Prayer Partner Letter

October 2014

Dear Prayer Partners,

Josh was one of Pioneer Bible Translators’ summer interns this past summer. He and his team of three interns and team coach went to a country in Southeast Asia. He wrote an email in July about their first village visit. I think you will find it both interesting and encouraging.

In this region, villages coalesce along the many rivers which nourish their rice fields. A single road parallel with the river usually defines the heart of a village, with houses lining the road and rice fields growing behind the houses. As we traveled down the single road, a group of excited villagers began to follow us. We stopped and asked one lady in her mid-forties when white people had last visited her village. She plainly remarked that she could remember no time when white people had come to her village.

We asked to meet the village leader and were led to a house whose owner introduced himself as the village secretary. We reclined together on his living room couches and began exchanging pleasantries. We talked about our backgrounds, our cultures, and our families. We talked about how his village speaks its own mother tongue and also speaks the wider language of the country. As we chatted, the hordes of people jammed into the front door frame slowly pushed into the room and crowded around us, anxiously awaiting the message of these peculiar white folk.

Eventually the conversation turned to religion. In America as well as much of the West, religion is sometimes a taboo subject. Here, religion is an important part of small talk. It is common for someone to ask in the introductions, “What is your religion?” Accordingly, this man stated that his village follows the majority religion of this country. He remarked that in his village school, students learn the country-wide language as well as the language of the majority religion in order to read their holy book.

At this point we asked this man if he had his holy book in his village’s mother tongue. He remarked that his holy book does not exist in his mother tongue. We then asked him if he had the Bible in his mother tongue. He remarked that the Bible does not exist in his mother tongue. We continued and asked him, “What would the village’s reaction be to the Bible if it existed in their mother tongue?”

He remarked that since the majority religion’s book commands obedience to the Bible, his village would be devoted to the Bible if they had it.

As we left the village, the villagers audaciously accosted us for pictures with them, determined to photograph every permutation of villagers and white people possible! They also gave us two hand-woven baskets, both containing fresh oranges. We shoved off the dock to go home, and I quickly counted at least 50 people on the shore to say goodbye to us.

As I sat in the boat with our harvest of oranges, I could not help but think about the deeper harvest in that village which is waiting for a harvester. These people would be devoted to the Bible if they had it.

Thank God for Josh’s willingness to go on this summer internship as he sought to obey God’s leading in his life.

Pray that God will give him direction for future ministry as he continues his studies at Johnson University.

Thank God that the intern team discovered the openness of the village leader to welcome the Bible being translated into his language.

Praythat the people of this village will one day have the Bible translated into their language.

Thanks for your prayers,
Gerald Denny
Care Department Director
Pioneer Bible Translators