A Land of Spiritual Desolation
Sometimes silence masks the most capable souls. Jim, who works for one of JAARS partner organizations, discovered this truth during a ten-day workshop in South Asia as he trained participants to build websites and apps that promote the use of Scripture. One of the participants, Grace, attended with her husband, Pavan.
About Grace, Jim says, “She was very quiet for most of the workshop. Her husband talked and asked questions.” Thus, Jim assumed that Grace played a supportive role and wasn’t learning to be a website manager. When he went to their table to answer a question, though, he realized he was wrong. “Grace was very capable, acknowledging my instruction and showing her husband the correct way to do something.” Jim knew that sometimes wives came to support their husbands at these website-building workshops. But this time, he realized the husband had come to support his wife.
In the area of this South Asian country where Grace and her husband live, temperatures can soar over 110⁰ F in the summer, killing vegetation. But this physical barrenness in no way measures up to the spiritual desolation in Grace and Pavan’s community.
At the end of the workshop, Jim spoke with the couple. “They impressed me with their commitment to the Bible translation movement and their community.” The couple had lived in their community, which isn’t an easy place to live, for only a few years. When Jim asked Grace about their church and the community of believers in their area, Grace didn’t understand.
Jim reworded his question, “How many churches are in your community?”
Grace understood and answered, “None. We are the only believers in our community.”
Jim was taken aback. He had heard of people being the only Christians in their area, but had never met any.
Grace and Pavan had attended the workshop to create a cultural website. They hoped to encourage speakers of the language in their community to use it and planned to introduce translated Scripture on the website when it’s ready.
Grace asked Jim to pray for them as they minister in this spiritually desolate place. Jim readily agreed. His vision for Grace and Pavan’s community is that “in twenty years children will run around quoting God’s Word in their language and adults will participate in Bible studies.”
Will you join us in praying that God would fulfill this vision for Grace and Pavan’s community through the Scriptures in their own language?
Learn more here about ways God is using JAARS media projects and partners to spread his Word to the most remote, spiritually desolate places in the world.
