The Difference of One

Tonight I listened to the movie “Beyond the Next Mountain” while I worked at typesetting the Tagalog/English New Testament. At several points, I stopped and watched. I’ve seen it before, but it’s a good reminder of the sacrifices made. It also affected me as greatly tonight as it did the first time I saw it.

I cried again when Rochunga held the completed translation close to his heart, like the great treasure it is. It represented so many years of study, work, and sacrifice.

I laughed aloud when Rochunga found the old missionary that first brought them the gospel so many years ago and told him of over 100 churches planted because of his labors. I loved the wonder on his face as he learned what God had continued to do in those mountains after he was deported.

I laughed and cried together when they hauled those boxes of Bibles up the mountain and saw the Word of God in their own language for the first time. I sobbed when Rochunga’s dad held his Bible close and knelt on the mountain, worshiping God.

One man defied men and took the Gospel to a remote people, living with them and teaching them until he was forced out. One man stayed faithful and taught his son to be faithful, even through the hardest times. One man sacrificed years of his life to learn and to translate God’s Word into his own language.

So often we think in the flesh. We see only what is before us right now, failing to see that God can take the feeble efforts of one person (or a handful of people) and start a great work.

This story is also very convicting. How often do I let fatigue or distractions come between me and this work God has given to me? Someone else (or many other people) has already sacrificed so much to get God’s Word into their language. I need to be more diligent, more faithful in my portion of the work. I need to spend more time finishing these typesetting projects so the work that has been sacrificed for can be printed and sent to those who need it most.

What has God given you to do? What corner of His field has he sent you to labor in? Let’s be faithful at it, trusting the Lord of the harvest to do great things.