Category: Encouragements and Exhortations

The death of John Allen Chau in India has brought out an onslaught of internet hatred. While some of this hatred has been aimed at the methodology of this particular missionary, much of it has been against Christian missionaries in general. And as much as I would like to imagine that these comments represent only those who are not believers, I fear that such thinking has also invaded the church. So, I thought I would address some of the accusations… 1. Missionaries are not wanted. In the surprisingly not so distant past, Europeans still had control over Cameroon (where we…

My day began by watching my deceased neighbor be buried in his front yard. My day ended by watching another neighbor beat a little boy violently. It has not taken long for us to remember that death and violence are a part of everyday life here in the village. And there is a part of me that asks the question: Is it ever okay to put my headphones in to drown out the constant strain of yelling that surrounds our home? Is it okay for me to look the other way while a grown man beats a whimpering child? Is…

As we have been saying goodbye to friends and family, people have been asking us how we feel about going back to Cameroon. In the midst of trying to see how much we can shove into suitcases and eating as much ice-cream as we can, there are three main feelings that keep coming to the surface: Dread, Trust, and Resolve. Dread We know that we are soldiers going back into war. Our war is not one involving guns or tanks but instead we battle and against the spiritual forces of evil that have held the Bakoum people for generations. We…

My fear for you is not that you will fail, but that you will succeed in doing the wrong things. Dr. Howard Hendricks (to his students) As we approach missions there are so many different options. Just in Cameroon we know missionaries that work as: doctors, nurses, church planters, educators, agricultural specialists, librarians, linguists, and even a couple that are starting gyms. If you read this blog, you know that Stacey and I are working as Bible translators and most of our time so far has been invested in learning and analyzing the Kwakum language. In all that we do,…

Stacey and I got to know a very kind missionary when we first went to Cameroon on a vision trip. He allowed us to stay with him while we were in the capital, spent hours talking to us about his plans, and helped us a lot with our paperwork. As I got to know Shawn I learned that he had some learning disabilities. It took him a bit longer to get through college than average. But he finished. Somewhere along the way he decided to pursue the life of a missionary, leaving behind his family and their family business. It…

In the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia, there is a great battle between those Narnians who follow Aslan and those Calormenes who follow a god named Tash. Aslan (a great lion, who we first encountered as he created Narnia by singing it into existence) is a thinly veiled image of Christ. Tash is a horrid bird like creature that smells of death, and could symbolize any number of false gods. An ape and a donkey joined together with a tisroc (a leader of the Calormene people) and claim that Aslan and Tash are actually the same god. Of…

The miraculous cannot be brought about through human striving or effort. The sacredness of preaching the Gospel both within the context of missions and of parenting is nothing short of asking God to take a pile of dry bones and make them into an army of committed soldiers. The Teachings of Missionary to China, John Nevius John Nevius, born in New York in 1829, was a missionary to China who spoke out against the missions methodologies of his day. At that time, missionaries were employing national Chinese helpers to go out and preach the Gospel in order to reach as…

At the end of the 18th century in England, an impoverished shoemaker started reading a book called The Last Voyage of Captain Cook. This book catalogued the exotic adventures of sailor and explorer Captain Cook and caused young William Carey’s mind to drift outside the borders of his native land. This book “became a revelation of human need.” The “savages” that were referenced in the book “were now seen as God’s creatures and in need of a Sovereign’s mercies” (13).* Carey then looked to the Scriptures and saw that the Sovereign’s mercies were poured out on the lost of the…

We have now been back in the US for over 10 months. Traveling around, talking about Bible translation, we occasionally get asked the question, “Why not just teach the people French?” I have asked this question myself. If the people could read French well, it would open them up to a wealth of resources: multiple translations, commentaries, sermons, and pastoral training materials. And Stacey has a great article examining some reasons HERE. But along that line, I was recommended a book called The Finish Line, by Bob Creson, the current President of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Before arriving in this current position, he…

We just finished up another whirlwind round of classes. The last two months have been filled with late nights, neglected emails, and hours spent pouring over Bakoum folktales and the Word of God. The Lord has once again proved faithful to help us wade through technical linguistic information, figuring out how to exegete the passage about Melchizedek and how to deal with squabbling second graders. The Lord’s faithfulness, plus all the incredible things we learned this semester causes the excitement to overshadow the fatigue. Here are a couple highlights: Exploiting the Polygamous “god” for the Glory of JesusDave and I…