I am with a great group of missiologists this week at Wheaton College. I recently received an invitation to join the Send Institute’s Missiologists’ Council, a partnership between the Billy Graham Center and the North American Mission Board.
While the highlight of yesterday was riding around in the back seat of Ed Stetzer’s classic VW Bug, a close second was seeing this page from John Eliot’s “Indian Bible” in the Billy Graham Center Museum.
If you have never toured the Billy Graham Center Museum, then you need to do so the next time you are in the area.
The first Bible printed in North America was in the Algonquin language. Eliot (1604-1690), called the apostle to the American Indian, was a Puritan who served among the Algonquin Indians. In addition to his translation being the first printed Bible, he had to put Algonquin into writing. Reflecting on the difficultly of learning the language and developing a written script, Eliot stated, “Prayer and pains through faith in Jesus Christ can accomplish anything.”
Something to think about when it comes to pioneer work.