Greatest Hits

00:08
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the Essentially Translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. I’m Rich Rudowske. 

00:13
Emily Wilson
And I’m Emily Wilson. 

00:15
Rich Rudowske
And this is the 100th episode of Essentially Translatable (insert party noise here). 

00:22
Emily Wilson
Hooray. 

00:23
Rich Rudowske
And we thought about, okay, what are we going to do for the hundredth episode? And so we put our heads together, which we do from time to time, and thought we would go through the inventory of the 99 prior episodes and pick out, like, what were our favorite episodes? We had some statistics pulled for us about what were some of yours? And so we each picked our favorite episodes and clips out of there, and we just wanted to talk those through. We were trying to be disciplined. How are we going to be disciplined, Em? 

00:53
Emily Wilson
We were going to do five each, right? So 10 altogether. 

00:58
Rich Rudowske
So then Emily presented her list of six to me and was like. I was like, okay, I could share that one with you and just pick out four more, and then that’ll be ten. And then I was listening to it, and I was like, oh, that one’s good, too. So, in the end, luck notwithstanding, we are bringing you a baker’s dozen, because that’s generosity. A baker’s dozen of our favorite episodes that we want to walk you through. And so that’s what we’re going to do. 

01:25
Emily Wilson
Little bit of a note. So these are in chronological order of release. So we’re also hoping to have in the show notes so that you can actually just navigate right to them if any of them really struck your fancy and you really wanted to listen to right then and after you complete the 100th episode. So we do hope that you enjoy our 100th episode of Essentially Translatable Greatest Hits. 

01:51
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, let’s take that walk right down memory lane. 

01:59
Emily Wilson
All right, so this first personal pick of mine is from modern day Tower of Babel with Rev. Linus Otronyi, first released in July of 2020. 

02:10
Linus Otronyi
But the Bible is the most important message we can think of in the world. And so the Bible was written in the language of the people. And when Jesus came, he preached and taught in the language of the people. At his time, I used to tell people that if Jesus is here in Yala, he will be teaching and preaching to us in Yala, because that is the language we understand to us as a church. I think that no one can get saved from his sin apart from the Word of God in a language that they understand. And that is why, when Peter was preaching at Pentecost, people understood him. And because they understood him, they responded absolutely. So the church cannot fulfill the lost mandate for his church without taking the word of God to the people in the language that they understand. 

03:05
Linus Otronyi
That’s why Bible translation is important and should be translated to the language of all people to whom the church goes to minister or witness to. Otherwise, it is like pouring water on the back of a  rock. When real challenges or temptation come, people will run away from the faith because they don’t actually know what faith is all about. So the first requirement for all ministry is the word of God in the language that people understand. 

03:39
Emily Wilson
So I love this quote from Linus. It’s just so powerful, the idea of God’s word being in our own language. And when it’s not, it’s like the equivalent of water being poured on a rock. It’s not soaking in. It’s not penetrating anybody’s hearts when it’s not in their language. And they’re struggling to understand what it means to be forgiven in Christ. Struggling to understand, why do I need a savior? Why is my sin actually so painful and hurtful to others and to myself? Why do I need a savior? But to have it in our own language, that’s pouring water on soil that will then bring good fruit. 

04:27
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, let it soak in. Because God’s word is such a great gift. And that’s the thing I think Linus is really capturing in that statement is the power of recognizing God’s word as the great gift it is. And when you recognize it, you want it to soak in, and that barrier of language can prevent that. But Bible translation opens the door. 

04:47
Emily Wilson
I love, too, that. What did he know? If Jesus was here now, he would be speaking Yallah to you, that it wouldn’t be a barrier. His word is for all people. 

04:59
Rich Rudowske
Okay, our next greatest hit is also from one of our ministry partners, an african church leader from Ghana, Dr. Ebenezer Boafo from the Lutheran Church of Ghana. And his episode is multilingual identity, originally released in September of 2020. Okay. Dr. Boafo had so much this episode. When I was listening to it, I was like, oh, my gosh, there are so many impactful things he said. So I would recommend go and listen to the whole episode, but here’s how he kind of capped up the episode, talking about the opportunity for God’s word to bring us together. 

05:35
Linus Otronyi
I would just like to read a portion of the scripture in that revelation, chapter five, and then let me read from verse six to ten. Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamp. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bows full of incense which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song. 

06:25
Linus Otronyi
You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seal because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God. From every tribe and every language and every people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our God. And they will reign on this. Know, in this world where there’s much tribalism there’s much social distinctions, racism and et cetera. The Bible makes it clear, Jesus makes it clear here undisputable that whatever tribe you come from whatever language you speak whoever you are, whatever country you are from all of us are from one kingdom of God. We are citizens of heaven. We are God’s children. We have been made priests and all of us have been given the power to serve God. And this should unite us together as christians. 

07:27
Linus Otronyi
Respect one another, support one another, pray for one another and help one another in our mission. For together we will succeed in this mission. This is what I have to say this morning. 

07:41
Emily Wilson
I love that we are citizens of heaven. We are citizens of the kingdom of God and we are called to be one. Jesus’ prayer. For us being unity and to love one another as we love ourselves and to love God with our whole heart. And that oneness that we have in him is reading his word and to be really challenged by it that all of the divisions that we create ourselves what does it really mean when it comes to being a body of Christ? 

08:22
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing like what you were just saying in terms of human beings especially. Well, human beings everywhere have the propensity to say, what makes me different from you? What makes me distinct from you and to. There is some valuable function of that. But ultimately the scripture says in Christ those things are wiped away and washed away. Their differences are a beautiful array of God’s creation that God gets to enjoy. But the differences aren’t meant to keep us apart. We are united because of anything that may make us different or distinct. The one thing we have in common is dearly loved by God, redeemed by Christ. And yeah, again, I’d listen to the whole episode if I were you. But that was his cap after talking about the episode’s title is multilingual identity. 

09:11
Rich Rudowske
So talking about various facets of language and how to best serve different communities and demographics. And then he kind of capped it off with, yeah, but ultimately this should bring us together. Right? So the next greatest hit is from reformation of 2020, where I got to talk to Dr. Eric Herman from Concordia seminary, and we talked about Luther’s translation as pastoral care. Here he’s talking about Luther, and the question I had asked him was, if Luther were alive, like, what would he think about how the situation is with access to scripture compared to his time? So listening to Dr. Eric Herman, on the one hand, I think he’d be pleased at the capacity of western society to access the scriptures. 

