Mobilizing for Mission

00:13
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the Essentially Translatable Podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. My name is Rich Rudowske and I’m the Chief Operating Officer here at LBT. In today’s episode, I had the opportunity to speak to my colleague Emily, who serves as our Mission Mobilization Coordinator when the LBT office moved from the Chicago area to Concordia, Missouri, nearly five years ago. Day one of the new office was Emily and me, our computers and a card table. So we’ve been through quite a bit together these last few years. 

00:40
Rich Rudowske
We caught up recently to talk about opportunities for service, theology and missionary internships with LBT. Enjoy today’s episode. 

00:48
Rich Rudowske
Okay, Emily, thanks for being on the podcast today. I’m excited to talk to you about your work as a Mission Mobilization Coordinator and some of the great stuff going on at LBT. First, I’d like the listeners to just get to know you a little bit better. Tell us how you got started in mission, what you were doing before, and how God led you to serve with us at LBT. 

01:07
Emily Wilson
It feels like a long journey. So if anyone asked me in high school, the goal was to become a secondary education history teacher. And that didn’t happen. After prayerfully considering in my college days, I felt called to study theology. And during that time I was blessed to experience this cross-cultural ministry aspect of what does it mean to engage in God’s mission, the importance of worldview. And so I was studying at Trinity Christian College up in Palis Heights, Illinois, and had the opportunity to travel to South Africa, fell in love with that country and the people there, and really just experienced the power of God’s Word among the people and fell in love with international travel and international ministry. So when I returned, I was able to participate in a missions course. 

02:19
Emily Wilson
And I was first introduced to this idea of Bible translation ministry during that, just kind of wrestled with concepts of, well, it’s not always an easy translation. For example, what if they don’t have sheep in their region? And what does that mean for people as you translate something like, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?” What does that mean? So, introduced to this concept of Bible translation, was intrigued by it, and also required an internship for graduation. So I was scouting around looking for a translation sort of into that theology degree. What does this mean? I’m not looking to serve necessarily in a church publication. What’s exactly happening? And just stumbled across Lutheran Bible Translators up in Aurora, Illinois. 

03:29
Emily Wilson
And that internship that was only supposed to last a month turned into a summer job, turned into can you stay till the end of the year turned into, can you move to Concordia, Missouri? So it’s going to be six years in June that I have been with the organization. 

03:48
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So just taking a step back for a second because I think this is interesting. You started out thinking about being a teacher, then you switched to theology. So what were you thinking when you switched to theology in terms of, okay, what am I going to do with this? Or just kind of following an interest or how did that happen? 

04:06
Emily Wilson
Yeah. So I was studying at a Catholic university for the secondary education history, and it was required to take a theology course. And although I enjoyed the course, I knew that I wanted to have more of a reformed focus, that idea of grace, but also a focus on Christian values and doctrine alone. So originally was looking at one of the Concordia schools and wasn’t sure. Am I being called into deaconess studies and really didn’t feel called to serve within a church? Rather, how could I make my skills and my talents available to larger church body? Being able to provide an opportunity maybe to use editorial skills or networking, social organizing skills to be able to build up the church. So initially when I was switching to theology with a history and English double minor, it was, well, could I see myself in Christian publication? 

05:25
Emily Wilson
So Lutheran Bible translators does publish. Not in the same way as I was anticipating. 

05:34
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s how God works. Oh, I think publication. Okay. Yeah, publication. Right. So your title now, after you’ve actually done a number of things with us, we’ll talk about some of those. But your title now is Mission Mobilization Coordinator. So what does that mean? What do you actually do? I’m sure that you get asked that a lot, especially if you hand that card out. Yeah. 

05:58
Emily Wilson
So when I’m visiting classrooms and giving a presentation, that’s actually the first thing that I say is like, “Hello, my name is Emily Wilson and I’m the Mission Mobilization Coordinator. You’re probably asking yourself, what does that mean?” 

