Deadlines

Deadlines are good motivators. While I don't work well under a lot of pressure, I find that deadlines help me focus on a task and filter out a lot of unnecessary stuff. Not to mention that it's a great feeling when you finally check the item off your list.

One of those deadlines on my February calendar is a new book for the Vida Nova publishing house. I am now proofreading the translation to make sure it is faithful to the original. (I can't reveal the title, but I can say that it is aimed at leaders of youth, their parents and friends.) Along the way I make occasional grammatical revisions, consulting with my live-in Portuguese language expert, Lalia.

The book deals with crises that youth face, like depression, divorce, addictions, grief, sex, relationships, and others. With the publisher's permission, we decided to add a chapter on employment to the Portuguese language edition, because that is a huge crisis in Brazil. I'll be writing that chapter based on interviews and other information.

One more deadline. Next week, classes begin at the local Baptist seminary. This semester I will be teaching first and third semester Greek. I'm looking forward to the challenge of making Greek understandable and even desirable. How is that possible? One goal is to teach students how to glean the goodies from Greek reference books. Another priority is to constantly remind students that Greek is a means to knowing God better, not an end in itself. This perspective keeps us humble, too!

Oh yeah. The photo was taken from our living room window a few evenings ago. Intense colors courtesy of Sao Paulo's high particulate levels!

PROMIFÉ, January 2008

PROMIFÉ = a Portuguese acronym for Projeto Missionário de Férias, or Vacation Missionary Project.

PROMIFÉ is always a life-changing experience.

Twice a year, in January and July, dozens of Brazilian young people come together for a full week of evangelism and leadership training. They share the gospel good news through home visits, kids clubs and the Jesus film. Local church partners are responsible for follow-up.

This time, Curt "roughed it" with the students, sleeping on the floor in a public school (remember, this is summer vacation break). He gave the message at one of the victory celebrations at the end of the week.

One of the highlights of the week was the emergence of a new crop of leaders, which should allow the project to flourish. They dream of implanting the PROMIFÉ idea in Angola during the next several years.

Along with these photos of PROMIFÉ, here are some other images from this week that will stay with me:

• seeing a pair of young people kneeling with two children on a city sidewalk in a gospel-driven encounter.
• hearing Andrew Trawick tell of his faith journey and the power of love to change his rebellious heart.
• learning the theology of the voids, in which God uses voids in our lives to draw us closer to him.
• cheering godly Brazilian young people who are grabbing the baton of leadership.
• serving with young people who have a passion for Jesus and the gospel.

If you or your church group (adults included) would like to participate in this life-changing project, please contact us at ckregness@worldventure.net.

Sizzling in Sao Paulo

From warm and rainy Sao Paulo, we send New Year’s greetings to all, with thanks for your indefatigable partnership in our ministry.

January is summer vacation here, but we look forward to a full schedule of work-related activities.

• Jan. 12 to 20: We travel 250 miles north to the small town of Ibiraçi, for another Promifé (a Portuguese acronym for “Vacation Missionary Project”). Dozens of Brazilian young people come together from various churches and denominations with a common goal: share their love for Jesus and the transforming power of the gospel. Our role is encouragement and service to the leadership of the project. We need your prayers for physical stamina, as well as for open minds and hearts.

• Lalia continues to translate from English into Portuguese a book of 52 Bible lessons for children (320 pages, large format). Special challenges in this project are adaptations of puzzles, poems and music. This is where Lalia’s creative neurons start to flash frenetically.

• Curt is heading up the editorial process for two new books: a handbook for youth workers and a book of object talks for kids. Both are being translated by Brazilian free-lancers, but the former requires an additional chapter to fit the Brazilian context. Curt will check the translations line by line to see if they are accurate and faithful to the original text.

• Other books in the pipeline under Curt’s care are an introduction to Christian counseling, being written by a Brazilian author, and the revision of a series of discipleship self-study workbooks.

• In the red tape trophy category, Curt has been trying for more than a month to get some official papers registered for both the publishing house and the mission. There’s nothing like bureaucracy to build patience!

• Seminary classes start in February, after Carnaval. Curt has been asked to teach New Testament Greek again. The challenge is to present the material clearly, but in a way that will also challenge and motivate. Many students do not have a good grasp of Portuguese language and grammar, and this is a big roadblock to success. However, I take heart in the fact that the teacher always learns more than the student!

2007 at a glance

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people… to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness. Zechariah’s song, Luke 1:68, 74

Joy for the journey

The Lord’s breakthrough in the back roads of Israel “enables us to serve him without fear.” We’re taking that into 2008.

We revel in God's goodness as we look back at 2007:

• after a profitable study term, we returned to Brazil in June;
• Alan started his 2nd year at Northwestern, debt-free;
• a great group from Bethany Baptist Church of Peoria came to help with Promifé evangelism in July;
• besides the usual translation projects, Lalia enjoyed proofreading the OT for a new Portuguese Bible translation;
• Curt readied the final Portuguese text of George Barna’s Think Like Jesus;
• Greek teaching allows Curt to sharpen biblical language skills;
• we are mentoring Minneapolis friend Karen Sipes, who arrived in October for a year of work with children at risk;
• we had warm fellowship with Nils Friberg during his 2-month teaching ministry in Brazil;
• many faithful supporters continue to pray and give on a regular basis;
  
• God is giving us a stronger desire to seek him daily.

