Ryan and Jordan Kopke serve in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. In a recent newsletter they wrote an article about how a couple of friendships started a long chain of providential relationships. They entitled it a Scripture Distribution Story.
Lately Jordan and I have enjoyed cultivating relationships with several pre-believing people in our neighborhood. I went to town with two of them and they admired some local woven baskets as we walked by a handicraft store. We stopped to visit with the women selling the baskets. They wanted to know why I was here. To make a long story short, a woman named Elisabeth and her aunt were excited to learn that Genesis 1-12 is now available in their Hano language which is spoken on North Pentecost Island.
At the same store, I also met Lydia who said she was from another island named Ambrym. That made me excited because a colleague of mine helped those people publish a New Testament just last year. I told Lydia I would do my best to find her a copy because she had not seen it yet.
With the help of a couple of teammates, I got two copies of the North Pentecost Genesis for Elisabeth and her aunt and a copy of the Ambrym New Testament for Lydia and headed back to the shop one morning. Lydia was there at her sewing machine. As I pulled out the New Testament she smiled really big. She hugged the book. As she began reading the Scripture in her own language, her eyes began to tear up. She kept expressing gratitude in numerous ways. She kept hugging her New Testament, then reading some more, then hugging again.
Not every interaction in the shop was a happy one. One dear woman named Emma earnestly asked if someone was helping her people get the Bible in her language too. It broke my heart to tell her that there wasn’t anyone to help her now. I told her it is my hope and prayer that people would come one day and serve her and her people in that capacity. I took down some of her and her husband Roy’s details to pass on as a contact in their language to someone possibly willing to train and come translate the Scripture for them. Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus asked us to go to all people groups, and yet there are still so many who still haven’t heard, “For God so loved the world . . .” in their own language.
I will wrap up this section with some good news. Since it turned out that Elisabeth and her aunt weren’t there I left with the two copies of the North Pentecost Island Genesis. I hailed a cab—and even though this is rarely the case—a customer was already in the cab. As we drove the taxi driver asked me why I was here. When I answered him both he and the woman passenger were interested in learning more. When I found out the woman was from North Pentecost, I asked if she knew the Old Testament was being translated into her language and if she had seen Genesis. She said she would really like to see it.
I said, “Well, I have one now and I can give it to you.”
She was so excited! It worked out exceedingly well that Elisabeth and her aunt happened to not be at the shop that day.
That afternoon, I went back to the shop with two copies of Genesis to give to Elisabeth and her aunt. She was there but her aunt was not. I gave her a copy and she excitedly began to read. After a few verses from Genesis 1, another woman named Janine began incessantly trying to get our attention.
“Hey, that book you are reading. Can I see it too?”
“Sure.”
“This is my language!” she exclaimed.
Soon she and Elisabeth were reading together, helping each other pronouncing words.
Janine declared, “This is beautiful!” She continued, “See this word here, this word is what the old people say. I almost forgot that word. This will help us keep our language.”
During this last visit, I also met Mary. She was listening to Elisabeth and Janine read and she seemed really intrigued. I asked her where she was from.
“Central Pentecost, but my dad is from North Pentecost so I could understand some of what they were reading. I grew up speaking the language of my mom, the language where we lived, Central Pentecost.”
I said, “Did you know we are working on translating the Bible into that language also? Would you be interested in the same book, but in the language of Central Pentecost?”
Her expression and response were so genuine and eager. She reminded me of Nathaniel, the true Israelite of whom Jesus said there was nothing false.
So yet again, I plan to go back to this shop, and take Jordan with me this time. We’ll see what else God is up to.
Thank God for this exciting chain of events showing hunger for His Divine Revelation in people’s heart languages.
Thank God for Ryan being an ambassador for Jesus in boldly sharing life-transforming Scripture with those he meets.
Pray that each missionary with Pioneer Bible Translators will regularly take the initiative to get Scripture into the hands of those who have not have it in their language until now.
Thank you for your prayers, Gerald & Ruth Denny Coordinators of Prayer Ministries Pioneer Bible Translators