06:13
Rich Rudowske
That’s a good question. 

06:15
Emily Wilson
It is, and because I normally get a couple blank stares, but we are all called to participate in God’s mission and it looks different for each person. And that’s what I really share with individuals, because when I stand in front of a classroom, many people likely think, well, I’m not feeling called to serve internationally, so therefore,  this presentation doesn’t apply to me. And the fact of the matter is, it absolutely does. God is calling us to participate, whether it’s by prayer, by advocacy, sharing with other people about the work of Bible translation, the needs that exist. 

06:56
Emily Wilson
It could be participating in His mission by not only the prayerful support, but also financially giving, which of course makes a college student usually turn green, but letting them know like, hey, you can be an advocate for your church to financially support, or there is that going aspect that they might feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit to maybe serve internationally. And we do have a number of different roles. It’s not just Bible translation, but also this idea of how people engage with Scripture. And that might happen by literacy. It might be written language development. So orthography, developing programs for people to learn to read and write in their language, vernacular, media, audiovisual, non-print resources to engage with Scripture, but also information technology. That’s something that not a lot of people think about. 

08:02
Emily Wilson
But there are a lot of needs in an international ministry context for support. We’re all experiencing that right now. People being distant from one another and how essential it is to have that kind of tech support. But also we have individuals serving as teachers for our missionary kids. So when I am out sharing about these pray, give, go, it’s a real blessing to kind of see people eyes light up with, oh, okay – It’s not just a one size fits all, but God calls each one of us with our own gifts. 

08:43
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, I think that’s a really important message that especially the audience that you’re usually speaking with needs to hear. I mean, that there’s generally in young folks a desire to make a difference and to do something that’s meaningful. And it’s really important to kind of matrix that idea of God calling and a mission with this idea of what’s meaningful and finding a place in that. 

09:07
Emily Wilson
Absolutely. 

09:08
Rich Rudowske
You mentioned Scripture engagement and just the whole Bible basis of the ministry, I guess, assumes the importance of the Bible for you to be passionate about the work that you do and to mobilize resources and folks to be involved in that ministry. How important is the Scripture to you, or what’s the role of the Bible in your life? 

09:30
Emily Wilson
Yeah, I was raised in the church. I feel very blessed, too. I grew up in a congregation. I was third generation, baptized, confirmed, went all through high school and seeing the impact of not only what the church taught, but being able to be in the Word. Watching my pastors, my mom, my youth leaders engage in Scripture, really showed me that it wasn’t just what do you find in your catechism? Because guess what? The catechism points back to Scripture. It’s not just the words of men, but it is God-breathed. It’s holy and living and active and powerful, and that we experience that transformation from the Holy Spirit working through the words that we read. 

10:26
Emily Wilson
And so it is my daily source of strength and the fuel that I need that everything that I know about who God is and who God is not, I find in Scripture. And that gives me such a comfort of especially reading different verses about God’s faithfulness and God’s love and being on the road. A lot of times things can be more challenging, whether it’s just transportation or maybe loneliness or just seeking inspiration. Maybe the notes just didn’t feel like they were quite right. As I was chatting with someone and just turning to Scripture and God, all these things are in your hands. I am here as your follower, as someone who is looking to serve you, and I put these things in your hands. 

11:26
Emily Wilson
And so being able to turn to that truth and just wholeheartedly lean on that, leaning not on my own understanding, and being able to see that and read that and digest it, and that those words of truth, they don’t have an expiration date. What was true thousands of years ago is true today. And seeing how much that applies to my life. 

11:52
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And so then just thinking of your own experience and how you’re able to engage with the Scripture, how does that translate into why you do what you do with LBT? 

