FAQ: Why Translate the Bible for Oral Cultures?
There are many “orality movements” in missions circle today which emphasize the oral transmission of Bible stories. We think all of that is great, but not to the exclusion of a translated copy of the Word of God. We believe that it is absolutely imperative that every language group should have the entire Bible in their own language for the following reasons:1. God Chose to Write his Message Down God could have chosen any medium of communicating his message to the world but, even knowing oral societies exist, he still chose to write his message down. Therefore, Bible Translation honors…
FAQ: Why Not Just Teach the People English?
We have asked this question ourselves! However, we have concluded that it would be best to translate the Bible into the language of the people because: 1. This Method of Transmitting the Bible has Failed in the Past When we visited Cameroon a number of years ago, we learned that missionaries arrived decades ago and evangelized much of Cameroon. However, they only translated the Bible into three of the 270+ languages with the hopes that the remainder of the languages would learn these three languages. In reality they did not. Thus the people groups that have the Bible have healthier…
“Missionary Kid” Shares her Experience of Growing up in Cameroon
World Team printed this article about a missionary kid who grew up among the Baka people in Cameroon, Africa. We pray that her story will encourage your faith as it has encouraged ours… What God Has Done for Me – Reflections on My Journey What has God done for me? My answer starts with, “He saved my life, many times physically and once forever spiritually.” But what God has done for me exceeds granting redemption and safety on murderous roads. Both of those are extremely important, but God’s work includes using my ‘yesterdays’ to make my ‘today.’ I am a…
Learning from Ethiopian Christians: Three Encouraging Christians from My Adoption Trip
The following is my account of the stories of three Ethiopian. I wrote them down in my journal while I was in Ethiopia for our adoption court date. Alazar and Ewenetu “After taking Tarike back we went out to eat with Alazar (the driver for Celebrate Children International). He told me about how he became a believer. He was a driver at the airport and often would read his Bible in his car in between fares. He grew up in the Orthodox Church and could not reconcile the cold religion he grew up with and the Jesus about whom he…
Well It Only Seemed Fair
For the purposes of fairness I checked myself into the ER last night (or I should say this morning) at about 1am. It only seems right being that Stacey was there last week. All kidding aside I woke up at about 12:30am with intense pain in my abdomen. I tried to let it pass, but it only got worse. So I woke up Stacey and we headed to the ER. At about 5am they determined that I have a large gallstone that was blocking the bile from working its way into my system (fortunately they did not wait until 5…
Remembering the Meaning of Christmas…Outside the Camp
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. Hebrews 13:11-13 During this Christmas season, many of us Christians will deliberately call to mind the birth of Christ and along with that will come a deep appreciation for one’s salvation. However, as we read Luke 2 together and remember…
Some Days You Know How Fleeting Your Life Really Is
“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.” – Psalm 103:15-17 A couple days ago I (Stacey) felt numbness on my right side and went to go call for Dave and had a hard time remembering his name. I tried to explain to him that something just wasn’t right in my mind but I just couldn’t express my…
The Harvest is Plentiful, but the Laborers are Few
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38 Just in Cameroon alone there are around 270 people groups that do not have the Bible in their own language. Our colleagues at World Team narrowed down these 270 languages to the top 10 most needy people groups in Cameroon for us to consider translating for….
We’re Back!
We thank the Lord for bringing us back from Cameroon safely and in good health. Our visit could not have gone better. In fact, it went so well that we left almost in tears knowing that it will be at least two and a half years before we can return. Our logical reasons for choosing to go to Cameroon have now turned into deep affection for our fellow missionaries, for those who are without Christ, for the state of the church in Cameroon, and for the pleas of many different people groups begging us to translate the Bible for them….
Off to Cameroon, October 13th – November 3rd!
By way of background, Dave and I are appointees with the mission organization World Team (http://www.worldteam.org/) and our goal is to translate the Bible from Genesis to Revelation for a language that does not yet have it. There are over 200 languages in Cameroon, Africa so we are planning to spend the rest of our lives translating one such language. In October, we will be meeting the missionaries with whom we hope to work. They are kind enough to take us to the people groups that we are interested in translating for. They put together a list of their top…
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