There’s a lot that you can do with $25… you can go to the movies (barely), you can grab a quick bite to eat, get the newest best seller, OR you can translate a verse of scripture into a unreached language. Even an easier question… Which of these will reap for you eternal dividends in heaven?
And that’s what I challenged our church congregation with last year and boy did they rise to the call. While studying the Gospel of John as a whole church, which we called “The Gospel of Love,” we decided to do more with this great book than just individually dig into it. In addition, we decided to share it around the world.
That’s what Jesus challenges us to do, right? Love your neighbor and go into all the world and share the gospel? I don’t know any greater way to show love than by sharing and showing Jesus, so we took the Gospel of Love and put it into action.
But it didn’t stop there! We found a third language and translated the book of John for them. In Southeast Asia there is a region known as the Golden Triangle. It is one of the largest opium-producing regions of the world and my stars do they need to hear about Jesus too! And then we told some other churches about it, and they told some more, and now we’ve seen over 500 churches do similar translation projects for unreached people groups.
And not only did we see Annobon and Rowba and the Golden Triangle affected but our church family was changed as well. People were excited to have such a tangible way to be a part of the Great Commission. This verse translation project bridged that gap between our very reached church and the unreached around the world, and it ignited a desire and passion to continue reaching out.
And it was so simple. All it took was $25 to sponsor a verse, and immediately we were a part of something greater than ourselves. In fact, it was probably some of the best $25 I’ve ever spent.
So, since the Lord was able to accomplish all of this here at Horizon, in really no time at all, I’m challenging you with these three steps to see how He would do something similar through you and your ministry:
- Find a region of the world that’s never read the Bible and translate it for them. I know it seems like a lot, but that’s because it is. You are doing something that will impact people for eternity, and that’s a big deal! But the project itself, that part is pretty simple.
- Invite another church or ministry to do this with you. If you join us, and then get someone else to join you, and if we really do this together, we are going to see Jesus’ name proclaimed in every corner of this earth.
- Don’t let a project like this go to waste among your church congregation. While there is eternal value in it for those receiving the Gospel for the first time, there is an equal share for the people who are sending it. Let this ignite a passion in them for reaching the unreached.
Written by Bob Botsford
