|
|
electronic epistle
|
Feb
2008
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
When was the last time you heard (or preached) a
missions message? For the average church, a missions message is
like a "Hillbilly" bath - they do it at least once a
year whether they need it or not.
If you want to change this, there are two great books on
this subject (in addition to the Bible): The Challenge of
Missions by Oswald J. Smith and Missionary Messages by
A.B. Simpson.
Of course, the best idea would be to plan a working
vacation this year to the field to visit and help some of your
church's missionaries. This kind of involvement goes a
long way toward increasing understanding and
passion.
|
|
 Moravian Missions
by
David Parker
From
the very first, the Moravians recognized that the evangelization of
the world was the most pressing of all the obligations that
rested upon the Christian Church, and that the carrying out of
this obligation was the "common affair" of the community.
From 1732 to 1930, they sent out nearly 3,000 missionaries, the
proportion of missionaries to their communicant membership being one
in twelve. Between the years of 1732 to 1760 alone (just
28 years), the Moravian missionaries entered ten foreign countries at
a rate of about 226 per year.
How
about their sending versus seating capacity? The ratio of
Moravian missionaries on the field compared to the number back home
in the church was three missionaries on the field for every one
church member back home!
If
we were to compare the number of Moravian mission projects to that of
the Protestants and the Anglicans, we would discover that the
Moravians had started more mission works within twenty years of the
incipience of their missionary program than the Protestants and
Anglicans had after two-hundred years!
This
reminds us of the expression, "They passed us like we were
standing still!" Why? Because they thought it was
the most important task they could engage in as a church and
they believed it to be the responsibility of every
Christian. Our beliefs affect our behavior too.
|
|
 Bible Translation & Linguistics
"That's
good enough" is not good enough!
What does a
top-notch, training program include for Bible
translators? At a minimum, fifty (50) hours of
specialized training - twenty-one semester hours in linguistics
and thirty semester hours in biblical languages.
Specialized Training
|
|
"Perhaps
the greatest injustice of our time, is not the rampant shedding of
innocent blood, nor the ever increasing abundance of material excess
in parts of the world more fortunate while so many sink under the
weight of poverty and oppression, nor even the countless numbers of
human lives being stamped out of earthly existence with each passing
minute having not yet heard the knowledge of their loving Savior.
No,
perhaps the greatest injustice in all of mankind is that so many of
those who have professed to being eternally set free see all these
things and care so little to do anything about it."
-
(unknown)
|
|
|
|
|
"If
everyone is thinking alike, then somebody
isn't thinking."
-
George S. Patton Jr.
|
|
|
|
Who Is He?
|
|
Ed
Loving has spent his entire adult life in Bible translation and
missions. If you think he could teach you something about Bible
translation, come and see!
April Modular Course
|
|
|
