Homeschoolers Raise a Quarter of a Million Dollars!

WOW! From The Seed Company eNewsletter comes this story:

“More than 2,700 families took advantage of lessons and activities during last fall’s OneVerse project. The homeschoolers sponsored enough verses that, together with [Sonlight Curriculum's] matching gift, completely funded the entire New Testament for the Meetto people of Mozambique and started funding the New Testament for the Ning people of Tanzania. When the project was finished and a matching gift from Sonlight Curriculum had been added, the families had raised one quarter of a million dollars for the two translations!

In coming months, you and your children can learn more about Bible translation and give to Bible translation with a similar program. Enroll your kids today at oneverse.org/kidsdiscover. Registration continues until February 28.”

The Kids Discover program looks like an amazing way for anyone to learn about Bible translation — especially because it will be very simple to understand! I’m 27 without kids and still signed up. Some of the things kids will learn include:

• Read about heroes of modern Bible translation.
• Discover a language that is spoken … and whistled. (Yes: people can understand each other solely by whistling!)
• Find out why some believers in Papua New Guinea say “Jesus carries his liver for me.”
• Discover an alphabet that has only 11 letters!
• Listen to John 3:16 in a new language each week.
• Watch a video of the startling things that happen when the Gamo people watch the “JESUS” film in their own language for the very first time!

I’m really looking forward to it!

How to Get Fast Quickly

If you want to increase your endurance, running intervals is a great way to do it. If you’re like me, phrases like “Interval Workout” and “Tempo Run” sound too much like incorporating math into running. And it is a little, but thanks to active.com, I found a way to set up a program for yourself.

Why are they called intervals? Because “the workout involves short, intense intervals followed by a period of rest, and takes into account this work-to-rest ratio.” The trick is to find a speed that pushes you during the intervals and a period of rest that lets your heart rate slow down enough to continue the rest of the workout. That will just take a little playing around. I generally rest 60 to 90 seconds at the most between reps.

Active.com breaks it down a bit more. After you do a warm-up run (usually 5-10 minutes) and stretch anything needed, follow this pattern:

One minute hard followed by one minute off, or 30 seconds hard followed by 30 seconds off. Repeat these intervals three to four times, and then take a two-minute break. Repeat that set two to three times for a total of five to 10 minutes of hard effort.

An example workout would be:

4 x [1 minute hard + 1 minute off or easy]
2-minute break
Repeat 2 more times

Total work minutes: 12
Total rest minutes: 16 (including the rest between sets)

You will know that you are getting the maximum benefit if you have to work extremely hard by the end of every interval and have given all you’ve got by the end of the third set.

I often run sets of 800’s, taking a 90 second break between each set. If I’m going to do 6 of them, I’ll take a 2 minute break after the first 3. And, as much as I generally dislike it, I also do about a 10 minute/1 mile cool-down at a much slower pace at the very end. I’ve found these to help me increase speed and endurance overall. Plus, it’s a nice way to break up my work-out, especially if I have to be on a treadmill!

Our Hearts Count More than Our Degree

From Seedlinks, the newsletter for The Seed Company, comes the story of Minsef, a man living in southeast Asia.

“For years, Minsef lived in a coastal southeast Asian town, doing menial work away from his hometown. He earned a living, but felt disappointed and unfulfilled. Although a national-language church offered good fellowship, Minsef couldn’t understand enough to apply the sermons to his own life and didn’t have any Scripture in his language to read.

Tired of filtering God’s Word through a second language, Minsef made an attempt to translate some verse into his own Eipo tounge. But he soon realized he didn’t have the proper training or understanding to produce a high-quality translation.

When the Eipo project began, Minsef proudly volunteered, along with two of his friends. He told the project facilitator, ‘This is what we’ve desired for many years. We’re ready to work if you’ll train us and show us the way!’

Minsef knows what it’s like to struggle to read God’s Word in another language. Now, as a Bible translator, he wants to be sure his friends and neighbors don’t face that as well.”

Minsef’s story reminds me of Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” God can and will use people without life-long training or a doctorate in linguistics to spread the message of the gospel: that all have sinned and need the atoning sacrifice of Jesus to find peace with God. He can use runners and walkers to raise awareness and funds. He can use anyone whose heart is willing to serve and be obedient to His call.

New Year’s Resolutions?

I know most people are flocking to the gym right now, but January is the hardest month for me to be a motivated runner. I can handle the treadmill and I can handle the cold, but the dark mornings and early sunsets and the wind? Those are killing me!

I know the right things to do — set goals, vary your routine, just get out there and do it! But I am still unmotivated and can think of any excuse to delay my runs. Today’s excuse was writing a blog and that I was going to run out of time to get a good run in outside before needing to shower for work. Right. Yes, lame. Okay, I will go to the gym tonight after work (which is usually when I’m most motivated), but I know I need to get my runs in outside too. Especially when it’s 42 degrees out which feels like a heat wave!

