand the hesitancy to raise support. Stacey and I drove all around the country in 2011 speaking to churches, friends, and (at times)…

Fifteen years ago, at The Master’s University in Southern California, the Lord used a return missionary to challenge me to devote my life to the mission field. I feel indebted to this man and indebted to this institution for putting people like him in front of me to expose me to a world of lostness that I knew nothing about.Fifteen years later, someone from this same university asked Dave and I to stand in front of the student body and tell them about this same lostness that I had learned about while there. It was their Global Outreach Week and…

I just had the amazing opportunity to attend the 9th Biennial Bible Translation Conference put on by GIAL and SIL International. The theme this year was “Tradition and Innovation in Bible Translation.” It was a fantastic time of remembering those who have gone before us, and thinking about what is to come. I heard lectures on Luther’s translation principles, historical surveys of people groups in Africa that have now had the Scripture for a number of years, as well as several presentations about how technology is changing the Bible translation landscape. The opening lecture was given by Dr. Margaret Muthwii…

by Brad Koenig (guest blogger) I love baseball. One of the most exciting plays in the game is when a base runner tries to slide under the tag of the catcher at home plate and score a run for his team. If he succeeds, the umpire signals with his arms outstretched and the broadcaster announces, “He’s safe at home!” Being a Christian in our home country is safe. There we attend church freely. We carry and read our Bibles without fear. We declare our faith openly. We have easy access to healthcare. Law enforcement officials are committed to our protection….

One day, the title of this blog will be about Kwakum. But for now, we are rejoicing with our co-workers that have spent the last 20 years working on the Oroko New Testament in Southwest Cameroon. Check out the letter below from our Field Director: —- World Team Cameroon is approaching a new milestone. Our first New Testament translation is about to be published! Rejoice with us that the 140,000+ Oroko people will soon have God’s Word in their language! World Team Cameroon’s Oroko Team, Dan and Lisa Friesen and Mike and Becky Scott, have been working alongside the Oroko…

My father-in-law recently mailed us a book called From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. As I have been reading this book, I have at times been inspired, encouraged and renewed in my missionary zeal. But, honestly, more often than not, I have been a little scandalized by the failures of those who have gone before me in missions. In a sense, I feel like this book is throwing mud on my heroes. Here are a couple of examples: William CareyWilliam Carey, a famous missionary to India in the 1800s labored for 7 years before seeing…

As we were thinking through the possibility of adoption, we sought counsel from many people. During this time, I was at an adoption conference where the presenters said: “The two main reasons that people do not adopt are: 1) the cost of adoption, and 2) they are afraid that they could not love an adopted child like they would a biological child.” This same presenter told us that the first one is not a problem. As it turns out, there are A LOT of financial resources for those adopting. Our adoptions ended up costing around $70,000 in total, and every…

One of the main questions we get from our friends and family now that we are in the States is, “How are the kids adjusting?” so we thought we’d take a minute to type up a fairly detailed response. In a word, they are doing great. I suppose it’s kind of hard not to be doing great coming from a poorer nation to a nation of toys and shiny things. In the words of Dave, “Moving our children to America is kind of like moving them inside of Toys-R-Us.” It’s pretty hard for them to not be excited about everything….

Imagine moving into a new house. After getting your stuff situated you go about organizing, cleaning, and landscaping the yard. As time progresses the grass is looking good, you have flowers in planters, and even a swing set for the kids. But casting a shadow on all of it is the neighbor’s fence. It’s old, leaning heavily into your yard and in desperate need of paint. A month passes, then a couple more. After a year the fence is only looking worse. You see your neighbor from time to time and struggle with angry thoughts. Your neighbor never mentions it,…