Sharing the Bread of Life

Being back in the US now, I find it difficult to connect "communion" with the little tasteless wafers and watered down juice offered in most churches.  In fact the picture of true communion in my mind is one of being in a wheat field in Oaxaca with a short-term team from Ohio.  As we were introducing the field hands to the Bread of Life, they shared with us bread which they had baked from wheat they themselves had planted, harvested, threshed, and ground in a local water mill.  Eating those little loaves with glass bottles of Mexican Coca Cola with the group who had come to share in the spiritual harvest of Mexico touched my heart as the epitome of true fellowship and communion.

The Bible is poetic in the simple verse in Deuteronomy 8:3, which says "...that man does not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."  Another bread verse that comes to mind is when Jesus declared in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whomever believes in me will never be thirsty."

These bread metaphors communicate clearly to people living in agricultural societies once they can actually hear them in their own language.  In Mexico, it might be translated more literally “Jesus is the Tortilla of Life.”  For the people groups of Oaxaca, corn is the main crop, and tortillas are the basis of their daily life and sustenance.  However for this particular indigenous group, wheat and bread spoke very clearly to them.  What a privilege it was to see the workers with sickle in hand, literally "bringing in the sheaves," listening to the precious words of Life in their own language for the very first time.

After years of painstaking linguistic study and translation work, followed by weeks and months of recording the New Testament, it is a humbling experience for visiting teams to be the ones to hand deliver the audio scriptures, and to watch the joy and awe of the listeners as Jesus comes to life for them.  In some cases, the linguist who dedicated his life to the translation process has already departed this earth, and our distribution teams are the ones to bring the project to completion.

  

While Jim and I have sacrificed the more tangible blessing of living on the mission field to live in Michigan closer to the home office, we realize that we still need people to go and provide audio scriptures to the many people who have yet to hear God speak their language.  It is a team effort, from translators, to native language helpers, to those who can record the scriptures, and finally to those who will fund the projects and those who will supply the audio players.  Will you consider devoting a week of your life in order to hand carry audio Bibles to those who need to hear it?

As you are perhaps contemplating year-end giving, would you consider a special gift to provide audio recordings and players in areas where people still have not heard the Good News?  Click here for more information. Write to us at jim-jamie (at) lokerfam.com if you have questions.

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  Luke 10:2

All photos are by Hannah Loker.  Please do not reprint without permission.

Premature Praise

Photo by Amanda Pitts

Having devoted our lives to daily service in hopes of someday hearing, "Well done, good and faithful servants," it seemed premature to be honored this side of heaven. 

Well acquainted with the honor of suffering for the sake of the gospel, being "awarded" things like loneliness, bed bugs, head lice, amoeba, hepatitis, and dengue fever, this was a very foreign experience to find ourselves in the spotlight being honored with the prestigious Meritorious Achievement Award, the Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service.

Walking down the Baylor equivalent of a red carpet, and having Judge Ken Starr place this medal around my neck with the flash of cameras, and then again at half-time during Baylor Homecoming, the only thing that I could think of were all the people we represented, the team of people who made our accomplishment possible:  the Bible translators, our technicians, the financial supporters, our prayer partners, and the many who came on short-term teams to distribute audio Bibles.  On behalf of all of them, we received the medal.

The most humbling part was watching the "story of our lives" flashed before us, knowing that we follow many like Billy Graham and Max Lucado whose names are known throughout the world.  We are not sure what God will do with this experience, but we are trusting Him for more ministry partners as a result of this recognition and publicity for Audio Scripture Ministries.

To read the full story and see the lovely tribute, go to the Baylor website here
and also here.

Here is our prayer for you who share in our inheritance, from Colossians 1.

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth....

⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We would ask that you pray the same for us, that we might continue to be filled with the knowledge of God's will... and walk in a way fully pleasing to Him, being fruitful in good works, strengthened with all power, enduring patiently and with joy, etc. - even in Michigan when our hearts are in Mexico.  Thanks!