Faith Comes By Hearing

Jesus asks us to go and share the message of his love with others. That command is exciting because once you experience God's love you can't help but share it with others. It is hard to keep such a wonderful love a secret. Last year when we were in Poipet, we were able to share about Jesus through an interpreter. While our interpreters were skilled, I couldn't help but wonder if our message was getting across as intended. I know from experience that sometimes a meaning can get lost in translation, and some words may translate in ways not intended.

For example, back in the summer of 1990 I was studying abroad in Russia. Our group went to the beach to enjoy an afternoon of swimming in the sea. As Americans are oft to do, a few of our guys were playfully shouting "Whee" each time they jumped out of the water. This seemed to be causing quite a stir among the Russians on the beach. Finally, one of our Russian friends, who was laughing hysterically, pulled us all aside and explained that "whee" in Russian was a vulgar term for a body part. Utterly embarrassed, we never uttered "whee" again.

And I tell this story, because I wish that I spoke the Khmer language so I could tell the Cambodians about Jesus in their own language without any possibility of misinterpretation or translation mishaps. Thankfully there is an organization called Faith Comes By Hearing that translates the New Testament into different languages so people can hear about Jesus in their native tongue. And thankfully for us they have given us two listening devices preloaded with the New Testament in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. These devices are perfect for the Soldier Camp because it is estimated that almost 50% of the individuals there are illiterate. The device called a Proclaimer is battery run and rechargeable by sunlight. The volume is loud enough to accommodate a group of 300.

Faith Comes By Hearing is working hard to translate the Bible into 2,000 languages by 2016. To learn more about this incredible organization go to http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/what-we-do