Translating The Gospel

Back to the program the speaker Rosenberger will blow that you with this hope for the caregiver.calm 41 years ago this month. I met two very special people. We were all freshman at Columbia Bible College in Columbus, South Carolina note: Columbia International University that John and Cindy Hampshire moved on to have an amazing ministerial career emissions with Wycliffe Bible translators and they are in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I get that right John, that's right with your indulgence. I'd like to depart a little bit from our caregiving scenarios and caregiver issues and talk about missions, global missions and one of the reason I am John Cindy on a day is when people ask me a lot. What do you do Vanessa William Byrd of Wycliffe Bible translators. I said yeah and I said well I can do that for caregivers to help them understand the gospel in a way that caregivers can process it in. John and Cindy have been a model for me because that's what they do with Wycliffe Bible translators are that well thought of just always making comparisons.

What I'm the real deal on here so set up resume call and it's great to be able to see you guys and have you on the program and John after all these years. Other than the white.

Here you really haven't changed very much. You look great and it's just a treat to have you both here at taxpayer expense of drawing you and I appreciate the invitation to share with you today. Cindy and I had been with Wycliffe for about 34 years that we drawing Wycliffe Bible translators right after Bible college and how the Lord led us to the Democratic Republic of the Congo what was then Zaire just because I hear that that through a series of insecurities and Marist change the name in the 90s, and we work in the Congo and that we have a deep joy to be here are desire really is to see lives transformed by an understanding of God's word and we recognize that there are many many languages here in the Congo people speak French since people speak Swahili in their Bibles and French hundred Bibles and slightly but until they really have God's word in the language of their hearts, their mother tongues they don't really have a deep understanding of Scripture and so that's why were here were here to help them have those scriptures in their heart, languages, and their mother tongues.

When you show up on the field to do this. What does that look like you walk us through because this is this is a huge journey to be able to translate scriptures like this and what was that look like would show up on the mission field when we showed up 30 years ago in the Congo in 1992 things left a little differently. For us, then there were different fat. One family worked in one language project in could be there for the life of the language project they had to analyze language, figure out how it works because language wasn't written down. Designed is not written down since got to figure out what letters they're going to use in their alphabet there orthography and that before we can ever start translating and then restarting the translation that was 30 years ago these days all of the Bible translation work that's being done here in the Congo is being done by Congolese and we are coming alongside and training them and equipping them and providing computers for them and searching for funds for them in prayer support and so really were were as supporting our Congolese brothers and sisters in the work that they're doing are 200 languages in the Congo just in our country. 200 languages and right now are working about 50 of those languages at various stages some of those are still developing the language in writing it down.

Others are into Bible translation. Others are doing literacy work, or combination of Bible translation and literacy work to teach the people to read and write. We also do audio recordings so that people can have the Scriptures available on their smart phones and they can listen to them because we recognize that not everybody is going to learn to read and write, but people can listen to the Scriptures in their heart languages and self yeah it's a huge task before us, but we work with our Congolese brothers and sisters in partnership with them in the churches and that's how things are getting done here in Rome to size was how big is the Congo. It give me perspective like in the United States. How big would the condo fit well if you take the continental United States. The Congo is as big as United States east of the Mississippi River. So if you take the Mississippi River cut the country. The Congo would fit in the eastern part everything east of the Mississippi River. That's how big the Congo is most of rainforest so where we used to live in in a village location.

It rained 11 months of the year because we live in the rainforest we don't live in that location now or in the town that's a little more temperate than buds. The Congo is a vast country and big country with very little road very little infrastructure. There's a lot of issues and security issues here and that's been like that for decades, and so many challenges to the worker but we've got really committed Congolese brothers and sisters, Congolese Christians were really committed to the task just as much as we are and really want to see God's word available in their heart languages do you ever find yourself in a place where you just don't feel secure that we get your you been in very dangerous situations. We have been in very dangerous situations. We better leave the country but should always tell people the safest place for us to be is in the center of God's will. That doesn't mean an absence of danger or an absence of death even know we could lose our lives, but I define safety differently. Safety to me is knowing you are, where God wants you and nothing's going to happen to you that he doesn't know about.

