Bethanny Moore: Moore than Media Part II
May 6, 2017 8:57 pm Leave your thoughtsHello Everyone!
Today is part two of my interview with Bethanny Moore. She is preparing to travel overseas to Papua New Guinea to assist with Bible translation work by helping the translation teams make audio versions of their work.
We learned about Bethanny’s mission, and how she decided to become a missionary, in the part 1 post. If you missed that blog, please click here and get caught up.
Don’t worry. I’ll wait.
We’ve learned what led Bethanny to missions. Now, let’s hear what the rest of her life is like!
Bethanny, what three words would you say represent your work or your heart the best?
Encouragement, Grace, and Hope.
I love encouraging people. One of my desires is to be like some of the gracious women in my life when I grow up. And my hope is that I will “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” like it says in 2 Peter 3:18. Maybe I can encourage others to also.
Were there any local people where you were in Papua New Guinea who influenced you?
One of the Papua New Guinean ladies, Alice, and I, became friends in Ukarumpa. She was in town for her husband’s translator training, and was such a gentle lady. Full of faith in God and trusting Him to take care of their family, even when things seemed very tough. Initially we connected by talking about her tribal tattoos. As I got to know her, she displayed a beautiful spirit that adorned her more than the beauty markings given her by her tribe. At the airport on their very last day in Ukarumpa, Alice showed her faith by absolutely trusting God to bring a vital piece of their luggage that had accidentally been left behind. The Lord overcame several seemingly impossible obstacles to bring it to their family in time for them to take off. It was amazing to see her faith in our trustworthy God, and I look up to her for it.
What do you wish your supporters would do for you? Something you would like to see, or to see more of?
I would love to hear back from them! It’s great to catch up, hear what’s going on in their lives, and know how to pray for them. Plus, it is such a huge encouragement to me when I know that people are reading my newsletters!
What is an ongoing long-term prayer request you have?
To be able to go back and record the Amele Bible for my adopted mother Liven. She drew me into missions with “you must come back” but hasn’t been able to read her heart-language Bible for herself for 16 years. My heart’s desire is to see her have that for herself & be able to serve God to the fullest. Liven gave me Bible verses from her 2nd language of Tok Pisin, but the heart language, the language we think, dream, & pray in, is most effective. To give her the Bible recordings in her heart language would express my gratitude to her. Please pray that I will be assigned to the Amele Bible recordings when I go back to Papua New Guinea.
What is a recent answer to prayer that you received?
I was recently delayed from going to the ICC training because I have not reached 50% of my Wycliffe Ministry budget, but I get to take the local Perspectives class, which I have wanted to take for over 2 years now. It guides you through the Bible and shows how our God is seeking to bless everyone with salvation from the Old Testament all the way through the New Testament.
What is your favorite book?
Wow, that is a tough one! I’ve read a lot. Of the ones I return to the most, besides the Bible, I would say ‘The Attributes of God Vol. 2’ by Tozer is my favorite in spiritual genres, and ‘King’s Arrow’ by Douglas Bond is my most-read in casual reading. I love the Psalmic poetry the main character writes.
We can’t let you off the hook without asking this; Share an embarrassing cross-cultural experience you have had?
Haha! Oh my.
Well, one Saturday a group of us from Ukarumpa were out in some Agarabi villages showing the Jesus film. We had to wait until it got dark to do this, so in the meantime we drove around demonstrating and selling the audio Bibles in the local language and answering questions- Why are you here? What story? What did you say is going on tonight? Well, I knew enough of the trade language, Tok Pisin, to get by, but what happened next came from not listening closely enough, OR, more likely, I was just too eager to talk about myself. A lady asked (I thought), “What is your story?” A bit of background: those of us visiting with the short-term Discovery team carried little photo booklets of our families as conversation starters. So we would meet people and visit and swap stories about our families to pass the time. So hearing, “What is your story?” I whipped out my book and dove right in, without giving anyone a chance to answer. The lady stopped me and explained, no, she had been asking about the movie (a part that I missed in my eagerness). I was so embarrassed, and our leader explained it was the Luke film in Agarabi, and we all laughed.
That was a BIG lesson in humility and listening before I spoke the next time!
Finally, are there any other praises or prayer requests you’d like to share?
I have to say, none of this would be possible without the hand of the Lord in my life, and the prayers of
saints for me as a child. When my parents and I were in Germany, I contracted a serious brain condition as a toddler and lost my speech, walking and motor skills. I had several diagnoses, and the cure for one was to remove half my brain. As you can imagine, my parents were distraught. However, believers across the globe were praying, and, praise the Lord, God answered. He brought the doctor to correctly diagnose me, and with the treatment, healed me with my whole brain intact. On Thanksgiving Day, 22 years ago, my speech returned, and my ability to move followed. Whether you are praying, as many people did for me, whether you give financially, as my parents’ partners did, and enabled them to come home for my treatment, whether you are a support system, as people were when my parents came home, or whether you are going as a missionary yourself, God can use you to touch the life of someone. Maybe you have never even met them. But God can use you to advance His kingdom for the glory of Christ. I hope you will prayerfully consider what part He is asking you to do for Him.
I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Bethanny as much as I have. Please consider supporting her in some way if that is possible for you. Prayer is the best gift you can give, but time, talent or treasure can all be used by God to move the work forward.
Thank you, Bethanny!
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