Pursuing the Mission

Motivations are powerful things. Our passions and burdens can propel us to remarkable feats – both for good and bad. The book of Nehemiah, and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall demonstrates how much can be accomplished when we have the right motivation. But the story also reminds us that progress can stop quickly when we lose sight of the mission and get distracted by obstacles and opposition and other priorities.

For the past two years, a specific picture has been a significant reminder for me of the critical work being done at Bibles International. On my dresser, right next to our closet, sits a framed picture that I look at every morning as I am getting ready for the day. It has helped to set the tone for my day and reminds me of the reasons I must not waste any part of the day that God has set before me.

In November 2014, I attended my first Bible dedication. We traveled with a small group from our BI translation center in the state of Assam, NE India, over to Tripura state to take part in the Darlong Bible Dedication. As our little bus pulled into the town of Darchawi, we were greeted along the street by representatives of the 21 Darlong churches who formed the core sponsorship for this project. BI had previously completed the Darlong New Testament translation, and now we were delivering the complete Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. I will never forget watching out the window of that bus as we pulled up to a little office building beside the church where our dedication service was to be held. Standing on the steps beside the road were the pastors of these 21 churches, all dressed up in their finest garb. Yes, they were standing to welcome our team, but far more importantly and much more symbolically, they were standing to honor the Scriptures for which they had been waiting so many years. I stood up in the back of the bus and snapped a quick picture out the dusty window. It is this snapshot that now sits on my dresser.

I have thought about that scene hundreds of times. It is burned into my memory. It burdens and motivates me. It compels our BI team to think creatively about how we can be most efficient in stretching our resources, because these Darlong pastors are not the only ones who wait.

Looking across my office right now, I see bookshelves filled with multiple translations and Bible commentaries, all part of the massive tool box that English speaking believers have at their disposal in our efforts to learn and teach God’s Word. Yet, today in 2017, only 636 of the nearly 7,000 languages on earth have a complete Bible!

Every morning, I look at that picture and pray that God will help me to be faithful every minute of that day to the mission He has given Bibles International, and the needs of the millions around the world who are waiting for the Scriptures. We continue to believe that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17).

First Published in The Briefings - December, 2017