Are these folks the "Most Humble" people on earth today?

In church yesterday the preacher mentioned a question that was asked of Edith Schaeffer, the wife of Francis Schaeffer.  The question was, “Who do you think is the most humble person in the world today?” Her answer, “I don’t know, but I would imagine that it is someone who is working in a small village somewhere sharing the Gospel.”

Well, I don’t know that I got the question and quote exact, but it did get me to thinking. I have a story, that I might not get exactly right but that I think would answer the question above.

On my travels to Guatemala with High School Students we were introduced to a couple who were doing mission work. Ed and Eleanor “B” came and spoke to our team. They told us how they were living in a small village of about 150 indigenous Indians. They were working on bringing them better sanitary conditions, improving crop production and translating the Bible into their language.

To translate the Bible into their language they first had to learn the language and then with the help of village members produce the language in written form. The Indians had not written things down, everything was done in oral story telling. Ed and Eleanor told the story of the Gospel but they committed to putting the Bible into the language of the people.

The next trip when I came to Guatemala again my students were introduced to Ed and Eleanor. When they walked into the home we were staying in Ed asked me if I would like to see something. He then handed me a small book that was hand written. He told me this was the New Testament in the language of the villagers where they had been living. He and Eleanor had just completed it and had come to Guatemala City to take it to a publisher who was going to print 200 New Testaments for them.

I was thrilled to hear that they had completed this portion of their work. As the students talked to them they asked lots of questions. One question was, “How long have you lived in that village and worked on that Bible?” The answer, “Almost 20 years!”

The follow-up question was, “What will you do now that you have accomplished that task?” Without a moments hesitation Ed said, “Well there is another village in the valley over the mountain from where we have been. They do not have a written language and do not have the Bible in their language. We thought we would move there with one of our present villagers and start working on getting them a Bible.”

My student asked, “How long do you think that will take?” Ed said, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it will take as long as it took us this time, maybe just 10 years since we have learned so much.”

Needless to say, I would think the answer to Edith’s comment about humble people would be Ed and Eleanor! How much more humble could a couple be than to take twenty years to produce a Bible and then think, let’s move to the next village and do it again.

Oh and by the way, the villages have no electricity. Also, when asked about running water Eleanor said, “Yes, we have running water. When I need water I yell, Ed, I need water and he or one of the kids runs down to the river and gets me a bucket full.”

How committed are you to Philippians 2:3-4. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.”

Ponder your call to Christ and asked, “Am I living the way the Lord has called me?”