The Price of Preparation

“There is no price too high to pay for proper preparation.” This is the conclusion of veteran missionary Jon De Rusha, Asian Field Administrator with Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples. He goes on to say, “We first arrived in the Niger in 1971. We, along with two other families, were there to reach the Taureg people of the Sahara. To our knowledge, the Gospel had never been preached to these people. At first, we did not know they even had a script of their language, Tamachek. Later, we learned there was a script but very few of the Tauregs could read it. We went with a minimum of French language study, no linguistics, no proficiency in Hebrew or Greek, no understanding of translation principles, etc. At that juncture in the history of Independent Baptist missions, I am not sure how much awareness existed among us as to what preparations were necessary to accomplish the objective. Once we were there, we realized quite pertinently just how unprepared we were.”

No doubt the testimony of Brother De Rusha is that of hundreds of other missionaries before and after him. Two years after he went to Africa, the Baptist Bible Translators Institute began offering specialized preparation for Baptist missionaries. It continues forty-six years later with an even better Advanced Missionary Training (AMT) program. Often, we hear missionaries on the field, retired missionaries, or those who have left the field prematurely say, “I wish I would have known about BBTI before going to the field!” Some admit, “I knew about BBTI but didn’t want to spend nine months preparing.” When explaining our AMT to a new missionary candidate, he will invariably say, “Yes, that sounds good. I know it would help me, but I can’t take the time.” The missionary knows it takes time to prepare financially, but he needs to realize it also takes time to prepare linguistically. There is a price of time to pay for preparation. But no price is too high if it enables you to survive and succeed in your mission.

It is estimated to cost $350,000 to $500,000 to train a single Navy SEAL or Army Ranger. Nevertheless, our government believes the mission is worth the price. We want our soldiers and sailors to survive and succeed in the mission. No price is too high to properly prepare them. Each year, over 20,000 US students begin medical school. If they earn the MD title, they could spend over $2.5 million dollars, approximately $50,000 each year! And they will probably graduate with a student load debt of $170,000. We all want the best possible doctors; we believe that no price is too high for their preparation.

So, what about the preparation of those who are expected to do a work a thousand times more important than that of a doctor or a SEAL? How are we preparing the missionary who does the most important work on this earth? A missionary receives a few Bible classes, some courses in missionary history and theory, and maybe a year in language school; and we think he is prepared. Brother Jon De Rusha had all this, and he considered himself unprepared.

Consider the need. There are over 7,100 languages spoken today, and Jesus expects His Gospel to be preached in all of them. There are probably 6,000 of these languages that have no language schools. Many of them are unwritten, meaning they have no grammar books, teachers, and certainly no Scriptures. The BBTI graduate has training to learn any of these languages and cultures. He knows how to develop an alphabet and write the language. He knows principles of Bible translation. He has training to help others become literate. His mission is the establishment of a truly indigenous, Bible-believing church. With proper preparation, he has a good chance of survival and success.

No price is too high to pay because of the value of the sinner. We may doubt his worth, but God doesn’t. Jesus shed His blood for every single sinner. We believe in Heaven; we must also believe in Hell. We believe that without the new birth, a person will not see the kingdom of God but will be cast into the lake of fire. The heathen are lost, and the Gospel of Christ is their only hope. They are not going to be reached by the unprepared missionary who is unable to communicate in their language and culture!

No price is too high to pay because of the value of the servant. He is literally one in a thousand. A thousand other young people have not surrendered their lives to serve on the mission field; but he has. A thousand others will avoid missionary service at all cost; he has chosen it! The Army Ranger has chosen to risk his life and serve for a few years on a foreign field; the missionary choses to do this for a lifetime. The least we can do is send him well prepared. To send an ill-prepared family to the field is unnecessary and unfair. It is unnecessary because training is available. It is unfair to the missionary, to the churches that send him, and especially to those who are so desperately in need of his message!

No price is too high to pay because the Saviour is worthy. The goal of missionary work is the glory of God. He is not glorified when people live in ignorance of Him. He is glorified by lives changed by the Gospel. He is glorified when people turn from idols and serve Him, the true and living God. People won’t understand the Gospel, be converted, and glorify God if the missionary’s message is unclear. The missionary is an ambassador of God. He owes it to God and to his people to go to them with the best possible preparation. Unwillingness to pay the price necessary for proper preparation might reflect lack of dedication to the mission.

It is especially necessary for the pastor to educate himself and know exactly what training is needed and where it is available. He must not allow a precious missionary family to leave without it. Proper preparation should not be a suggestion but a requirement. The mission is too important. Lost souls are too valuable. The missionary is priceless. And God is worthy of our best!

Something to Smile About

The Hernandez family can be described as cheerful people. How appropriate for them to serve God in the Land of Smiles! Ahmet received Christ as his Savior at the age of seven. Unfortunately, as many young people do, he drifted away from the Lord, wasting precious years in the world. Rachael always believed in God. As a child, she would look at the clouds and imagine seeing Jesus coming—on a surfboard! (She lived in Pensacola, Florida, where surfing is a big sport.) It wasn’t until after she married Ahmet that she understood the Gospel and was saved.

Ahmet served in the United States Navy. While stationed in Guam, the family attended a church that was started and pastored by a missionary. Rachael remembers thinking, “I could never be a missionary!” (Strange, isn’t it, that men and women serve overseas in the military in difficult or dangerous places but going to the mission field scares them to death!) Today, Rachael feels very much at home raising her family in a foreign culture and speaking another language.

After leaving the Navy, Ahmet found work in a nuclear power plant near Zachary, Louisiana. The Hernandez family aslo found Grace Baptist Church, a very mission-minded church that was pastored by Tom Schreeder, a former missionary to Ukraine. (Today Brother Tom and his wife, Linda, are missionaries to Armenia.) It was there in Louisiana, with a wife, three children, and a good job, that God began dealing with Ahmet about missionary service. By 2008, the Lord had shown him that Thailand was the family’s place of service.

The Hernandezes began raising support and then continued deputation while attending BBTI. They graduated in May 2013. Knowing that they were facing a very difficult, tonal language, they took seriously the Advanced Missionary Training they were receiving in phonetics, linguistics, and language and culture learning. It was drilled into them, “Get the language first. Don’t get too busy in ministry and neglect your language and culture learning. Don’t rely on a translator. Language learning is your ministry!” God abundantly blessed their pre-field ministry as they worked hard and traveled many miles. They did not endure deputation; they enjoyed it! They departed for Thailand in December 2014.

