K2C is a Missional Study Tour sponsored by Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia. The tour started from ‘the ends of the earth (Kumkumari Bazar in Bangladesh) to ‘where it all began’ in Israel. K2C participants travelled to Bangladesh on November 22nd, 2019 and returned to Australia (or their home countries) on December 14th, 2019 It was wonderful for me (Rev. Emmanuvel) part of the team.
Most significant thing on K2C: My most significant thing during the K2C was meeting different people from different nationalities and seeing how the Lord works in everyone’s lives.
Bangladesh
We started our mission from Kumkumari Bazar in Bangladesh. Where we met Mother Tongue Translation Teams (The Kurux, Kolhe, Khyang and Tripura). It was wonderful to see firsthand how the translation work is being done; the amount of work that must be done; and the challenges they face. We also heard stories from mother tongue translators - their family backgrounds and the challenges they face.
Keith one of the Wycliffe Missionaries taught the team how mother tongue speakers are trained to translate the Bible into their own languages and what all is involved. As a team we translated couple of verses from Greek to Tamil this was eye opening.
God also gave me an opportunity (in my sermon from Genesis 11: 1-9 the story of the tower of Babel) to share with the Mother Tongue translators, the importance of languages and translating the Bible.
When the humans were trying to make name for themselves by building a tower, God confused their languages. Through this we know that languages are given by God, and we need to glorify Him through our languages.
India
In India we visited Serampore College which was established by William Carey in 1818. We were given a guided tour by Peter De Vries. He told us little of the history of India and the Serampore College. During that time West Bengal (Calcutta) was ruled by the British. They had little interest in the welfare of Indians and the evil practices existed in India at the time. Their only interest was to make money and take overseas the wealth from India.
The beginning of the 19th century arrival of four English missionaries – Joshua Marshman, Hannah Marshman, William Carey and William Ward. Although they came chiefly for the purpose of preaching Christianity, they dedicated themselves to the service of distressed people, social reconstruction, education for both boys and girls. They established the Mission Press, Serampore College (University) and were involved in translating the Bible. They faced lot of
challenges from the British government, the locals, establishing a new place, the languages and the new environment.
Another missionary, Henry Martyn from Cornwell in England, said that he had come to India to “Burn out for God”. I was challenged by his commitment and sacrifice.
Jordon
In Jordon we were able to visit the spectacular sandstone city of Petra was built in the 3rd century the Nabataeans, who carved palaces, temples, tombs, storerooms and stables from the soft stone cliffs. It was wonderful to learn about their history, culture and their worship places. In Jeremiah 48 we are able to see why was God angry with the Nabateans who built
Petra?, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: “what sorrow awaits the city of Nebo; it will soon lie in ruins. The city of Kirathaim will be humiliated and captured; the fortress will be humiliated and broken down. Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god chemosh, with his priests and officials, will be hauled off to distant lands! “All the towns will be destroyed, and no one will escape – either on the plateaus or in the valleys, for the Lord has spoken.
I had a privilege to meet with Nabataeans and also Bedouins and experienced their
hospitality. The Nabateans were a Semitic tribe whose home was Southeast of Palestine, where they had either supplanted or mingled with the Edomites (Malachi 1: 1-5) these tribes are nomadic people, still need to be reached with the Gospel.
Israel:
The K2C team were able to visit various places from Jerusalem to Capernaum. However, we not only visited these places, we were also able to learn the Biblical significant of those places.
We were also able to meet and learn from different peoples like Palestinian Arabs, Palestinian Christians, Messianic Christians and people like Elias Chacour, author of the book
‘Blood Brothers’, gave us our initial insight into the plight of Palestinians, and the challenges faced by Palestinian believers in Israel. Then we met Rasha, the General Secretary of the Fellowship of Christian Students in Israel and learned that she is also a Palestinian. We were delighted to hear that when that was formed, their constitution included a clause that the FCSI board would be comprised of 50% palestinian believers and 50% Messianic Jewish believers. Rasha said, “What unifies us is far greater than what divides us.”
Conflict:
It was sad to hear about the Israel’s conflict, the hardship both the Palestinian Christians and
Jewish Christians face. The Jews are still wailing and waiting for the Messiah to come and for their temple to be rebuilt. On the other hand, it was great to see some evidence that Palestinian Christians and Jewish Christians are united in Christ. For them, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, Arab or Israeli.
Karmiel: As a team we worshiped with Pastor Yossi’s church at Karmiel in Galilee on a Sabbath day. He is from Jewish background, but they are working hard to reach people from all backgrounds. We were able to join them as they worshipped in Hebrew, since they made available to us English translation through ear speakers.
It was the first time for me to worship along with Jewish people. I was reminded of a verse from Galatians 3: 28 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
My Experience: I come from India, which is a land of 330 million god and goddess. People
there are differentiated by Castes and tribes. At one time education was not provided to certain people because of their gender and race. Even now, certain people are not permitted into some of the temples because of their race and gender. I thank God for the Gospel which came to India, and for the missionaries like William Carry, who sacrificed their lives in order to bring the light of the Gospel to my country.
K2C: In this trip I have been able to see that whatever country we may live in or come from (Australia, Bangladesh, India, Jordan or Israel), If we don’t have Gospel of Jesus Christ we all can be lost, we will be still in darkness, we will be divided and we don’t have truth. Jesus said in John 8: 12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Another thing is God did not promise Israelites easy life, they got to cross the Jordan and
face the giants, but His promise was, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (Joshua 1: 7,8). Even today for believers Christ did not promise us easy life, we have lots of challenges and hardship in our lives. Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (Matthew 16: 24), Jesus also promised His disciples “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 20)
The trip encouraged me to continuously trust in the Lord in every area of my life and not to
be afraid to face the giants and the challenges. I am also encouraged to reach all the people with the love of Jesus Christ whatever background or language they may come from, because Christ is not a saviour of a one particular race or background; rather He is the Saviour of the world. In John 4 Sychar villagers said, “Now we know that this man is the Saviour of the world!”
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