Translating the Gospel for an Unreached People Group We Don't Normally Think About – Americans!

I’ve always been very interested in missions. While I was in college, I went to Mexico as a summer missionary and worked with a team that used puppet shows and clown skits to share the Gospel with Mexican children. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much about myself and saw the unselfishness of some of the poorest people in Mexico City, which put me to shame. I came back a changed person. No matter what has happened to us, even homelessness and doing without things that everyone around us considers necessities, nothing has ever seemed so bad to me because of what I saw when I was in Mexico. I know how well we have it in America, compared to most of the rest of the world, and I know how spoiled most Americans are. I also know how unappreciative most of us are of the blessings God has bestowed on us.

But I digress… the purpose of this post is to talk about my new mission field – America! I live in America, but it feels like a foreign country. I feel like a stranger and an alien here among regular American families who live their lives according to cultural norms. We are politically and culturally incorrect, and we feel it every day. The kids in this neighborhood ask my kids every day why they don’t go to “regular” school. They ask, “Have you ever even tried public school?” as if my kids just don’t know what they’re missing. It seems like they’re trying to evangelize my kids and convince them that public school is better than homeschool.

Well, my kids want to share their faith with them, and I came across a tool tonight that I think will really help these neighborhood kids to understand the Bible. My blogger friend, Kristi, has written a brief summary of the Bible in terms that biblically illiterate people should be able to understand and relate to – not just children, but adults. I think she did a fantastic job. She’s sharing it freely, generous person that she is. If you would like to read it and print it out, go to her blog here and read “God’s Big Story”. I bet you’ll enjoy reading “the Bible in a nutshell” yourself and want to share it with others.