Very warm wishes from the beautiful country of Papua New Guinea. I am here with the Oral Bible Translation team from YWAM SHIPS KONA and, after about three months of ministry, our time is coming to an end. We have had such an amazing experience being able to work with one of the many Bibleless languages here in Madang Province – where there are close to 100 languages still needing translation. Our ministry has looked quite different from other outreach teams that have come here before for the simple reason that we are the first OBT outreach team ever sent out by YWAM to start a translation project in the field. The OBT ministry itself is still in its pioneering phase within YWAM as a whole, and Madang is no exception. However, we are greatly indebted to those who came before to prepare the way for us here in Madang, and we are honored to carry on their legacy as pioneers as we venture on to start Oral Bible Translation projects around the world. It has truly been a blessing for us to be invited here for such a time as this, to serve the base and pay witness to the translation of the Book of Ruth. I have seen that our God is truly a God of miracles, signs, and wonders!
I would like to share a testimony of one of the moments we shared with the mother-tongue translators from the Island of Mitibog. The other day we were talking story at one of the local churches on the island, and Wesley, one of the elders in the community, felt confident to actually share the whole Book of Ruth in his mother-tongue for the first time. So after hearing the book on Friday, when we first shared it with the group in English and answered some questions, we had our break for the weekend. Then he came to us Monday afternoon, and he retold the entire book in his mother-tongue, the Bel language. And this was the very first time that anyone had ever heard the Book of Ruth told in the Bel language! It was amazing, to say the least, and some of the team were in tears by the end of it. We were so moved by the heart of God in seeing this sacred moment as Wesley was able to tell the whole Book of Ruth in his own heart-language. So we asked the people, “How was that for you, hearing this story in your own language for the first time?” And they were just as amazed as we were, for a minute there was just silence in the group. Then one of the women, Bathsheba, said, “This is the first time that I have ever heard anything like this in my life. This is very interesting!” When she was speaking, I myself was tearing up as I recognized the reality of what God was doing in bringing His Word into this mother-tongue, this heart-language, for the very first time. Now, the eleven-thousand people who speak Bel in this country are going to have access to an oral Scripture in their own mother-tongue, that they can listen to and easily understand. This is groundbreaking!
I believe that God is beginning to show us something in Oral Bible Translation that will be revolutionary for the future generations of believers who will have the Word of God in their own heart-language. The Holy Spirit is still giving us wisdom and revelation to help us fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) which can only be done once every language, tribe, and tongue has heard the Word of God with understanding. We must all do our part to support and to build up the parts of the body who are able to go to the most unreached corners of the world to spread the Good News, and then together we will see the Kingdom of God coming to earth!
Thank you to all who have been supporting me to go to the nations and spread the Good News! I will be launching a new podcast to share more with you about the Oral Bible Translation movement. Make sure you are subscribed to my email list so that you can stay up to date. Also, if you feel called to partner with me in the Oral Bible Translation ministry through prayer and/or financial support, please visit the Giving page to donate, or the Prayer Wall to read my latest prayer points:
God bless you, and I hope to see some of you when I get back to the States very soon! As we say in PNG, “lukim yu bihain!” (“See you later!”)
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