JAARS
At six years old, his parents became full time missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and moved to Peru where Glen grew up. Returning to the States at 18 one thing Glen knew for sure was that he would not follow in his parents footsteps! Not that he didn’t believe in God, but he struggled as an introvert, being in front of people. Life became a struggle and he would go down the wrong road and deal with depression. Several years later after chasing his own dreams letting his relationship with God grow cold, Glen found himself struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. In desperation he prayed and felt the Holy Spirit prompting him to "go all in" giving 100% of himself to God. With nothing to lose, he decided to try and he asked God to refill him. The next day the depression was gone. Five years later God tapped him on the shoulder about missions. Knowing he was not missionary material, he wrestled. God told him to remember his promise to give 100% - God had kept His promise to refill him! He filled out applications to three different missions and secretly hoped no one would respond! Wycliffe got back with him and he moved from TX to NC and after training moved his family with four kids to Brazil and Kenya. That was 35 years ago.
You may have met this man, Glen, at PVUMC. If you didn't see him you probably saw the big boat in our parking lot which is part of the JAARS program. Pastor Tim mentioned that PVUMC partners with them. When it involves a boat, I want to know more about it so I got to talk to Glen. JAARS is the big umbrella whose vision is “that people’s lives and communities are transformed as they experience God’s Word in their own languages...More than 600 million people speaking roughly 5,100 languages have less than a full New Testament in the language they value most. Many have no scripture at all! And when they can’t understand what they read or hear, the life-transforming power of the gospel is stopped in its tracks. We’re here to do something about that.”
The boat we saw was refitted to go to New Guinea to move missionary teams from island to island. Due to a lack of personnel, the boat never went to New Guinea. Romans 8: 28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” so, the CrossVenture team partnered with JAARS Maritime to develop CrossVenutre/Coastal. God is so good!
CrossVenture/Coastal's goal is to teach participants a variety of skills useful in boating, from knot tying, boat handling, safety, water rescue, teamwork, chart plotting, navigation and more. Students will spend almost half the week on the water in a very hands-on experience. Woven into that training is a mission theme expanding the 14 to 21 yr old participants' views of global missions. They are then challenged to ask God what part of the task they are being called to “take into all the world” Mark 16: 15, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
This program introduces participants to the risks and challenges that are part of daily life when relying on water transportation overseas. The participants grow in their understanding of Scripture and God’s call to missions. Through this camp they hope to inspire new people to join their team, raise up an army of people praying for their translations teams and the participants will learn and be challenged to let God use them in the Bible translation movement! Thank you, Glen and your team for connecting hearts to Christ and one another!