Wycliffe – Page 5 – A Liddle Good News

How to join our Wycliffe ministry

When you make the decision to be a part of our ministry with Wycliffe in Europe and beyond, here’s what you need to know.

If you’re committing to pray for us and want to let us know, you can go to this Wycliffe site to indicate that. You people who are crazy-committed to praying for us should probably give us a phone call when the Spirit drives you to pray. I think you know what I mean – the Lord works in mysterious ways.

If the Spirit is pressing you to give to God’s Kingdom, and you’ve decided that our ministry is a good outlet for that need, there are two ways to do that: 1) go to this Wycliffe site and complete the process on the Internet, or 2) send a check payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators to the following address, with a note that your gift is for our ministry.

Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. Box 628200
Orlando, FL 32862-8200

You may be interested to know that we have two kinds of financial needs: regular monthly support and one-time household setup. So far as the first goes, we need to receive about 9% more ongoing support before we can go to Germany (as of 7/8/2011). Once we get there, we have to “set up house” by purchasing a car and home furnishings. So far, we have a bit more than 62% of that amount (as of 7/8/2011). To contribute to our getting set up there, please note that your gift is for account 281600-71.

Coming to a theater near you …

Sometime around Christmas, Katherine and I saw the trailer for the movie The King’s Speech. It looked interesting, especially since it starred Colin Firth, an actor we both enjoyed in Pride and Prejudice. A few weeks ago, Katherine saw the movie here in St. Joe with my aunt and cousins. She liked the film quite a lot.

I like to watch movie trailers – they boil down films enough to fit into a short time span, give each viewer a strong sense of the content, and leave the interested viewer with a desire to know more. But it had been some time since I had seen the preview for The King’s Speech. Despite Katherine’s concern that she would spoil it for me, I asked her to describe the movie’s plot, characters, and developments. When she did, I understood the movie much better and realized that while the trailer was certainly accurate, there was much more to the film than what those short segments depicted. And since I haven’t experienced the movie for myself, even her own vivid description is fading in my mind. Until I see it, I’m missing out – and the film’s accolades and award nominations are lost on me.

So what does that have to do with Bible translation?

Until translation of the Bible happens for a language, the speakers of the language have experienced, at best, only the “trailer” for God’s Word. They’ve heard limited portions of the message. That may be because only the main points are available in their language, or because they heard it in a language that they don’t understand fully.

For example, would you go see a movie if its trailer was visually interesting – but all the dialogue was in Hungarian? (Try this one – it might be familiar.) What if someone who understood Hungarian described it to you? Or offered to interpret all the lines for you at the theater? Would you be interested then? Would you expect to have a good experience?

What if the content was important to your own safety? Anyone who has flown will recognize the fundamental messages in this video, but I doubt that you’d be able to tell me exactly what was said.

So where does that leave us with The Greatest Story Ever Told? Not only does the content have everything that makes for successful films – God’s Message is absolutely critical for the eternal safety of every person alive. Yet more than 340 million people can’t get this message because it’s not available in the 2,100 languages (and more) that they speak. The whole message is available in 457 languages. (Including in Hungarian, with film.) But many people have to be told, “I’m sorry, that movie’s not showing in a theater near you.”

The good news is that we’re not satisfied with that statement – right now, Wycliffe is working in more than 1,500 languages to get God’s Message out. And we’re not alone – the Church is cooperating more and more on that effort. There are a lot of names that roll by in the credits, in addition to the Producer, Director, and Star who makes it all possible. Katherine’s name and mine are in the credits, too, along with those of the people who pray for and support us. Where is your name among them all?

One more thing – think about what happens to you when you are completely drawn in to a movie and it takes first place among your favorites. What has God’s Message done to you?

And just one more thing. Really – I mean it this time. Guess who will be among the people I’m serving once we get to Europe? That’s right – Wycliffe Hungary.

There’s a river of life

The major moves and days of packing are behind us – for now – and my chief job is to work on the financial support that we still need. Did you know that support-raising involves study? It does, and for many reasons.

I’m reading a book called Funding the Family Business: a Handbook for Raising Personal Support, by Myles Wilson. The section I’m in right now connects the missionary’s supporters of today to those in Paul’s time – especially the ones he wrote to in his letter to the church in Philippi. Paul had a lot of praise for them. They had given above and beyond his expectations and his needs, and Paul recognized in his letter that they were giving out of a deep spiritual need to do so. Wilson writes, “… supporting someone isn’t about money. It is about the supporter playing their part in God’s eternal plan for his Kingdom, and this participation brings credit with it in God’s books.” (p. 53)

At the phrase “credit in God’s books”, I pondered the possibility that any one of our own supporters has probably given more to our ministry than the whole church of Philippi ever gave to Paul. I play a small part in God’s Kingdom, but our supporters’ giving is not measured according to what I do – after all, Paul was in prison and not out preaching when he heaped so much praise on that church. Honestly, I am looking forward to The Day when I get to witness all of our supporters in this world receiving their reward for having given.

Wilson’s drawing that connection between past and present also struck me as it reminded me of a broader link made by Eugene Peterson in his book, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, which a supporting church had given us. In it, Peterson paints a picture of a river that represents the passage of time and Scripture among God’s people – one with its source in the very Beginning and which courses through the days of Abraham, Moses, the kings, the exiles, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the disciples, Paul, and so on until it reaches the crowd of peoples in front of the Throne. And that includes those of us who now believe. Jesus is on that river – literally – and he has walked the length and width of it.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, feel the strength and certainty of that river’s swift current and know that you will certainly arrive at its destination. When you give to God’s Kingdom, know that you are deepening your connection to that river and to everyone else who has traveled it – including the Philippian church. Paul wrote, “… the gifts you sent … are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:18-19, NIV) Amen, Paul … may it be so!