The Hernandez family went right to work learning the language. Mistakes are inevitable; we call them bilingual bloopers. Rachael sent us one for our Summer 2016 issue. She wrote, “I have really come to appreciate the difference between ‘learning’ a language and ‘using’ a language. All this ‘using’ has produced an even higher amount of language funnies! I wanted to buy a notebook (sa-moot) but asked for a brain (sa-ong). I asked our new helper to wash the mattress (tee non) instead of saying sheets (paa bpoo tee non). She had no idea what I meant!” Shortly after their arrival in Thailand, the government enacted a new policy for obtaining a missionary work visa, and Ahmet had to pass the Grade 6 Thai Competency Test. He said, “I didn’t realize how fluent 6th graders are in a language until I started studying for this test!”

God gave this family opportunity to teach English at a university where they followed English classes with Bible studies. In slightly over a year, Rachael began teaching children’s Bible stories in Thai, and in a year and a half, they began the Hua Mak Baptist Church in Bangkok. Because it is an international area, they held both Thai and English services. Besides teaching English, Ahmet and Rachael have found innovative ways such as community night and basketball tournaments to reach their people. The entire family studied hard learning the language, and they work together in ministry. Grace Baptist Church did not send one missionary to Thailand, it sent five: Ahmet, Rachael, AJ (Ahmet Junior), Sarah, and little Rachael. They are giving the people of Thailand something to really smile about!

Summer 2019

The Bunu of China

Hidden deep in the mountains of southwest China, the Bunu people are like a treasure waiting to be found. Many of the small Bunu villages are inaccessible by any type of vehicle. The Bunu went into hiding when they were forced to flee the Hunan valley due to violent persecution from the Han and Zhuang peoples.

The kinship system of the Bunu is matrilineal, meaning they trace their descent through their mother’s line, not their father’s. Bunu women are the leaders of their homes; when marital problems arise, the man may go back to his family and the woman may find another husband. If this occurs, the man has no rights to any property.

Bunu legends passed down for generations have a worldview based on a chaotic world before their god, Pan Hu, built the heavens and created the earth and hint at a worldwide flood.

Since the Bunu have little contact with the outside world, it is understandable that they are the largest people group in China without a single known church. A significant hindrance in reaching the Bunu is the language diversity. Currently, there are no Scriptures in any of the Bunu language groups, leaving over 450,000 people without the Word of God in their heart language! What will it take to reach these people? Someone must penetrate geographical, cultural, and language barriers with the powerful Word of God! Will it be you?

Summer 2019

The Deaf Will Hear

“The time: Sunday morning. The place: Ibadan, Nigeria. Dozens of youths and young adults arrive at the Christian Center. They come by bus, taxi, bicycle and foot from different parts of this city of two million residents. Dressed modernly, they “chat” heartily among themselves …

“Anyabonouwe starts the Bible class with hymn singing. Oladipo leads in prayer. Adebayo conducts the sword-drill. Young people take turns singing solos, duets, trios, and quartets. Finally, Akeju delivers the message; the audience ably follows with open Bibles.

“What’s unusual about these young people or the meeting itself? At least two facts. All are deaf! And instead of normal sounds, everything is rendered eloquently in the sign language of the deaf, plus speech by some. Yes, here is a deaf young generation in West Africa learning and sharing the Word of God!”1 These are the words of deaf missionary to Africa, Andrew Jackson Foster.At the age of eleven, while living in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, Andrew contracted spinal meningitis and became permanently deaf. After attending the Alabama School for the Colored Deaf, he moved to Detroit to find better employment, and it was there that he decided to live his life for God. Foster earned two bachelor’s degrees and one master’s degree from three different universities, then God directed him to the African continent. Because no mission board would accept him, Foster started his own, the Christian Mission for Deaf Africans (later called Christian Mission for the Deaf).

When Andrew Foster arrived in West Africa, he noticed that the deaf he came in contact with were not literate in signing or reading, making it hard to witness abstract truths to them. He put all his effort into starting thirty-one schools for the deaf in fifteen West African countries. The goal of each school was to educate deaf Africans in sign language and reading so that they could “hear” and read God’s Word. Sadly, Foster’s life was cut short at age sixty-two by a plane crash in Rwanda, Africa.

Foster had been told there were no Deaf in Africa, but he rejected that ridiculous information. God used him to persevere and find the hidden treasure of deaf souls in Africa. It is said that his favorite verse was Isaiah 29:18: “In that day, shall the deaf hear the words of the book.”

Andrew Foster is a great example of one who sees an important, unaccomplished task, disregards personal limitations, and by the grace of God does great things. His example is being followed today by others who are going to foreign lands in search of the unreached Deaf. There is no country on earth where missionaries to the Deaf are not desperately needed. Pray ye therefore!

¹Roots out of a Dry Ground by Dr. Andrew Foster

The Missionary’s Middleman

The Good News of Christ is by far the most important message that one human can give to another. Thank God for anyone who makes a great sacrifice and goes to a foreign country to preach the Gospel! Upon arrival, the missionary makes a critical choice: whether he will struggle to learn the language now and preach later, or whether he will begin preaching now through an interpreter and learn the language later—maybe. Surely a message is more clearly understood and better received if delivered directly in the heart language than one that is delivered through an interpreter. That should settle the issue. However, some may argue that quickness is better than clarity and expedience is preferable to effectiveness. I will declare emphatically that time and effort invested first in language and culture acquisition is a minor sacrifice when compared to the value of a clear message. Also, the effectiveness of the words delivered from the mouth of the missionary to the ear of the recipient without the middleman trumps any reason the missionary may give for relying on an interpreter.

Does your pastor speak to you through an interpreter, or does he speak English? How long would you attend a church where the pastor could not teach, preach, and converse in your tongue? Is there anything that makes an American more deserving of this blessing than someone on the mission field? And suppose you and your wife were having marital problems and needed counseling. Would it be okay if an interpreter relayed your problems to the pastor, and then his advice came back to you through this middleman?

How many friends do you have that cannot speak your language? Shouldn’t the missionary be a friend to his people? Shouldn’t he build strong, personal relationships with them, gain their confidence as a friend, and then win them to Christ? The missionary who cannot speak the language will not be pestered by people coming to his house asking questions or just hanging out, but this avoidance is not good. Communication should occur in the parlor as well as in the pulpit. The missionary who uses an interpreter to say, “I love you,” may be implying an unwanted message. The people may think, “Then why don’t you learn our language?” We often hear it said about immigrants in our country, legal or otherwise, “If they are going to be here, they need to learn English!” Salsa for the goose is salsa for the gander!

If an interpreted message is acceptable, perhaps the missionary could simply email his sermons to the interpreter on the field each week. A missionary may not be required at all; a pastor could do this. Thousands of dollars could be saved by not sending an American to live on the foreign field. For a little extra, the interpreter might agree to go door to door in the place of the missionary and witness to the lost.

A missionary to Mexico felt that he was too old to learn Spanish, so he hired an interpreter. After some time, he discovered that the man in the middle was of the Church of Christ religion. He was turning the message of salvation by grace into one of works and water! The brother decided to learn Spanish! This is not an isolated case; many good messages are lost in the translation.

