I was at work today and I got an email from Emily. It was a love note. From time to time we send each other quick love note emails, just a short sentence or a few words. If we want to emphasize the romantic aspect of the message we will send it in Italian. This particular message I received from Emily was in Italian:

“Amo la maniera lei mi tocca. amo la maniera lei mi tiene. amo la maniera lei mi bacia.”

Now, we don’t know Italian beyond a few names of pasta noodles, so we use online translation web sites to get the message across. I copied her email, opened up Google Translate, selected the correct language settings, and submitted the form. Here’s what came back:

“I love the way she touches me. I love the way she keeps me. I love the way she kisses me.”

I thought, “WHOA, that is not what I was expecting!” Apparently, somewhere from English to Italian and back to English, a slight adjustment to the personal pronouns occurred that resulted in a major adjustment in the meaning of the message. Either that or… never mind.

This got me thinking about how difficult it is to effectively communicate a message in a foreign language, and how hard it can be to understand a message written to you in a language you don’t understand, even with The Great Google on your side.

This why bible translation is so important. For over 200 million people today, the bible exists only in a language they don’t understand. The message is foreign and unclear because it hasn’t been translated into a language they know.

With a message this important, we can’t expect people to just guess through a barrier of language about what God is saying to them. When one word or even one letter can change the entire meaning of a sentence, we can’t just hope that they will figure it out. We need to be intentional about the accurate translation of the bible into the languages of people who don’t currently have it.

Because if we care about people, we will care about their ability to know God.

Or, from English, to Japanese, back to English:

“So we people, because they worry about the features that we know God.”

Great news: We have accepted an offer from a buyer to purchase our house! This is very exciting for us because we have been trying to sell for some time and are not able to move forward with our ministry plans with PBT until we do so.

Last week I received an email from a buyer who found our house on a FSBO web site that I submitted our information to last month. They came to see the house Sunday and sent us an offer the next day!

As anyone who has been on either end of a real estate deal knows, there is still a lot of work to do before we close, and there are a number of things that could prevent the sale from taking place.

There are two main contingencies that we need prayer for:

1. The house must appraise for at least $295,000
2. The buyer must be approved for financing

Thanks to everyone who has been praying and supporting us so far, we really appreciate it! We will keep you up to date as things progress.

Hoping for a sale this spring, we launched a marking blitz for our house including a price adjustment, postings on a number of commercial FSBO sites, and the launch of our own web site dedicated to providing details about the house: http://orchardhillhome.com

If you know anyone who is interested in a nice house in Milford, DE for a great price, be sure to point them to the site!

Here is an article that Emily wrote last year for The Throat. Although it’s a few months old now, it’s relevant since we are still waiting.

Psalm 25:4-5 “Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me. For You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day.”

One of the things that I have always known about my spiritual walk with the Lord is that I am willing to do whatever He leads me to do. He led me to go to college in Missouri for a degree in education, He led me to marry a man named Chris Vickio and He instilled in me a desire to do mission work in East Africa. All of these things I have gladly accepted because they are all used to further the kingdom. But never in my life have I contemplated the Lord leading me to wait.

In all of the previous decisions I have made in my life, I prayed about them, sought Godly counsel, prayed some more, and then acted upon my decision. When faced with the decision of my occupation, I decided that I wanted to serve God with my ability to teach. After seeking the answer as to what avenue to take to receive the needed education, I chose a school and then went. When faced with the decision of my life-long mate, God brought to me a man who loved the Lord and lived his life showing that. After prayer, wise counsel, and time with him and God, I married Chris. In both of the above scenarios, I was active in seeking the outcome and I thought it was going to be the same with my decision to become an overseas missionary.

After making the decision to devote my life to missionary work, things progressed quickly but then suddenly came to a halt when a roadblock entered the picture. The house my husband and I own has been on the market for a year but has not sold yet. My family, my church family, my husband and I have all been praying very hard but it is very clear the answer is to wait. At first, I was very confused. I have never had to wait on the Lord before. In all of my experiences, my prayers were answered and I was able to get to work. But, now I can not do anything but wait for God to make His move. But how am I supposed to do that? What does waiting on the Lord look like?