And he doesn't allow and so were safe or safe in his will. He wants us here can be a dangerous place. We just rely on him for our welfare and that we trust.

We trust his plan for our lives in us a message that I've been talking to this audience about is learning that we can be safe and free and even joyful in the midst of very harsh circumstances you would Cindy have had that journey. What was it like would you guys had to evacuate.

You had your kids over there.

You went with the kids looked at you.

You looked at them. You look to Cindy what was it like for you to have to do evacuate to flee because it was dangerous. Yeah, lots of questions came up. God, what are you doing you know we've got to leave the country that we thought you were sending us to questions and concerns and and a sense of loss of the ministry because we had to go to Kenya for 12 years and lived there while while was insecure here and yet you know you just have to keep trusting in the Lord and in his plan be allowed to work here to continue and in some ways it because the Congolese brothers and sisters to take up more responsibility and more ownership of the work when the ex-pats had to leave and so yeah it's a scary time was our time.

We lost we literally lost everything we owned here, but to God. Provided he's just a Jehovah gyrus you provided everything we need through friends and churches and supporters send and we never lacked for anything. And so it could be a scary time but you know when you when we trusted God he just he was there with us every step of the way all the Congolese people have you found them to be very receptive to you through this process. They are in fact we are. This is very open country.

It's not like some of the closed countries where work is going on were missions. Missions work is going on the freight open.

Here we are invited in by the churches to help them do the Bible translation work so work here at their invitation, we find the Congolese people overall are very friendly, very receptive, very hospitable, very personable and and so we just have them were welcomed here and we have a lot of friends here what we worked and gone and still do it over there.

We found a lot of the same things that they were very receptive.

We work with the government to teach and train with prosthetics and we found that I have not. I've had people reach out from Congo to do process that we haven't had an infrastructure there, but I have one now because of you and so hopefully we can work that out. I have treated patients from Kenya. We had our first patient from Kenya this year. I got to brush up on my Swahili Lucy, if I do okay with that Zuni about a Gotti when he is what is not an 11 day that's about all I get. That's all it just puts them how many languages do you speak all of our business at the offices in French so we speak French and that because French is the official language of the country being a former Belgian colony, but then Cindy and I also speak slightly. We find a lot of our our workers.

The guards staff at the office and will speak French that well they prefer Swahili so we use Swahili with them. We speak French and Congolese Swahili you all you children speak the same function. Swahili null because of Arboles that grew up in other were both born in Kenya and lived there until we moved back to the states are grasping some French and they know a little bit of Swahili but they speak more French and I are are one daughter lived in France and worked as an old path for a year and so boat both are in Burundi as well so that our daughter speaks French well I remember you being a lot better student than I was. John and Cindy was a lot better suited the both of us put together.

I got annoyed by the skin of my teeth and on Cindy's coattails I graduated.

Thank you Lottie that but I had not from club United league in their several years into it and get a degree in music, but cherish what time I wish I wish I did a little bit better student while I was there. And because we had the benefit we would benefit from some great teachers that we we did, and you may wish that you are better student Peter but I appreciated your music ministry at Columbia. I remember going into the shortest capital and it being dark in there and you just being there playing the piano and and it was, you know, from time to time and at that was real ministry to me to see the joy in your in your life playing the piano before no crowded all in the dark shortest capital auditorium so I think a lot of good came out of Columbia despite ourselves. This built up telling on it and thank you for remembering that about playing the piano there. I love those times it a beautiful 9 foot Steinway there in the chapel.

So enjoy being able to go there and played I have to know shortest speaks. Thank you for that memory of talking with my friends John and Cindy Hampshire. Their missionaries with Wycliffe Bible translators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cindy's not on camera but I know she's listening and she'll chime in if I say something goofy was sitting always had to sit by each other in class when they had any type of attendance because her maiden name was Rainsford Urso. I got to know Cindy quite well. I think you two started dating the first week of school for speaking met each other and you're such a wonderful couple. You inspire me, encourage me strengthen my faith. Know your strength in this audience. Faith is what we talk about this today is Peter Rosenberger. This is hopefully good and what PVA bag is Peter Rosenberger standing with hope, which is the presenting sponsor of hope for the caregiver. We do prosthetics for amputees over in West Africa we been working with Donna for years 2005. This is Gracie's vision. After losing both of her legs and we help them buy a lot of material for the prosthetic clinics in exchange we get to share the gospel with individuals and be able to present the gospel, not only with the patients but their families in the community and even the nation.

