10 Days of Praise: Day 4

Praise God for Papua New Guinean Bible Translators!   

Over the next two weeks, around 79 Papua New Guinean translators are coming to Ukarumpa to attend the Translators’ Training Course (TTC) at PILAT, with the main course running from April 29^th–June 3^rd and English Enrichment for a week beforehand. These translators are leaving behind their spouses and children to come and study in a very different environment from what they are used to, and can really miss their families. There are 18 different language teams attending, mostly with about 4 people in a team. 

A major focus of ours has become training Papua New Guineans to take on the task of translating and engaging with the Scriptures.  We offer several different training courses to accomplish specific tasks.  The video above is an example of the VITAL course and gives you an idea of what these courses look like.

If you've ever pulled together any kind of curriculum you understand how much work goes into even one of these courses, much less several throughout the year.  It is a huge undertaking.

When a Papua New Guinean decides to commit to helping with Bible Translation, they meet all kinds of adversity.  Negative peer pressure, possible financial problems, separation from family (if they are away on work), etc.

Finding people willing to go through the training to become Bible translators, is hard work.  Retention is also an issue.

Today we PRAISE GOD for all the men and women who have come along side us to translate the Bible, record audio bibles, act in the Jesus Films, engage in preaching from the Bible and otherwise be committed servants of God through thick and through thin!

We are thankful that these people have joined the team!  We PRAISE GOD that HE continues to raise up such people.



 

10 Days of Praise: Day 3

PRAISE GOD for all of the individuals who have come along side us in prayer, encouragement, financial support, one time gifts, lending furniture, places to live, cars to drive, cooked meals, hugs, and more!

PRAISE GOD for how he moves in people’s hearts and lives to join with others and accomplish awesome works!

Think of the most comfortable place you can be.  Maybe a hammock on a sunny day?  Maybe a bean bag chair with a warm blanket in front of the fire?  This is how we feel with the people who are supporting us.  We feel safe, loved, comfortable, and thankful.

PRAISE GOD for you!  For your sacrifice!  For your gifts!   God is powerful, righteous, loving and good.

10 Days of Praise: Day 2

Kandawo New Testament Dedication

Bible Dedications are a celebration on the same scale as large weddings.  The joy, the preparation, the logistics, the significance, the culmination of a lot of time and effort, the understanding that this is a forever thing.

A lot of people have been praying for this for a long time.

 Our family (Kendal, myself and the kids) began praying for this nearly 2 years ago.

This dedication is a great example of a modern day miracle.  I've written about the upcoming event, and now, it has happened!  God is so incredibly awesome.  The brief version of this story is that Mac and Doris (the translators) worked hard for a decades to produce a New Testament.  Near the end of it, the Kandawo speaking people were not enthusiastic about the completion.  Life became difficult and disappointing for Mac and Doris.  That's when the heavy prayer began.  God did a miracle and instead of ending the translation with a whimper and an apathetic reception.... the people did a complete 180 and became excited about it!  (I wrote in earlier blogs about how an AudioBible assisted in this.)  The people who were once saying 'we don't want you here' are now saying 'thank you for this wonderful gift of God's Word.'  Only God can change the hearts of man, and only God can do it on a massive scale in such a rapid amount of time!  

Above are pictures of the party, and the people, receiving God's New Testament in their heart language for the first time.  Above is the fulfillment of decades of work, by hundreds of people.  Above is the proof of changed lives, where God's Word is at work!

This is proof that our God is an awesome God.  He is sovereign.  He knows His plans.  What looked like it would be failure and ridicule turned into revival!  God is powerful, and mighty and faithful!

Since we could not attend, we will borrow the writings of someone who was able to:

Praise God that many groups wanted to participate in this even through special items, drama, songs and dance! 

Praise God that He made it a sunny morning so that the celebration could go ahead outside on the...school playfields. 
Praise God for participation from [more than 6] churches. 
Praise God for the 5 flights safely in with International visitors, and 5 flights safely out of Ambuluwa airstrip today. 
Praise God for all the logisitic details cared for by coordinators here in Ukarumpa (Pettygroves) and at Ambuluwa Station (Grace, Francis, and many others) 
Praise God for more than 150 New Testaments sold on the two days of the Dedication (according to Kaspar and other organizers observations). 

Please continue in prayer for the Kandawo people: 

That they would use what many learned during the SALT [training] course, and read, then apply God's Truth to their lives. 
That the churches would read God's Word in Kandawo in their services, and grow.