Thankfully, the weather for the next week is looking much better! See all those suns? And next week is my first week of training for the Geist Half Marathon on May 22nd. I think I need a schedule, a race ahead of me, and a chance to see improvement. That is about the only thing that keeps me moving this time of year when it’s cold and gray outside.

This post isn’t very encouraging, but I think what I really want to say with it is that everyone has a season where things aren’t quite firing on all cylinders. I’m coming to understand that is okay and I don’t have to feel guilty when I’m not running. I am so thankful for grace in all areas of me life, even running!

Share about Team OneVerse

If you’d like to share with your church, co-workers, ministry, school, or anyone else about Team OneVerse, there are flyers available! These are great for inserting into a church bulletin, a community table, or bulletin board.

Also helpful, the flyers can be customized to help recruit runners for races in your area. Send an email to allison_martin at tsco dot org and let me know how many you’d like, what city you live in, and if you know of any local races coming up (especially half and full marathons). Then I’ll send you some!

And if you want an autographed copy, let me know. Yes, that is my face!

Louie Giglio & Passion Conference

OneVerse (Team OneVerse’s “sibling” in The Seed Company family) just came back from an amazing weekend at the Passion Conference! College students from around the country and the world were focused in their faith and able to learn about the great need for Bible translation and they definitely responded — all the projects at Passion were completed! (More on that later I hope!)

2010 isn’t the first year OneVerse and Passion have teamed up. Check out this great video from the 2007 conference as Louie Giglio presents the Blank Bible.

Thanks for coming by and pray about how you can join Team OneVerse in 2010.

New Year’s Resolutions

Every January, regular gym-members are suddenly standing in line for their turn on the treadmill as resolvers of all shapes and sizes flock to get in shape for the new year. By mid-February, they don’t have to fight for their turn anymore because most people have already given up.

Real change and achieving the next level of fitness happens over time and takes humility to continue working even after failure happens. You have to lower your expectations and just try. Part of what helps me accomplish something is holding myself accountable or making a change for more than myself. Becoming a runner or walker can be tough when you aren’t used to the effort needed. So don’t set yourself up to fail — put a few buffers around you to ensure you follow through.

Team OneVerse is a great way to help you follow through on your resolution to get in shape or move yourself further along. You’ll accomplish:

1. Fitness
2. Accountability — by telling people you’re part of the team, you bring them into your journey
3. Community — you can join Team OneVerse with friends, a community group or Sunday school class and everyone can work together
4. Eternal Value — Team OneVerse reminds me that I can connect something I love with a need in the world for people to learn about Jesus

Team OneVerse is always welcoming people to the group, but especially this time of the year. Pray about how you can build fitness, community, and the kingdom by joining.

Reading & Worshipping: Why the Rutara Want a Translation

In my fall update on the Rutara people, I read the following update:

“As they interviewed prospective mother-tongue readers in the two pilot villages just before starting literacy classes, the Rutara team asked, ‘Why do you really want to learn these reading and writing skills?’ The majority said, ‘We would like to read God’s Word for ourselves and be able to find the songs in the songbook.’

This greatly encouraged lead translators George and Beera Nashar. ‘Our whole work here is aimed at achieving exactly that task,’ said George. The positive responses reminded them anew that they’re on the right track. They were able to start pilot literacy classes in these two villages with three teachers they’d trained previously.”

It’s hard for me to connect abstract facts with tangible people, so I need to hear stories like this from real people like George and Beera. Knowing that there are villages of men, women, and children who are learning to read specifically because they want to learn more about God and be able to sing songs of worship to Him blows me away! These are people who work hard all day, are learning the alphabet, and how to combine letters into words into sounds. They live in a country in southeast Asia that we can’t even know the name of because it’s too dangerous! And yet, they continue to seek God and find ways to know Him. That truth is humbling and exciting to me as I sit at my desk and realize I’ve known about Jesus for over 25 years and have been able to read for almost that long.

So What? Pray for the Rutara as they learn about Christ. Realize how blessed you are to be reading this in a language you (hopefully!) understand and in a country where you can freely read anything about Jesus that you want!

But God’s Word is Not Chained

This is my gospel, for which I am suffering
even to the point of being chained like a criminal.

But God’s word is not chained.

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect,
that they too may obtain the salvation
that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

II Timothy 2:8b-10

No matter where Jesus is preached, the Word of God goes beyond our human limitations and expectations. He is the Word become Flesh, the One who came to break the chains of injustice. This tiny baby we celebrate this year is the Son of Man who will bring us freedom from sin and peace with God.

Good News of Great Joy

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:8-11

Good news of great joy that is for ALL people! But not everyone has the opportunity to hear or read God’s Word, the ultimate source of Truth about Jesus becoming a baby to grow into a man to bring us to peace with God. This Christmas, you can Gift a Verse to help translate the Bible as a gift to someone who already has everything.