We've done national interviews with many of their public officials including the VP and the US ambassador to Ghana, but PVA bags polyvinyl alcohol bags are used in the lamination process to make the sockets that we bank the brand-new the custom for on-site and we purchase them in Donna, but now the route we need to get some more sleep makes more legs.

We also need resin were always buying resin because that's one of the critical items in these acrylic resin sockets that we make that will recycle the prosthetic limbs. They come from all over the country to a prison run by core civic down in Arizona and inmates volunteer to disassemble divorce we can recycle the knees defeat the policy screws adapters to clients all that Stuff with some things we have to purchase PVA bags and resin are two of those items that need to be regular purchase. Would you help us out with it please. Standing with hope.com/giving stained with hope.com/giving. Be a part of giving the gift that keeps on walking steady with hope.com/giving thanks much like to hope for the caregiver this program you as a family care caregiver.com were talking with John Hampshire. He's over the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Wycliffe Bible translators. He and his wife Cindy have known for a long time knew when they first started dating I have admired their work from a distance had been negligent to have them on the program and I'm trying to right a wrong now and have them here because I think what they're doing is so important, and it's also very personally meaningful to me. I've modeled a lot of what I do for the family caregiver after their work, John. I do read your stuff by the way I do pay attention to what you do, don't tell anybody. And what I've done is I've understood that I've had to immerse myself in this world and then I've had to learn the heart issues that go on with the caregiver before I could even speak to fellow caregivers. I had to do this and with Bible translated you don't just show up to people you never met before start translate the Bible to their language.

You got to spend time with you to understand their history, their culture, what's going on in their heart to be able to explain it, but you have to also be walking with the Lord in such a way that you can get insights into this from Scripture John.

What has surprised you the most about going into a culture that you Udo stepping out stepping off the plane and literally going into a culture like this and your your entrusted with the word of God to speak to these people be that's that's got to be a tremendous responsibility and and I know it almost can't make the thought of it makes my knees quiver little bit to think about the responsibility of that what goes on in your heart, your mind with that. Now that's a that's a great question and it makes me need to be vulnerable for a second. Yeah it's it's an important task and a significant ministry, but I discovered 30 years ago when we first arrived here, I think I was ready to do the Bible translation work. I was trained at four years of Bible college I had a year of linguistics and translation training and that phonology and all of that kind of training but I didn't really have a love for the Congolese people at that point I know that the you not just automatically start loving people you work with. At least that's what I found and I had to pray Lord just give me a real love in a real start for these people, so that what I'm doing is genuine and is something that I want to do and something that I will be significant for these people, not just because it's a job work for me to do because I love them, and because the Lord is asked me to come here. These commissioned me basically to come here and do this, and God did that God gave me a love for the Congolese people and that Cindy has a love for the Congolese people as well and so we discovered that you can have all let me say I personally discovered you can have all the training and all the know how but if your heart really is and in it, it's really tough.

And the Lord gave me a love for these people. We just have so much joy to be here and that they're friends of ours did not just you know a ministry, but these are genuine close friends that were working with. When we some year do leave here, it will be tough. It will be tough to leave our friends because of God's given us a love for them.