09:56
Rich Rudowske
I mean, the widespread literacy would be seen as a gift of God from his perspective, the fact that people who can read don’t read the scriptures or know so little about it, even christians, would be seen as one of the most egregious neglects of a gift. Yeah. And I think a lot of teachers of the faith share that frustration on how do we help people become more biblically literate. There are more things filling our ears and competing for our time than in. Yeah, that’s a great challenge. I really resonated with what Dr. Herman said at that point in terms of the wide availability of scripture, especially in our context and culture ministry settings. The wide availability of scripture and the lack of engagement with it are things that Luther would find egregious, is what he said. Right. 

10:54
Rich Rudowske
Just that to recognize and remember again the great gift that God’s word is and the power and just the privilege and opportunity that exists to open it and lean into it. We experience in Lutheran Bible translators being with language communities that are experiencing that for the first time and see the hope and the joy that comes from that. And it really is something that can teach us then to remember the great gift we have. 

11:20
Emily Wilson
Losing sight of the power of God’s word and really diving into it and reading it over and over again. Sometimes I think we can keep it on the shelf. We’ve talked about within Lutheran Bible translators, we want God’s word in their hands. We’re not translating just for the sake of it as an academic exercise, but rather we recognize that his word brings hope and life and transformation. And that’s a gift for everyone to be shared. And so I want to encourage you, too, today, if you are not yet in the word, want to encourage you to find that space, to be open to how the Lord is speaking. To you through his scriptures, the next clip. 

12:11
Rich Rudowske
So I just happened to pick some of the earlier clips for my favorites here. So I’ve got the next one here as well from an episode called Easter People from April of 2021. This was one of the earlier episodes when Emily Wilson came on as co host. But what we’re going to hear, Easter People, is a compilation of people’s testimony and experience of Easter in different settings. And the one we’re going to listen to is from Chris Pluger, and he’s talking about his experience of Easter in Zambia. And so listen in early Sunday morning, hears this singing, and I hear this shuffling noise, like something scuffing along. And so I come out of my tent, and it’s all the women of the whole parish are marching through the camp meeting, around the church and through the sleeping areas and around the cooking fires. 

12:59
Rich Rudowske
And if you want to think of a very dignified african conga line, that’s kind of the impression that I got. So people are, they’re doing this measured step, and they’re dancing along as they sing and they’re singing this song. I figured out that what they were singing pretty much over and over was the verse from the gospels where early in the morning, before it was light, the women went to the tomb, and the women went to the tomb, and they went going, and they went dancing and they went singing. And then they find that the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. And so this was the women preaching the Easter gospel just at the very crack of dawn as it was starting to get light. The women are reenacting this scene from scripture. 

13:41
Rich Rudowske
And it was such a beautiful thing, just the joy in people’s hearts and the joy that they were able to reenact, to re-participate in that, and to put themselves almost literally in the shoes of those women who went the very first Easter Sunday and found that the tomb was empty. And, of course, what do these Nsengo women find at the end of their journey around the camp and a couple of laps and out into the bush and through the village. And then they come back. What do they find? 

14:08
Rich Rudowske
They find a pastor who’s ready to preach to them that the tomb is empty and that Jesus has risen and that their hope is not in vain and that any loved ones that they’ve lost in that previous year or years before will rise again, just like Mary and Martha were promised when their brother Lazarus died, that because Jesus lived, they will live, too. And their loved ones will all live, too. And that’s just a beautiful Easter gospel preached to me in a way that I will never forget by a whole parish full of women marching around the village early in the morning while it was still dark. Here come these women going to the tomb. So that was a pretty cool thing. 

14:48
Rich Rudowske
The thing that stuck out to me with that story and why I picked it for this podcast episode is the embodiment of the gospel by the women and the recognition that, hey, the first people that knew Jesus rose from the dead were the women that went from the tomb. They didn’t understand it, or they were pretty bewildered by it. But I just love that embodiment and reenactment. And you read scripture and see that’s what scripture calls the people of God to do over and over again is to remember. And part of remembering is participating and being part of that story and recognizing that it happened once in time. But it also happens to me now, too, that the resurrection of Jesus is for me. 

15:28
Emily Wilson
And you saying about embodying, it’s sometimes that physical action, whether it’s walking or sometimes when you’re reading, I lift up my hands to the Lord, or I bow before the Lord in scripture. And what does it look like for us to also do our minds, our hearts are tied to our bodies and to be able to think about what is it that the women were experiencing as they are moving along, as these women are moving along in this dance together, what is it that the women at the tomb were experiencing and that those emotions, too, as he was talking about. Here’s the good news of people that they’ve lost. 

16:14
Emily Wilson
So thinking as they are going around in the village or just outside of the village, and thinking about the women and the disciples who followed Jesus, this deep sorrow that they would have been experiencing, and then to come back around into the church, into the fellowship and hearing the word and the good news of the gospel that he is not here, he has risen. It’s incredible to think, too, of these are new ways to be thinking about. How is it that you are enjoying the Easter celebration? What does it look like for you to meditate and be strengthened by your sisters in Christ around the world? 

17:00
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And I do love it. Just occurred to me, as you were mentioning, that, too, the first women that went to the tomb were afraid and bewildered. These women are confident in Christ and celebratory, and that’s a beautiful thing. 

17:14
Emily Wilson
So our next clip is from June of 2021. This is one of my picks. It is called go to the deepest water by Bishop Andrew Goule in Tanzania. And he just has a real heart for what God is doing through his church in reaching out to people far and wide to know his word and to know the life saving hope they have in Christ. So give it a listen. 

17:45
Rich Rudowske
The Kerewe area seems to be isolated nowadays. They’re at least good. We have ferries, ghosts and coming back, but they need to be connected with Jesus. The church is still very young in Okrewa island, so this project is needed because the people speak their language. When they read the Bible which is written in their language, it will be used as an instrument to know more about God and also to be attracted. They can see that God is not for the people outside, but they will feel God also can speak with the Karew. So this project is, as I told you, we use every project here as means of mission, as means to attract people to Jesus or to connect people to Jesus. 

18:51
Rich Rudowske
So this project is needed because it will help us to do mission, and also it will help the people to understand what ghost is talking. So the Karewe people, the island, need this project, needed the Bible. So currently then, on the island, there are christian churches, but not a lot of engagement in the Church. Is that the situation? Okay, so people maybe from outside Tanzania. One of the things they know about Tanzania is that Swahili is a very strong language and that many people speak it. So then they might ask, do the people on the island not use Swahili? They do. They use Swahili. But normally it is when you speak to someone with his or her language, it has different touching and understanding. Right? We have been using language. I am the Schuma. Okay. But there are some words. 

