A missions conference!Missions Conference Pictures!We went to a local missions conference—and it was very encouraging to have some like-minded fellowship with others who have a passion to reach the unreached. I would encourage you to take a look at some of these pictures, specifically the ones under the first picture that speak about the lack of Scripture in different languages (the one with the Reformers on it is the most helpful). Can you imagine not having Scripture in your own language? I would strongly encourage you to watch this quick video: State of the World Bibleless Stats link: youtu.be/WrHC7hXNoV8?si=wm33gF_tovxa8rLY It’s only 4 minutes! You probably can’t even read the rest of this blog in 4 minutes, so please check it out! It explains the heart behind why we want to pursue the unreached much better than I can. Missions - us currentlyThough this picture doesn’t describe us yet, we are doing all we can—doing whatever it takes—to get to a place where we can proclaim Christ where He is not named. Does Papua New Guinea sound fun to me? No. Doesn’t a dangerous, rainy-wet, mountainous climate sound appealing? Not at all—I love Phoenix! Does it matter? No! If anything, denying yourself and taking up your cross would imply that “living comfortably” isn’t what the Christian life is about. Rather, trials are to be welcomed with joy (James 1:2). That’s why…when we say that we can’t WAIT to get there…we mean we can’t wait to be able to fulfill the DIRE need that should be fulfilled by all Christians—Gospel proclamation to the ends of the earth. This doesn’t mean that we’re saying that everyone has to go to Papua New Guinea…there are plenty of other unreached people groups out there if you’d rather go somewhere else… Missions - around the worldIsn’t this picture incredible? It’s the living room of a close friend of mine. She wants her children to see unreached people groups every day, every time they go into the living room. This is what our homes should look like (and be practically)—launching pads to encourage all Christians to take missions seriously. The Christian life shouldn’t be comfortable, it should be convicting—constant prayer and action towards those who have never heard. If it doesn’t burden your conscience as a Christian to think about the thousands of people dying every day who don’t know Christ—and if that doesn’t drive you to tearful prayer and action—let me quote Spurgeon (so you can be mad at a dead guy and not at me): “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you're not saved yourself…” - Spurgeon Taliah!She has been growing so fast! I love being able to share more biblical truth with her as she grows, and I love to see how she learns! She is so interactive and willing to learn, which is truly an incredible gift! As you can see, she plays hard as Daniel studies in the background! So much to teach her before the mission field! Moriah!And I'm so glad Moriah can come along too! Though she's still so young, she's acting more and more like a little girl! It's so encouraging to have a little buddy to hold on to while I'm doing everyday things. I'm so blessed to have her as well! And hopefully she will remember less of America and more of the mission field! ;) Seminary highlightsHappy birthday, Daniel! Because of the date of Daniel’s birthday, he was able to have some time off seminary for his birthday due to Thanksgiving! That was refreshing…but short lived…because he has a sermon to preach in a couple of days! I can’t wait to share the audio for it! I’m so thankful that for Daniel, a good break is focused on what truly matters: missions! That’s what I want to focus on when I have breaks as well! My collegeThough I’m definitely thankful for a break as well, I have been particularly enjoying one of my classes this semester—one on the scientific origins of man. The class title makes it sound focused on Creation/evolution, but my favorite part of the class has been that the professor has taken a lot of time to address Western versus non-Western thinking. A major take-away is that the Bible is a very non-Western book! The Bible was translated into English, but it wasn’t originally written in English. That means it’s easy for American/Western thinking to creep into one’s understanding of Scripture, especially when one doesn’t consider the original languages of Scripture. We have so many resources here in the West to study the Bible, but I think one factor is often overlooked… …English is just one of the few languages that the Bible has been translated into… Ministry Highlight3,736 people groups DON’T have ANY of God’s Word in their language. 2,922 people groups only have SOME God’s Word in their language. Only 736 people groups have ALL of God’s Word in their language. 6,658 of the world’s 7,000 people groups don’t have all of Scripture in their language. This should shock everyone and drive them to action! That’s why, for this ministry highlight, I want to thank Wycliffe for caring (and doing the math on these numbers): Wycliffe Resources—Bible-less Statistics link: www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/ And encourage you to check out ministry to the unreached: Finisterre Mission link: www.finisterremission.org/ And here’s that link again from earlier: State of the World Bibleless Stats link: youtu.be/WrHC7hXNoV8?si=wm33gF_tovxa8rLY Prayer RequestsOur first prayer request is for missions, because it is definitely on our hearts constantly! Parenting is always a helpful request as well. Local evangelism is also very important, so prayers in that area are appreciated. And…education is difficult, especially when it can take so much time away from other equally important tasks! Thank you for your prayers. Don’t rest your head on your pillow tonight before figuring out what you’re going to do about these numbers! Please email us if you have interest in joining our mission, or if you have interest in supporting us: [email protected]
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AuthorsDaniel and Sarah Bruce desire to be missionaries to the unreached peoples of the world. Daniel is from Australia and Sarah is from Detroit, MI. They reside in Phoenix, AZ, where they are members at Shepherd's House Bible Church in Chandler, AZ. Archives
March 2024
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