For countries hostile to Christianity, does the community development or Bible translation team go in first?
Smith: Each situation is unique. But in general our desire is that these things happen hand in hand. It is really not possible to impact people with the idea of the gospel unless you are meeting their needs on a physical and social level. They are not even able to consider the impact of spiritual things when they are trying to survive physically. We look at ministry to the whole person … our approach is to basically bring all the resources together that will have the most impact on the community and create the most fertile soil for the gospel to take root. CP: What activities does “community development” include? Smith: Our particular role at Wycliffe Associates involves Christian professionals using their professional skills from their work place as part of the Bible translation team. Usually these cases involve construction work or repair so people with construction skills are among the core skills we use. In addition to that, I’m aware of other projects that include agricultural and