19:57
Rich Rudowske
If we are discussing maybe about love of God, if I speak in a Schuma language, it brings deeper meaning. Yes. Love in Swahili, it will be somehow like, it’s not so strong, but if I use my language to my pharaoh, that God loves you, it brings deeper meaning and a strong meaning. So I’m sure when we will read the Word of God using their language, they will really understand. But also there are people who are the old people, who really don’t understand very well, Swahili. Okay. So this also will help that group to be connected to Jesus, because there is a tendency that when people don’t understand the language, they think this message is for a certain group of people. But if they understand the language and you speak with them using their language, they know this is our church, this is our message. 

21:17
Rich Rudowske
That is my feeling, yes. Okay. So you’ve mentioned before that the difference of people having God’s Word in their own language is God is speaking with us. So that’s what you say for the Kerewe people, then they will feel that God is speaking with them directly. So what impact do you think that will have in their community? The impact is that they will believe in Jesus and they will follow the teachings of the word of God. 

21:50
Emily Wilson
I love this clip on so many levels in, like, I don’t know, how long is it? Four and a half minutes. He is able to articulate so much of what is challenging in Bible translation and why it is so necessary, even from the Internet connection kind of getting garbled, the connectivity to being present. The Kerewe are on an island in Lake Victoria in Tanzania. They are fishermen who need to know about the love of Jesus in their own language, that when he was talking about God loves you, what it sounds like in Swahili to them versus what it sounds like in their own language, and really believing it’s not just for the outsider outside of my community, outside of my language and culture. That’s for them. It’s for you, right where you are. 

22:55
Emily Wilson
And that they also are meant to not only just receive it, but be changed by it. 

23:04
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And his love for the people and the desire that they will know the peace with God that comes from just being able to hear his word without barrier is what drives Bishop Goulet. And I love his heart in this whole clip as he kind of walked through the various aspects of the difficulty and the benefit that comes on the other side of the translation work and the engagement. All right, our next clip is from an episode called speaking my language, which came out in September of 2021. Dr. Tillan Mandetto, our associate executive director. And this was another one that I was like, man, if I could just play the whole episode for you. So you go listen to it, man. 

23:45
Rich Rudowske
He has some great stories of how he came to know Jesus during a time when the communists were ruling in Ethiopia and how dangerous that was, and how the missionary that first opened his eyes to Scripture said to him, jesus loves you in Amharic, and then leaned in closer and said, jesus loves you in the Aroma language and Tilaon, like, wondering, how can this man know my language? And what is it? Jesus loves you. And so that missionary gave Tilaon a Bible. And what we’re getting, the clip we’re going to hear here, is how Tilaon, as he began to embrace that Scripture, then shared it with others, and how they, in a very dangerous time, really found a small community that leaned into the Word of God. And in today’s history, the church has grown so much from this time. 

24:33
Rich Rudowske
The Lutheran church in Ethiopia is the largest Lutheran church in the world, but it definitely finds some roots and an important period of identity and growth during this time. So here’s Tilon. When I opened that, it says the Bible, the holy Bible. Actually it doesn’t say the Bible, the Holy Bible, Mitsahafa Kadus. And then I opened, that was the first chapter of the Bible from the book of Psalm 91. I ended up and that was like boom. Then surprisingly enough, I read that Bible from COVID to cover for almost six, seven months, probably four or five times. Wow. And in the communist time of Ethiopia, it is not like what so many people jump in the street of Adisawa today about evangelical Christianity. You hide and you read and you recite and you memorize because you cannot carry the Bible with you. 

25:38
Rich Rudowske
And you never know when you’d be apprehended or arrested. And when you go to. Sometimes in high school I was leading high school leadership and my role was working with helping the scripture union and the mechanist church use office and making that connection and leadership. If we are found doing that, it is just a big crime during that communist time. But sometimes we sit in this big grass, I don’t know if you know about this savannah grass, even taller than us. We hide there like four or five. We have cells everywhere and we study the scripture and we have very little verse in case if we are not memorized, we write it. 

26:29
Rich Rudowske
When the communists come all of a sudden we always make our physics or chemistry book open and they come and they couldn’t find anything because they only see chemistry, physics and biology, because the scripture was in our heart and in our minds. And you never know when you’d be in jail, you’d not have the text or the Bible. You share that to the fellow prisoner or anyone in the jail and comfort them and strengthen them. And that’s how my life was in time of the communist in Ethiopia. 

27:05
Emily Wilson
I’m reminded of the scripture that says that always be prepared to give answer for the hope that you have. And Tillahun’s sharing about memorizing scripture so that it’s in your heart. Yes, it is so important for us to be able to be in the word and reading it regularly and to dive into all parts of it. But how many of us are in the middle of a meeting or in the middle of a workday or in traffic and we cannot open our scriptures. But having that in our heart that we’re able to call it to mind and think of and talk about God’s faithfulness. 

27:48
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, I’m always amazed at folks that are under pressure and have to work and live in dangerous situations with scripture, how they’re so motivated by that scripture to take the risk and to carry it to others and to do the hard work of getting it in their hearts and in their minds. And like he said, you might end up with it in prison. You’re not going to have your Bible there, but it’s in your heart and you use it with your mouth to share with the folks around you. And that’s so inspiring. And again, just the power of God’s word spoken and applied and how God works through people and situations to no matter what the powers of this world do to try to stop God’s word, it only spreads. And I just find that amazing. 

28:33
Emily Wilson
It’s true. And Tillehoon has impacted the lives of so many people with his story that even in the midst of suffering, even in the midst of challenges, the Lord is glorified as he is faithful. 

28:47
Rich Rudowske
Next clip is from Dr. Mike Rodewald. He was the very first guest on our podcast when we launched it in 2020 and was on multiple episodes. The clip I chose, though, is from October of 2021, right near Halloween. And it’s called spirits, charms, and rituals. And this topic, matter of animism and spiritism, is Dr. Mike’s jam. He just really loved talking about this kind of stuff, and he did his doctoral work in it. So in this part of the episode, we’re talking about the story of Naaman from Second Kings. And Mike had just kind of reflected on what this looks like when you consider the animist worldview of the original audience and even today’s audiences that are involved in traditional religion, how they see different aspects of the text working and how that really strengthens the message about the grace of God. 

