Bible Blog

“I would have died of trauma. Or if not that, I would have divorced my husband and continued living in sins. My depression was deep… but then the Spirit of God touched me during the listening program.”

Joanna sat amongst her friends inside the brick-walled Togolese church. She clutched a Bible to her chest and reminisced.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. – 1 John 1:3

You are able to read this blog. Maybe you read your Bible this morning, or a newspaper, or magazine. Maybe you read them all online via apps. You read texts sent to you from loved ones. You read emails at work. You might have ‘liked’ a Facebook post you recently read. In your daily life, reading plays a big role in how you communicate, process information, and relate to the world around you.

Perhaps you’ve heard the catch phrase: “I love it when a plan comes together.” Sometimes just doing the right thing at the right time makes all the pieces fall into place. But when you’re talking about producing a New Testament translation in a language that has never been written down, it’s really not that simple.

I was boarding a plane in the U.S. on April 24th for a 3-week trip through Asia, when I – like you perhaps – started hearing reports of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. This caught my attention as I was scheduled to be there 5 days later, after a brief stop in Thailand. Quickly, though, my mind changed to the Nepali people and our relationships with many ministry organizations, mostly based in Kathmandu. My heart was drawn to them and I wanted to continue my . . .

Just as in the days of Esther, a type of Haman has risen up and is destroying all those who will not bow down and denounce God – and especially His Christ. In Esther’s time, the Persian kingdom had become a dangerous place for Jews. But God put her where He did to accomplish His purpose and bring glory to Himself. Esther’s uncle Mordecai had communicated this to her: “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).