“God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.”
Let’s imagine that your family and close friends have a passing acquaintance with the message of Jesus, and some might even be believers, but they want to know more. They’re hungry for God’s Word, but it doesn’t exist in their language. How far would you go, and what sacrifices would you make to get it into their language?
That’s the situation of the Zamora* people, living deep in the jungles of South America, a situation Pastor Basil* is determined to correct. Pastor Basil leads a church-centric translation team in a closed country in South America, working to make God’s Word accessible to the least reached. He had arranged a Church-Centric Bible Translation workshop for the Zamora, no small feat, but that was the easy part. The challenge was to get everyone to the centralized training location, along with food and supplies to last a week.
Americans take travel for granted. Super-highways and jumbo jets are just part of our world. Convenience stores full of every item a traveler needs line the roads and concourses, not so in the jungles of South America. Rivers are the highways, few roads penetrate the forest, and drug cartels and anti-government guerillas endanger travelers. The Bible translation team must load boats to the maximum, carrying enough supplies to last for weeks when they travel. People travel for days just to cover fifty miles. Even so, the Zamora are willing. They loaded up and launched, expecting to meet Pastor Basil in a small village several hours’ journey from where they live. But he was beginning to wonder if he could even get there.
Meanwhile, in Pastor Basil’s community, workers on strike blocked all the exits with buses, trucks, and other barriers, angrily demanding more pay. Moreover, since the government strongly opposes Bible translation work, negotiating their way out wasn’t on the table. City leaders might have gotten wind of where they were going. Pastor Basil and the team loaded up the vehicle anyway and began trying to find their way, praying, “God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.” Just then, a fellow believer texted, “Take the dirt road through District B. No blockade there.” But District B is a high-crime area. They trusted God, took the road, and it led them out of the town.
The risks they run and the price they pay to make God’s Word accessible to their people make these church-centric Bible translators our heroes at unfoldingWord. We trust you share our admiration. We thank you for praying and partnering with us to equip them for the task.