29:35
Rich Rudowske
So that’s where we’re at in the west. We call it coincidence. We don’t make the connection. But he goes down into the river and he does not wash seven times, he dips seven times. In other words, he’s blowing the ritual. And when you blow the ritual in animism, you’re directly challenging. Naaman is directly challenging this. Whatever he thinks is in this Jordan river, and he’s saying, do your worst, hurt me, whatever wants to have to be. We can see a direct challenge. And what happens? God heals him. And Naaman meets a different God. He meets a God not from all of his experience, not animism, not anything else, but something. When he’s done everything wrong, 100% wrong, this should not have worked. He gets what he was after. And then I think what’s really cool is the new confession that Naaman comes out. 

30:28
Rich Rudowske
Two kings, 515. He says, I know that there’s no God in all the earth, but in Israel now Naaman didn’t just say, wow, I met a really powerful God or I met one of the most powerful gods in the whole universe. He says, there’s no other God like this in the universe. New confession, 100% change around. But it’s a God that acted different than all the others. He had met the God of grace in the waters of the Jordan river. I think that’s just a cool text. Understanding it from the animus lens and seeing how powerful that Old Testament text is in a way that I could not understand before until my animus. 

31:06
Rich Rudowske
Practicing friends pointed out all of these underlying meanings that they could see in what was happening, gives us a whole new appreciation of how biblical text acts in ways that sometimes we can’t even see how it works. Yeah. And just really that story punctuates the power of, you know, Naaman got exactly what he didn’t deserve. And then if anybody listening and trying to live in a way that’s know, I’ve done a lot of bad things, I don’t deserve anything good. This is the same God that says yes, you don’t get what you deserve. You get my grace when you trust in Christ. You’re exactly right on that. So the power of the gospel, again, God’s word is just full of it and drips with it. 

31:54
Rich Rudowske
And what I love about this particular clip is how it shows that any cultural grid or background that you bring to the text, different parts are going to speak to you differently. And God is so in his infinite wisdom and grace. There’s a whole range of scripture that speaks to everybody in different ways. 

32:12
Emily Wilson
It’s true. And reading God’s word through the context, the original lens of the hearers, Naaman is not someone that anyone would feel deserves God’s grace. He was an oppressor. And it was one of the jewish slave girls that should, he should actually ask Elisha to be part of this healing and how know taking the original context and that this would have been an offensive sort of thing. How could God heal this person, but instead that God uses it for his glory and that you have then too like seeds of faith that come to fruition many years later and it’s mysterious it is. What is it? The wisdom of God. And just marveling at his grace, his plan of salvation, even when it doesn’t make sense to us. 

33:24
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And I do love the part where. Not that it’s recommended, right. But Namin is basically saying, I don’t think you can do. I don’t know what this is. I don’t believe any of this. And God’s big enough to handle that. He’s not offended. Right? He can say, yep, I get it. And yet, here’s my grace for you. 

33:47
Emily Wilson
Okay, so the next two are actually, it’s two for the price of one, in my opinion. I can’t very well share the story of Ponzo without sharing the story of suare. And so we are combining these two interviews called scripture impact. So it was a very miniseries. Both Ponso Moswe and Suare Sheshu have served in the Shikalahari New Testament Bible translation program. And we’re so excited for the upcoming dedication of the New Testament after years of laboring in love for God’s word to be made known. So you hear from these ladies just their heart for God’s word and just how important this process has been in their life of being part of the translation program. So enjoy these clips from Ponso and suare. As Christians, we know that Bible is the word of God, in which God communicates with people. 

34:49
Emily Wilson
And revival is a very important tool in every Christian. Every Christian is a tool that we use in our daily life because we communicate through. We communicate with God through Bible. We read the scriptures, we read the comforting verse, it comfort us when we face difficulties in our life. When we find that we face difficulties in our life. We read Bible to comfort us. Like as I quoted from two corinthians, chapter one, verse three, the Bible comfort us. It bring us close to God. Also, the Bible is lead us to repentance. As you know the christians, we tend to God or how we live or our formerly lives. We tend to God through reading some scriptures that will lead us to repentance. Also, it gives us courage. It encourage us when we face obstacles in our life. 

36:14
Emily Wilson
We know that Jesus Christ is our lord and savior. He’s our redeemer. He protects us against all evils. Also, the Bible guides us. It leads us to the way of God, how we should live. The principles of christians, how christians should live. Like I say, it guide us as christians. Sometimes there are some way we fall, or the devil want us to take us from the way. But when we read the Bible, it lead us to the way of God and that this is the way we should live as Christians. Also, it is a tool that each and every Christian should have is defend us from all the evils of this world. Also, the Bible is to reconcile us with God as we read the Bible. As you maybe having or you have troubles at home, you have some argument. 

37:31
Emily Wilson
You have at church, you have some argument. We refer to Bible always as a Christian. Our tool is Bible. That’s where we find guidance, that’s where we find reconciliations. 

37:47
Rich Rudowske
Okay, that’s very true. So then obviously the Bible is important to you and that’s why you want to help your people have it in their own language. 

37:56
Emily Wilson
Yeah. To read it in the language of their heart so that they can understand it deeply how God communicates with them. We were filter testing the book of Revelation. I was the one who has written the passages or the text. And after finishing reading it, that man was so excited, he used this word by saying, I have been reading this book or text in the English. And after hearing it being read in my language, it’s like the spirit has taken it straight to my heart. He said, it is more understandable to read the word of God in your language than to read in. To read. It is from other languages that we think we understand. But now it shows that it’s difficult to understand fully when you are reading in other languages. 

39:01
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So I’m just curious, do you have the same experience because you’re the one who’s done the translating and you’ve written this, do you ever go back and read some of it and say, oh, my goodness, this is like really clear, or is it because you did it yourself? It’s not the same. 

39:16
Emily Wilson
Yeah, I would say I have the same experience as dutch men because there are some things that when I read, even though, even after reading it, after some times now I will realize that this, I haven’t been understanding it well from the other languages, but now it’s like I understand it more when I read it from my own language. 

39:45
Rich Rudowske
First of all, I not meaning to not pay attention to the message, but I’m just sitting here enjoying all the background sounds there and being transported back to that know, where I got to be with them, where I got to live. And I do love hearing both Ponzo and Swari talk about their love for God’s word. Ponso very much digging into how this book, this has to guide us as christians. And Swari leaning into just every time we read it again, it becomes more clear and it just, without barrier gets straight into our hearts, and I just think that’s so beautiful. 