12:03
Emily Wilson
Really, there is such an important aspect that I think so many Christians can lose sight of. We have our foundation in Scripture, and there’s this quote from Reverend Dr. Kwame Betiako arguing that if individuals do not have access to Scripture in their heart language, in their mother tongue, how can they build sustainable Christian thought, life, and community? That’s church and Bible studies, and Christian universities and seminaries, and so many aspects of what we do on a daily basis and how we think and our attitudes, our actions are shaped by Scripture. But it’s because it’s in our heart language that we’re really able to delve deeper and to emotionally connect. And when I share with individuals, thousands of languages are without the full Bible. 

13:08
Emily Wilson
That, yes, a lot of the majority languages that’s accessible for someone, but it’s not the same depth for a lot of individuals to engage. It’s the trade language, or it’s the language of maybe an oppressor. And how can we sit and be at a feast while others are starving? I think that’s from a former Wycliffe CEO who said that. And that imagery, Jesus being the bread of life, that really resonates with me of that’s something to share, that’s something to strive for everyone to be able to have access and it’s something that we can be a part of. And again, that praying, that giving, that advocacy the going, that’s all part of what God is doing through Bible translation ministry. So seeing the impact, how transformative God’s Word is in my life, that transformation can be for everyone. 

14:13
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s so true. You’ve been the beneficiary then of generations of your family and others who had access to God’s Word and who brought you up in that faith and then have access to a community where this theologizing, talking about God, wrestling with what are the problems in life and what has God had to say about it are all things that you’ve done, especially as a student of theology yourself. And I will brag on Emily a little bit: She’s not just a student of theology, she’s like a 4.0 student in theology. So which part of theology did you most enjoy studying or reflecting? Or if somebody sits down with you and says, “Hey, let’s talk theology,” what’s your go to? 

14:57
Emily Wilson
Although I would say most of my courses, schedule-wise, it worked out for it to be more systematic theology. And of course, I loved sharing with my classmates my Lutheran background. I personally found a lot of joy in studying the Pentateuch and in studying the Gospels and Acts, being able to see what the authors were accomplishing, being able to draw that connection between Genesis and John, and just this joy of the metanarrative of Scripture, that this is God’s overarching story of salvation. And He has intricately weaved that together that there are some aspects, as you’re reading that, what is happening here, well, what’s the genre? What are these metaphors? And digging down deeper. So, for example, looking at Exodus has completely different joy and meaning. 

16:09
Emily Wilson
When you’re here reading about maybe the plagues, and it seems very dark and ominous, and you’re wondering, well, why frogs? Why is the Nile being turned to blood? And looking at the parallels of Egyptian deities and those beliefs and how it was God showing His almighty sovereignty and His power and that He is the one true God in comparison with these other deities. And it was basically this spiritual warfare that if you’re not familiar with the context, the exegetical analysis, it could be completely missed. So being able to delve down deeper into the exegesis and the hermeneutics was really always just my jam. 

17:05
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, it sounds like you’re really drawn to the story parts or narrative parts. And you said the Pentateuch. So that’s those first five books in the Old Testament. Well, there’s quite a bit of narrative there. There’s actually quite a bit of other stuff there, too. And then certainly the Gospels have a lot of stories, so you like to really connect with the story. Yeah, I think that makes it more personal. And you can see how God’s people at different times in different circumstances, and sometimes those circumstances are pretty similar to our circumstances and how they acted or how they didn’t act real well, and how God’s grace is really the underlying or the overarching theme, I guess. That’s awesome. So I wanted to back up and talk a little bit about internships. So you mentioned that you came to us via an internship. 

17:54
Rich Rudowske
Now one of your roles. So Emily is more than just a one-trick pony here. I guess if you can say that she has a number of things for us, we’ll talk about a couple. So in addition to mobilizing folks to serve in mission, she directs our internships. So tell us a little bit about field internships at LBT, the value of an internship experience, what might be involved in that, and why maybe somebody listening would consider an internship with LBT or just an internship in general, rather than launching straight into a career. Because that’s basically what you did, I guess. Number one, it was required by your school. So, okay, let’s set that aside. But why would somebody look to do an internship? What’s the value? 

