“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Pro 29:18
Like myself (Mark), you have probably used this verse to encourage many to look before they leap, to have an objective in life. I was recently working with the mother tongue Translators to translate this verse. With their animistic background, the Guahibo people give little forethought for tomorrow and its needs as long as they have what they need today. (Sound familiar?) This “living for today” philosophy is how they handle courtship, marriage, everyday life and church life. Because foresight/vision is seldom if ever practiced, they haven’t felt a need to develop vocabulary to express the idea. To find the right expression, I went looking at the Hebrew lexicons, as well as how different versions of the Bible in English and Spanish expressed this concept. IMAGINE MY SHOCK, when I discovered that the writer of Proverbs was more focused on, a revelation from God – i.e. the Word of God, than on foresight/fore planning as I had always took it to mean. Not that the phrase can’t lend itself to being used to help people have an objective, it’s just not the original intent of the writer.
This fits so well into the prayer request I have for you. As you know, I was asked by a sister organization, to help them with the actualization/revision of the Guahibo New Testament, that they had printed in the early 1980’s. The request for the revision was placed by the Guahibo believers and Wycliffe wanted to help, but had no one to oversee the project. I said I would help, so we started the project last year. As you know, due to the shrinking economy, Christian giving has dropped. Wycliffe has a pool of funds to handle their many translation and revision projects, of which the Guahibo project is just a small part. Due to a reduction in giving, they have had to reduce the amount assigned to the Guahibo project each year. It is now way below the amount needed to function effectively! In fact, this year the project will be limited to merely one joint time together in revising, instead of the three we did last year! Please pray with us for God’s provision for this shortfall. God has said that “He is not willing that any should perish.” 2 Peter 3:9. We know that He not only wants the Guahibo to have His Word, but He also wants everyone to have it in their own language. Won’t you, like Moses, intercede until the battle is won and the Guahibo have their vision/Word of God and not perish? Thank you for your prayers. If you want more specifics, please drop us a note.
[cid:image002.jpg@01CED9A1.FEA3E900]Thanks too, for praying as we work together for these next five weeks to make God’s Word clear and understandable to the Guahibo nation!
Pressing on,
Mark and Joyce Cain, for the translation team