I have come to the conclusion that waiting on the Lord is a form of spiritual art. It is something that everyone must eventually face. Through my time of waiting, I have learned several things to help me stay focused and not get discouraged.

The first thing I realized is that I have to believe that God can handle anything. The Bible tells me so in Mark 10:27. It says, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” I have to know without a doubt that God is in control.

Second, I have to trust that God will take care of me. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him.” I have to have faith that He will work everything out for my good.

The third lesson I learned was that I can not waste my time while I wait. God may be calling me to overseas mission work in the near future, but what about today? What about right now? God may have me here for a purpose and what if I am so wrapped up in my own self that I miss it?

I have decided that I am no longer going to see waiting in a negative light. When I look at this through God’s eyes, the time spent waiting no longer appears bleak and unadventurous. There is still work to do, disciples to make, and the church to encourage. I can still glorify God while I wait and the Bible promises that if I do so, I will become strong. Isaiah 40:31 says, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

National Missionary Convention 2008

Here is our video report from the 2008 NMC in Tulsa, OK. We explain our adventures in actually getting to Tulsa, give an overview of what goes on at the convention, explore the exhibit hall, and then find some strange and interesting things around town. Check it out.

Convention Arena

We left home on November 20th, a chilly Thursday morning. Getting to the Baltimore Washington International Airport was a bit of an adventure in and of itself. After getting stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for a train, and then getting lost for a while after taking a detour, we very nearly missed our flight. We were running full speed through terminal B of BWI and made it to the gate just before they closed the door.

The National Missionary Convention has three main features: The main sessions, the workshops, and the exhibits. The theme this year was “Getting Your Hands Dirty”. The primary text was from Luke 4, especially verses 17 – 30, where Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah in a synagog in Nazareth. We really enjoyed hearing Mark Moore speak on this text during the main sessions Friday and Saturday. Other main session speakers included missionaries from all over the world with inspiring testimonies and stories.

We attended a number of workshops which included ideas on how to reach muslims, animists, and hindus for Christ, how one man’s water purification system is helping to bring the gospel to impoverished people groups, and how Bible translation and literacy work hand in hand to deliver God’s word to many people who are desperately in need of it.

There was a strong focus this year on reaching those who are suffering in physical poverty. One speaker pointed out that there are over 2,000 references to poverty in the Bible, and Jesus often spoke and dealt with those who were in these types of situations. Too often, we try to spiritualize these concepts, losing sight of their true meaning: We cannot truly show the compassion of Christ to people if we are not doing what we can to meet their physical needs.

The exhibit hall at the NMC is always a great place to meet up with old friends and learn about ministries that are happening all over the world. Walking through the exhibits we found many people we knew, which was both exciting and exhausting after a few hours.

Emily and the girls

A large group of students from Central Christian College of the Bible came to the convention, including my sister Sarah, Emily’s brother Daniel, and a friend of ours from Delaware, Bethany. It was great spending time with them, not having seen them for several months. We visited several great restaurants in Tulsa, and found a peculiar footbridge that the locals call the Center of the Universe. Who knew, the center of the universe was in Tulsa, Oklahoma?

Probably the most encouraging part of our trip was spending time with our PBT family. We hadn’t seen them since PMI in June, and although we are still getting to know everyone, we already feel a strong connection with them. It was great to know that so many people are praying for us and are looking forward to us selling our house and moving to Dallas for our training.

Overall, the convention was enlightening, encouraging, and exhausting. We are very glad that we were able to attend this year, and are more convinced than ever about the great need for people to go and bring the good news of the gospel of Christ to those who are in spiritual darkness, and about our decision to pursue full time ministry in his service and his kingdom!

Update: Check out our NMC 2008 video!

We are attending the National Missionary Convention again this year and are looking forward to the opportunity to meet up with missionaries from around the world and with many fellow PBTers who we haven’t seen since we were in Dallas earlier this summer. This year the convention is being held in Tulsa, OK, November 20th – 23rd. The theme is “Get Your Hands Dirty!”. The worship, sermons, and workshops are always a huge encouragement at the NMC, but probably the greatest part of all is the chance we have to fellowship with hundreds of Christians who have dedicated their lives to Christ’s service.

We’ll be posting the details of our trip, along with photos and hopefully some video, after we return.