18:39
Emily Wilson
Well, what we really try to offer with Lutheran Bible Translators is an opportunity to experience and explore. What I tell people is, we’re not expecting you to sign up on the dotted line without being able to delve in deeper and to be able to wrestle with those challenging questions of, okay, is this in fact where God is calling me? Or is this just like I love international travel and being able to self-assess? Do I have an aptitude? Is this draining for me? Or maybe this idea of being separated from family? And these are all very important questions that should be wrestled with before someone makes a commitment. And so an internship offers an opportunity to do that. Now, the internship program is relatively newer in the way we’re approaching things this decade. So right now, obviously everything is at a standstill. 

19:48
Emily Wilson
But if the circumstances are right regarding international travel, the hope is to offer individuals three month, six month, a year long international internship opportunity to be able to observe the work of either Bible translation or Scripture engagement and learn some skills along the way. It’s important that an intern is a learner. That’s the primary role. Some people are kind of concerned, am I just going to be glorified gopher? Go for the coffee or go collect the stuff off the printer. We really want individuals to engage as much as possible with the missionaries and the partners and having a mentorship. 

20:44
Emily Wilson
We use the phrase in missions of walking alongside, and that’s something we really want to foster within people who are able to see themselves and picture themselves in this kind of role and being able to, before making that leap into an international career service, which is years at a time, being able to experience that shorter term. So within that time, being realistic again, it’s not like you’re able to accomplish a full-on project. The goal is accomplished if you are able to walk away and say, I’ve experienced cross-cultural living. I have lived away from my family and my school. I’ve learned to go grocery shopping and cook for myself in another country. 

21:50
Emily Wilson
And context, being able to worship with other people in not necessarily a context that’s familiar for you, maybe you come from a very liturgical background and what you’re experiencing internationally is not that being able to feel stretched in that way, even in the office. How to practice dialogue international sensitivity, cross-cultural sensitivity in dialogue and also learning from mistakes, because all of our missionaries can attest to that. Something that is very normal within our cultural framework and context. It might even be considered polite, may be something that’s very rude in another culture. And so digesting those experiences and being able to come out the other side with a better understanding. So it’s really to provide an exploration framework and for self-reflection, but I say all of this, but it’s not required for an individual to apply for missionary service either. 

23:13
Rich Rudowske
What is required for somebody to be an intern, though? If somebody’s thinking, hey, I’d like to work towards that, sure. 

23:20
Emily Wilson
So our internship program, we really do require for individuals to have that emotional maturity and looking for it to be that they’re a legal adult over 18, and that we aren’t also just wanting, again, someone who’s just looking for an international adventure, that there is a passion for Bible translation, ministry work and a desire to explore the long term. So that is definitely kept in mind in the application process, as well as being able to invest in a little bit of pre-field orientation and training. We’re not looking for you to do master’s level coursework or anything like that, but being able to go through the required readings, meet with missionaries and regional directors. 

24:20
Emily Wilson
If there is a lead up time available, maybe a year or two before the internship actually takes place, it’s good to take maybe a linguistics course or something along the lines of cross cultural business or interactions so that you have a little bit more under your belt. And theology, of course, can be helpful if you are at a private institution. But again, because you’re a learner, it’s not like we’re looking for you to be that expert, to be able to contribute. So we’re wanting to provide more tools for an intern to explore. 

25:08
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, so if somebody doesn’t have the opportunity to go on an internship, maybe they don’t have the three months or six months in a normal year. We’ve kind of alluded that the decade hasn’t gotten off on the right foot. Right. But in a normal year, what other opportunity might there be to get some hands-on field experience with LBT? 

25:28
Emily Wilson
So not the field experience part, but definitely hands on in the sense of connecting. We have a mission exploration conference that we do on an annual basis. This year it’s going to be online and we’re really excited about that because there’s not a limit. We are free to have as many people join us as they wish because we’re not limited to a physical space being online, the more the barrier. And so during that time we have courses where missionaries are leading and are able to speak into topics like translation and vernacular media and literacy. And these are experienced missionaries. They’re able to share about what they are doing within these programs, but we are also talking about topics like living overseas and missionaries. 

