I loved to listen to the sounds in the village!

…the soft drumming of rain on the tin roof, the rooster’s morning wake-up call, the clink of cow bells. 

…the children laughing as they pass by on their way to school, the wind in the banana trees, my neighbor shelling peanuts. 

…the melodic sounds of the language spoken by the beautiful people all around me. 

I wonder what it will sound like to my neighbors when they can listen to God’s Word in their language? I wonder what will it be like for them to read and sing and study the Bible in their language? 

Many of my neighbors were Christians. They knew the Gospel. They had access to the Bible in the majority language. They pastored churches, taught Sunday School, helped those in need. But they didn’t have the Bible in their language; they had yet to listen to God’s Word in their language.  

Many people around the world are working together for this very purpose! A friend from Madagascar consults with teams in South Africa, checking drafts of translated Scripture. A colleague in Papua New Guinea trains local pastors to translate God’s Word into their own languages. A family in Thailand offers administrative support to language development teams. Congolese church leaders work together to promote Bible translation.

I love to listen to God’s people reading and singing of His great love for them, praising Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Someday, we’ll join together with every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered around the throne in heaven praising God. I wonder what it will sound like? 

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Revelation 7:9-10