By Lori Witham

During July we’re focusing on responding to God’s revelation. Please see the Monthly Prayer Focus page to read our strategic prayer request for this month.

During his lifetime, Isaiah brought God’s revelations and visions to the people of Judah during times of distress and troubles. He showed them that though things looked very bad, God would bring them through it and in the end “they will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)  God did indeed bring them (and us) the great joy of Jesus’ salvation.

Even now, throughout our Christian walk, God guides us. Often He will reveal the good news of where He is leading us before He has begun to make it real. In faith, we celebrate the joy which God will bring about. With patience and God’s enabling, we believe that He will do it before it comes about. I can think of a few examples in my life of this. Before I left for PNG, God revealed to me that He had work for me with PBT, and then He enabled me to go and have a ministry there. Then He revealed to me that I could continue my ministry in the States, and He guided me here. It was God’s vision ahead of time that motivated and encouraged me along the way. It was God’s empowering which enabled me.

This month we’re praying that God will guide, motivate and empower those in the communities where the PBT translators live and work, and reveal to them what ways they can support the translators who work among them. Without the support from their villages, the translators must take time out of their translation work in order to work in their gardens. And also the community schools which teach the vernacular languages need the support of the villages as well. The people need God’s guidance to see what a blessing this learning will do for them and their children. They need the faith to believe God will bring about communities of believers reading God’s Word in their language.

As we pray this, we also ask God that He reveal to us in PBT what our part is in bringing God’s Word to these communities, and that we too are motivated, encouraged, and empowered to follow His vision.

Lori works in the Publications Department, serving remotely from the USA as a desktop publishing specialist.