Making Wycliffe Known in Our Churches
Over the last eight months , we have sought to make Wycliffe known at conferences in Chicago, New York City, Atlanta and Los Angeles. We connected with African Americans involved in all kinds of ministries. It is an overwhelming task. Most people we meet know very little about Bible translation-but that's slowly changing. Conferences usually start about eight in the morning and run into the late hours of the night.
The Urban Outreach Conference we attended in Chicago was no different. It was great to be among the swelling crowds of worshippers and seekers of God. Ron Kenoly opened the conference with lively worship and praise. We worshipped with the special grace of black Christians in the USA. Afterward, we shared the elevator with Ron Kenoly and wondered whether there was any overlap in Dr. Kenoly's vision for reaching the world and that of the Bible Translation Movement.
Our display table was located in a strategic spot so that you would think that people couldn't help but see it as they walked by. Many passed and only glanced our way and we wondered how to really get people's attention. It happened the night that we shared our testimony. After all the great singing, and just before Dr. Billy Kyles stepped up to talk about the last hours he spent with Dr. Martin Luther King before King died, we were given five minutes to make an impact.
You know our testimony about being single and the statistical ratio of Christian men to women being one to seven. And you know the one about seven days, seven weeks and seven months! Just as Gertrude was about to conclude, Kevin squeezed her hand and whispered, "Our time is up." So Gertrude stopped promptly, telling the audience if they wanted to hear the rest they would have to attend our missions seminar the next morning. While the crowd roared, Billy Kyles stopped us on the way down imploring that I tell him since he would not be there the next day.
Our testimony the night before made a difference. 25-30 individuals showed up the next morning. We presented ideas on how to start a missions program in their churches as well as the ministry of Bible translation. We left the Chicago Urban Outreach Conference encouraged. In February we found out that Ron Kenoly's vision overlaps with ours. He visited the Wycliffe Word Spring Discovery Center in February and we began to consider opportunities to connect our ministries. We praise God for opportunities to build relationships with people who are eager to make Christ known in the world.
Created on ... March 15, 2005..................................Last edited March 14, 2006