"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." — Psalm 100:5
Can I tell you a story? It’s a bright and bold, woven-together story about Dwell Differently, my great aunt Helen, the Achi people group in Guatemala, and God’s faithfulness.
When I was a kid, I remember my dad telling me stories about my great aunt Helen and how she and another woman had devoted 30 years of their life to ministering to the Achi people in Guatemala and translating the Bible into their heart language. I would think to myself, “But how is that even possible? How can they even know the right words to write?” Even at a young age I was well aware that this was a wildly implausible and tedious task! Over decades of patient work, they’d brought the gospel in-part to the Achi people. God was faithful to his people—both to the Achi people and to my great aunt Helen.
Decades later, in the early years at Dwell Differently, when we finally took our first paychecks, Natalie and I decided to start giving 10% of Dwell’s profits to a like-minded organization. God had been faithful to grow our business and ministry, and we were so excited to support his work somewhere else. That’s when we came across the Seed Company and their important work in Bible translation. We shared their passion for helping people know God through his Word, and a partnership with the Seed Co. made total sense.
What made no earthly sense though was what God was planning to do.
Of all the 100’s of languages and people groups that the Seed Co. could have presented to us, who did they ask us to sponsor? The Achi people group! After decades of use, they were updating and finishing the Achi Bible. And right then, at just that moment, they were looking for a partner. They asked us to help finish the work that our great aunt Helen had started so many decades earlier. Who else but our God could orchestrate such a thing? God could have brought about the Achi’s Bible translation any number of ways, but he chose this specific, wild and unlikely way to display his great faithfulness. And I can’t help but hear this month’s verse when I think about this story!
"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." — Psalm 100:5
God is faithful to all generations! Not just faithful to the Achi people, but to our great aunt Helen, and to us, and even to you. This story of God’s faithfulness to his people includes you because your participation in Dwell Differently has supported the Achi Bible translation too. Thank you.
A few months ago, I received a package in the mail from the Seed Co. It was my own copy of the Achi bible. I wept as I flipped through the pages of Scripture. I thought of Helen, and her work. I thought of what God is doing through Dwell Differently to help people memorize his Word. I thought of the Seed Co. and all those people linking arms to bring the Bible to every people group in their heart language. Finally, I thought of all of the Achi people receiving a copy of the same book I was holding in my hands. What a treasure—God’s Word in their own language! God is so faithful. And all the glory is his! Be encouraged. He is always doing something. And we are right to praise him.
Watch this short video and praise God with our Guatemalan sisters and brothers. To find out more about the Seed Company or to give to them directly, check out their ministry here.
