Don't Stop at Vision 2025

"Isn't it incredible that there's a vision to begin a translation in every language that needs it by 2025?!"

I would love to get a dollar for every time I hear this. It's a common response when people hear that Josh and I are training for translation work. I'm not interested in debating here the likelihood of accomplishing this Vision (also known as Last Languages Campaign). Or what it's going to take. Or how good of an idea it is. Like in my What's it like being an MK? post, I want to respond from my heart to a question that rubs me the wrong way - though this one is rhetorical.

Yes, it is an incredible endeavor, and God is using Vision 2025. But. Please don't stop at Vision 2025.

One of my heroes from Bible Translation history, right along with Luther, Tyndale and Wycliffe, is William Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, affectionately known as Uncle Cam. You may recognize this famous quote.

"The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.
It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner."
- William Cameron Townsend

This quote was instrumental in drawing me into Bible Translation. But as the years have gone by, through more reading, more discussing, more training, and more praying, I find that this quote is not what it's all about. And I don't think Uncle Cam would have thought so either.

In the same way, I don't think that those who had Vision 2025 believe that Vision 2025 is what it's all about. But I do wonder if that's the message that the church is getting... that you're getting. When thinking about the unreached, have you ever thought, "If only they had the Bible...." I have. People like accomplishable-in-my-lifetime goals. Quantifiable ones. Visible ones.

As Josh and I talk about what we want to be involved in, what we want our lives to be about, we have plenty of questions. But we do know that our end goal is not Bible accessibility.

There are many things that disturb me about Vision 2025 becoming the face of Bible Translation. Does the church know that a Bible translation is considered outdated linguistically about every 10 years? Does it know that the languages considered "still needing one" in Vision 2025 don't include every language that doesn't have Scripture? Does it know that the written Word is locked to someone who can't read? Does it know that Bibles can and do end up in warehouses? Does it know pages of Bibles can and are used to wrap food or as toilet paper? Does it know that the majority of people in Heaven could very well have never held a Bible in their lifetimes?

The Vision is wonderful, ambitious, and inspiring... but please don't stop there.

Our mission is not accomplished when people have access to the Bible. It's when every heart bows in submission to Jesus. And we all know that access to the Bible does not ensure this. I'm grateful for the translators and missionaries who have come off the field and said that we need to give more. We need Scripture engagement activities, literacy workshops, leadership training, and ethnomusicology. National leaders need to be identified and trained to carry on the work. God brings people to faith, and we can partner with Him in all sorts of ways. But please. Let's not stop at accessibility.

Missing Peoples - Church Planting in the Muslim World

I've been following the Cape Town conference in South Africa through videos/blogs found at http://conversation.lausanne.org. This video especially struck me. There are about 300 unengaged Muslim peoples in the world, and God is moving among them! Watch it to the end and you'll hear how local churches in rural Africa are mobilizing people for missions. The Nigerian church is committed to mobilizing 50,000 Nigerians to go to the Arab speaking Nigerians. This is phenomenal. Peter Tarantal (OM International) tells about a small, poor rural church that is supporting a missionary by selling their clothes and fasting.

 

"The Africans are coming!" - Peter Tarantal

Check out the site. You'll be informed/updated on all the leading issues the church is facing today, particularly as it grows in the southern hemisphere.

Status of Flood Victims in Pakistan - The Mission Exchange

The Mission Exchange announces the August 2010 Global Issues Update:  Status of Flood Victims in Pakistan

Complex global challenges impact Great Commission activities at every level. No matter how connected and motivated you are as an individual Christ-follower, church or mission leader, you can't be an expert on everything.

The August 2010 edition of Global Issues Update addresses the Status of Flood Victims in Pakistan with Anthony, a disaster and relief expert based in Europe. Anthony has been the Director of Crisis and Relief for Frontiers International for seven years. He has a long history with disaster relief in this area of the world, having been engaged with the 2004 tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, as well as Iraq, Kosovo and Lebanon. He is communicating regularly with people on the ground in Pakistan and well positioned to share about this tragedy.

By some estimates as many as 20 million people in 50% of the country have been affected by monsoon rains and extensive flooding. The death toll of approximately 1,600 from the initial flooding is expected to rise exponentially in the face of food shortages and the lack of clean water. The elderly and the young are most at risk. One estimate suggests as many as 300,000 infants and young children are at risk of death in the next few weeks from dehydration and water born disease.

Response to this tragedy has been slow. The church in North America, still engaged (and rightly so) with ongoing commitments to Haiti, has yet to rise to this challenge. We hope this timely downloadable webinar resource will help you speak up on behalf of the millions of Pakistani families who have lost everything in this disaster and are more concerned about staying alive today than rebuilding for tomorrow.

Global Issues Update is a bi-monthly (6 times per year) downloadable webinar that focuses on big picture issues impacting the world of missions. Because of the urgent nature of this edition of Global Issues Update we are offering it for FREE to everyone. Please distribute this widely in your circles of influence.

When we walk with the Lord...

Someone mentioned this song at work the other day. It has a special place in my heart because of Summer 2007. It was my second summer at SIL-UND, and I was taking Package B. In the midst of the most academically difficult times in my life, this song was continually on my heart. I thought of it daily as I walked to and from class. I recognize this was a significant time in my life as the Lord softened my heart toward Bible translation work. I don't remember singing this song much as a kid, so it was surprising when I just couldn't get it out of my head. I felt quite ministered to. The Lord gently pounded this message into my head, particularly the first verse and chorus. Please pray with Josh and and me as we seek to bring the light of His Word to those who do not yet have it in the language of their hearts.

When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will;

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Chorus:

Trust and obey,

For there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus, 

But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, 
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, 
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.


Not a burden we bear,

Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss,

Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove

The delights of His love

Until all on the alter we lay;

For the favour He shows

And the joy He bestows

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet

Or we'll walk by His side in the way;

What He says we will do,

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

The Missionary Call

Thanks to our friend Anna and her cabin, Josh and I were able to get away to Bemidji, MN for a weekend. We took a stack of projects with us, but the most productive thing we did was read and discuss this book: The Missionary Call - by M. David Sills. We've been directing a large portion of our thoughts, discussions, and prayers on what the Lord might have for us next year after Josh graduates.

We asked questions like these:

• What is a missionary call? Does everyone have one?
• What are the means God uses to call a person?
• Is there a difference between a missionary call and an assignment?
• What is the purpose of missions?
• What does God command and promise regarding missions?

Then we asked questions of ourselves:

• What does our missionary call look like?
• What are we compassionate about?
• What would an assignment look like?

I think some of our finding will be topics for some following blog posts. Stay tuned and comment with your thoughts on a question or two.

In the meantime... I would highly recommend going to Bemidji.

“...to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, 

so that they may turn from darkness to light 

and from the power of Satan to God, 

that they may receive forgiveness of sins 

and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” 

Acts 26:17b-18