As I sit in a German hotel room waiting to board a plane for Paris (there to attend a two-day conference on evangelism in Europe in the next decade), I am very much aware of the great difficulty the language barrier has produced for missionaries across the centuries. Now the Bible has been translated, in whole or in part, into more than 1,300 tongues and dialects. Most of the people in the world who can read have the Word of God available to them, and in this we can all rejoice.
I’ve been reading the galleys of a forthcoming book by Stephen Neill, who has been closely associated with the ecumenical movement and the World Council of Churches, and I want to share with readers this word from him: “Experience has shown that the order of priority must always be first conversion and then social change; if the inner transformation has been brought about, the problem of social change and uplift can be tackled with far greater prospects of success. The old principle of the gospel, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you,’ has proved itself to be not a remote and distant ideal but the most practical of advice” (Call to Mission, to be published soon by Fortress Press).
Despite the pleasures of travel, the prospect of returning home is inviting. I’m reminded of a stanza from a poem by Henry Van Dyke I learned years ago:
So, it’s home again, and home
again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again,
and there I long to be
In the land of youth and freedom
beyond the ocean bars
Where the air is full of sunlight,
and the flag is full of stars.
