Volume 20, Issue 03
St. Augustine Evangelical Bible Church, Cor. Agostini & Bellesmythe Sts. Curepe
Editorial
A Breath of Fresh Air
We used to say in Trinidad long ago 'good things not cheap, cheap things not good'. However, we must not confuse cheap and free. Some things are free but are very costly and quite invaluable.
Maybe this true story in 'Our Daily Bread' can help: 'When Tee Unn came down with a rare autoimmune disease that weakened all his muscles and nearly killed him, he realized that being able to breathe was a gift. For more than a week, a machine had to pump air into his lungs every few seconds, which was a painful part of his treatment.
‘Tee Unn made a miraculous recovery, and today he reminds himself not to complain about life’s challenges. “I’ll just take a deep breath,” he says, “and thank God I can.” '
Even the air that we breathe in every moment of the day for free and which we can take for granted is irreplaceable. When persons have difficulty breathing or are unable to breathe without the help of an expensive oxygen machine, then they recognise how precious air is.
We are approaching the time on the Christian calendar when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Maybe it's a good time to remind ourselves that what God the Father and His Son gave to us was free but was certainly not cheap. It cost the Father the life of His Son. The greatest, deepest and purest of human love can never come close to the quality of love that God the Father and Son have had for each other for all eternity.
Yet God was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son on the cross. How it must have pained the Father to see His Son pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. Look at Isaiah 53:4-6: ‘Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.'
And what about Jesus Christ? John Stott puts it so vividly: ‘He referred to his coming ordeal as a ‘cup’ from which he shrank in dread. Was it simply death? Socrates met his end in the prison cell in Athens in a very different mood. He drank his cup of hemlock, Plato wrote, ‘without trembling … very cheerfully and quietly.’ So was Socrates braver than Jesus? No, all the evidence is against this. Jesus ’s physical and moral courage had not for a moment wavered. In that case their cups must have been filled with different poisons. The cup that Jesus ardently longed to avoid was neither the physical pain of crucifixion … but the spiritual horror of bearing the sins of the world.’
Can we imagine how distressed Jesus must have felt on the cross when for the first time the harmony of His relationship with His Father was shattered. The spine-tingling “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” says it all! We are freely offered salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus. May we never take it for granted.
How easy it is to focus on things we need or want, and forget that sometimes the smallest things in life can be the greatest miracles. In Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 37: 1-14, God showed the prophet that only He could give life to dry bones. Even after tendons, flesh, and skin had appeared, as verse 8 notes: ‘there was no breath in them’. It was only when God gave them breath that they could live again. That vision should remind us that anything we have, big or small, is useless unless God gives us breath.
This Easter season and always, how about all of us thanking God for the simplest blessings in life today? Amid the daily struggle, let’s stop occasionally to take a deep breath, and as Psalm 150:6 says: ‘let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. And how about pausing to express our thanks to God for the two biggest events in history: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Because of them salvation is free but definitely not cheap!
Missions
A Sacred Responsibility
Ethnos360 Caribbean
God’s Word, translated into and printed in the heart language of a people, serves as a visual reminder to those people that God desires to communicate with them and that He does so through His written Word.
“This whole 20-plus years that I worked on it, I felt overwhelmed much of the time, and it felt like it was never going to end. But now, on this very week that I am writing this, the first printing of the Bru New Testament, including portions of the Old Testament, is actually in our hands!”
AUTHORITY OF THE WORD
The Word of God is central to the existence and identity of Ethnos360 and our Global Partners. Our first core value states, “We value the Word of God as our final authority.” We hold it to be “the sole foundation for faith and practice of all believers.” Furthermore, God’s Word is central to our focus of church planting. God communicates with His people today through the written Word that He has given us. Our Handbook for Global Partner Bible Translators, developed over the years, emphasizes, “It must be the conviction of all our church planters that we cannot establish New Testament churches without the written Word of God.” As Ethnos360 missionaries teach, they ought always to remain cognizant that “the authority of our teaching is derived only from the written Word of God.” God’s Word, translated into and printed in the heart language of a people, serves as a visual reminder to those people that God desires to communicate with them and that He does so through His written Word. Our translator’s handbook further emphasizes, “When no Scripture base exists in the language where a church is to be planted, Bible translation then becomes a life-giving essential, a fundamental part of the church planting process.” In fact, as we determine where best to send missionaries, we give the highest level of priority to people groups who do not have God’s Word accessible to them in their heart language. And as churches mature, it is our desire that they too will know the importance and authority of God’s Word for them. We seek to impart this principle from the very first.
DID THE BRU PEOPLE NEED A TRANSLATION?
Clark and Mary A began their ministry among the Bru people of Southeast Asia Mainland in 1989. “Initially, there was some question of whether or not they even needed a translation,” Clark said. Early in their ministry, the Bru people were using the national language Bible. Was it necessary to invest all the years of work translating the Scriptures into the Bru language? Among the Bru people, there was a high level of literacy in the national language. However, the nature of the national translation combined with the culture of the Bru answered that question. Though the answer is multifaceted, it was clear that a translation of the Scriptures into the Bru language was necessary.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD TRANSLATION?
Ethnos360 and our Global Partners hold that a good Bible translation must “accurately convey the meaning of the original text being translated” and “will be in the language actually spoken by those for whom the translation is intended.” When translation is done well, the reader “will be able to comprehend the same meaning as the original audience did.”