40:19
Emily Wilson
And it’s not just a task for these ladies. Ponceo talking. This is a tool to be used by every Christian and in life circumstances that are so difficult to understand. What it is that God’s word provides us is hope and light and to be able to reach out in reconciliation. And for Suare, just sharing about this man’s interaction with revelation and that it went straight to his heart. And it reminds me of the Kalanga Bible dedication video and a pastor saying, I feel like this is the real Bible. He’s finally not translating on the fly from Tzitswana or from English, but right from his language that he’s able to preach and teach and that they are able to grow. 

41:13
Rich Rudowske
All right, so the next episode, there’s a little backstory to it that I think is hilarious. So in mid March, in 2022, the board of directors notified me that they had elected me to be the next executive director. And so as part of the process of discerning that call, I made people aware that was a call that I had and asked them to pray for me and if there was anything they wanted to ask me or talk to me about or guidance and so forth. And so, by far and away, the most prolific and common thing I was asked was, oh, congratulations. Are you going to keep on doing the podcast? That was, like, the number one interest that people had in response to that statement. 

41:56
Rich Rudowske
And so that was mid March, and we had an episode due to drop on April Fool’s Day, April 1. And so we entitled that one the final episode. And the final episode was a collection of a couple of years at that point worth of funny stuff, bloopers and stuff like that. So we had Andrew Olsen, our producer at the time, in the room with us, and we just played our funniest and favorite bloopers to kind of explain what were going on. I think the whole episode is hysterical. I can’t be in the seat or in the shoes of a person who wasn’t a podcast insider to know if you all thought it was good or not. 

42:33
Rich Rudowske
But I think if you want to laugh, even if at a certain point you have no idea what’s going on, you just hear all the laughter, you’re going to laugh. And so I’d certainly recommend you find the final episode from April 1, 2022. And this little section here is my favorite part because it really reflects some of the rich and Emily Wilson Dynamics from the podcast. The next one we have here is called what a privilege. And this is one of my favorites for all time. Here we go. What a privilege to hear from a guy who has dedicated his life to biblical scholarship. Cut. It was a bit much, too. People are going to be like, rich Rudowski never talks like that. 

43:17
Emily Wilson
What privilege. 

43:21
Rich Rudowske
I said, what a privilege so many times in the episode, too. So we’re not going to do that either. Oh, man, I love that. Most of the outtakes are me saying dumb stuff and emily going. 

43:38
Emily Wilson
I have to have some measure of composure. 

43:42
Rich Rudowske
I’m trying to be professional here. All right, well, you’re talking about all this good stuff, and then what a privilege. 

43:52
Emily Wilson
I’m like. 

44:01
Rich Rudowske
As advertised, we think you’ll think it’s funny, too. So. Final episode, April 1, 2022. Go ahead. 

44:08
Emily Wilson
I was going to say the intros and outros were always trying to find extra time and making everything land and wrapping it all up, and what a privilege you were getting. All of the. You’re trying to wrap it up and just the prolonged and just couldn’t. 

44:33
Rich Rudowske
And the thing was that in the early days of the podcast, when I was the host myself, I had everything really scripted. So if you go back and listen to those older ones, it sounds like I’m basically reading it, because I am. I think we did one time where we sort of had it scripted between two of us, and, like, this doesn’t work, but we can just make it more natural. But that also just opens up the floodgates for bloopers and retakes, because you get a. What a privileged moment there. 

44:59
Emily Wilson
Yeah. And I think that it’s the beauty, too, of the podcast, of why is it that we’ve actually been able to sustain almost four years, we’re coming up on it this year, that it has to be fun, too, and that can’t take ourselves too seriously. And the final episode really is one that, if you know us personally and that we are a bit goofy, a little bit quirky. I think that the final episode really does highlight that. 

45:36
Rich Rudowske
It’s got some good stuff in it, man. So good. 

45:38
Emily Wilson
Love it. All right, so the next one is one of my picks. It’s called lives are changing with Mark and Marie. And so these are pseudonyms. And the stories that they have to share throughout the episode are really beautiful and encouraging. Rich Rudowske and I actually had the opportunity to see the context personally and to meet our partners there, and it just really is incredible, the work that’s happening. So want to share this little clip for you to listen to from. 

46:17
Rich Rudowske
Lives are changing in this effort to give access to the word of God, to people through Bible translation. We don’t want to see bibles in boxes or just gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. We don’t want to see people’s lives that are unchanged. Instead, we want to see the scriptures used and understood and people’s hearts filled with faith and their lives transformed, producing good know that comes through the Holy Spirit, working through God’s powerful guess I’m not sure if that’s clear or not, but that’s kind of where the field or kind of our area of work is helping see to it that the word of God as it’s translated has the intended impact that it can, as people really engage with God’s word, and God’s word engages with their hearts. 

47:11
Emily Wilson
Right? Sometimes, as I’ve heard people asking, what is scripture engagement? What does that even look like? Sometimes I feel like it’s almost that we’re so immersed in it already, thinking about what we have grown up with, if we’re lifelong Christians and what has just been made available to us, all of the resources, that we don’t necessarily even stop to think about it as a scripture engagement tool. For example, just Sunday school material that I grew up with from the get go that was breaking down the stories of scripture to encourage me to go and to read my bible. So what does that look like on the ground for you guys as you’re working in scripture engagement? What does that typically look like as you’re engaging with your community? 

48:02
Speaker 4
Yeah, those are good questions. And as you said, Emily Wilson, we don’t always realize that the products and methods we use in our daily lives or grown up with really come under the umbrella of scripture engagement. But in our setting, some of the activities that we work on with our team to help people really interact with the word in a way that has the fewest barriers for them, would include developing audio scripture resources. Our team, we have a small recording studio, and we record scripture portions and a lot of christian songs. And we can also use this studio to dub christian films. And for a lot of people, literacy can be a big barrier for accessing scriptures. So in scripture engagement, we want to try to minimize the barriers. So audio resources have been tremendously impactful. 

48:58
Speaker 4
And in our work, we usually make those recordings in our studio, and you can save them on little micro sd cards and buy a little mp3 player for about $5. And people literally take them to their fields when they go to work, when they’re living in their houses, working in their houses in the village, they put it on their windowsill and they play the music, and they have scripture playing, oral Bible studies going out. And that’s been a powerful tool both for Bible study and evangelism. So I would say, number one, audio resources. Another area that we spend a lot of time on is developing Sunday school materials for children and adults that facilitate true sharing around the scriptures. 

