discovering joy in the journey

Joy to the Heart

While in Panama City, Panama for the Kuna Scripture Dedication, we were blessed to be able to be present for a traditional evening Kuna worship service as well as a Sunday morning service held at a local Spanish/English church that several missionaries (including Keith and Wilma Forster) attend.   On this particular Sunday morning, a Kuna choir led in worship, the Forsters were honored, the completed Kuna Bible was celebrated, and a sermon was taught on ‘What the Bible Tells Us.’

Where would we be without God’s life giving Words as found in the Bible?  Would we be able to know who He is?  who we truly are?  that God loves us?  how we can love God?  how we can live to please Him?  and why we are here?  

The Bible reveals…

1) who God is.
     He is holy!

For this is what the high and lofty One says—
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
~Isaiah 57:15

2) who we are.
     We are sinners, separated from the Holy God.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
~ Romans 3:23

3) that God loves us. 
     God loves us and made a way, through the death and resurrection of His One and Only Son Jesus, for us to be reconciled to Him.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
~ 1 John 4:9-10

4) how we can love God.
     We can show we love God by obeying His commands.

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…
~ 1 John 5:3

5) how we can live to please Him.
      We can please Him by living in faith!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
~ Hebrews 11:6

6) why we are here.
     We were to created to glorify Christ!

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
~ Revelation 4:11

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
~ Colossians 1:16

One of the pastors emphasized…

Just having the Scriptures is not enough.  It is to be used.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
~ 2 Timothy 3:17

Yes, God’s Word is for LIFE.

But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in his name.
~ John 20:31

Won’t you journey with me to Panama City, Panama
to catch a glimpse of a Kuna worship service?

Watch your step as we’ll be traveling down a steep hill,

past closely lined homes with bright eyed youngsters peering out the windows,

through the voices of children,

beyond the gates,

amidst welcoming youth,

and into the church, ready to lift our voices alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ.

With one heart and voice, a unity in Christ Jesus, we worship the One True God together…

and hear His Word,

spoken in their heart language ~ Kuna.

In the middle of preaching on the importance of God’s Word, the electricity flickers out… but darkness does not deter this local pastor.

Light starts to shine forth…

Accompanied only by the lights from cell phones,
he continues to preach (adjusting the symbolism to fit the situation at hand)– ‘Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.’
(Scripture from Psalm 119:105, part of the Old Testament that has just recently been
translated, published, and dedicated for their people.)

Upon the end of the sermon, we are welcomed warmly by the body with hand shakes and hugs.
And the sweet, sweet Kuna greeting of “Bab be bendake”  – ‘God bless you.’
(You pronounce it somewhat like: bob bay ben dock ay.)

Then (while still surrounded by a physical darkness)
boxes that are filled with the completed Kuna Bibles

…are opened for the people.

May God’s Holy Word shine brightly in the hearts and minds of the Kuna.
May His Word truly be a lamp to their feet and a light for their path!
Praise God that the Kuna now have the entirety of God’s Word in their own heart language!

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Did you know that Kuna is only the 531st language group (of close to 7,000)  with the blessing and privilege of having access to both the Old and New Testaments?   This particular Kuna congregation is just one of many in the Panama City area.  There are approximately an additional thirty Kuna churches on the nearby San Blas islands.  Kuna pastors, leaders, and families now have access to ALL of God’s Word in their heart language!   We look forward to hearing how God’s Holy Spirit will continue to work through His Word in the lives of the Kuna people.

Why is it so important to translate Scripture into all of these languages?
https://www.wycliffe.org/about/why

Waiting …
   

no more!

… this is a historical day.
You’ve got the full counsel of God.

~Keith Forster (translator who worked on the Kuna Scriptures)

The Kuna people, along with translators Keith and Wilma Forster, recently celebrated the dedication of the entire Bible into their San Blas dialect.  Three Scripture dedications were held – two on the San Blas Islands and one in Panama City, Panama.  We were privileged to be able to attend the dedication celebration on the mainland with a handful of other stateside Wycliffe members and staff.

As I glanced around at the many Kuna in attendance, I noticed a large number of women and children.  Who could miss the women?  They were beautifully dressed in their lovely traditional clothing made with hues of red, yellow, orange, black, and white – some with their intricate handiwork ‘molas’ sewn on.  Many were also adorned with red head scarves and their delicately created bead bracelets on their arms and legs.  These were the mothers, grandmothers, (and future mothers) who would prepare the next generation to know Him. Women who, although live in another culture and speak a different language from me, are similar to me in that they now have all of God’s Word readily available to them to read, memorize, teach from, share, and pass on to their children!

I found myself praying for the women and children surrounding me – that they would take the precious gift they have been given and use it, that their children would witness the change in their lives, and grow up knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  (A prayer I’d pray for myself and other moms I know as well.)  Yes, the Kuna now have the full counsel of God.  May they (and we) pass it on to the next generation!

Here are a few highlights from the Bible Dedication.

The dedication began with worshipping Christ through singing! 
(We, surprisingly, recognized many of the tunes.  In Kuna, they sang ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’, ‘How Great Thou Art’, etc.)

Eagerness for the arrival and presentation of God’s Word…
(One Wycliffe attendee compared it to the anticipation felt by a groom awaiting to see his bride walk down the aisle.)

Silence being broken with the sounding of a shofar and Scripture carried forth…

Giving thanks to God and praying over His people and His Word…

Children reading from the Scriptures in the Kuna language!

The Kuna people now have access to  ALL of Scripture in their own heart language!

Praising God for the Work of His Hand… 

Keith and Wilma Forster
(Wycliffe missionaries who dedicated over 40 years in Panama
to revise an earlier New Testament translation and
to translate the Old Testament into the Kuna’s heart language!)

Keith’s thoughts on passing the torch to the Kuna and leaving it all in God’s powerful hands to work His Will…

… And I look around that crowd today and I see … the lives that have been touched and transformed by the Scriptures… And my prayer is ‘God, would You raise up sufficient leaders … shepherds to watch and minister to those flocks, to cause them to grow in Yourself, to keep them on track.’… My translation team – He who began a good work in them will complete it in their day.  You know, and that’s the big thing …The point is this – that God has raised up this thing. We’ve given them tools. We’ve given them the leadership… And so, we’re looking to God to carry it on.

Wilma’s reflections…

I think, today, for me, what was really amazing… When we first came here in 1971, the Kuna church was very, very small and there was only one of them. And as I looked around that huge group of people… just to see how God has been at work …it feels like the time has come for the Kuna church to just explode. 

Prayers of the Forsters as expressed in their update to partners:

Now the Kuna have God’s Word in its entirety. Please pray earnestly that the initial enthusiasm for the coming of the Word will not peter out. Pray that Kuna hearts will grow deep in their knowledge of the Word and of God’s claim on their lives.

Please continue to pray for the transforming power of the Word of God
in the lives of Kuna men, women, and children…

that pastors would use and handle Scripture correctly,
that hearts and minds would be changed,
that the next generation of Kuna would know Him,  
and that God would be glorified!