Wow, it's been quite a while since I've updated y'all!
First things first, I've decided not to do the Journeyman mission trip. The main reason behind this decision is that I really believe Bible Translation is an urgent need for millions of people and that while I would be doing ministry on a Journeyman trip, I would not really be working to become a Bible Translator for another couple of years, at least. Thus, in order to become qualified to work with Wycliffe, I've decided to continue on with my studies next year and pursue an MA in Linguistics and Biblical Languages at Biola in LA, or an MA in Linguistics at GIAL in Dallas.
Another reason I've decided to forgo this Journeyman is that my whole life, God has been showing me how to serve him, especially the last two years, He's revealed a lot about who I am, what my interests are, and how I can use those things for His Kingdom. In the last two years, He's given me a passion for language and communication. This passion for communication seems to affect everything I do: I study more languages, I read more books and articles about missiology, contextualization and communication, and I have a growing desire to use this knowledge to bring more people to Christ. Hence, Bible Translation! My goal is to see people become disciples of Christ, and to provide the Word of God for them as a guide. I know that translation sometimes gets a bad rep, but if everyone could look past their post-modernistic tendencies, I believe you truly know that although exhaustive communication is probably not possible, true communication is possible, and does happen. As DA Carson puts it, "an individual can 'fuse' his 'horizon of understanding' with [another's] 'horizon of understanding' in order to assure true understanding of the message, even though it may not be exhaustive understanding."
There's a whole world of studying that I have to do before I'm ready to be a Bible Translator, but I'm already practicing; I've translated James, Colossians, First John, a good section of John, a good section of Romans and I'm currently translating 1 Peter from Greek into English. It's difficult, and I have much to learn, but I'm so encouraged by God's movement.
Pray that I will let God lead me.
Pray that God will draw to himself new disciples as a result of my work.
Pray that God will continue to drive my passion for communication and that I will remain focused on the vision that He has placed on my heart and in my mind.
First things first, I've decided not to do the Journeyman mission trip. The main reason behind this decision is that I really believe Bible Translation is an urgent need for millions of people and that while I would be doing ministry on a Journeyman trip, I would not really be working to become a Bible Translator for another couple of years, at least. Thus, in order to become qualified to work with Wycliffe, I've decided to continue on with my studies next year and pursue an MA in Linguistics and Biblical Languages at Biola in LA, or an MA in Linguistics at GIAL in Dallas.
Another reason I've decided to forgo this Journeyman is that my whole life, God has been showing me how to serve him, especially the last two years, He's revealed a lot about who I am, what my interests are, and how I can use those things for His Kingdom. In the last two years, He's given me a passion for language and communication. This passion for communication seems to affect everything I do: I study more languages, I read more books and articles about missiology, contextualization and communication, and I have a growing desire to use this knowledge to bring more people to Christ. Hence, Bible Translation! My goal is to see people become disciples of Christ, and to provide the Word of God for them as a guide. I know that translation sometimes gets a bad rep, but if everyone could look past their post-modernistic tendencies, I believe you truly know that although exhaustive communication is probably not possible, true communication is possible, and does happen. As DA Carson puts it, "an individual can 'fuse' his 'horizon of understanding' with [another's] 'horizon of understanding' in order to assure true understanding of the message, even though it may not be exhaustive understanding."
There's a whole world of studying that I have to do before I'm ready to be a Bible Translator, but I'm already practicing; I've translated James, Colossians, First John, a good section of John, a good section of Romans and I'm currently translating 1 Peter from Greek into English. It's difficult, and I have much to learn, but I'm so encouraged by God's movement.
Pray that I will let God lead me.
Pray that God will draw to himself new disciples as a result of my work.
Pray that God will continue to drive my passion for communication and that I will remain focused on the vision that He has placed on my heart and in my mind.
