God of the impossible

The famous missionary Hudson Taylor is well known for his confidence in the power of God’s work when he wrote, “There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”  We feel this same conviction as we observe what God has done in missions over the past 10 to 20 years. At the beginning of that period, Christian mission efforts were most often isolated efforts by many organizations. They were doing God’s work, pursuing the Great Commission, but there was little effort to work together. Trust had not matured to support much cooperation, and there was no context that allowed shared planning or collaboration across organizational boundaries. The world saw mission efforts, but they were fragmented and sometimes competing efforts.

So when our small team was asked to pursue work that began with comprehensive information sharing and worked toward collaboration in missions, it felt impossible.  Over the past four years, we have wrestled with the complexities of helping mission organizations become more effective as mission partners. Building and protecting trust has been a constant struggle. We have had to embrace the fact that Christian organizations, although serving the same call of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, still come together with different assumptions, plans, strategies, and views of reality.  We had to set aside any expectation that others would embrace our own view of missions and instead we are learning to embrace diversity as the norm.  Yet in these activities, what once seemed impossible, were now merely difficult.

Now we are seeing the value of this environment we call progress.Bible. It is proving its effectiveness by providing current and accurate information that supports coordinated activities and plans across the Bible translation movement. It is becoming a place where mission partners come to discover accurate truths about where Bible translation is needed; where work is underway (and which organizations are involved in this work); and where Scripture is completed and available. We are now building a context where trust between organizations can be expressed and even information about highly confidential translation projects can be shared because of confidence in the emerging partnerships and the ways that we manage this information. We are still in the difficult phase of this work; we are not yet done. But it is very encouraging to hear from the people we serve how our work is making a difference.

A leader of Lutheran Bible Translators, one of the many partners that we work with, recently sent his appreciation for the work and emerging role of progress.Bible:

One of the most exciting developments in addressing remaining needs in Bible translation is progress.Bible. It opens up new opportunities for collaboration as Bible agencies and partner churches work together to determine who is in the best position to interface with a local language community to more clearly understand the need. It shows areas where several agencies are working and other areas where no one is in position to engage with the need.

This increase in knowledge requires leaders to examine strategic priorities and potentially reallocate resources to better engage with language communities with unmet needs. Many of the unmet needs are in some of the most difficult places in the world to access either geographically or socio-politically. As I look at the information in progress.Bible it spurs me to reflect on how God is calling us in this season to choose to go to hard places, to choose to collaborate better than before, capitalizing on each agency’s strengths and experiences.

There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.  In our work on progress.Bible, we have passed beyond any sense that this work is impossible as we are seeing the fruits it produces. Often we still face the reality that partnership and collaboration in mission is possible, though still difficult. But I invite you to pray with us until the day when we can celebrate that God’s work for us, in us, and through us is done. 

“It does not matter how great the pressure is. What really matters is where the pressure lies — whether it comes between you and God, or whether it presses you nearer His heart.”
― Hudson Taylor

“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult ones His grace is sufficient.”
― Hudson Taylor