Author: David M. Hare

I was very passionate in seminary about Bible translation. I loved the NASB, which was so wooden and formal, I could feel the foreign grammar bleeding through the page. I remember having debates in classes about how we should translate certain words and passages. My passion was, however, poorly disguised ignorance. I had never really tried to translate the Bible and at that stage would have done a terrible job. At the time, I tended to talk about words and their meanings in an English-centric way. So, when studying Greek I would say, “The word ανθρωπος means ‘man’.” It made…

A couple of Sundays ago, I was made aware of two churches that lost their lead pastors to disqualifying sin. In my travels around the US the last few months, I have heard story after story of church leaders failing in major ways. These church scandals have lead to heartbreak, division, and in some cases the dissolution of entire churches. As I have been visiting churches, I have seen some that have responded well to these challenges and there are a few observations I have made that I would like to share. There are no heroes There is a common…

What kinds of things keep you up at night? I (Stacey) can tell you the kinds of questions that keep me awake, such as: How can we help new Kwakum believers have hope in a culture is so filled with death, fighting, and misery? What do we do about a new believer who is living in immorality and yet can’t feasibly separate from her boyfriend without causing World War 3 with him and his family? And what about their children? What do we do with the new believers who get caught up in violent fits of rage and chase people…

Sometimes culture differences between Cameroon and the US can be pretty shocking. In Cameroon, for instance, and I am not even joking…children respect their elders. I know, it’s a bit hard to believe. This means that when adults are talking, children are seen and not heard. Though I am certain when youth get together they sometimes badmouth their parents, you would never see it in public. This attitude of respect carries over to authorities for adults as well. When the president of the Kwakum language committee arrives to any meeting, people stand. They offer him the seat of honor. Again,…

We often hear comments from friends and supporters that they wish their children could come and visit us in Cameroon for a time. What they mean is that their kids have been expressing attitudes of ingratitude or entitlement and they believe that some time spent in an African village will help them to see how much they have to be thankful for. We all chuckle, and sigh, with the recognition that we are not going to fly a child to Cameroon just for an attitude check. However, whether these parents know it or not, there is a greater problem with…

Dave was interviewed this last week for a podcast and also preached at The Mount Church in Clemson, SC. You can listen to them at the below links: PODCAST: Around the King’s Table Pastors George and Brian of The Mount Church in Clemson sit down with Dave Hare to discuss translation and ministry in advance of Missions Week at The Mount. SERMON: Habakkuk: Global Missions with Dave Hare Dave preached a sermon which describes our ministry in Cameroon, and also traces through major themes in the Book of Habakkuk.

We wanted to give you an update of what is going on with us in the States and also what has been going on in Cameroon. In the US We have been tremendously encouraged by the mature believers all over the US and all by all the common grace that is here. Yes, it has been an adjustment, but adjusting to new environments is nothing new. We traveled throughout the US this summer and to date have done over fifteen presentations about our ministry in Cameroon, one of which was even written up in a local newspaper. We have been…

There is a major principle in the world of translation: “You cannot translate something you do not understand.” What this means for our project is that before we can even attempt translating a passage into Kwakum, we have to make sure we understand it ourselves. As our team has wrestled through various passages, there have been many times in which the Kwakum translators have posed this question to me: “Why would God do that?” Let me give you a couple illustrations. The first one comes up right away: “Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and…

The Hare family will soon be in the US. We are going to spend June 2022 – June 2023 headquartered in Louisville, KY. However, we will also be touring throughout the US in order to see you! Accomplished this term This has been a busy term! We have now been in the village for this term for almost 4 full years. In that time we… …developed a writing system which is now accepted and used by the language community, …wrote literacy primers and teacher’s manuals in order to teach the Kwakum how to read and write their language, …trained Kwakum…

World Team recently produced a new video demonstrating some foundational principles of our ministry in many countries. Check it out!