49:46
Speaker 4
And I think a model of teaching that is common in a lot of places in the world is that one person talks and everybody else sits there and listens quietly. And when the teacher is done talking, that’s it. So we’ve been trying to develop materials that really facilitate interaction and giving people the opportunity to read the word for themselves and learn to ask questions about it and share their ideas. And that’s been kind of revolutionary. And it’s been exciting to see that just very basic, kind of inductive Bible study materials have had a huge impact and growing influence in how people can use the word in church. And it’s been exciting for us to have the opportunity to work with about 100 different churches, actually, wow. Writing materials and then training people how to use the materials. 

50:46
Speaker 4
So if you just develop materials and distribute them, you just cannot be sure they’re going to know what to do with them. So a key part of what we do, in addition to materials development is training. Training Sunday school teachers. Many of them are older teenagers, young mothers, and as well as church leaders and elders, how to use the materials, practice teaching so that they have confidence to use a new method. It’s a very new idea to be in a group and ask questions about the word and kind of sit there and wait for people to share their ideas. So it takes some intentional training and practice opportunities. But it’s been exciting to see the fruit that’s been bearing. 

51:30
Emily Wilson
There’s so much in this clip, and I know it’s a longer clip. I couldn’t find just a quick way to capture all that is happening in their context. And she was talking about it being revolutionary. And I know that during COVID they were really pushed in different ways to adapt, and it’s proven so successful and just the context is high security, high sensitivity. But it is such a joy to see how Mark and Marie are investing and walking alongside the partners, and the partners, what they are risking, and scripture engagement. The reason why this is one of my favorites is just how many ways that people in the context are engaging the players on their windowsill. There’s a literacy component, the Sunday school materials. There are so many awesome opportunities. The sky’s the limit, and it just. 

52:40
Rich Rudowske
Goes to show what a gift language is, too, because all of these things, especially the audio pieces, they’re all in the local language, they’re in their language, and it’s God’s word, but people are listening to it, at least what draws them initially. Sometimes it’s just that they’re hearing a recording in their own language and you just can’t describe it. I think the closest thing I have to experiencing it is after living in Botswana and being in many public spaces where there’s a lot of people talking languages that you know fairly well. Like, I could understand Botswana and Chikalahari, but then somebody speaks English or even American English, and my ears just prick right up to it and hear it. And I’m not putting any effort into understanding what’s going on there. That’s such an amazing gift. 

53:27
Rich Rudowske
And so to use that and then what people are hearing then is God’s word. Yeah. As Marie said, lives are changing. 

53:35
Emily Wilson
The next episode is also one of my picks. Yeah, you were just like, front end of the episode. So now it’s my turn. So the next one is empower the church with Sarah Esla, who is regional director for much of the world. So she works alongside our partners in East Africa, southern Africa, Papua New guinea, and Southeast Asia. And in empower the church, Sarah Esla was sharing about her growing conversations with the community in Papua New guinea and all of the incredible insights that they have in the realm of Bible translation. What does it look like for the church to have full ownership and mobilizing its members? And so I hope you enjoy this clip. 

54:33
Speaker 5
And so we see right here a taste of that, and it’s the church that is owning this and doing this, which is exciting. We’re joining them. We’re joining the spirit of God and the work that’s being done there. Recently, we’ve had people reach out to us, even through the Internet. Someone from Papua New guinea reached out to Lutheran Bible translators and said, hey, I’m here. I’m doing Bible translation. You, I want to partner with you. And then through another organization, are reaching out. We found out that they actually are connected to the same area. So we’re trying to figure out what to do with so many languages. In one area where there’s a lot of Lutheran churches, there’s like 80 languages where the churches are saying, we tried to start some work. We’ve done some work. 

55:19
Speaker 5
We need this for our lives and for our church. Please come help us. So we’re investigating that. So this is stuff I never expected when I took this job that is just coming out of the woodwork but is really exciting to see. 

55:36
Emily Wilson
So how have you seen Lutheran Bible translators grow, expand in these 20 years? I mean, you’re kind of, like, sharing a little bit about that, of like I would have never expected even. Has it been like a year or so since you assumed this regional director position? So 20 years, a lot has transpired. What is it that you’ve been encouraged by in the growth of the organization? 

56:04
Speaker 5
Yeah, maybe going back to even that idea of empowerment and how powerful the word of God is, I think in our organizational vision that we are moving towards that empowerment to a greater degree. We are doing a lot more investing in capacity building in various countries so that they’re not as dependent upon us or someone from the west to come over and meet that need. We’re seeing that they have the vision, and so we’re helping equip them to carry it out. So I think that is a big difference. 

56:38
Speaker 5
The mentality was just different 20 years ago, and you kind of like, when I was envisioning it, our family would go to this language community and we’d live in the community, and Nathan would go every day to work and kind of help the team where now when I’m working with our missionaries, I am telling them, you’re the exegete right now, but I want you to train an exegete here. So you’re pulling away from that. If you’re helping coordinate and do administration work, you are really training and you’re passing the baton a lot earlier. So that gives us a lot more flexibility. So if something happens with a missionary or something, the work can continue without as much instability for it. 

57:25
Speaker 5
But also, once again, like the Korea way, they feel empowered and they can go and help other people because they actually have been trained really well. So this emphasis on training is really great. I think another thing that I’m seeing is really the involvement of the community and how important that is. So instead of just saying, oh, there’s a need for this language to get translation work, we are doing a lot more conversations up front to nuance that, to understand. What do you want to use the Bible for? So for our Bible translation projects, the new ones that are getting started, they actually look really different. Sometimes it’s selections of scripture. We have one where they said, we are really using it in our home. Please translate portions where the parents can use with their kids in the home. Start with that. 

58:18
Speaker 5
So our starting points are just different every place. We can’t just say, okay, we’re just doing a New Testament, and we do A, B, and C, and I think that’s wonderful. It’s very community led, community driven, and there’s a lot of energy behind it. Okay, I’m going to say a third thing, too. I think we’re understanding the need for people to get access and to use scripture earlier on. 

58:41
Emily Wilson
Right. 

58:42
Speaker 5
So we’re printing smaller portions of scripture, the gospel of Luke, when it’s finished, and we’re trying to get it into people’s lives, their hands, as we like to say here, much earlier. And then we just see that continues to nurture that vision and the involvement of the community. 