10 Days of Praise: Day 1

God has been so awesome!  As you may know, our deadline for financial support is May 1.  That's 10 days away.

However the crunch to make people aware of our financial situation has meant we've spent a significant amount of time lately, talking about ourselves.  Frankly that isn't where our passion lies. (okay well everyone is passionate about themselves to some degree, most people can talk about themselves for hours, actually).  Our goals, our love, our passion, is in supporting Bible Translation, and seeing God's Word change people's lives for all of eternity!

So with that in mind, instead of spending our last 10 days talking only about our needs, we thought we'd spend it praising God, and giving Him the Glory.

So, let's kick it off, with Day 1:

10 Days of Praise: Day 1

Last week we told you that we were at 88% financed with $3000 more to raise in one time gifts.

Today I report we are at 98.2% of our monthly pledge goal, with ZERO more to raise in one time gifts!

God is awesome!

Last week we asked for prayer that Kendal's mom make it home from the hospital, and she is now home!

God is good!

The Fire Hose of God's Blessings

Something exciting has happened... continue to reading to find out what!



The last 19 days have been hard. I'm not going to lie. I've been super
stressed. It seems like there was a lot of bad stuff happening. We
were waiting for this and for that to happen and my prayers were
becoming the type of 'begging'. 'GOD please help us out, we can't
handle this much longer!"

Having just gotten back from grocery shopping in the evening, I looked
and the bagels I had planned for breakfast were moldy. The milk I had
purchased was Soy, not Flax. Two very small errors to be sure but for a
brief moment, I didn't control my temper and I threw the bag of bagels
down on the floor, hard. To my shame, it was in front of my children.
To my credit, I didn't shout or curse or anything.

That's all I did, but it was enough for my kids to comfort me.
"Dad, it's okay, it's not a huge mistake, you're doing well while mom is
gone! You really are!" said my daughter. And they both gave me hugs.

For the last 18 days I've been spending a lot of time in Romans.
Specifically chapters 8 and 9. Walking by the Spirit. John Piper has
an excellent sermon on what this means. To be honest, the concept has
befuddled me for many years. I have had a mantra as life has grown
increasingly stressful over the last 3 weeks.

Walk by the Spirit. Not by your own might, or your own strength, but by
God's strength.

That was my mantra. I kept saying that, meditating on what it meant.
How do I produce fruits of the Spirit when I'm full of stress? How do
love, give off peace, patience and kindness? Self control... etc? How
do I do that when it seems like life is careening off the tracks?

This morning started with insanity. It was super stressful, there was
too much to do, I won't bore you with the details, other than to say I
was under the gun for a high priority task, and everything seemed to
want to thwart me from doing it.

I walked outside, took 2 minutes to read my Bible again, and pray again
'God we need your help! Are you waiting for me to figure out how to
walk by the Spirit through this? Okay I can't do it on my own, I get
it. I need you to provide the strength, so I'm asking for that.'

And then it happened.

God decided to unleash the fire hose. Tons of good things started
happening, rapid fire. Even now I'm wondering if this blog post is
pre-mature as the blessings keep flooding in:

11:28 am -I get an email from a church that has decided to support us!
The level of support has drastically improved our finances.

11:30 am -My wife calls and tells me she's in the middle of moving her
mom from the hospital to her home! (19 days in the hospital over!)

11:32 am -I get an email that informs me that a long time broken
relationship is being repaired!

11:35 am - I get an email, a huge paperwork crisis regarding taxes has
been averted and all is made well again! (big relief!)

11:37 am - I get a call from the optometrist "your glasses are repaired
and ready for pickup!" (not a huge stress, but it will be nice to have
my glasses again, been using my backup pair for a while")

It is only 12:08pm  right now.

I was already giddy with joy after the first blessing... then I find out
my mother in law is going home! ... by the time I got the call that my
glasses were in I was laughing on the phone with the lady.... the
goodness just keeps on coming.

I half expect the amazon items I ordered to show up today too, just
because it would be like that!

Friends, this is how God is in our lives, and has been since we started
this journey.

If it were me, I would like to dole out the blessings slowly... one
every so many days, just to keep us happy. Like getting packages in the
mail. Always more fun to get one a week instead of ten in a single
day. Right?

But God, He blesses us in ways that make it undeniable that HE is the
one doing it. I don't believe in coincidence. How could it possibly be
coincidence that I went to God in prayer, begging for something good to
happen, and then ALL of the good we were hoping for happened and then
far exceeded our expectations?

