That was the question that missionaries, Peter and Sue Westrum, gave us after they'd shared their story with us last Tuesday during Close Call.
They served with Wycliffe in Indonesia for 26 years, translating the New Testament into the Berik language.
During the period of time that they were away from home and from all that they were familiar with, they'd missed out on a lot of precious moments with their family. There was no family member to celebrate the birth of their first son with them. No first-birthday party. They could not even make it home for Peter's father's funeral.
Was it all worth it?
To them, it was.
As Sue said, the good life is when you are in the centre of God's will for your life. In the eyes of the world, it may not be the kind of life that one would aspire to. But the most important thing is that, it's the kind of life that God aspires you to.
The result of giving up their lives to God?
A Berik translation of the New Testament, and an entire people group who can now read the Word of God in their own language.
Showing posts with label Bible translation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible translation. Show all posts
The impact of Bible translation has never been as real and personal to me as when Jamie quoted Matthew 24:14-
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations,
and then the end will come."
Even though I have heard that verse before and know it to be true, I was suddenly struck by its message as I was hearing it again on Saturday.
Now I know why the urgency to get a Bible translation project started for every language still needing one by 2025, why we are anxious to get it done during our generation.
Because when the Bible is translated into every language, and every person is taught to read in his/her own language, there is no excuse for anyone not to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the gospel, the end will come. And Jesus will come back.
This becomes real and personal. Bible translation does not only impact the lives of strangers who live in remote corners of the earth, but it directly affects me and the people that I know. Because I may be living in the most exciting and amazing period in all history of mankind, and my generation may be the generation that finally carries the gospel of Jesus Christ, literally to the ends of the earth.
And when that happens, the end will come.
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