If the message goes out in our words, it is also going out in our American way of thinking. American thinking may not translate well. Even if much of the message is understood, the people are not as likely to relate to it because it is still a foreign message.

In the early 90s, when the Iron Curtain came down, an American missionary to Mexico decided to move to Poland. He spoke perfect Spanish, but that was of no help in Europe. Upon arrival, some fellow missionaries told him, “Peter, we have a guy here who knows English. He can interpret for you, and you can get right to work.” Peter said, “No way, José. I won’t preach until I can preach in Polish!” Within six or seven months of diligent language study, he began preaching in Polish without an interpreter.

Suppose it took longer, maybe a year or two, before a missionary could preach in a new language. Is that too big a sacrifice to make for Jesus and for the people he loves? It is predictable that if he begins with an interpreter, he will never wean himself away. Many have said, “I will just use an interpreter for a little while so I can start winning the lost, and then later I will learn the language.” That is like a young person saying, “I won’t smoke cigarettes forever, just for a little while.” Once you start using cigarettes or interpreters, it is hard to stop.

Real communication involves not only a message going out, but also feedback to the speaker. When your children played church, you probably heard some bad doctrine. The little preacher may have said, “You need to be good so you can go to heaven when you die!” (I hope you know that is bad doctrine.) You got this feedback because you understood your children’s language! Children will have some error in their thinking, and hearing the error shows where more teaching is needed. So, during family devotions, you teach again the truth of salvation by grace. The missionary that does not learn the local language does not get feedback. People may be talking about his teaching, but the discussions are always in their language. Therefore, the missionary is unaware of any misunderstanding and cannot correct it.

Related to this lack of feedback is the very common problem of syncretism. This is a mixing of pagan beliefs with Christianity, resulting in a religion with a Christian façade but little change in core beliefs. A person may do Christian things like attend church services, carry a Bible, recite prayers, etc. without having a real conversion.

What is the advantage of a missionary leaning on an interpreter instead of learning a language? He does begin to preach more quickly, and he may avoid the embarrassment of bilingual bloopers. But there is always a middleman between the missionary and his people. Wouldn’t everyone be better off without him? Let’s cut out the middleman!

Faithful & Fruitful in Africa

Deputation took the Huckabees to churches in Hawaii, Alaska, Michigan, Florida, and points between. While on a ferry in Alaska, they encountered a storm with 105 MPH winds and 25 foot waves. In remote northwest Canada, as they left the Rocky Mountains with its dangerous curves and precipices, a tire popped off their truck. Someone mistakenly put a 16-inch tire on a 15-inch rim. Miraculously they had traveled 3,000 miles on that tire! In a snow storm in Arizona, an 18-wheeler ran them off the road into a snow bank where they stayed several hours. The devil will try to stop missionaries, but he hasn’t stopped the Huckabees!

James had religion but no relationship until trusting Christ at age twelve. Anna was born into a pastor’s home and heard the Gospel from birth. She was saved shortly before her fourth birthday. Of her ministry experience, she says, “I have done it all.” James, before entering the ministry, was a website designer, paramedic, firefighter, and outdoor survivalist. He describes his musical talent as “suitable for the torture and interrogation of POWs.” Anna’s musical ability is more suitable for Christian ministry! James tells missionaries on deputation, “…don’t say that you can’t afford BBTI or spare the time; YOU CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO!” Shortly after arrival on the field, James wrote, “The training at BBTI is, as expected, proving to be invaluable. I don’t see how you could make it on the field without proper training in phonetics and linguistics.”

James and Anna were married in June 2000. By September 2005, God had given them James III and John (twins), Ethan, Elizabeth, and Gaelin. Brennah was added in 2011. Arriving in Uganda, the Huckabees were greeted with heavy rain, mud everywhere, a broken water main that flooded their house, and a dispute about property boundaries. Then someone stole the poles for their new fence.

Today the Huckabees oversee thriving churches in Ngarama, Sangano, Isanja, and Kabazana, and desire to start churches in several other places. Much of their work is at the large Nakivale refugee area that is home to about 70,000 souls from Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, and Sudan. These camps are plagued by famine, extremely poor sanitation, disease, and hunger. The Huckabees make many personal sacrifices to meet both spiritual and physical needs, and James is not shy about asking for extra aid from US churches. He strives to help without causing dependency, a difficult balance where such poverty abounds.

Training leaders is a vital part of ministry. God gave James and Anna the vision to establish a public library for the churches. The Sangano church made bricks and provided poles, James and another missionary purchased cement and roofing metal, and people in the US donated the books along with $11,000 to ship them. Using Romans, I Corinthians, and Galatians, James tenaciously confronts the false doctrines of Catholicism, Pentecostalism, the cults, and old pagan beliefs that have syncretized with Christianity. He proclaims Bible truth concerning marriage. Traditionally, Ugandans have practiced bride price marriages, but many fathers today demand unreasonably high prices. The young people often run off and live together.

Vacation Bible School is very popular in Uganda, and they conduct “VBS marathons” in four places each day. They may begin with 250 children the first day and end the week with over 600! Children come from many religions, including Islam.

The Huckabees love and serve the Ugandans and the refugees and might honestly tell them what Paul said, “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were [are] willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were [are] dear unto us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

Winter 2018-19

Language Learning

by Reese Parfitt

In Situational Language Learning, we practice a careful, orderly method that can be used to obtain language from any speaker of any foreign language. The idea is to be able to take control of our learning so we won’t need to rely on an officially-trained teacher or a language school as we venture into learning a foreign language. Our class time involves a short time of instruction about the concepts and method, but the bulk of our time is spent practicing that method by using an actual language.

We have two language informants who are fluent speakers of French and Mandarin Chinese. I am in the Chinese group. We start by asking for object-like words, and write them down in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). We methodically progress into longer utterances which we can handle better and better as we learn the sounds.

The class goal is to learn the method, not the particular language that we are practicing on. I am seeing just how helpful it is to record the speech with the exacting precision of the IPA. While a Chinese person could write down an approximation and know how to pronounce it just fine, I must listen very closely to all the subtleties of the language and record it all as accurately as possible.

Have you ever heard an Asian speak English in a manner that was very difficult to decipher? They obviously learned words and letters from our language, but they combine them with the speech patterns from their first language. In order to sound Chinese and not American, I have to reckon with the fact that their sound system is very different from that of my English. I read what I’ve written down back to the language helper to see if I got it right, or if it needs some adjustment.

I can take this learning method anywhere in the world and learn a language from any native speaker. The speaker does not have to be educated, and the only materials I need are paper and pencil. Oh yes, and a sharp set of ears, and a willing mind. With that, I am empowered to learn to my heart’s content!

