a heavy concern. Rolling out of my hammock, I climbed up a little moun tain overlooking the village. Since it was still dark, the moon was shining over the little huts and wav ing palm trees. How my heart ached for those people. There was no way to tell them of Christ. As I bowed my head in prayer an Indian boy came up quietly. He sat down beside me on the rock, perhaps thinking I had fallen to sleep. He didn’t know what prayer was. As I opened my eyes he started chattering in his mu sical language. Here he was, an open-hearted boy, friendly, willing and wanting to converse. I was un able to share with him the most wonderful message in all the world. I was further from the lad that day than if a mountain range, or the Pa cific Ocean had been placed between us. I beseeched God somehow to give me the language to be able to communicate His love. Yes, these language barriers are real. Praise the Lord, however, train ing is now available through linguis tic courses whereby any missionary, going anywhere in the world, can be able to converse with those among whom he seeks to work. With such preparation he can put God’s Word into the mother tongue of the peo ple, reduced to writing for the very first time. Make no mistake, Babel’s curse was never meant by God to keep men from hearing about Jesus Christ. The Lord plans and purposes to use the very languages as the means for His communication. This is why the Old Testament was given in Hebrew since it was directed to the Jewish people. The New Testa ment is in Greek since it was given first to the Greek-speaking world. When Christ did personal work on the road to Damascus, stopping Saul, He spoke to him in Aramic, his mother tongue. Languages are different which cre ates a real problem for us. Rather than bypass it, feeling somehow that
“His Word in their own language will be quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword." everybody should learn our lan guage, God fully intends that we should rather learn their languages. He, by His Spirit, will help us. His Word in their own languages will be quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. May He help us to finish this task in the time allowed to us. Page 9
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