After completing the translation of the New Testament for the G-People Group, there was a carefully crafted outreach plan in a highly sensitive village for a free food feast for everyone.
This feast had two purposes:
The first, was to genuinely feed and serve the entire community, and the second was to engage as many villagers as possible in conversations to discern if any of their hearts were open to hearing the gospel.
Among the crowd was an elderly woman, in her late 70’s, sitting politely at a table. One of our team members approached her, and she responded with warmth and kindness. After a few minutes the conversation was intentionally shifted to spiritual matters, our team member asked if she had ever heard of the Bible and the person of Jesus Christ.
The woman explained that she spoke just her native G-people group language and the only Bible she had ever heard about in her entire lifetime was in a Han language, which she couldn’t read or understand. Sensing her openness and spiritual hunger, we quickly gave her one of our handheld Audio Bible players, which contained our recently finished New Testament in her native G-people group language. As she began to listen, tears streamed down her face-it was the first time in her 70 years of life that she had ever heard about Jesus in her own language and she understood completely.
In that moment, Psalms 119:130 was coming to life: “The entrance of his Word gives light.” After listening a while longer, she stopped and said, “I truly understand everything now. Jesus is very very kind.”
Our team member, then gently explained that Jesus loved her personally, and that through his sacrifice, her sins could be forgiven. That day she prayed and accepted Jesus as her Savior. It was 70 years of darkness lifted in a single moment by the power of God’s translated word into the mother tongue.
God‘s Word was demonstrating its ability and capacity to reach the unreached.
The Spirit of God once again encouraged all of us that the risks and the challenges taken to translate the Word of God in dangerous places in order to reach those who have never heard, IS FULLY WORTH IT!!
* Photo is not of the actual person and the names of people groups are withheld for protection and security purposes.