Willing to Sacrifice

by Hanna Schrock

The Mosquito Coast of Honduras is along the coast of the Caribbean Sea

Doña Mariana kept track of each new baby born in her town so that she could guide the priest to their homes when he came to baptize. She thought this would secure them entrance into heaven. Once, when she sent for the priest, he sent a message back that he could not come because the last time he came they did not pay him enough. He did his job only for physical reward.

John Ruddock was a man willing to sacrifice himself for the cause of Christ. Born in Growell, Ireland, on December 17, 1897, and born again in September 1918, John Ruddock spent much time passing out tracts and joining in open-air meetings. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, California, he saw the need for the Gospel among the Mexicans of that city. He began working with Mexican children in his spare time and hoped that one day he could serve the Lord in Mexico. Through his faithfulness to share the gospel with the Spanish-speaking people, he met his wife, who was also interested in Spanish-speaking people. John and Nettie Ruddock left Los Angeles for Guatemala in 1926. While there, they heard of a great need for the Gospel in Honduras.

Serving God in Los Angeles, Guatemala, and eventually Honduras was not without sacrifice. During their fifty-two years of trailblazing through Central America, sleeping conditions, bugs, housing, travel, and other encounters were not always ideal; but John and Nettie did not complain. They knew that reaching people for Christ would require sacrifice, and they did not go out expecting or seeking their own comfort. Though they encountered many difficulties, God always provided, and they chose to trust God to take care of their family. John chose to live like the people and to suffer what they suffer in order to reach them for Christ. He spent many days in Honduras traveling (by train, canoe, or on foot) to spread the good news of the Gospel. He spent hours with people sharing the Gospel of Christ, and his effort was not in vain. He did not suffer for his own profit, but to reach lost souls with the Gospel.

John speaks of one young man whose mission agency required him to baptize babies. When he could not agree and the mission could no longer provide his support, he decided to look for a job elsewhere rather than to stay in Honduras. He could not take the step of depending on the Lord for guidance and support.

What do you need to serve God? Do you need guarantees of how things will work out or that your needs will be provided? Do you need something to fall back on in case things don’t work, or do you trust God to provide and to lead? Are you willing to sacrifice for the cause of Christ to spread the gospel so souls can be saved? What if it’s not comfortable? What if there are uncertainties? Are you willing to follow God anywhere He leads you? To do anything He tells you? Oh, that more Christians were available and ready to suffer for the cause of Christ and to share the gospel with lost sinners!

Read the entire story in Lighting the Mosquito Coast by Barry Colman.

Valor in Venezuela

Sandy’s parents, Missionaries Dale and Nelda West, served in
Guadalajara, Saltillo, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico, from 1958 to 1998.
For thirteen years they had an orphanage. The orphans were part of the family and serving the Lord was a family affair. Definitely a people
person, Sandy thrived in this atmosphere of work and fun. She still
plays her accordion, sings, and cooks for a crowd!

Melvin was saved when he was in third grade. Melvin is serious about serving his Lord. And Melvin is a man of action who knows both what he needs and how to go about getting it. He was a forty-eight year-old widower when he decided he needed a wife to help him serve God on the mission field—and the most efficient way to find her was the internet. Theirs was a most unusual meeting! They simultaneously discovered each other’s bios and essays on a Christian website, and Sandy (also forty-eight and widowed), after a lot of prodding from her father, prayerfully responded. God has forged a strong marriage, filled with humor and mutual respect.

Melvin had previously done short terms of missionary helps service in various countries, but now he wanted to serve full time. He knew he needed help in language learning and Melvin-like, researched his
options. He chose BBTI as the school best suiting his needs and
enrolled in 2003. Sandy studied alongside, encouraging him as he
determinedly forged ahead.

The focus of the Morris’ ministry in Venezuela is preparing men and
women for the spread of the Gospel and establishment of new churches.
It is an especially important strategy in view of the country’s political instability. Sandy builds lives on a day-by-day basis as she teaches kid’s clubs, prepares materials and trains teachers, helps cook for the men’s retreats and family camps, and contributes to the music program. Melvin excels in many skills and has been able to build Bible school facilities, develop their campgrounds, and procure the equipment for and set up a printing ministry. He teaches alongside Pastor José in the church and Bible institute.

Pray for Melvin’s and Sandy’s ongoing health needs; they are far from their doctors. Pray for their protection; they have been robbed at gunpoint and their home has been repeatedly burglarized. The one-year renewable visas they recently received are an answer to over seven years of prayer, proving the door is still open. The Morris’ choose to stay in spite of the risks involved, saying, “The future of the Venezuelan church is at stake; as long as the government allows us to come and go we should be able to continue preaching, teaching, and training the nationals; if we have to leave at some point in the future, they will be better prepared to lead the churches and establish new ones.”

Fall 2007

The Status Quo Must Go!

The status quo, or the state of affairs, concerning world evangelization may be acceptable to many, but is it acceptable to God? After all, it is His work; He allows us to share in it. We may be content for things to continue the way they are, but is God’s will being done on earth as it is in Heaven? Alexander Duff (1806-1878), missionary to India, said, “We are playing at missions.” He said that about his generation; what would he say about ours? He might say, “The status quo must go!” If the status quo is not working, then God help us to do things differently.

No honest observer could say that we are fully obeying the command of Christ to preach to the nations. There are thousands of ethnic groups that are still unreached; many of them are totally unengaged. Paul strove to preach where Christ had not been named (Romans 15:20). That was two millennia ago. Surely, there could not be people today who have not heard the name of Jesus! But there are. Jesus said that we are to preach His gospel to every creature, and still there are billions that have never heard it. The way things are is not the way things should be. God help us when the Coca Cola company has put their product in almost every community in the world, and we have not preached the Gospel in these places! Our status quo preaching needs to go!

The number one priority of a Christian should be the Great Commission of Christ which is, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations…” But is it? We have rhetoric such as, “Christ’s last command is our first concern.” But is it? Is the average church member reminded from the pulpit what his priority is supposed to be? Churches are busy with programs, and pastors have many topics to deal with. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but the missionary wheel doesn’t usually get much grease. It needs to be a big wheel and it needs to squeak loudly! Our low-status quo missionary priority needs to go!

Low missionary priority is reflected in our lack of prayer. When was the last time you heard a prayer request for God to send out missionaries from your church? It’s not wrong to pray for the sick, but that gets most of the attention. Occasionally someone will request prayer for lost souls. That’s good, but what about praying for lost sheep without a shepherd in India, Siberia, Albania, or a few hundred other countries? Jesus did not suggest that we lift up our eyes on the fields; He commanded it (John 4:35). He did not suggest we pray for laborers, He commanded it (Matthew 9:38). A church prays for a pastor, and soon God sends one. It prays for a new van, and before long one is in the parking lot. The church might even go to the throne of grace for funds to build a multi-million-dollar family life center, and God provides! So, why isn’t God sending out missionaries from our congregation? We aren’t asking Him to! Our status quo praying needs to go!

