Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, once said, “The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.” When you have God’s Word in your native language, you can understood it at the heart level. One man from Papua New Guinea recently explained it this way:
“God’s word is like this massive tree. When we hear it in the trade language, it’s like we’re just jumping around in these high branches up on top. But I just heard it in my own language, and I heard the roots of God’s talk.”
Thinking about this makes us excited to go and be a part of the same experience for another people group of Papua New Guinea. The more that a person can understand God’s Word, the more their life will be changed by it. That is why we take the time to learn the language and culture of the people that we are going to teach. It is not enough for them to understand the gospel at the limited tree top level, we want them to be able to go deep. That is where the Holy Spirit does His best work, where the truth can take root in the hearts of the people.
We have been blessed to be able to share with different people our goals for the future and what God is doing in Papua New Guinea. And God has been faithful to continue to provide people to be a part of this team by giving financially. It is humbling to know that we are just a small part of what God is doing around the world, and we will not accomplish anything without His grace and many other people on our team.
Thank you for those who have been praying for our support raising. We are now at about 42% of the recommended amount. Please continue to pray that God would provide the remaining funds that we need. Pray for the people of Papua New Guinea who don’t have access to Scripture.Pray for bible translators around the world to translate clearly and correctly. Pray for more laborers. Thank you.
Grace and Peace,
Anthony and Kara Linn Haskins