God gets the glory. He wows us, and wows us, and is faithful in between
the wow times to keep us going! And when He wows us, He does it in a way
that I can't even dare to think 'oh well that's just a coinky-dink!'

The timing, and the order of it... from big to little. It says to me
"Hey Owens family, I got you. The biggies that overwhelm you, I have in
control, the little things you think I don't care about, I have those
too. I have your back, I love you. Hang in there! Be faithful, walk in
the Spirit, deny yourselves, and above all, show me some love!"

The A

We Wrote a Book!

Recently someone who had come across my book and noticed the way I put my name on the cover "Chad A. Owens" and decided to ask me:  "What is the A for?"

It sparked my memory to share a story and so, here is a story I've rarely told to people, and the reason is, though it may seem silly now, I still guard the A.  I suppose the cat's out of the bag as of this posting.

Let the story commence.

In the 80's Michael J. Fox portrayed a character called Alex P. Keaton whom I enjoyed a lot.  I loved Michael J. Fox's movies and I wondered why he kept using his middle initial like that.  When I was moved from Los Gatos High School after my freshman year, to Monte Vista Christian High School, I decided to re-invent my name a little and use my middle initial 'A'.  Being new to the school, as is my custom, I was quiet at first.  I tend to remain quiet, and learn my environment before participating socially in it.  I was only there a short while before one of the other sophomores asked me in what struck me as a suspicious way, but in reality was probably a friendly way, 'So what does the 'A' stand for mister Chad A. Owens?'  I replied to him simply "It stands for my middle name."

He laughed at that, thought it was funny, and moved on about his business.  His name was Tom Hernandez and he was one of the 'cool' kids whom I never aspired to become, but appreciated the attention from just the same.

A few days later Tom and I crossed paths again and again he asked "What does the A. stand for?"  And I replied "Why so interested in my middle name?"  He wasn't used to not getting answers to his pointed questions, and didn't know how to take it.  He chuckled and moved on, because he didn't have an answer.

Around the same time frame, I was in an English class and sitting next to a girl named Lisa.  She was also one of the cool kids, an attractive blonde valley girl who had gotten most of what she wanted in life, and behaved poorly in class.  She sassed the teacher, didn't turn in her homework, and otherwise lowered the bar for others.  

I was a medium to poor student my freshman year.  However learning my environment like I did, I realized that to succeed in English class, all I had to do was not do what Lisa was doing. Keep my mouth shut, speak respectfully when I had to, and turn in my homework.  That was a LOT easier than my freshman year, where I actually had to interact with a grumpy teacher.

Sophomore year was proving to be a breeze.  At one point my English teacher turned to Lisa, shouted 'You wench!  Why are you so disrespectful, you need to be more like Mr. Owens here! He's quiet, and gets his papers turned in on time!"

Lisa was very shocked that a teacher called her a wench, and I think so was he.  He backpedaled a bit but the damage was done.  To him and to me.  Until that point, no one had thought twice about me.

Moments after getting over the shock of the name-calling, Lisa turned to me and said 'hey, yeah! you are quiet! Why is that?  Are you some kind of brain or something?" Great now I was going to get in trouble talking in class.  I decided to shrug and not respond.  She took my silence as an admission of genius when all I was trying to do was avoid trouble.

Lisa and Tom being cool kids knew each other, and must have put their two pieces of information together.  "He goes by Chad A. Owens, like Alex P. Keaton does, and Alex is a genius, so I bet Chad's a genius."

Before long the entire class was calling me 'brain' and 'egghead'.  My freshman year I had a C- grade average.  I was no brain.  But a fool opens his mouth to remove all doubt… so I didn't open my mouth.

Every day or so Tom would ask what my middle name stood for, and every day I wouldn't tell him.  He asked me 'if I guess it right, will you tell me?'  and I replied "try me."  So he would fire a few names at me.  He never did guess it right, but even if he had, I wouldn't have told him.  I never said I would.

My grades were getting better, in fact I made the honor roll that semester, and then the following.  I was beginning to live up to my reputation of being called 'the brain'.  And it was simple, I did my work, and I remained socially unengaged with the cool-people.  I made one good friend, and we spent our time speaking about Shakespeare and the Bible. Before my junior year all of my teachers had recommended me for honors classes.

I didn't want to take AP classes because that meant more work for me.  But I was assured that on your transcripts a B grade is a 4.0 GPA in an AP class.  So I figured it would be okay to do more work if it meant higher grades because at that school every semester you were on the honor roll, you got a reward.  Sometimes it was a trip to the mall, or a free lunch or even a day off of school!  Being in AP classes meant I could get rewards and a higher GPA for basically the same work.  (no I never took the AP exams.. that was work, are you even listening?)