God commands us to go. But the status quo says to wait for God’s call. God says to present your body a living sacrifice, and then you will know His perfect will (Romans 12:1-2). The status quo says little about surrender or presenting our bodies. It says, “Do what is in your heart to do, what you want to do.” (Our generation seems to be comfortable with this.) It also says, “Be very careful not to go to the mission field unless you are 100% sure you are called of God.” Ask any young person, even one at a Christian college, “Why don’t you go to the mission field?” The answer, almost without exception, is, “I’m not called.” The young person cannot give you a scripture verse, and he cannot tell you how he would know if he were called. He simply doesn’t feel called. He will probably add, “I’d be willing to go if God wanted me to.” Would we be out of place to ask, “Have you presented your body a living sacrifice? You say you are willing to go; have you told God? Have you asked God to let you go?” The status quo says to wait for a call and then surrender to it. God tells us to first surrender. Our status quo of presenting our bodies must go!

Jesus never told us that paying to take the Gospel to the regions beyond would be easy. Sending missionaries to the field and keeping them there is expensive. How much expense is too much? What did it cost to rescue those boys in that cave in Thailand last year? The cost was not a consideration. Nobody said, “They aren’t worth what it is costing us.” The status quo mission giving is very low. Status quo Christians have money for what they consider important. Many churches do not even teach or encourage personal missionary giving. The church may give a small percentage of its income to missions, but the people themselves give nothing directly to send missionaries. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). It may take a missionary three or more years to raise needed support. Some give up from discouragement and never reach their field. Many go to the field under supported. Our status quo paying needs to go!

Finally, the status quo missionary preparation needs to go. We are sending missionaries with little or no special training in language and culture learning. A missionary does not have to speak with a distracting foreign accent. He should never bypass language learning and resort to using an interpreter. Lack of specialized training limits the missionary to the few languages that have language schools and leaves thousands of languages untouched by Baptist missionaries. Our missionaries, with very few exceptions, do not translate Bibles because they have no training in linguistics and Bible translation principles. Archilochus wrote, “Men do not rise to the level of their expectations; they fall to the level of their preparation.” Advanced training is available; the problem is that the missionary and his pastor either do not know of its existence and importance, or they do not want to invest the time and effort to get it. Our shameful status quo missionary preparation needs to go, too!

Mau Malinké of Côte d’Ivoire

Imagine living your entire life committed to what you believe, dedicated to your people and traditions, following the teachings passed down to you from your parents and their parents, and then dying only to realize that everything you believed in was a lie and you must now spend eternity in torment, separated from God. How would it feel to know there were people in the world who had the truth, yet never told you?

Approximately 364,000 Malinké people live in the Touba region of Ivory Coast waiting for someone to bring them the truth. They are predominately agriculturists and also form the most powerful group of native merchants in the country. While 99.5% hold to Islam, their religion is blended with native practices. They will often go first to the village mosque to pray, but then they may sacrifice a chicken to the spirits. The Malinké are held captive by animism, deeply believing in magic, healing, and divination. Even the educated remain mentally imprisoned by fear of the spirits, and there are few who do not possess a charm or amulet to protect them from evil spirits.

The Malinké are moral people and are dedicated to their people, to obedience, and to honesty. They possess a driving sense of human dignity; selfishness and lack of hospitality are the two deadly sins that defile their dignity. Yet morality is nothing apart from Christ. There are no known believers and there are no Scriptures in Malinké. These are a friendly and open people, just waiting for someone to bring them the truth.

Malinké influence permeates the country’s economics, politics, and religion. If they had the truth, imagine how influential they could be in reaching others. Will you help get the Gospel to them?

Fall 2018

They Sought Means

by Brian Johnson

Brian & Lisa Johnson (1997 graduates) with Caden (8), Kaylee (5), and Chase (3), have served nine years in Lithuania

The Johnson family, like the men in Luke 5:18 who bore the sick of the palsy, have used great creativity in seeking to reach souls for Christ.

Sept. 2000 – Correspondence Course

Each week that passes, we find more responses in our mail box from people who want to enroll in our home Bible study courses. I believe that this will be an effective tool to reach people for Christ. We are placing an ad about these free courses in our largest circulating newspaper.

June 2001- Medical Outreach

We had a medical team here in Utena. The doctors saw a total of fifty-seven people who are now new contacts to follow up on. Several Lithuanian Christians witnessed to those waiting to see the doctors, and there were five professions of faith.

November 2002 – Music Festival

We hosted a “music festival” for the Independent Baptist Churches of Lithuania with seventeen church groups participating. We advertised in the local paper, we hung posters all over the city, we handed out invitations, and God blessed us with just over fifty visitors. We were able to preach a clear presentation of the Gospel and give each visitor a packet of literature.

May 2003 – Lithuanian World Music

This is a seven-day festival filled with traditional musicians and singers. It is estimated that there will be an excess of 100,000 people attending. We designed a new high quality tract for this festival. It ties together the Lithuanian’s tradition with their need for the eternal Savior.

July 2003 – Baseball Clinics

I have recently found out that many young people in Lithuania have a desire to learn and play organized baseball. We recently held six baseball-training clinics, and they were a huge success! We were able to gather 135 kids and teach baseball basics as well as preach the Gospel.

June 2004 – Winning the Lost

A recently-saved young man is really excited about telling others about his Lord and Savior. He has led at least three other young people to the Lord and has had several visitors with him in church meetings.

December 2005 – Canvassing

Since canvassing the city of Zarasai with literature in late August, we have had a new woman named Jolanta faithfully attending the services. She trusted Jesus as her Savior on November 6th and was baptized the following Sunday.

March 2006 – Giving to Missions

The members of Utena Baptist Church have been giving sacrificially to missions for just over four years. They currently support one Lithuanian missionary and also help finance the work in Zarasai. Last year they gave nearly $900 USD to missions, and this year they have made a commitment to give just over $1,500 USD. This is a large step of faith for these people; they are excited about mission work!

Summer 2007

Worth the Trouble?

Colin and Sandi Christensen are 1976 BBTI graduates.

Colin was nineteen years old when he met with his pastor in his study and realized he was trusting a false assurance instead of the Savior. Sandi, encouraged by an older sister, responded to the invitation at church when she was ten. Colin and Sandi have spent their lives taking the news of their Savior to other places.

After Colin’s graduation from Midwestern Baptist College, the couple worked four years in Mexico with senior missionary Ralph McCoy. Returning for furlough, they recognized they needed specialized training in order to minister to tribal people and attended Baptist Bible Translators Institute.

The Lord sent Colin, Sandi, and their four children to the Philippines where they contended with trials such as a serious auto accident, amoebas, cobras, and Marshall law under Pres. Marcos in 1981. When their home flooded, Sandi wrote of her discouragement, “I wanted to throw in the towel and head back to a normal life, but the Lord gave me the verse in Romans 8:18; and it really broke my heart, because I forgot it was worth the trouble.”