You and Cindy been married now 38 years, 30, 37 years 37, which we just had our 36th anniversary this last week and you know your whole life is been spent in this journey. What is that done for the two of you all that you've you've been in the place where you've had to cut a lean on each other in ways that maybe a lot of couples don't don't have to experience Cindy, you're welcome to weigh in on this by the way, I'm coming early IN asking her to come and weigh in on it. I think the Lord, you know, draws us closer to each other every year and to him you know Cindy is my best friend and has been since I met her and that in this we discovered in this ministry. Yet you know it's really it's really good to be friends because you spent a lot of time together. And the Lord is just you know and drawing us closer to each other and to him you know through the 37 years that we've been married. They sound cheesy but it's it's really no doesn't it doesn't subject. Some people say no way can they work it out with her husband or the wife we are together all the time we work together so even the coming thing everybody had to stay in my to stay with in close quarters. All we do that all the time anyway was a big deal for us because we do work very closely with one another in. We are grateful that we can do that that we've had that these years and so we are team. We do a lot to get even our letters that we write and send out. We do that as a team we had to spend time apart. We did spend 31 or two days in separate countries this summer. Ironic part of the plan part not and so we do not we do have some time department were grateful that Verity that you teach a lot as well as trays ever you preaching you, teaching you what it what is an average day look like for you we were trained to be translators, linguists and literacy workers, and we did actually that for a very short amount of time and I was drawn into administration. So I started what I've been an administration on the branch director and I done various admin jobs over the years, but right now the branch director Cindy is our bookkeeper, so she works with numbers all day long is a finance person and he was administered the both of us are. I do recall that very well. She must training and mentoring Congolese people to do bookkeeping work and that work working with financial reports and things like that. I'm also mentoring Congolese in various aspects of leadership and administration, and so we do we do consider ourselves teachers, trainers, mentors, we both really have admin jobs and have for a long time. There a lot of folks right now that are Udo searching out what God would have them do for their lives and as they think about the mission field. A lot of change on the mission field from when you guys started to where you are now we we could even do a have this kind of conversation many years ago when you first started but what would you will you first thought she would share with anybody this considering mission work like what you do weathers Bible translated weather's medical missions or whatever. What are some thoughts that you would offer them. I think I would say I would say this Peter when when I was a Bible college and we had a chapel speaker who challenged us to be ready to follow God, to obey God. Any time anywhere in any capacity or anyplace and that's the most important thing.

Once you make that decision to follow you, God. Whenever you tell me to go weathers today, tomorrow or next year or more to stay here, I'm going to follow you anywhere. So even if it's to a country like Zaire back in the 90s that was in bad shape and I'm going to do whatever you want me to do and if you come to that decision and really make that commitment and everything else just sort of falls in the place you know I've seen people make a list of pros and cons of pros and cons of coming to work in the Congo.

This is all the things that are foregoing their. These are all the things that are against going there and on the way those things out what you can do that. I guess that I think really the key is just being open and obedient to God's leading, very simple message trust and obey the message that your Cindy and I try to follow for years is very simple. It sounds simplistic but it's really very profound. If you trust God and obey him.

Then you'll think he leads and guides and he he opens doors and closes doors and he tells you where he wants you to be doing a whole series of things. Every Tom, do one of the programs and I do 25 hymns of every Christian ought to know because I we've gotten away from the him so much in our churches course you were spoiled and we got to sit in their chapel with a thousand people singing full throated of you and Cindy of course traveled with the choir and so forth and we miss that a lot and that's a may have to step over here to the caregiver keyboard but I love that him in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do his good will not be abides with the still and with all who will trust and obey it with all who trust electricity baby is no other way to be having to trust and obey. That is message but it's really profound due to the Congolese people like to sing these hymns.

They do, there's a there's a Congolese style of music as well and sometimes they put these hymns to that style of music, but they do this in reducing some of the old hymns. They also sing praise songs Congolese are great musicians love to sing, love to dance when they sing, they don't stand still when they sing and that there there very musical people. I'm mentally try to picture you dancing with them yet. I don't have so much so sure that's a visual unprepared for John and with a seeing what it in their own language. You don't is there is a great passion for these things when they when they do these. Yes, it takes all different demeanor when they're saying in our language and our songs. They write songs for their own languages and then they develop in books and we've had him but sprinted of script of songs that they've written in their mother tongues there a lot different than when they sing the friends list like you. Let me make it into the French in a slightly songs to when they sing in their mother tongue. It's all new ballgame, you know, have witnessed that in Ghana. When we got over there in West Africa many times and it's so beautiful to see the exuberance of the worship listen to it without the encumbrance of Western-style just to watch just to observe and I think it's a picture of how we are all called to be able to worship Christ we can worship him in spirit and truth, and for me as a caregiver, and for this audience.

