"The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue."

A couple of years ago, I came upon this saying by William Cameron Townsend.  I have many examples to illustrate this, from which I've chosen two to share with you.

During the last six years of the translation of the New Testament, I worked with a local person who asked many questions and made many comments during the course of our work.  Quite early in our partnership in the project, this person, impressed with the Person of Jesus, questioned the necessity for Him to have died.  I explained to the best of my ability, but my helper felt that God could have found another way to deal with the problem of sin.

We carried on with the translation work and near the end of the project we were working on 2 Corinthians.  In due course we reached chapter 5 vs. 21: "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."  This is by no means a straightforward verse to translate, but we got through it with relative ease and I was sitting there writing down our translation while my helper was sitting quietly on the other side of the table, obviously deep in thought.  And then came the words that have been imprinted on my memory ever since: "So that is why He had to die."

I felt myself go cold and stopped writing in order to fully take in the significance of what I'd just heard.  It was as though the six years between the initial question and the answer had simply fallen away, as though we had had the discussion the day before.  The amazing thing was that God had used His Word and not the easierst of verses at that, to finally bring about understanding of a very profound truth.

Before I share the second example, some very brief backgfound information that took place in a couple of the other independent islands is in order.  During the 1980's we had contact with a pleasant young guy whom I'll call Adam.  He was a great help over the years he worked for successive colleagues.  He eventually married and started a family.  In the midst of all of this, one of these employers faithfully did Bible studies with him, and the day came when he accepted the Lord.  His Bible studieds continued, and Adam has been growing in his faith and Christian walk.

This brings me to news I heard a week ago.  Adam's teenage son who attends secondary school on a different island, was visiting his parents during the holidays when he discovered his father's New Testament.  He was profoundly touched by what he read in it, repeatedly saying: "This is absolutely wonderful".  After the holidays he returned to school...and Adam hasn't been able to find his New Testament ever since!

It's true that the Bible in the mother tongue is the greatest missionary.  We also see that as the Scriptures exhort us, "It is required of a servant that he be found faithful".  A string of people were involved over many years in getting that New Testament into a lad's hands and each one simply had to do his part, however small, in order for God ultimately to fulfil His purpose.

By Lilian H.