And it was: they planted a church in Bayugan, teaching the people to work to buy land and build their building, and Colin put his BBTI training to work by translating the books of John and Romans into Cebuano. The church went on to establish several more churches, and the translation work was carried on by Filipino pastors who completed the rest of the New Testament.

The Christensens were in their forties when they arrived on their third field of service and began the study of Hungarian. It proved to be their toughest language yet; and Colin, a gifted linguist, wrote of it, “There are 14 written vowels and no allowance for ‘sluffing’ through on pronunciation. You must be right on the money or they won’t know what you’re talking about as you’ve probably said another word.”

In Hungary, they’ve worked in two cities, pursuing church planting through many ministries: city-wide distribution of scripture, Friday night English/Bible study classes, revival and evangelistic campaigns, summer family camps, rest home services, and separate monthly meetings for men, women, teens, and children. In true BBTI spirit, the Christensens are always ready to help others. Colin drives an hour to teach in another missionary’s Bible college and has also filled in preaching when someone else needed a furlough.

Fun-loving Sandi found it hard to adjust to the Hungarian people’s reserve. Colin explains another obstacle, ecumenicalism. “Because most churches were persecuted under communism, they want to stick together in joint services, etc. Since 55% claim to be atheists, they feel that anyone who believes in God is a ‘Christian.’ Winning souls to Christ has been slow, but very rewarding as people see their need of becoming born again.” Is it worth the trouble? The Christensens say yes!

Spring 2007

Committing Unto Faithful Men

Dan and Jennifer Olachea are sent out by the Central Baptist Church of Ocala, Florida. Dan grew up in the home of a Baptist pastor and made a profession of faith at an early age. In his teen years, when doubts about his salvation surfaced, he settled the matter by reaffirming his faith in Christ. Jennifer’s mother was saved as a result of door-to-door soul winning, and shortly after her salvation, she led six year old Jennifer to Christ. What a blessing to be saved as children and raised in godly homes!

Dan graduated from Clearwater Christian College, majoring in English, and Jennifer graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in communication disorders (speech therapy). Both are skilled musicians and excellent students.

The Lord directed the Olacheas to Uganda, East Africa, and they attended BBTI in the fall of 2001 where they received specialized training for the task God was leading them to do. Their plan was to work with the two and one-half million Banyonkore people, who speak a Bantu related language called Runyankore. They especially wanted to give the Runyankore language a faithful translation of God’s word based on the Greek Textus Receptus. There is a translation in this language, but it is unacceptable to the Bible-believing Christians because it is based on a corrupt text. (Many Bible translations being done today are based on the same Greek text that underlies such English Bibles as the RSV, NASV, NIV, and the so-called “Bible” of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Most translators today also use an inferior method that results in a paraphrase rather than a formal Bible. Thank God for a few people like the Olacheas who believe that God’s people deserve better!)

The Olachea Family set a steady course toward Uganda, arriving there in January of 2005. The official language of Uganda is English, and many people speak it fairly well. However, they also have over 40 other languages, and all people need God’s word in their native tongue. Dan has been working with men in a Bible institute, training them in Greek and Bible translation principles and preparing them to be Bible Translators. The men are excited about beginning this revision work. Pray for Dan this year as he guides these faithful preachers through the difficult task of moving God’s word from one language to another. There is a good possibility that they can work on the Runyankore Bible and two other revision projects at the same time!

Pray that God will continue to allow this wonderful family to meet their Bible translation goals as they serve God in many other capacities such as preaching, music, prison outreach, Bible institute teaching, deaf ministry, and door-to-door visitation.

Food for the Spirit

Steve and Margie Schnell with Stevie, Elecia, Ariana, Nathanael & Jadon Contact them now during their time of furlough at: [email protected].

We came to Cambodia in 1998 and are involved in Church planting, Bible teaching and translation. Our dream has been seeing indigenous churches established that could and would carry on the work of evangelizing. We planned to start in the provincial capital of Kampot. Beginning in the major urban centers seemed like the best plan. While we believed strongly in indigenous principles, to labor all these years and still see nothing significant in Kampot city left us tempted at times to try and buy land, buildings, or give financial aid. God never allowed us the freedom to go down that road, but rather God had us wait for Him to work in the hearts of the Khmer.

Responsiveness seemed to be in the countryside where we have seen a few small, fragile churches started. Aside from the areas we were working in, other small assemblies that were not the result of our labors would come and ask to study the Bible with us. They too were from rural villages, and they were like sheep without a shepherd. We invited them to study with us, taking care how we taught. We tried from the very beginning to instill love and wonder for the Word of God so that they could feed themselves. They would say, “You give food for the spirit instead of food for the flesh.” Since we did not give handouts or aid, some met with us only a few times. We did not forget that God’s Word never returns to Him void and that it accomplishes what He wills, but we wondered if there would be much fruit from the time spent teaching all these groups.

At first we did not see what God was doing. Little by little He was opening the eyes of a few small churches. Some were churches we saw planted and some were from the areas that only received teaching. When a Cambodian society of Christians tried to threaten, bribe and cajole all Khmer Churches into joining under their banner, these few dirt- poor village preachers opened their Bibles to show why they would not and could not compromise.

These little churches are small and far from perfect, and it is still early to tell for sure, but it appears we have the beginnings of a few indigenous churches. They are taking what they have been taught and are teaching it to others. They are learning to trust God and to serve Him through personal sacrifice, without thought of compensation.

The way has not always been easy. Many times we felt like throwing in the towel, but the never-changing Word of God always pointed the way ahead. We don’t know if the churches mentioned in this report will be there a year from now. That is how fragile things are. This is a Buddhist country and is a territory still held firmly by the enemy. The thing we need most is prayer— fervent prayer of the righteous. Pray for these churches and for us, that we will all be strong in the Lord and learn to walk with Him by faith.

Fall 2006

“Apostle of Turkestan”

“Nothing was to enter into his life unpenetrated by its central enthusiasm—Preaching the Gospel of Christ.”

Such was George Hunter. He knew his God and nothing anyone could say or do shook his testimony or moved him from his one statement: “I am here solely to preach Christ crucified.”

Known as the “Lonely Warrior,” George Hunter lost many of those dear to him, including his mother, the woman he loved, and his best friend and coworker. As a young man he had a strong desire to be a missionary, and although he was rejected by the China Inland Mission after his first offer of service, he did not give up. He applied a second time and was accepted.

He arrived in China in 1889 and possessed an irresistible instinct to visit lands where he found no foundations laid by another man. Realizing that the only way to reach the traveling tradesman and nomadic peoples would be to become like them and to travel with them, he journeyed across the Gobi Desert. He was recognized as a man who, having received an inward call, could not be restrained from answering it. He became known as the “Scotsman of the Gobi,” preaching everywhere he went and spreading the Gospel in both oral and written form.