One of things I try to do is help us to understand what it's like to do this in our own language, you know, as caregivers in the midst of our heartache to express ourselves to be able to have that freedom without the encumbrance of what other people think we might do and it's a get up another picture of the greater body of Christ that John you and Cindy continue to inspire me to understand you just bring these wonderful illustrations so I thank you for that up to John and Cindy have sure they are with Wycliffe Bible translators in the Democratic Republic of Congo that more to go for more segment here and I want to ask a few more questions. Well I got in this Peter Rosenberger will be right back up. He Rosenberger many years ago when my wife Grace became a AA PT. She sold the importance of quality prosthetics. He saw the importance of the support team and people that could help her regain her life after losing both legs. She had this vision of creating an organization that would help others do the very same thing while pointing them to Christ and for more than 17 years we been doing just that we purchase supplies. We send equipment and we train recent teams over to West Africa would be working with the country of Ghana. Several clinics over there now and each week more people walk because of Gracie's vision 2011. We watched the new program outreach to family caregivers.

Drawing on my mail 36+ years is gracious caregiver through medical nightmare for insights have learned all of it the hard way to fellow caregivers to help them stay strong and healthy will take care of some is not. You would be part of this go out to stand without.com/giving stayed with the calm/giving more steady without reaching the wound and those steady without.com/giving. We murdered comparable one Cindy one of the 25,000. Every Christian on Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. The lady looked to that came to Bailey Crosby to get this working on the text for and as the story goes 15 minutes later. This licensure talking with my longtime friends John and Cindy Hampshire. They are with Wycliffe Bible translators, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the reason I want to spend some time with them today is to for twofold really because I really enjoy what they do enjoy the work of the ministry and I also want to introduce them to you all into explore what's going on around the world with Christians in the kingdom of God how we can draw strength from the stories of others. Sometimes as caregivers we come of good luck to her own little bubbles that I want to be able to expand our horizons a bit and see what's going on only worldwide level. A global level to the kingdom of God. John not too long go I would always watch a lot of documentaries. I like to watch them in. I watch the documentary on John Wycliffe and I was struck by all that was happening during the Reformation. When we had such biblical illiteracy. It's astonishing to know that John Wycliffe's body with his exhumed the boundary exhumed 38 years after he died and they were burst his bones burned guess that is the Udall story. Guess of the river because they were so angry with him for translating the Bible and I look at today's world and one of things that I think is really heartbreaking is that we have so much available available to us on our smart phones and yet biblical illiteracy is still a massive problem. Where's we have it, but were not process to get into our hearts. You are there every day doing this and you been doing it for your entire career talk little bit about the word of God as it is, you translated and ended the look when you see people understand the concept that you've explained now in their language.

They could see it and read it inherent in their language.

Talk about what that does to you and and and the passion you have for this and and Wycliffe in general. Yeah, okay. The when we see people and we have seen people here Scriptures for the first time in their language.

I can give you an example.

Cindy and I when we worked in translation, when we first got to Africa in the early 90s. The first translation that we did was Luke chapter 2 because it was right before Christmas and we wanted to have this available to us during the Christmas season and for the Christmas service. Send remember that during the Christmas Christmas day they had a church service and several of us will read portions from Luke chapter 2 Cindy, I probably butchered, which are the language the T demo language, but people understood and when they started to understand when a minute this is an Francis in Swahili. This is this is my language. It was like the lightbulb lightbulb went on they could. They had an understanding of it that they have never had before and had these huge smiles on their faces and their whole demeanor changed because of their understanding Scripture that they've read many times. Further, the story of the birth of Christ. Many times read in French or Swahili when they heard it in their own language like Jesus speaks their language to and in fact he speaks all 7000 languages that are spoken in the world and that's just amazing. It's astounding.

Biblical illiteracy is a big problem here in the Congo as well and it's it's lower here, and even if we translated Scripture help the Congolese have translated Scripture, even if it was just for the church leaders and pastors to have it so they can use it when they preach. It would be worth it.

