In July, we sold our house, put all we own into storage, and set out on an adventure as a family.
We just crossed mile 9,500 and our 20th State line in three months.
We’re traveling the country, making new friends, visiting old ones, starting churches, and building a lot of memories along the way.
We’re having the time of our lives!
As we travel, we’re building relationships to further international missions to unreached people groups. I was super excited by our experience in Albuquerque last week with Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH). Let me tell you a little about this incredible group…
Faith Comes By Hearing assists the creation of church planting movements in several hundred people groups around the world. They pioneer movements through their innovative approach to translating the Bible into audio forms. These small, portable audio Bibles are particularly valuable for use in high security regions. They have audio New Testaments available in over 700 languages. Wow.
Why is translating the Bible in audio form so important?
50% of people in the world are functionally illiterate. The best way to bring the gospel to people from “Oral Cultures” is to bring the word of God in the oral forms of learning they already use. They learn God’s word by hearing it – and faith comes by hearing!
Imagine – You enter a new village and start conversations with some people. You inquire who would be willing to host you and hear the stories you tell as you travel. Later that night, you gather over a meal, listen to a couple stories about Jesus in their native language, then discuss them together. As Jesus instructed in Luke 10, you demonstrate God’s kingdom by praying for anyone who is sick in their home. A new group begins to form that is the basis for a simple church plant in an unreached people group.
Groups that gather to listen and obey Jesus together — that’s the basis for church planting movements.
The “Mini Proclaimer” is one of their tools I’ve used. Here, kids listen to the Bible on the Mini Proclaimer in the street. The mini-proclaimer is solar-powered so it can be taken anywhere. A messenger (missionary) teaches them to gather with their friends and family to listen to God’s word. As the listening group grows, the messenger visits them again. As people come to faith in Jesus, the messenger helps the listening group grow into a house church that spreads the gospel in their village.
We partnered with FCBH to equip two different church planting teams with Mini Proclaimers for two different language groups in a restricted country in Central Asia recently. I’m excited to work with them on other mission projects in the future!
Get their Bible.is app for your smartphone. You can access Bible translations in over 700 languages for use with your international friends. I’ve already been using it on my iPhone! How cool to think that God can use a smart phone app to plant churches!
Here we are in the “Mission Control” center of FCBH. They track in real time the number of smartphone downloads and streaming audio happening in different languages around the world. I got goosebumps seeing groups in the Middle East gathered together to listen to Jesus’ teachings. Amazing.
We shared great fellowship time with Jerry (pictured here) and his wife Annette, founders of FCBH. Their journey to the nations first started by working among the Hopi and Navaho Indians. This was very similar to our story of launching simple churches on university campuses from Haskell University. From the First Nations to all nations!
I spoke to the FCBH staff. God is raising up a new generation of student missionaries to go to unreached people groups.
Ethan and our other children try on the “missions backpack.” This backpack contains tools and resources to hike into hard-to-reach areas to present the gospel.
Traveling with our kids brings us so much joy. We’re having the time of our lives!
More stories to come…
Erik
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