During a missionary conference, he noted sadly that “too much of the Conference was concerned with those parts of China which are largely evangelized, while vast fields outside this sphere were not very much referred to.” He noted that God’s open doors are frequently overlooked, and only when the opportunity has passed do mission authorities appeal for prayer and for ventures of faith to enter closed lands. He realized the urgency of entering the open door while it remained open and of buying up the opportunities rather than just talking about them.

George Hunter was passionate about preaching Christ to men and women who had never heard His name. Realizing the urgency of getting the Scriptures into the hands of every tribe in Central Asia, he translated Scripture portions, as well as a number of other books, into several of the nomadic languages and spent the majority of forty years traveling over rough terrain to get God’s Word into the hands of people. His life of pioneering with Good News for everyone was a daily thrill, for his was the privilege of leaving behind the Book which is God’s message of reconciliation to man.

Eventually known as the “Apostle of Turkestan,” George Hunter was said to be always on duty; the results of his wide-sowing of the seed of life are immeasurable. He was a true Christian, for he was Christ obsessed. Imagine the impact that could be made if more such people might be found in the missionary force where too few are prepared to pay the cost involved, and some even resent the fact that such a price should be required of them.

Quotations: George Hunter: Apostle of Turkestan by Mildred Cable

My People

Mike Patterson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1948. He felt his calling into the ministry in 1964 and his call to the mission field of Mexico in 1974. Brother Mike and his wife, Becky, have been serving together as missionaries in Mexico for forty-four years. (That doesn’t count the thirteen years that Becky spent growing up in Mexico and Costa Rica as the daughter of missionary Dr. Ralph McCoy.) Besides the work of church building and directing a children’s home, Mike has preached in many conferences in which more than four thousand people made full-time commitments to the ministry. He served as president and director and is now president emeritus of Mount Abarim Baptist Mission International which reaches into twenty countries. God has used these servants to truly impact the world.

When they began their ministry in Mexico, Mike and Becky held church services in their small living room. This church grew to be one of the largest and most influential Baptist churches in Mexico today, Mount Abarim Baptist Church. Mike chronicled his life stories of mission work in Mexico and published them in his book, My People. One heart-touching story is “Breaking Rocks.”

Mike watched as his friend, Rafael, continually swung a sledgehammer at a massive boulder. The purpose was to break the rock so that they could use the smaller pieces in a building project. The boulder did not crack under the pounding, but Rafael kept his pace steady. Then, all at once, the boulder burst into smaller, usable portions. Although nothing could be seen on the outside of the boulder, Rafael knew that he would soon crystallize the center. After the center was crystallized, the boulder could be crushed by a single blow of a twelve pound sledgehammer.

Brother Mike said that his work in Mexico was a lot like Rafael’s. “Much of the time we swing our hammer with little to show for it but a thud and little puff of dust.”

We Christians witness to non-believers and hope that we are getting through to them so that they can spend eternity in Heaven with God. Time and time again, nothing seems to change. Once again we talk to them, and they begin understanding a little. Then once more, and finally a breakthrough occurs; a lost soul comes to Christ. The question is: “Have you been letting God use you as his hammer to crystallize the souls of the lost?”

Mike’s book, My People, is available on Amazon and other outlets and would be a great devotional book for your family or church. As you read these short stories you will laugh and cry. And you will thank God that people like Mike and Becky go to the mission field.

Fall 2018

Without a Bible

The Bible has led the best-seller list since its release. Someone has always wanted it and has, at times, been willing to pay a very dear price for it. It is said that a hand-written copy of the Wycliffe Bible cost the equivalent of a year’s labor! Can you imagine anyone spending $60,000 for a Bible today? Throughout the world, people without a Bible vastly outnumber those who have it. You may have three or four Bibles! There may be more Bibles in your house than in some entire cities!

There are multitudes who have not even a verse of the Bible simply because no one has ever translated it into their language. The number of speakers may be ten thousand or ten million, but nobody quotes John 3:16 in it! Languages have diversified since the tower of Babel until today they number 7,100. No one has paid the price—admittedly a high price every time—to put God’s Word into approximately 4,000, or 56%, of these tongues. Someone must translate it for them. Why have the hundreds of thousands of gospel-preaching churches in the world not produced 4,000 Bible translators to accomplish this task? Perhaps these churches have never been informed of the need or challenged to meet it. Oh, but this ignorance and lack of concern could not possibly exist in the fundamental, Bible-believing, missionary-minded churches of America, could it? Let’s find out. With your pastor’s permission, take a survey of church members and ask how many languages are spoken today and how many of these languages have at least some part of the Bible. Ask how often they pray for laborers for the unreached, Bibleless people groups of the world. To further test your church’s concern level for Bibleless people groups, check to see how many of your missionaries are in some way involved in Bible translation or what percentage of the mission budget goes to Bible translation. To further prove the pathetic priority level given to Bible translation in our circles, contact every fundamental Baptist college you know and ask them if they have courses in linguistics and Bible translation. Either we change the way we do missions, or 56% of the world’s language groups will live and die without the Bible and the salvation it offers.

Another category of Bibleless people are those with languages that have small portions of scripture and a work in progress. Workers involved in the translation know that such a thing as a Bible exists, but the group, as a whole, knows nothing of it. The people do not, for the most part, have God’s Word, but they have hope of getting it. Unfortunately, (in our opinion) most of this work in progress is being done by people translating from the Critical Text using a method known as dynamic equivalence. The result is usually a paraphrase more like the Living Bible than a formal translation such as our Authorized Version. Let’s pray that more works will be established by Bible-believing missionary/translators using the correct text and method and an adequate number of trained native helpers.

Some languages have a well-translated Bible, perhaps translated two hundred years ago. However, it is not in use and is probably out of print. The language may have changed so drastically that the grammar, vocabulary, and orthography would not be recognized or accepted by its speakers today. The people may not even know of its existence. These are also Bibleless people. However, they are not completely hopeless. Someone could learn this language in its modern form, and using this antiquated Bible as a basis, produce a good, usable revision. Not everyone can endure the hardships of pioneer Bible translation work, but surely someone could handle a project such as this. Can the Lord find ten righteous people out of ten thousand Independent Baptist churches to go after ten such languages?

