Mazatlan, Here We Come!
Hello! Hola! Salam/Marhaban! Kon'nichiwa! Namaste! Nǐ hǎo! Bonjour! Nomoshkar!
Week 4 at CSOM in Rosarito and we just left at 3am on Friday for Mazatlan! Woo!
I’ve been wrestling with language lately.
While attending bible college in 2023, I remember in a Sunday sermon, Pastor Bruce at Calvary Chapel Lihue said “Speak… their… language...” It was like God speaking to me straight through the pastor. Time stopped for a moment and I had a tunnel vision of focus and clarity on this one phrase. It felt like a command from God.
This whole trip I’ve been frustrated with my inability to speak Spanish. Especially with these girls in the photo above, I so desperately desired to spend deeper quality time with them. The little Spanish I know and google translate had to suffice this time. These girls are so fun and such great huggers; they melted my heart with their love. Despite the language barrier, I managed to have a blessed time with them and encourage them here and there. The people here greatly appreciate it when we at least try to speak their language. It’s respectful to learn the language of the people you are ministering to!
Also, in Pastor Rob Douglas’ classes this week, we dove deep into the need of speaking the language and understanding the culture of the people in a closed country. A closed country is a country in a nation whose government forbids or severely restricts official, open missionary activity and evangelism. There are many countries that ban evangelizing and some criminalize even having a Bible or being a christian. People might be able to understand the gospel on a basic level when we share it in English to them and they know some English, but they understand it best in their heart language. The heart language of a person is the language they pray in; it is the language they are most comfortable with. Language is so important in sharing the gospel, yet look at how many people don’t even have a Bible in their language…
May we pray the Lord sends laborers to help translate the Bible in these heart languages all over the world.
Global Language and Translations of Bibles
Total Languages: ~7,400 spoken or signed languages globally.
Full Bible: More than 790 languages.
New Testament: Around 1,800 languages.
Partial Portions: Over 1,400 languages have smaller Scripture selections.
No Scripture: Roughly 3,200 languages still lack any translated Scripture, though active translation work is underway for thousands of additional tongues
I definitely pray that if I do go to another country, that God would give me miraculous ability to learn the language quickly. How am I to share the gospel if I don’t even know their language? I know God is still using us with our broken Spanish here though. It’s a little difficult and foolish sometimes, but what does God use?
“God uses the foolish things of the world to confound/put shame to the wise.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
I love teaching!
This past week, I was honored to share a message on the book of Jonah to the youth at Calvary Chapel Playa in Tijuana and to the 7-11 year olds at Calvary Santa Rosa. I was challenged in using a translator and have started to get more used to it. I forget how much fun it is to laugh with younger kids, keep them engaged and teach them new things about God. I’m so grateful I had that opportunity!
Book #3: Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
Key takeaways!!
Wow, this book is life changing - I strongly recommend it!
Chapter 5 stood out to me in talking about spiritual receptivity.
“Why do some people “find” God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course, the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children HE will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God but with us.”
Many well-known, impactful christians don’t have much in common. The differences are as wide as human life itself: differences of race, nationality, education, temperament, habit and personal qualities. Something in them was open to heaven, something which urged them Godward. They had spiritual awareness and they went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in their lives. When they felt the inward longing, they did something about it. They were obedient to the heavenly vision. As David put it neatly, When You said, Seek My face, my heart said to you, Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
God wants to bless us with Himself and HE has more of Himself to give to us than we could imagine! This truth that God has so much more for us than we could ever imagine has been on my heart lately. When we don’t follow God, submit or surrender to Him, life can be very stale whether we know it or not. Life can be lacking purpose or even dreadful when we’re not connected to the One who created us. To me, it’s much more strong than that though. I will explain further in my next newsletter about how walking with God is LIFE-GIVING. This ties into my story a bit on why I’m here at CSOM (Calvary School of Missions) as well!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
I FEEL your prayers! I know I have an army praying for me back home. There have been ups and downs like with any work that is aimed to honor and glorify the Lord, but God is growing me through them. My heart is shifting, God is molding and shaping me most definitely. I believe He is preparing me.
Each donation has brought me to tears. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how much it means to me as I’m just trusting in God with the Calvary School of Missions as part of my journey to fulfill what the Lord has called me to do.
PRAYER WARRIORS
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For Mazatlan! We will be visiting tribes that are unreached there and doing outreach and church events like VBS. Please pray we can demonstrate the love of Jesus to them and that their hearts would want Jesus more than anything.
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For God to speak to me and continue to confirm the path He has for me and what next steps to take in this calling.
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For healing upon those who have been sick, injured, or hindered in any physical way on this trip.
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For us to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be great witnesses wherever we’re at by loving each other and those around us with words and actions.
Thank you so much for tagging along by reading my newsletter! I’m so grateful to include you as a part of my journey reaching the ends of the earth with the gospel!
All my love,
Alli Standish
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