Prayer–my heart’s response to a sometimes challenging life.
Prayer is my natural expression of faith, or plea for more faith, to the God who loves me. The Father is my resting place, my comfort, my peace. And prayer is one of the ways He allows me to access Him.
Where do you turn for comfort?
Over the past four years, I’ve lost four members of my family. Two uncles, lost just ten months apart of the same genetic lung disease. A beloved grandfather and a favorite aunt lost within two months of each other. A little black dress meant for celebrations worn twice to mourn instead.
Do you fully recover from that loss? I don’t know. But I have known where to go for comfort. Not just in this, but throughout all my life…I’ve known where to turn.
As I child I sang, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”
As a teenager I sang, “Jesus will still be there. His love will never change, sure as the steady rain…”
As a young adult I sang, “I will go wherever You lead…”
And now, as a wife and mother, I often sing, “Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea. A great High Priest Who’s name is Love, Who ever lives and pleads for me.”
How do I know my name is graven on His hands? How do I know my name is written on His heart? How do I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart?
I have His Word
But all over the world, people live day-by-day without the Word of God in their heart language. Some 340 million people don’t even have one verse of God’s Word. Of the 7,000 languages in the world, fewer than 500 have the whole Bible.
340 million people do not have access to even one verse of God’s Word.
Not even one verse.
When tragedy strikes…not even one verse.
When loss overwhelms them…not even one verse.
When they don’t know what to do…not even one verse.
When they ache for a Savior…not even one verse.
No comfort, no relief, no direction…not even one verse.
Please watch this brief video…
And that’s just what God does! Like many spinning gears falling into place at just the right time, God brings together all the partners needed to both translate His Word and share it creatively with a people group as soon as portions of Scripture become available in their language.
How does it work?
Well, it depends on the situation, but often it begins with an initial goal – like translating both the Gospel of Luke and the Jesus Film script simultaneously. Seeing and hearing Jesus for the first time is powerful. And having the book of Luke available in their own language provides local leaders with immediate discipleship material.
People are evangelized and discipled – a church is born.
Then, with their appetite for God awakened, a team of dedicated mother-tongue translators begins working with trained Bible scholars and translation consultants on a goal of translating more of God’s Word – making portions of Scripture available (in print, audio or story form – depending on the community’s needs) as soon as they are approved. All the while, the local community grows in ownership of the project because they are involved intimately in the work all along.
People are saved. Destinies of entire groups of people are changed. The Great Commission is served. All because someone prayed, and God was eager to answer.
This is how it works.
But it can’t work without you.
To learn more about the vital and dynamic prayer ministry of OneVerse, visit their website. Read a little about this group that labors daily so that the Great Commission might be fulfilled. Look around your house and count the number of Bibles you have in your home, and as you do, allow the Lord to pierce your heart with this great need. Then decide to “go ye therefore into all the world…”
Please consider signing up to be a prayer partner for the Vidunda Bible translation project happening through the prayers and efforts of OneVerse.
And watch this video showing the impact of the Gospel as the Gamo see the Jesus film for the first time.
* All statistics taken from The Seed Company.
