Advanced Training for a Vital Component

                                                               by David Parker 

God is glorified through our earthly effort in the divine task of church planting, especially among the peoples of the earth who have yet to be served with the message of the Gospel.  It may have been Phillip, the deacon, who initiated the people offering to the LORD among Africa’s inhabitants (Isaiah 18:7 cf. Acts 8).  Yet history tells us that two of the reasons for the disappearance of the church in North Africa during the seventh century were due to the failure to train indigenous leaders and the failure to provide the people with the Scriptures in their own languages.  Therefore, we should not say that we have “planted a church” unless we have trained national leaders and left baptized believers with a copy of the Scriptures in their own language.  Bible translation is an essential element in the task of church planting among unreached peoples.  Bibleless peoples, an estimated one-fifth of the world’s population, are one of the last frontiers of missionary advance.  Bibleless peoples require the lifetime services of risk-taking, God-dependent, missionary-translator church planters.  How do these jealous-for-the-glory-of-God pioneers train to spend their lives in such significant, God-honoring labor?

It is no surprise that the primary place of preparation of missionary-translator church planters is the local church.  Among the first trainers of these future servants are pastors, Sunday school teachers, and ordinary members who are all following hard after God in their hearts, homes, and churches.  They distinguish themselves as a holy, healthy, assembly of believers in Christ dedicated to loving God, one another, and seeking the lost for the glory of God.  It is the nurturing of believers in such a heavenly incubator that fosters the holy desire “Here am I, send me!” from those in its midst.  Future missionaries long and learn to take their “first steps” by watching the walk of fervent Christians in the local church.  They learn all the basics, the fundamentals, in this setting.  They repeatedly observe and practice worship, witness, prayer, Bible study, faith, and giving.  The church is basic training, equipping the Christian soldier to live and speak the Gospel.  In addition to basic training, every soldier receives advanced training for the area of his future work.

What does the missionary-translator church planter need in the way of advanced training?  First, he needs cross-cultural (missionary) skills – he must be able to recognize and control the speech sounds present in various world languages, to be a self-directed learner of languages, to have the ability to develop coping strategies for encountering and enduring cultural differences in his new environment, to possess an understanding of various worldviews in order to discern how best to approach non-Westerners with the Gospel.  He must possess a knowledge and sensitivity to spiritual warfare as well as how to discern and confront spiritual beliefs and practices, and the ability to study the practices of a culture in order to comprehend the basis for a people’s motivation.  Second, the missionary-translator church planter needs Bible ministry skills.  He must be capable of diligently and accurately studying and delivering God’s word.  Regardless of other roles the missionary may hold, he is first and foremost, a teacher of God’s word.  He must be capable of defending truth and removing layers of lies through the patient process of teaching truth.  He must have a complete knowledge of how to equip an assembly of baptized believers for the organized observance of Jesus’ commands.  Finally, this worker must be trained in biblical languages, linguistics, and translation principles.  A study of the mechanics of language (linguistics) using unique examples of characteristics from various world languages prepares a translator to work with languages other than his first language.  This enables him to make sense of how other languages function by recognizing and working through complicated differences.  Instruction and practice in translation principles provide a basis for analyzing and solving unique translation challenges.  Knowledge of the biblical languages helps one better understand the cultural context of the Bible and allows one to observe well-practiced translation principles into English as an initial phase in learning translation principles.  As a people so soundly convinced concerning the quality of our own translation of the Bible, this assurance should motivate us to appreciate and understand how our English translation was done so that we may facilitate such excellence in providing a translation of the Bible for the 320 Bibleless peoples in China (and many others).  Not only did the Word become flesh, but the Word also became Greek and Hebrew sentences.  Accuracy in Bible translation requires knowledge of the biblical languages, and this takes years of intense labor. 

Some would say that this is too much work.  They would prefer it to be short and sweet.  I wonder how they would feel about having a personal physician who possessed the equivalent of an online diploma.  The task of translating truth demands the highest commitment in preparation.  God pronounces a curse upon those offering Him less than their best, regardless of how they may excuse it.  The great King’s glorious message deserves due diligence and excellent effort.  “But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Malachi 1:14). 

Where can the missionary-translator church planter receive advanced training for the last frontier?  Biblical School of World Evangelism 

David Parker