Brenda’s Testimony

It was not hard for me to believe in God.  Look at all the wonderful plants and animals around me, surely they were created… such minute detail!  It was not hard for me to believe in sin.   If ever I created some lovely thing, such as a snowman, there was a chance someone else would come destroy it.

But watching people in church stand up at the same time, sing the same words, sit down at the same time…..  It made me think that once a person followed Christ they surely became a robot.

I asked my Dad, “If I became a follower of Jesus, would I become a robot?”  My Dad told me that actually people who did not know Christ were more like robots, because Satan could use them and they wouldn’t even know.

I thought about that for a while.

Later as I was listening to a Bullfrogs and Butterflies song I felt compelled. I wanted to live for Christ!  I wanted Him to be welcome in my life!  I found my Mom and she stayed by my side as I confessed my sin and accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord. AND I felt such freedom as I had never before even imagined!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.” Galations 5:22-23   

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

As I grew up I learned how to read hymnals and sing songs whenever everyone else did in church.  I was given a small New Testament and saved up my birthday money until I could buy exactly the Bible I wanted.  I liked the only account in the Bible of Jesus as a child, he knew why he was where he was and why he did what he did. 

My family moved several times as I grew up and I had a fair sampling of churches in the process.  This gave me an even greater appreciation for the Bible as authority in my life and faith.

As I headed to adulthood, I was active in my church by taking part in music ministry and overseeing aspects of children’s ministries.  In the summers I enjoyed helping a local missionary with camps and Vacation Bible Schools (VBS).

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

After getting my Bachelors in Visual Arts and a Minor in Illustration at the University of Montana-Western I settled down to work off my college debt and send in illustrations to publishers for consideration.  I always fancied illustrating someone’s favorite book.  I liked pictures that told a story.

I did some more VBS rounds at that time and one lady (the missionary who packed the VBS craft boxes) introduced me to Wycliffe Bible Translators.  I had never heard of Wycliffe before, but I was very grateful I did not have to learn Hebrew and Greek before being able to read Scripture!  The need for Bible translation resonated with me.

I heard a member of Wycliffe speak at an event. The man was an illustrator and he described to me his everyday life, a dream job for me!  Pairing art and faith, I could hardly think of anything so marvelous.  So I checked a box saying I was interested in learning more and continued working, paying off my college debt.  I remembered attending a missions conference while in college and accepting the challenge to “give a year, pray about a lifetime” concerning overseas missions.  After hearing another artist represent Wycliffe, this time a graphic designer, I was certain there was no better way to honor my promise to God than to go on one of Wycliffe’s “Global Service Projects(GSP).”  These one-year mission commitments could have different focuses and be in any part of the world where work was already happening.

I took a workshop and discovered translation was a lot like math, which I was slow at, and that there was indeed plenty of options for artists.  I opted to do a GSP where I job-shadowed missionaries in Papua New Guinea.  There was a concentration of artists there, doing many different art-related jobs, so I could try them all.  But first I had to take a summer’s worth of courses so I would know enough of the technical language linguists used to be able to draw what translators required.

And that is where I met Jason.  After I had already been through a college with a pick of Godly men and thought I was immune to such things as having a love interest while pursuing education….  But God surprised me in that Jason thought like I did that Bible translation was important, and Jason surprised me by saying he wanted to get to know me better (with a view to marriage!) 

While Jason finished up the last year of his Master’s in Linguistics program, I went ahead with the GSP plans.  But since I soon was engaged and then married, it became clear that instead of a year it would be a lifetime in missions! Jason and I joined Wycliffe together and went to Papua New Guinea.  God has blessed me with family and with relationship with peoples in Papua New Guinea.  I continue to learn more of God and his greatness as Jason and I and the Pamosu translators work to see scripture in the languages the peoples of Papua New Guinea know and understand best.

“How great you are, Sovereign Lord!  There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”  2 Samuel 7:22