I was 'doing school' as the well known book refers to, not really getting a great education, but I was getting high marks, and in my head it was all because I wouldn't tell Tom my middle name, and I remained quiet.  At my church, Calvary, my nickname was 'little guy' as I wasn't tall of stature yet.  I was also a quiet kid, I didn't like our social activities, hated ice-breakers, and disliked our summer camp 'supercharge' because of all the attention and competition.  I truly was a quiet and small person in public.  Totally over lookable.  I know many of you who know me can't believe it is true, but it was.

By the end of my senior year, I had received several medals of scholastic achievement, was inducted into the National Honors Society which meant I graduated with a special tassle, at graduation I was given awards.  It was all very odd to me, because I wasn't a smart kid.  I was just respectful.

In the beginning of my senior year, some of my own 'press' began to seep into my sense of confidence.  As people said I was, so I became.  I started to realize, that all these people think that I'm something of a smart-kid.  Boy were they fooled!  Maybe that was what confidence was… believing about yourself what other people did?  I started to gain confidence.

Still Tom asked what the A was and continued to make a point of saying my name with accent on the A all of the time.  "Oh hey guys, look it's chad  EH owens!"  The more he did this, the closer I guarded the secret of my middle name, and the more people wanted to know it.

I enjoyed his regular jibes and guesses, it was our little game.  Sometimes people would witness it and wonder why it was that a cool kid was interacting with me.  I had been labelled and put into the 'smart kid' group, though I had often found the other smart-kids hard to understand and boring.  It seemed like a break in social etiquette for the cool kids to occasionally surround a smart kid and ask him questions.  

I took to spending typing class by writing fictional stories.  Being a computer hobbyist I had already typed faster than the teacher, so she put me in the corner and left me alone, I would occasionally surface to ace whatever typing speed test there was, (an A was 40 wpm, and I was easily surpassing 65wpm at the time.  Currently I'm closer to 110 wpm).

After class was out, I would pass on the stories to friends.  I had integrated my new friends into a regular episodic serial fiction.  Each day they would read more about themselves or an alter-ego of them I had created, and how they went through various adventures.  They became very interested in my stories, and as time progressed their reach grew and more people were reading them and passing them around at school.

This little occurrence is what began my formula for gaining friends through public writings.  (A trend which I later took to college using a pre-email like system,  then using a bulletin board system, and then applied to this thing called the Internet when it came into existence using a web page, which many years later, evolved into a blog.)  Yes, I was blogging before blogging was a thing.  I started with a typewriter and paper, and now I'm using a laptop and ether.

On the day I graduated high school, I stood many inches taller, both physically and mentally.  I had undergone a growth spurt and was now nearly 6'5" tall.  I had several friends, I was graduating with honors and accolades, small scholarships, and special tassels.  I had been senior class vice-president and voted most likely to succeed (though I was going for class clown… talk about missing the target! I mean how good can I be at succeeding if my goal was to be class clown, and I ended up most likely to succeed?)  

I had confidence that I took into college with me.  I had friendships I would value.  And I had a tested and proven formula for how to meet people and make friends.  If you are reading this and you too are a quiet person, well here's my formula:

Step 1: Whenever you enter a new environment, remain quiet, observe and learn.  Be teachable.

Step 2: Change the way you call yourself.  It'll change the way people see you.

Step 3: Communicate to people, tell stories, talk to them, listen to them, include them.  People grow close to you because of how you make them feel, so make them feel good about themselves.

And that is the story of my middle name.

As we prepared to walk down that aisle, as seniors about to graduate.  I turned to Tom Hernandez, having prepare a gift just for him, I said 'Tom, the A. stands for Aaron.  But keep it quiet, you're the only one in the entire school who knows it.'  He looked back at me, and said 'oh MAN! Are you kidding me!…. that's cool man."  It was the end of our game, and the end of our time in high school, but the lessons learned would last.

-Chad A. Owens

p.s. you say to me "But wait, Chad! You didn't go by Chad A. Owens in college! You broke your own formula!"  Ah, my formula says 'change the way you call yourself'… following that I did.  In college I became known as 'Gimpel'  (a pen name I considered) but that…. is a totally….different story.

ends with suspense!….

but the suspense isn't really earned, it's not a totally different story, it is in fact related but that… is a much less suspenseful way to end a blog.