59:00
Emily Wilson
So Sarah is just always a joy to sit down with and to hear her passion, her energy for how do we equip our partners? How do we partner better? And that’s through empowering the local church, empowering the church as a whole. And she just really showcased it here. And you can just hear that energy that she has. And that’s why whenever I get the opportunity to sit down with Sarah, I’m just know, I think that both of the interviews that I’ve had with her have been solo. I think you’ve been traveling. Yeah. 

59:39
Rich Rudowske
I was going to mention, I don’t want to say that I am Sarah Essela, but nobody’s ever seen Sarah Esla me on the podcast at the same time. But no, I love the energy Sarah brings and the vision. And this particular clip here from this episode is just really so central to the value that we’re striving to build into more here at Lutheran Bible translators, of recognizing the work of those who’ve come before us and the fruit that it’s bearing in this generation with churches that are vibrant and looking to lean into their own mission calling and recognizing the role of Bible translation in that and saying, we want to do this, we need your help, but we want to do it. 

01:00:23
Rich Rudowske
And just all the different ways that opens up to engage all the different opportunities that gives for us to recognize the giftings of our personnel and our partners and to align those differently. It’s really exciting. 

01:00:36
Emily Wilson
Yeah. So I definitely recommend listening to the whole episode with empower the church and hearing of the exciting ways that the church in Papua New guinea especially. But she was giving plenty of examples, too, from Tanzania. So the whole episode, just listening to the whole. So the next one, my last top pick is called emotional intelligence in ministry, and that’s with Michelle Thompson of the Concordia University, Irvine Townsend Institute. Oh, yeah, you’re not an alum, but you are an enthusiast, right? 

01:01:13
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. CuI is a great commission university and we’re doing some good, great commission work in tandem with them and developing stuff even as we speak. So excited about. 

01:01:24
Emily Wilson
And we do have some alum from there. 

01:01:26
Rich Rudowske
Oh, we, Sarah. Yeah, Sarah, who we just talked about, is a current student there, Paul Federwitz. 

01:01:33
Emily Wilson
Went through the program. So Michelle had a lot of great insights. This is one of our top listen to episodes just in general. It came out in June 2023. So let’s listen in. So there is a component to emotional intelligence, that it is not fixed, right. That there is room for growth and for individuals to improve. Right. When we ask about am I an emotionally intelligent person? That it doesn’t have to stay a no, it can grow into a yes. So for the individuals who are like, this isn’t necessary, I don’t need to change or this is just how I am, this is a fixed thing, thinking of it almost similar to an IQ, that it’s fixed. What are the implications for ministry in that kind of outlook? 

01:02:34
Rich Rudowske
So when someone is unwilling to look at themselves and consider growth, because you were right, this is not a fixed thing. And never do we reach full emotional intelligence as we should on this side of eternity, that will not happen. We all have room for growth and change and examination of who we are. So if someone is doing that within a ministry in particular, and they’re saying, not me, they’re starting to hold back the ministry again, because the leadership level is, the leader’s level is what will help inspire and drive the organization, the ministry’s level. So for someone to say that is saying, I’m okay being stuck, and therefore I’m okay with the ministry or the people that I’m leading being stuck, and some people would go, no, I’m okay with who I am and I’m still growing this. 

01:03:32
Rich Rudowske
And I’m like, then that’s when you start doing reality checks with people and saying, let’s write this down. What was it like a year ago? What’s it like now? And getting people to see that there really isn’t growth or change, or if there is growth or change, it’s typically declining, which isn’t really growing. It’s things that are not as great as before. When I am coaching people or working with an organization and I feel that person is resisting the desire to grow or resisting acknowledging the need or just resisting the process, I will typically say, if things could be different, what would they look like in your ideal? What would they look like if they were different from now and then I take them back and say, so what’s the gap? 

01:04:21
Rich Rudowske
What needs to change from where you are today to what you want for tomorrow? And it’s a longer process, but that’s the process that they take to eventually realize, oh, I do need to make some changes because I want that person to be able to desire the change, to see the need for change, to make things happen. I can’t just say, you need to change. That’s not motivating for anyone. So for them to finally see, to look at the gap and discover the gap is what will help them be able to move forward. 

01:04:58
Emily Wilson
So this is good news and hard news at the same time. As I was listening again, I was thinking about the rich man who comes up to Jesus, and he’s like, what is it that I can do and keep the commandments, the law? And he’s like, I’ve done all of that very boastfully, arrogantly, incorrectly. And Jesus, knowing his, you know, you can grow, you need to grow. And gave the rich young man hard news of, okay, right. So sell everything, give to the poor. And he turns away and is in dismay because he had great wealth. And there is never going to be a point in our lives where we have reached full emotional maturity and we all have a need to be sharpened to sharpen others as well. 

01:06:05
Emily Wilson
And what does that look like too, for ministry when we say, I’m fine, I don’t need help? And how is that? We actually just had an interview that you guys will be listening to later with a teammate of ours about evaluation and what does it look like for the ministry and mission? Being honest and just hearing that within. 

01:06:31
Rich Rudowske
This clip jumping into that next 100 episodes. But yeah, and we have guests like Michelle on as part of the goal of the podcast, we want to give platform to ministry entrepreneurs and church leaders, like some of the folks you’ve heard from in this episode, boafo and Linus and those folks. And we want to give voice to some of our own leaders, like Sarah Asala and so forth, but also to speak to the church and say, hey, there’s some great gifts and things out there for the church. And emotional intelligence is one of those that, I mean, the research shows that success in almost any vocation is directly related to higher emotional intelligence. So much so also with ministry. 

01:07:14
Rich Rudowske
And so Michelle being on to speak about that and that opportunity to grow, as you said, this clip particularly leans into that idea that, hey, if you’re not really focused on your growth, especially as a leader or in ministry, when you’re there to shepherd other people. It’s a little selfish, and it’s not good for you, but it’s also not good for those that you minister to or lead. 

01:07:33
Emily Wilson
And this is why Bible translation is vital, is so much of who we learn to become as Christ followers? For sure. It’s not just church culture. We need to read the word again and again. And how can we grow in emotional intelligence in a better awareness of ourselves and of others if we don’t have it in the language we understand? Know, it’s like, where’s the bridge? Here’s the. 

