Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Archives for April 2016

A study Bible for Africans by Africans

It’s been almost 10 months since we went to Kenya. This time last year, we were fundraising like mad, hosting meals and a silent auction and pestering everyone we knew to buy puzzle pieces or give a little something to help us get there. I can’t say with honesty that I miss the fundraising part. (The next time we go to Africa, I hope it will be on our own dime. #Lifegoals)

But I’m not sorry to be asking again for your support. This time, it’s not for me, but for our African brothers and sisters.

One of the questions we were asked during our presentation about our trip was about the spiritual poverty of the people we met in Kenya, and while there are definite challenges to a person’s faith there, as there are anywhere, the overall feeling I got from the people we met is that there is a spiritual richness. I felt like the spiritually poor one in the presence of fervent song and prayers.

And if I learned anything from that trip and in debriefing with friends, it’s that it’s not my job, or the job of any of us in the West, to rescue Africans. Instead, we’re to partner with them. Learn from them. Listen to them. Equip them.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

AfricaStudyBibleCoverArt2Oasis International, in partnership with Tyndale House Publishers, has created a study Bible for Africans by Africans. It’s called, appropriately, the Africa Study Bible, and it’s not only gorgeous, from what I’ve seen so far, but relevant to life in Africa. Instead of being a Western-focused resource, this study Bible contains insights and stories that connect with the story of Africa and its people. It’s an exciting prospect, and I can’t wait to hear input from those who can use it as intended.

Here’s where we come in.

Oasis International wants to make the first run of ASBs available in Africa by the end of 2016. To get there, they’re aiming to raise $1 million to print the first 100,000 copies. Want to join in the fun? Check out the Kickstarter campaign running now through June 16. (If you’re not familiar, Kickstarter is a crowd-funding site that allows people to donate to projects and receive rewards, such as advance copies of books or art prints.) The campaign goal is $100,000, and the campaign page on Kickstarter will give you tons of information about the project.

But here are a few highlights:

  • The goal is to eventually publish the Africa Study Bible(ASB) in all of Africa’s major languages, but it will initially be published in English using the New Living Translation followed by French and Portuguese translations in the years to come. By printing in these three languages, the ASB will have its greatest impact, reaching up to 70 percent of literate African Christians. They expect to launch this year in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
  • Each of the more than 2,200 features in the study Bible were planned by Africans who teach and lead God’s people.
  • Hundreds of millions of Africans know and love Christ. However, most discipleship and biblical resources come from a Western perspective—a culture far removed from their own.

You can back this project for as little as $1 or as much as $10,000. (The reward for a $10,000 pledge is a trip to Kenya for the Africa launch of the Bible and a safari. I’ve never wished more fervently that I had that kind of money lying around!)

Learn more about the organization spearheading this project here.

And please consider partnering with these organizations to bring this valuable resource to the people of Africa.

Finding a way through the darkness: Review of Night Driving by Addie Zierman

In the middle of a bitter cold winter in Minnesota, a mom and her two young sons flee in search of the light and warmth of Florida. It is a desperate act, a search for inner light as much as sunshine, and it brings surprising results.

Night Driving: A Story of Faith in the Dark is Addie Zierman’s account of this road trip and the things she discovers–about herself, her faith, and God–along the way. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review.)

Some people called her brave to embark on such a trip, but it’s a badge Zierman is reluctant to wear.

My heart is not, in the end, cut from an adventurous, seafaring cloth. I am, generally speaking, a homebody, content with very little adventure in my life. I chose this trip not because I am brave but because I was desperate. (p. 5)

Zierman writes about how she could no longer feel God’s presence like she could when her faith was “on fire” in her youth and how she tried–and still tries–to fill the void with wine and flirting and anything that makes her feel something. Her trip with her boys, 4 and 2, was as much a search for sunshine as an attempt to escape from her own self. But as she journeys, she realizes that she can’t outrun the darkness, even in the Florida sunshine.

What I love about Zierman’s writing is that it doesn’t sugarcoat or paint a pretty picture. It’s gut-level honest. This dream of a road trip has its nightmares–as one might expect traveling thousands of miles in a van with two toddlers. There are numerous McDonald’s stops and bathroom breaks and a Diet Coke incident that made me want to give Zierman a hug. There’s rain at the beach and sleepless nights and doubts about whether this trip was a good idea in the first place.

But there are also precious conversations with friends, one glorious day at the beach, and subtle changes. Reminders that darkness and silence and solitude are part of the rhythms of faith, not evidence of the absence of faith.

Maybe I’m a snowbird–or maybe I’m not. Maybe all this ever was was a case of mistaken identity. I thought I needed to fly away to survive. I’d forgotten about the simple ways we are saved exactly where we are. (p. 178)

Through her own journey, Zierman grants us permission to wrestle with our faith when the light seems to have gone out, and to realize that we can see in the dark; our eyes just might need time to adjust.

If you’ve ever wanted to escape when the darkness closes in, to flee toward warmth when the temperatures start to dip, find encouragement in this book.

To launch the book, Zierman invited people to share their stories of faith in the dark places. You can read my contribution here and follow links to her site to read others’ stories as well.