Ancient Words

10 weeks until we depart for Papua New Guinea again.
We still need to raise monthly pledges.
If you're interested in joining the team: click here.

Become a part of the team that is making celebrations like this video possible.  God's Word is powerful!

Getting Geeky

http://software.sil.org/scriptureappbuilder/



Cool new app available to help us build Scripture that can be read on a smartphone, but also syncs with audio clips.  So the user can read the Word then touch it, to begin playing an audio file of what they are reading!

Working in audio I get the question "what do you do exactly?"  Let me tell you there are some extremely geeky sides to audio production.  Yes most people can record audio on their own, but there is much more to it.

For example, in post production, we can create timing files.  These files allow us to indicate which portion of a recording links to which portion of Scripture.  Techs utilize applications like HearThis, Audacity, Paratext and more to build something that is easy to use on a phone.

Combining three different fields of technology (translation, audio production and smartphone app creation) requires more than one technologically minded individual, it requires a team.

The cool thing is when that team applies their talents together, and comes up with something as awesome as this!  Scripture text, and audio, on a smartphone, in the hands of a Papua New Guinean (or anyone in the world) !  That is exciting.  That is using technology to expand the reach of the Gospel and get it in a usable way into the hands of people whose lives can be forever altered to glorify God.

Yeah I'm a little excited about this stuff.

 

Worth it

Here's a repost from  http://clovermission.blogspot.com

 

Is it really worth it?

Aitape West Translation Project (click for larger image)

This morning, I was reading an update from fellow Wycliffe missionaries, Ben and Mandy Pehrson, who are the team leaders of the Aitape West Translation Project in Papua New Guinea. One of the things that really struck me was this prayer request:

"Many of our Papua New Guinean translators struggle with neighbors stealing their land since they're away at translation workshops several times a year. This is especially true for Clement, Petrus, Joel and Otto recently."

Not only are people trying to steal their land, but there are also people stealing food from the gardens that feed their family! 

These men, from some of the ten different languages in the project, are working hard to get God's Word translated into their languages. Some of them have to walk for miles to get to the place pictured above where they work together on their translations. Some have given up jobs. They also struggle to provide for their families and to pay school fees that are rising all the time as their children get older.

Why? Well, they deal with all of this and more because they know that their people need to hear "God's talk" in their own language.

Is it really worth it? It is to them!

When faced with their level of commitment, and what they are giving up and dealing with, how can we say that translating God's Word into their languages isn't important?

How can we be any less committed to helping them?

Swept Away

because I couldn't say it better than a linguist:

from the Nystrom's blog 

http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0abce583ceee8be812b36955f&id=2253b171fe

Completely swept away

If you add the suffix -paij to a verb in Arop, it takes the action of that verb as far as it can go. If you slip-paij, you fall. To see-paij is to recognize; to hear-paij is to understand. If you yank-paij a chain, it's broken.  When we translate "forgive" in the Arop language, we say that God has swept-away-paij, "completely swept away" our sin. It's totally gone. As we reflect this Easter weekend about what God has done for us in Jesus' death and resurrection, that's something to smile about.  "Forgive" and "forgiveness" are among the many Key Biblical Terms we have been reviewing and refining our translations of recently. […] ...please pray for people who are hearing in their own language about God completely sweeping away their sin, that they would respond in faith.

Little While

I don't go into Sermon mode often.  That isn't the intent of this.  The intention is to inspire and motivate.  I'm an external processor so this is to me as much as anyone.... okay, time to psych ourselves up..... 

John 16:19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Good Friday is one of the "little whiles" that Christ mentioned.

Our lives today is the other 'little while' until He comes again.

The 'little whiles' to us, are lifetimes.

How should we live during our 'little while' on Earth?

Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you....

Our lives on this earth are not about pleasing ourselves, amassing wealth, being entertained, or gaining fame.
Our lives are meant to be spent loving on people, doing good, and heaping blessings on people who may in return, hate us.

Friday we mourn the death of Christ.

Sunday we celebrate His resurrection.

This weekend is a little while, our lives are a little while.
For those currently experiencing grief and woe... be encouraged by the Word of God.
For those too mired in the selfish culture of this world...be warned by the Word of God.

For those saying 'BORING! He's quoting Scripture again... skim skim.. scroll scroll' find encouragement this weekend.  As humans we hate suffering, Christ took on a whole lot of it.  We can take on some... for a little while.

