Church Engagement
At the head of the room a man spoke in a language I didn't understand, and held out a 2 kina bill. Later he said in English 'I was saying that I have this 2 kina bill, anyone here can come and take it, it is my free gift to you.' No one took it because no one could understand him, he was speaking in Spanish (de Costa Rica).
The illustration proved the point that people couldn't know about the Gospel or using the Word unless they understood the language.
Yes we translate the Bible. Then what?
That's the question. Well anyone in the know, please pardon my over simplification of this process.
Translating the Word takes over 20 years. During that time you're working on relationships, developing leaders, discipling, teaching reading and writing, giving tools on how to teach the Bible, giving audio and video examples, teaching skits, and overall preparing a culture anywhere from 'we don't want the Bible' to 'we really can't wait' and in a perfect scenario, by the time the Word is published in their heart language, the people are already changed and can't wait to deploy the Scriptures to their children and surrounding people.
In a less than desirable situation you have a people with a new Bible who never use it because they don't grasp how to teach from it.
Enter the Church Engagement team. A relatively new team, but the ministry is something that has been going on for decades. Still the team itself goes into churches and sees how they are integrating with the Word and where they need help and then puts them in touch with the right help.
They've heard things like 'well we have the bible but no one uses it'. OH, they need to talk with the Scripture use team who will help them understand how to teach others and use the Word of God to make an impact.
This team is still small and growing and it's a side team (work on weekends) the people on the team have their normal jobs to do too. But on the weekends they make a job of trying to work side by side with people and show them how to really teach from and use the Scriptures they have.
We have a lot of resources here, and this new team is trying to get those resources in the hands of local pastors and leaders. WE have identified over the years that there can be some falling through the cracks, and this team is there to fill in the cracks.
That's of course my perception of it, and I like the idea. They've recently been challenged by the huge amount of interest they are generating to supply people with the answer to the question 'How do I get involved' ?
The side effect of this is that they are generating interest in the country by Papua New Guineans as to how to get involved in the ministry of spreading God's Word. That's incredible.
They've recently listed a need in the area of video/audio production, and I'm currently considering volunteering. I think it might be too much too soon, to volunteer my weekends to producing video, but on the flip side, I know I'd enjoy it tremendously.