PROGRESS IN BRU
Circumstances left the A family as the only missionaries to the Bru people. With Clark both translating the Scriptures and teaching the Bru people, progress was significantly impeded. How would the work ever be accomplished? Mary wondered. Clark asked Mary to take on the role of translator. “This was not the answer I was looking for,” Mary said. Homeschooling their children and having a full plate already, she didn’t know how she could accomplish such a mammoth job! Nevertheless, Mary accepted the responsibility. “There was many a time when I realized that this task was way beyond my ability.” During those times, Mary was thankful for the translation teammate God had given her in her husband. “I believe God has given Clark a real gift in seeing the Word unfold and make clear sense.” Clark flagged translation decisions for review, and together they worked through them. Additionally, Clark did the content checking —ensuring that all the pieces of a verse were there and that nothing extra had been added.
THE TRANSLATION PROCESS
Every verse that is translated goes through numerous steps. These steps can be divided into three sections: exegesis, transfer and testing. Exegesis, again referencing our handbook for translators, is discovering the meaning of the text. Transfer is exactly what it sounds like, transferring the passage into the receptor language (the language being translated into). Transfer may be what you think of as translation, but it is only one part of translation. Testing is ensuring that the content matches that of the original and determining that it is understandable.
TRANSLATION CHECKING
Even after all of these steps have been completed, the translation is not yet done. It is said to be “ready to be consultant checked.” What is translation consultant checking? Bob Clark describes it as “quality control for Bible translation.” Bob has translated the New Testament into the Tugutil language of Asia Pacific and now serves as a translation consultant, assisting translators around the world. He states that consultants strive to ensure that the translation is clear, accurate and natural. Bob expanded on those concepts. First, consulting ensures that “the translator has indeed communicated in the receptor language what they believe they have communicated to the native speakers.” Second, “the translated text is an accurate reflection of the original source text.” And third, “the translated text uses grammar, vocabulary and idioms that are natural-sounding to the native speakers.” When the translation is ready to be consultant checked, the missionary would first “back translate” the passage. That is, they translate the passage back from the receptor language into, in this case, English for the consultant to evaluate. “That English version is what we would send to our consultants,” Mary said. “They would look through that and make comments based on that. ‘Why did you say this here?’ or ‘I feel like you didn’t quite get this part of the verse here.’ We would correct those types of things even before [the consultants arrived on site.] And that was very comforting, knowing that there was another set of eyes looking out for what’s missing, what’s added.” At this point, Bob traveled to the A family’s loca[1]tion to complete the translation check. “But this time, Bob would ask me to read a para[1]graph. I would read that to my helper, and then my helper would, in her own words, give it back, just
What's On
This Month
Registration details for TRIUMPH Registration closes on 15th March, 2024. Down-payment/Registration Fee (non-refundable) - $100. Please click on the Registration Form below https://forms.gle/gKsWqs1wfvi5i84DA Community Bible Study has just started a new course of study: Red Sea to the Jordan River (based on the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers). Israel's wilderness wanderings after their deliverance from Egypt teaches us about growing in faith. We meet on ZOOM each Wednesday from 6.00 to 7.00pm. Contact Joe Caterson 680-0242) or Sean Lorde (322-8434) for more information. _______________________________________________________________________________ World Hope Bible Institute Session 5 at Victory Heights March 22-24, 2024 Topics: Biblical Worship plus Missiology and Evangelism $600 per student - Food, Accommodation and Training SAEBC will meet half the cost if you provide proof of attendance. |
Prayer & Praises
Let’s Pray Without Ceasing
Our students who are preparing for exams- SEA, CSEC, CAPE, Tertiary
Let us pray that they don’t feel stressed or overwhelmed, and their studying methods are effectively and efficiently suited for them.
Let us also remember the teachers who would be correcting their papers.
For the leadership of this church as our Pastor Francis added on an additional leadership role as the AEBC President, as we have a newly elected deacon, and an elder, treasures and deaconess returning to their post along with the other members of the Board maintaining their positions. Let us pray for God’s steady hand on their lives and mind, his calmness, patience and peace around them as they guide us through 2024.
God’s continued provision and protection for each and every member of SAEBC, missionaries and missionary organizations around the world.
Let’s Give Thanks
For the persons that volunteered to and were elected to serve for 2024 in the various positions of Elder, Deacon, Deaconess, Treasure & the Benevolent Committee.
God’s grace, peace, mercy and for his keeping and healing nature as He took us through the various challenges we’ve encountered thus far and those still ahead.
Upcoming
Preaching Schedule
Theme
Mankind in Need of Service
DATES | SPEAKER | TOPIC |
Theme: | Service as a Lifestyle – Following the Example of Jesus | |
MAR 03 | Elder Lindon Mitchell TBD | TBD Communion Service |
MAR 10 | Lindsay Gibbings | In His Teaching Ministry |
MAR 17 | Elder Joe Caterson Jr. Martin Hughes | In His Healing and Deliverance Ministry Speaker at RLMI at Campo |
MAR 24 | Sonnel Patrick | In His Healing and Deliverance Ministry |
MAR 31 | Elder Lindon Mitchell TBD | TBD Communion Service |
TIMES | SERVICE |
9:00 AM | Sunday Service |
10:00 AM | Sunday Junior Church |
11:30 AM | Sunday School |
6:00 PM | Wednesday CBSI |
7:15 PM | Wednesday Prayer Meeting |
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