What happens when a person dies? As any Kono person will tell you, when someone dies, there is the problem of blood. Not the blood of the person who passed away, but a blood sacrifice that is needed to ensure that the soul of the deceased will, indeed, make it to God....
It was Friday afternoon at the end of a long week. The air was deadly calm, so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the seven of us sat in a tiny room in a village house in Papua New Guinea. Every day, from early morning until late afternoon and even some evenings,...
We didn't know what was going on, really, but just decided we should get in line because that's what everyone else was doing, and deep down, no one really wants to look out of place, right? The smiling faces and the beat of the drums let us know that this was a happy...
The Kawah people of West Africa have a proverb: “The elder knows a roasted peanut.” Though I don’t pretend to understand all this proverb’s nuances, I can tell you a couple of things about it. First, the Kawah people LOVE roasted peanuts! (So do I!) Peanuts play an...
An old man stormed in, and his angry words tumbled out. My husband and I were still new in this community and only…
A chicken is just a chicken until it becomes a symbol of God’s transforming work in the hearts of His people.…
He had only a few verses of Scripture. One of them spoke powerfully and convincingly to him.…
The first Scripture in the Kinyamulenge language — the Gospel of Luke — was published earlier this year. The homeland of this people group is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many have fled the area to escape ongoing civil war. Please join in praising God for...
He sat forward in his chair, elbows propped on his knees, chin resting on clasped hands, eyes glued to the Jesus Film. As Robert listened to the words of Jesus in his heart language, the emotions welling up inside him converged into a single tear that trickled down...
A Bible in his own language had been Victor’s prayer for 39 years. Now this prayer was beginning to be answered.…
Translating God’s Word for an African People Group — but not in Africa “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” The leper’s faith-filled plea hung in the air as the translation team wrestled with how to convey his words in Kinyamulenge. We had been working...
“Empowering others” has become quite a buzzword in missions circles. Missionaries nowadays are trained not to be the solutions to problems but rather to be catalysts for local solutions and local problem solvers. I acceded to this orientation during my training mostly...