The following is a report from HeartCry missionary Salim H. Along with serving in their home city, he and his family also regularly travel throughout Southeast Asia in order to record the Bible in various different languages. In their country there are approximately 780 languages, with only about 20 percent having at least the New Testament in their own language. Once the NT is completed, Salim and his ministry are able to take the completed translation and record it, making it available to so many people who are either unable to read or are functionally illiterate.
Grace and peace to all brothers and sisters in Christ at HeartCry ministry. Thanks be to God for His unchanging grace that continues to bless and sustain your ministry.
We are excedingly grateful that the PD audio Bible has been recorded and is in the process of finalization. We have returned to our home city after spending a couple months recording the Bible, and we continue our usual activities. Our daughter is also delighted to finally be able to fellowship, engage, and get together again with all her friends from the homeschooling community. Please pray that we will continue to do what God has called and entrusted us to do for His great glory.
“The important thing is we have to be full of zeal in serving the Lord, and everything else is bonus,” the man said with a big smile, full of spirit. Such words are often heard. But what made this statement extraordinary was that it was spoken by a young man who has suffered blindness from birth. This passionate young man continues to study God’s word from an audio Bible, recorded sermons, and radio broadcasts. He currently serves at the Christ Jesus Church in a province that’s governed by sharia law. Please continue to pray for God to greatly bless his ministry. Pray also that he would have plenty of audio materials to help him to learn more of God’s eternal word.
We visited this young man’s district in order to see the area where the PD tribe lives so we can see how the audio Bible in their language will be distributed later. During the trip in this district, we saw some church buildings that had been destroyed. Next to them were emergency tents with wooden chairs inside. At the end of 2015 there were about 20 churches in this district that were destroyed by the local people in collusion with the local government. Since then Christians have worshiped the Lord in tents made with tarps. These incidents caused deep sadness and trauma to thousands from the PD tribe who are predominantly Christian.
This province is mostly Muslim and (as mentioned above) implements strong Islamic sharia law. The Christian population is approximately 1%, almost all coming from other tribes who are outside the province. Please pray for the PD tribe. May God sustain them with strength and peace so that they can remain firm in their faith in Christ alone and diligently worship the Lord in the tent churches, knowing assuredly that the church is primarily a body of believers itself and not a building. Please continue to pray also that the audio Bible that is being made can be God’s glorious instrument and a great blessing for the PD tribe.