It was a week of celebration both in the country where I was raised and the country that has become my home. Patriotism. Fireworks. Red, white and blue on the USA side of the border. Red and white on the Canadian side.
Celebrating these beloved, yet flawed, countries reminds me of the “better country to come, that is a heavenly one.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)
Over my lifetime I’ve somehow “collected” citizenships. But even though I hold British, Canadian and American citizenships, my best citizenship is yet to come, my citizenship in heaven. There will be no flaws there. No protests. No pain or sorrow. In contrast, there will be joy, peace and perfection.
But we’re not there yet. For now we live in a fallen world. Imperfect people coexisting with other imperfect people. Yet despite our unrighteousness, despite our pure ugliness, God chose to send His Son to pay the ultimate price to redeem us.
It’s through His righteousness alone that we are made righteous. But He doesn’t want it to stop there. He doesn’t want it to stop with us.
That’s why we’ve been commanded to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)
That is the motivator and heart behind missions: to make disciples of all nations and then to see those disciples become the disciple-makers.
But how can one disciple another without God’s Word? God’s Word is essential, and that’s why Bible translation continues to play a vital role in church planting.
As I write this, a people group in Africa are celebrating the dedication of the New Testament written in their heart language. Wouldn’t you like to be there to see that? I would!
Imagine holding God’s Word in your hands for the first time — God’s Word written in your heart language. With the plethora of Bibles at our disposal, I’m not sure we can appreciate that to its fullest — but they can!
Thank you for partnering with me in the ministry so that together we can see disciples become the disciple-makers, so that we can see people groups around the world receive God’s Word in their own language.