01:08:04
Rich Rudowske
You know, I was recently at the symposium at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and there was a sermon there. There’s a context is that there’s a focus on the lutheran confessions and confessing Christ. But one of the preachers in chapel made the point of saying, you may have all the right information, you may have the clear confession of Christ, but if you don’t have love, if you don’t have a good awareness of people and desire to meet them where they are and to show them love in that whole process of confessing Christ, then it’s not all that it could be. And that’s what emotional intelligence really speaks to. 

01:08:38
Emily Wilson
One corinthians 13, right? Fabulous. 

01:08:41
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And in that same vein of people who speak topics of expertise that can really benefit the church. My last pick is the curse of knowledge from Dr. Ryan Tenetti, who’s a pastor in Michigan. And the curse of knowledge, again, it’s just one of those episodes that you got to listen to really dig know. Long story short, the curse of knowledge is the inability to remember what it’s like to not know something. And then to try to transmit that information to somebody who doesn’t know in a way that’s helpful to them, that’s really helpful in the task of ministry and teaching. And so this clip from Ryan I think we got to the point in the podcast of, like, what else besides ministry? Like, where other practical areas of life do we find the curse of knowledge showing up, and what’s it look like? 

01:09:27
Rich Rudowske
And this is what he had to say. There’s a wide area of applicability for this concept of the curse of knowledge beyond ministry. The most natural one for me, one that I’m knee deep in right now, is being a parent. And for our kids, the opportunities for communication and miscommunication are daily. I had a funny instance of this with my youngest last year. She’s six now, but I remember last summer about this time of year, we have a dog, a puppy, a golden retriever named Theo, and we’ve got one of those invisible fences. Now, Theo is like 95 pounds. He’s big. He doesn’t realize it. He thinks he’s like 15 pounds, but he can get into trouble anywhere he goes. So we have this invisible fence, and we try to keep him in his particular area. 

01:10:13
Rich Rudowske
Well, my youngest, Ellie, we filled up the little kitty pool for her, and we set it in the backyard, but it was within Theo’s invisible fence, and so he was still getting into it, and he was annoying her, and now he’s all wet, and it’s a big problem, everything. And I said to Ellie, she was frustrated, and she’s like, daddy, why does this happen? I said, it’s okay, sweetie. In the future, we’ll be sure to put the kiddie pool outside of Theo’s invisible fence line. She said, okay, that sounds good, but, daddy, what’s the future? And I was like, oh, okay, yeah, let’s take one step back. There’s so many, as parents, we’re just communicating to our kids where there’s things that sometimes we can maybe assume ill intent or that they’re just being disobedient or trying to cause trouble. 

01:11:08
Rich Rudowske
And many times they don’t understand. It wasn’t clear to them what we wanted of them, and then conversely, what they want from us. And so I think cursive knowledge can be really helpful when it comes to parenting. For sure. That’s just one of the many examples of just how communication is so complex, so intricate, so beautiful, and yet so difficult sometimes. And I just think that’s the cutest example. What’s the future? But that has so many implications for how we communicate. And then when you talk about a gospel and the grace of God and wanting to find common language, to show how important that is and how impactful that is for us and that we want that for others. 

01:11:56
Rich Rudowske
But to be able to find that common ground in language and speak it, but also to live it, there’s just so much going on there. And the thing that having the concept of the curse of knowledge does for me is helps me remember part of the care of communicating that love of Christ is to recognize where people are and as much as possible, be able to communicate through words and actions in a way that is going to make sense to them. Not everybody’s in the same space on the journey that I’m in. 

01:12:25
Emily Wilson
Yeah, it’s like both the Michelle Thompson episode and the Curse of Knowledge episode here with Dr. Tenetti it’s tying in. You have to be aware that you, in fact, do not remember what it was like to maybe encounter God’s word for the first time. You don’t remember when you first learned the word sin or forgiveness or grappling with who Christ is. And so being able to look at it through that lens of gentleness and grace and not assuming someone has this ill intent like as he was talking about, but instead, what does it look like to suspend maybe our preconceived notions and our being aware of our curse of knowledge so that more people will come to the knowledge of who Christ is and the sacrifice he made for us. 

01:13:23
Emily Wilson
So I do appreciate being checked on the curse of knowledge that I know that I personally possess. 

01:13:33
Rich Rudowske
All right, yeah, all of us. Me as well. And yeah, there’s so many applications. I think I have young adults now for kids, and sometimes it’s like, okay, I can’t exactly remember what it’s like to be spreading my own wings and having to think through a lot of things and make decisions without having gone through the experiences I have now and already having that knowledge of wisdom already bumped up against the issues that could cause me problems and just know automatically, hey, that doesn’t make sense. There’s just so many applications of it. And yeah, we wrestle with it every day. And again, that’s just another one of the episodes. I think everybody just needs to kind of take a couple of vacation days off work and queue up your essentially translatable podcast player and dig in. 

01:14:23
Rich Rudowske
But we sure have had a good time these past nearly four years, launching the essentially translatable podcast in the early days of COVID lockdowns. Just looking for a way to be able to still talk and communicate and share what’s going on here in ministry and to dig in and open up different aspects of ministry. And so, yeah, it’s been quite a ride. It’s hard to believe at 100 episodes. Statistically, not a lot of podcasts make it this far. And yeah, it’s just been a joy. So we hope you enjoyed the greatest. 

01:14:56
Emily Wilson
Hits and we’d love to hear too. Do you have a favorite episode or a greatest hit in your view? So you’re welcome to email us at info@lbt.org if you wanted to just give a shout out of what episodes have made you smile, made you think more deeply about how God is at work in the world and sharing his love. So thank you for reminiscing with us and we hope you enjoyed this episode. 

01:15:25
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, and we love all you Essentially Translatable fans love getting your little notes that you send, the testimonies you share with friends and colleagues and keep sharing the podcast content. And we’re so appreciative. It’s the joy of knowing that folks are getting the opportunity to sit and listen to us, just kind of having fun and talking with folks. It really is a joy to serve you all this way, to share good news, encouragement, and a window into the world. How God’s at work. So thanks so much. Thank you for listening to the Essentially Translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible translators. You can find past episodes of the podcast at lbt.org/podcast or subscribe on Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible Translator’s social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. 

01:16:15
Rich Rudowske
Or go to lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s word in their hands. The essentially translatable podcast is edited and produced by Audrey Seider. Our executive producer is Emily Wilson Wilson. Artwork designed by Sarah Rudowske Music written and performed by Rob Veith I’m Rich Rudowske Rudowske. So long. For now.