26:31
Emily Wilson
We’re looking for them to share what’s it like, a day in the life, if you will, and what does the routine look like? We also want to talk about vocation and God’s mission, looking specifically at our Lutheran missiology in that and talking about spiritual warfare as well as spiritual formation. So really exciting opportunity for online and for the wonderful price of free! Yeah, so that’s a really exciting opportunity. But if someone is saying, well, I’ve never traveled internationally, or maybe I’ve traveled internationally, but it was just a vacation, I want to be able to see a little bit more of the work in progress, be able to, in a safer way, stretch the skills of cross-cultural adaptation. Maybe we have an opportunity called Crossroads again, as it permits, we’re hoping to host this on an annual basis. 

27:49
Emily Wilson
This past year we were in Ethiopia, the year before that we were in Nigeria, and these trips are anywhere from two to three weeks in length and being able to just be an observer. So although an intern is a learner and goes from observing to actual participation, the crossroads trip has a more limited participation, some relationship building where that’s possible, but it’s a lot of time on the road, shifting between language programs and communities. But being able to interact with missionaries, being able to see what their daily living is like and meeting our LBT partners on the field and seeing the work in its context and the community gathered around it and the impact there. So, for example, in Nigeria and Ethiopia, we’re able to see people gathered around to their weekly audio listening of Scripture. Right. 

28:58
Emily Wilson
So people were gathered around an audio device and they were able to do Bible study and seeing the impact of raising children up in the faith, being able to hear Scripture and then ask questions to analyze that and apply that into their homes. 

29:18
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, sounds great. So lots of opportunities to connect. Of all the stuff you’re working on in sort of a changed atmosphere right now, what’s the thing you’re most excited about in your work right now? 

29:31
Emily Wilson
Yeah, the mission exploration online is probably my most exciting venture right now. It’s completely new for me to be working online rather than… I’m more of an extrovert or ambivert. And being in person is really where I thrive. And so it was a little bit of a disappointment, the idea of not being able to meet and do our mission exploration in person, because usually there’s talking over meals with missionaries or night events. But the fact that we’re able to engage with missionaries around the world, that more people can gather together in this space than just ten, we already have twelve participants signed up, so we’re looking forward to many more and just getting a good conversation going. That’s really where I personally witness just what God is doing within my role of mobilization, people in conversation with one another. 

30:46
Rich Rudowske
Great. So, Emily, just one more time before we go. How can folks connect with you to explore getting involved in the Bible translation movement? 

30:54
Emily Wilson
They can contact me at recruiter@lbt.org or visiting lbt.org/go. And filling out that info form or just shooting me an email and ask as many questions as are on your mind because the more questions that you ask, the more it shares with me where your heart is and so I’d love to connect you further with missionaries and staff to be able to share their stories. So recruiter@lbt.org or lbt.org/go. 

31:32
Rich Rudowske
All right, very good. Thanks, Emily, for being with us today. 

31:35
Emily Wilson
Thank you. 

31:40
Rich Rudowske
Thanks, Emily Wilson, for being our guest on the podcast today. If you are interested in learning more about missionary service or internships with LBT, or to register for LBT’s free mission explorers online event happening in July, check out www.lbt.org/go or email Emily at recruiter@lbt.org sometimes the beginning of a new path in God’s mission begins with a single step of reaching out and learning what’s possible. 

Thank you for listening to the Essentially Translatable Podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. Look for past episodes of the podcast lbt.org/podcast or on Apple, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible Translators on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Or go to www.lbt.org to find out how you can get involved, the Bible translation movement and put God’s Word in their hands. 

32:34
Rich Rudowske
The Essentially Translatable podcast is edited and produced by Andrew Olson. Executive producer is Amy Gertz. Music written and performed by Rob Veith. I’m Rich Rudowske. So long for now.