Looking ahead to 2008, pray with us for the following concerns:

• Lalia’s ministry to women, both one-on-one and in small group Bible studies;
• Curt’s pastoral role as field leader (also administrative duties);
• Alan’s direction for the future, as well as personal and spiritual growth;
• Relationships transformed by God’s power;
• The weakening US dollar steadily erodes our buying power;
  
• Greater dependence on God for all our needs.

Routine stuff with God

Gabriel told astonished Mary that she was going to be the mother of a king. “Oh, and by the way, Elizabeth (who is old and everyone said would never have children), is six months pregnant. That’s because there will never be anything impossible with God.” (Luke 1.36-37, my translation)

Gabriel’s sweeping declaration has a familiar ring. It immediately took Mary (and the audience of Luke’s gospel) to a story she had heard many times before. Almost two thousand years earlier, in a tree-shaded tent, another incredulous woman was told she would give birth to a son. Elderly Sarah chuckled. Just like Elizabeth, she had long since lost hope of being a mother. The Lord reacted, “Why are you laughing? Is anything too hard (wonderful) for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:13-14, ESV). Of course not! was the implied answer. This is routine stuff for God.

Isaac’s arrival wasn’t just a pleasant surprise for Abraham and Sarah; it was God’s special delivery on his promise. Abraham would be the father of a great nation, and this would cause blessing for all peoples of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). Could John’s and Jesus’ arrival also be the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people? This seems to be one of the important themes in Luke’s gospel.

The “nothing is impossible for God” motif has other echoes in Scripture. During Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem, God gives prophet Jeremiah a strange order. In the presence of witnesses, he should pay cash for a field which happens to be in territory occupied by the enemy! (This, after God had already told Jeremiah that Jerusalem will be overthrown.) Why would he throw away money like that? Jeremiah transmits God’s logic behind the plan: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (Jeremiah 32:15).

Then Jeremiah grabs some perspective as he worships God: “It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (32:17). Sound familiar? Jeremiah’s prayer ends something like this: “You miraculously delivered Israel from captivity in Egypt and gave them a fantastic homeland. But they disobeyed you and now they’re in a heap of trouble. You have told me that Jerusalem is going to be overrun by the Babylonian army, as a direct judgment of the people’s sinful behavior. And yet you tell me to invest in a field!” Talk about a depressed real estate market!

We hear Gabriel’s theme again when God answers Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (32.27). The implied answer is No! When things seem impossible for humans, God says, “Leave it to me.” In the face of certain destruction, God tells Jeremiah that he will bring his people back, cause them to live in security and will make an “everlasting covenant” with them. I’m sure this story was also on Luke’s radar as he wrote his gospel treatise.

We hear the familiar melody one more time in the OT. As he did with Jeremiah, God also told prophet Zechariah about the restoration of the remnant. Describing the future peace of Jerusalem, God says that elderly men and women will again sit in the streets, the same streets where boys and girls will play (Zechariah 8:4-5). “If this is marvelous in the sight of the remnant…should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts?” (8:6) Or, “If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant…will it also be too difficult in my sight?” (NASB). Again, the implied answer is No! Why? Because the Lord Almighty is speaking.

Now, as we return to Gabriel’s conversation with Mary, it seems that the melody has blossomed into a full orchestral arrangement: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

No impossibles with God

I had one of those “aha” moments on Sunday as I was looking at a familiar text in Luke’s Christmas story. When Mary questions Gabriel about her soon-to-be motherhood, the angel gives her a living example of God’s power: her relative Elizabeth, after a lifetime of barrenness, is also going to give birth. Then he raises the stakes: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37, ESV)

Since I started studying (and now teaching) New Testament Greek, I enjoy checking the Greek text whenever possible. What I saw in this verse was interesting. Behind the word “nothing” is the term rhema, which can be translated, depending on the context, as thing, object, matter or event. (For example, the same word appears in the following chapter, verse 15, when the shepherds decide to “go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.”)

But in the NT rhema is more often translated as word. And that is exactly what happens in the next verse, when Mary responds to Gabriel’s news. She says, “Behold, I am the servant/slave of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

So we have rhema used in two slightly different ways in the same context. It’s almost a play on words. The way I read the two verses, Mary's response is more significant because she repeats the word rhema (the same idea could have been expressed with another word). It is as if she is saying, "If no rhema is outside of God's power, then let his rhema be fulfilled in my life."

For those of us needing to experience more of the Sacred Romance, that sounds like a great place to start in 2008.

Stay tuned for a look at Gabriel’s inspiration for his sweeping declaration in Luke 1:37. (See the post labeled "Routine stuff with God".)