But in fact, when we do translate Scriptures one of the first things we do is put it in audio form. We work with partners other partners who do this we put it in audio form recorded so that they can have it on their smart phones because Congolese no matter how poor they are. Many of them will have a smart phone and they can have Scriptures in their language on their phones that they can listen to and and so were trying to combat that biblical illiteracy in several different ways and I think were finding success with that because were seeing people for the first time hearing Scripture in their own language and having a new understanding what is a biblical concept, you know, things like covenant and atonement of things like that.

One is a biblical concept that really seems to more than the others resonate with the people that you're reaching that the first thing that comes to my mind would be grace.

We know a lot of people whose names are Grace so it's an important thing names are important here. We know will be named grace. Yes you do and we have men and women whose names are Grace and it's an important concept here you hear a lot of messages about God's grace and I think it's because people see that there is such depravity in this country such moral failure on every level, and yet God's grace can reach anyone, and that your from the from the lowest functionary right up to the president. God's grace is powerful and can reach people so that's one concept. By the way you're describing America to buy the way, I just like I am certain that we are here in the Democratic Republic of Congo and not their second understand that I can understand having us one of the concepts in Scripture that people talk about a lot that resonates with them and it reaches them to know that there is a God's grace is deep and powerful.

You don't. If you ever play that song by Andre Crouch, the blood will never lose its power was to build a caregiver keyboard here. I know this is the highest mountain close to the lowest valley love that song never loses power. There's no segment when you said that because that is this a beautiful concept that that the human soul. The matter what country do matter what language you speak to that race because I think we built to understand grace through the power of the Holy Spirit will be here at a particular here in our own language to realize that grace is there for me Mercy there was graded grace was free.

That's got to be deeply meaningful to you and Cindy both to see that the looks of the face light up.

Tell a little bit more about Wycliffe what the organization about its history and then how people can get in touch with you okay yeah Wycliffe's been around since the mid-1930s, about 80 years. I think I heard Cindy correct you yeah that is not in that happens from time to time.

Wycliffe's been around for 80 years according to my wife know over the years we've evolved our ways of working. They've evolved and they've changed and I Wycliffe now is working many many countries around the world as a whole.

Global boycott global alliance Wycliffe organizations in many of those countries, including the DRC, the Congo where we work.

Our goal really is working in partnership with other organizations with churches with whoever wants to work with us to see the Scriptures in local languages and another big push of ours is training and equipping local citizens. Not that we want to work ourselves out of a job. We feel like God wants us here so we still want to be here. We want to work with them and we want to pass on our skills and they actually pass on their skills as well as kind of a reciprocal thing so really training and equipping Congolese do the work and they're doing most of the translation work that's taking place here so those are some of the changes over the years, and Wycliffe.

If people want to get in touch with you was the best way to do that if they want to send a email if they want to be a part of sponsoring you guys and supporting what you do. What's the best way for them to do that.

Probably the easiest thing is to go to Wycliffe.org and you can search for missionaries and you can search for us.

Donna Cindy Hatcher and find information about us on their you'll see what we do and where we work and things like that so Wycliffe.org is our that's Wycliffe WY, it's not WI WY WY CLI FFE.O RG John, I gotta tell you, this is been a remarkable time to have with you guys. The fact were able to do this at all.

When we were in chapel together and listen to people coming home from the mission field, and so forth. None of this was available be a a phone call was exorbitant to make in people. People outnumber the old days when we would make missionaries and their families relate cassette tapes of auditor so they can hear each other's voices. Here we are at yeah you did because it would you start off with 80s that's what it was in and here we are able to do this live and see each other and I'm very grateful for this and I'm very moved by what you would Cindy do in your whole family and you've been an inspiration to me for a long time and am very tardy at bringing you onto this program, but it will not be the last time and I want you to come back last thoughts just on the heart level of U see the Lord taking you in about the next 30 seconds here.

If you see what what is Lord have you go next get asked that question often at our age, which is just about 60 – and that our our answers. We don't know we don't hello dear, how long that have a steer here as long as he wants us to be here unless you have a reason to take us elsewhere back to the states are our children are in a good place for mentoring other people do the roles that we do if we should leave but will be here.

His lungs got John and Cindy Hampshire in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Wycliffe Bible translators. Thank you for being a part of this program today is Peter Rosenberger. This is hope for the caregiver. Hopefully caregiver.com will see you next