Between now and next Easter, if all of us who proclaim Christ as our Savior, truly loved our enemies, did good to those who cursed us, I truly believe that the world would start to see the word 'Christian' in a positive light again.  That it would stand for love, instead of condemnation.

It is the time of year to remember what Christ did for us, to focus on His Words to us, and to recommit our efforts for the coming year. 

It's Christian New Year's resolution time.
It's go-time.

Don't be discouraged by enormity of the task, instead, take the first step, and be a light to others.

Birthdays and Bibles

This Friday April 3 is a lot of things.

It is Kendal's birthday. It also is Good Friday.  And it also my spiritual birthday, or re-birthday.

Luke 15:10 "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The angels party when someone comes to know God.  In my family, we celebrated too, by remembering the date we committed our lives to Christ and accepted His gift of salvation.

For me that was Good Friday, and it all happened because I had access to the Bible.

I was 5 years old.  My pregnant mother (she was 9 months pregnant) and I had walked the quarter mile stretch of dirt road to my Grandad's house.  We lived in the Santa Cruz mountains at the time and the walk was anything but flat.  There were three steep hills between our house and my grandparent's and so the walking was slow and there was a lot of talking.  We spoke of God and what the Bible says.  It was an important day because it was the day that we remembered what Christ had done for us, in giving up His life.  So when I arrived at my grandparents these things were weighing on my mind.

Walking through the front door, the first thing that always caught my eye was this HUGE bible they kept on a little shelf near their couch.  It was displayed in a place of honor and it was about 7 inches thick and too heavy for me to lift.  I remember asking my grandad to tell me some of the things that their big Bible said. To me as a kid, it was a significant book, a book to be respected that told you all kinds of true things, and wonderful things.

(I know this type of decor may be considered corny to some these days, but as a kid it was a visual representation that this book was important, and to be revered.)

I was too young to read it, but I got to look at it, and they would open it for me and read to me from it.

Whatever we discussed that morning, I can not completely recall but I know it weighed heavily on my heart.  Before long my mother and I were walking back home, the sun was up overhead and I barely recall the walk itself because I was asking my mom so many questions.

I asked her, "I need to ask Jesus into my heart right now mom. How do I do it?"

She replied "Well, we would get down on our knees and pray to Him and tell Him that we love Him, and ask forgiveness for our sins, and accept His gift of salvation."

I replied "I want to do it right now."

Below our feet was dirt, and large gravel.  My mom was wearing a skirt, and nine months pregnant, and we were in the middle of descending the final hill on the way to our house.  

"That's wonderful sweetie, let's wait until we're home." she said.

"Mom, it can't wait.. It CAN'T. Right now mom, help me right now I need to have Jesus in my heart right now!" I demanded.

My mom must have seen that there was a lot on my mind, and so right there, on the hill, kneeling in the dirt, and the painful-on-her-knees-gravel, she guided me through a prayer that began my journey with Christ.

I was only five years old.  In telling this story I had to fill in a few details I can't remember.  I can't remember the exact words we spoke, or the exact clothing we wore.  But I remember the image of that Bible.  I remember the words that Bible held and that were spoken to me and that have been written on my heart since then.

The Word of God has power to change lives.

Sometimes we forget, and take for granted the power of God's Word.  I can tell you that before moving to Papua New Guinea, I did. That's before I realized that  there are thousands of people who have no story like mine because they have no Bible in their language at all.  To them, it's a book that exists for someone else.

Until they have their own.  That is when they realize that Christ is for them too.

Imagine hearing this as a child "Jesus loves all the other little children.  All the other children in the world but you.  They all have his songs and books, but He doesn't know your name, and He doesn't speak your language.  How could God love you when He can't even speak your name?"

It's completely untrue, and yet, there are many people who believe that, if they've ever heard of Christ at all to begin with.  "Oh yes, Jesus, I heard of him, he's the savior of some people I know, but He can't save me because He doesn't know how to talk to me."

We've heard sentiments exactly like that.  I was showing the Jesus film in a village in Papua New Guinea.  It showed what Good Friday is, and what Easter is all about.  It showed Christ's suffering and death, and it showed in the language of the people for the first time.

This lady sitting next to me was weeping and said to me in her language "I had heard of this man Jesus before.  But I have never understood until today that He loves me!  He did all of this for me too! Not other people but for me!"  (I had a translator tell me what she said).

It was one of the most moving moments of my life.  

God's Word changes people, it wins them, it communicates His love.

We live in PNG, we do our work, so that more and more people every year, will understand the meaning of Easter and have the desire to celebrate it with us!