There is another very large group of people living and dying without the Bible, but they do not have to. Their languages have the Scriptures, but they don’t. Many of them don’t know what a Bible is or understand why they need one. There is likely no where to buy a Bible, even if they could afford it. Theoretically, there is hope for these people; practically, they are not much better off than the native who speaks an unwritten language with no Scripture. If, however, someone would pass by their houses, distributing Scriptures, they would no longer be Bibleless. Around 1970, God began raising up local church Bible publishing ministries. Missionary representatives raise funds from churches to purchase paper and equipment to print Scripture portions. Missionary printers put God’s Word on the paper—whole Bibles, New Testaments, or John-Romans booklets. If the ministry has sophisticated equipment, it binds, trims, and boxes these portions. Otherwise, this work is done by volunteers. The cost of supplies is great, as is the cost of shipping the Scriptures to the foreign field. On the field, there must be a like-minded man who is willing to receive and distribute them. The portions are free, and most people, even many Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Communists, Catholics, etc., would gladly receive a Scripture portion. These portions must be smuggled into some places, but the honorable ministry of Bible smuggling has been practiced for centuries. (It would be wonderful if there were someone in every place to teach these scriptures; hundreds of thousands of workers are needed.) Local church Bible publishing is a wonderful ministry in which many churches can cooperate. Unfortunately, this work is being done in a very small number of languages. With enough men and money, this could change.

Yes, most of the 7.5 billion souls on this planet are living and dying without the written Word of God, and it is not God’s will (1 Timothy 2:4)! The question is whether you and I are personally doing something about it. Could you live among a remote tribe in Indonesia, learn the language, reduce it to writing, and then get a Bible translation work in progress? Could you learn a new language and then guide a group of workers in revising an archaic Bible? Could you put your time and resources into a local church Bible ministry and raise funds for paper or join a group that is distributing Scripture portions on the streets of a foreign country? Wouldn’t you like to go to Heaven knowing that you put the world’s most precious treasure in the hands of a Bibleless soul?

Sacrifice the Dream

What are you going to be when you grow up? Do you remember being asked that question as a child? (If you are forty and still being asked that, you might have a problem!) A child dreams of becoming a hero: cowboy, fireman, doctor, nurse, sports superstar, astronaut, etc. His dream changes often; as he moves into adolescence, the dream becomes more serious. The young person may even begin to prepare to make the dream a reality. This is certainly not a bad thing. We encourage young people to study and work hard to follow their dream, to become something and someone useful to society.

If the young person is a Christian, he may conclude that his desire (dream) comes from God and is God’s will for him. He may even proclaim, “This is what God has called me to do.” After all, he is going to use his honorable profession to provide for his family, to help others, and to support the work of God. He may even give to send out missionaries.

Some of us can’t help but question if God would call so many to be doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, builders, oilfield roughnecks, computer programmers, car salesmen, pastors, police officers, and a hundred other things, but call very, very few to preach Christ beyond our borders. As the world population expands, our missionary force shrinks. That God would not call enough missionaries seems strange. The dreams of his children are being realized, but the desire of the heathen for a better life now and for Heaven when they die is not being realized. The problem must be with God’s people, not with God. It may be that most of God’s people are not listening for a call or expecting one. Would they even recognize it if it came? Perhaps some have been given a distorted view of the call. They see it as some supernatural, spine-tingling, irresistible, overwhelming, emotional experience that irrevocably propels a special, super-spiritual Christian to the regions beyond. Since it doesn’t happen to them, they conclude that God has not called them to be missionaries. They may honestly believe they have good reason to stay home.

A common attitude seems to be, “Lord, if you want me to go, make me.” Why not rather, “Lord, if you don’t want me to go, please stop me.”? It could be that God simply is not going to show His will to a Christian who is unwilling to sacrifice his personal desires and do His will. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. God shows us His will after the sacrifice and transformation. Our thinking is backward; we want to know His will first so we can decide if we will surrender to it or not.

The time has come for young people (and some not so young) to lay their dream on an altar and go to the mission field for the glory of God and the salvation of the lost! What dream or desire is too wonderful to sacrifice for Jesus? What goal could possibly compare to preaching Christ to those who have never heard His name and the joy of seeing them one day in Heaven? What profession could compare to translating the first Bible in a Bibleless language?

You may say, “I would not feel comfortable in a foreign country.” Well, sacrifice your feelings and your comforts along with your dream! You say, “I don’t know if I could be happy away from family and friends.” There is room on the altar for your happiness, too! Sacrifice your happiness and God might give it back to you. Missionaries are not unhappy, miserable souls that hate the place God has sent them. They become comfortable and enjoy new people, languages, and cultures. Speaking of happiness, Jesus died for all and desires their eternal happiness. Don’t you think all should hear about it?

Perhaps you say, “What if God doesn’t want me on the mission field?” Maybe He doesn’t. But you will never know until your dream is nailed to the cross. God can close the door to keep you from going or show you clearly that He has something else for you at home. Say with Isaiah, “Here am I; send me.” Or with Saul of Tarsus, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” God is still accepting volunteers! “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,[and sacrifice his dream] and follow me.” The heathen sit in darkness and perish in Hell while we pursue our dreams. Meanwhile, we have a perfectly clear command: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”

The missionaries you meet all gave up their dreams. Very few of them dreamed all their life of being a missionary. They don’t go to another place because they have nothing else to do with their life here at home. Anyone who can learn a new language and communicate well in another culture could surely make it big in business or politics. Anyone who can endure the hardships of deputation and the foreign field could succeed in just about any profession. (And earn a lot more money!) The missionary sacrificed his dream; would you sacrifice yours, too?

In time of war, soldiers put their dreams on hold or give them up forever. Brethren, we are in a battle to liberate souls that Satan has taken captive at his will. The call (or command) to arms has gone out. The pagan who trusts Christ couldn’t care less if the messenger was a draftee (called) or a volunteer; he just praises God that someone finally brought him the Gospel! (But, oh that the messenger would have arrived before his mother and father died!)

A man once told Jesus that he would be a disciple, but only after he cared for his aging father and collected the inheritance upon his father death. (Some of that is found between the lines.) Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” We might say it like this: Let the world do what it can do, and you do what the world cannot do–preach the Gospel. In other words, let the world chase its dreams; you sacrifice yours!

Fur of Sudan

“Avilakoa!” a man cries out to you from beside the dirt path. His long white robe brushes the ground as he stands watching over his cattle. In the distance, you see a village of mud houses and hear the sound of women calling out to each other as they get water and prepare food. This is a village of Fur people and you have just been greeted with a “good morning!”

The Fur people live in the Darfur region of Sudan. They are also located in Egypt and Chad, but the word Darfur means “the homeland of the Fur.” There are 1,164,000 Fur people in Sudan and a total of 1.2 million globally. They are primarily Sunni Muslim. Many men cannot hope to be married unless they have memorized several pages of the Quran, and they are promoted to authority depending on how well they know the Quran.

In recent times, these people have been embroiled in bitter conflicts. Because of drought and desertification, war over resources has arisen between the Arab and indigenous people. In 2003, the Fur people banded together with two other indigenous groups to demand reparation for the oppression they suffered. In response, the government sent a guerilla force to attack the civilian population of these tribes. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed and over a million refugees have fled their homeland and sought refuge in Chad and other areas.

Pray for peace in the Fur’s homeland. Also pray they would know the peace that comes from knowing Christ as their Savior.

Summer 2018