I first heard God’s call to missionary service in January 2018. It came by way of another missionary Bible translator who had visited my church, Saint Peter’s Lutheran in Cochrane. This call marked the end of many long years wandering the desert, so to speak. God had released me from my last call six years earlier. And though He was always with me, and I never stopped praying, He pretty much left me to my own devices. And so I sought to build my family’s fortune as a high-tech entrepreneur.
My buddy Dawson came back with some awesome questions a couple of weeks ago. He is brand new to writing software for the web and interested in learning a test-driven approach. He started a new project but got hung up on writing some basic interface tests on his landing page. Upon closer inspection, it became clear he needed some direction in learning about CSS selectors.
This post addresses a question arising from Part Un. If you haven’t already, go back and read that now.
After much admirable effort, my buddy Dawson came back at me with a question from my last tutorial. Namely,
What’s supposed to be committed to
gitso that the project can easily be regenerated?
Okay, so I’m a little old fashioned. I’m also lazy and reluctant to learn new things. My buddy Dawson asked How do I get started with testing my web software? I said, start with node/express…
Whom do I serve?
My name is Daniel Bidulock. According to the specifics of my job description, I am a Language Software Developer for an NGO call SIL International. In broader terms, most people know me as a Wycliffe Bible Translator.
Allow me to share about those I serve and for the people for whom I advocate…
I serve God
I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. We didn’t go to church. My parents didn’t really go to church either. Their families were Christmas and Easter church-goers, at best. Despite this, in my mid-twenties God planted in me a desire to know the truth. With a sincere heart and mind for this knowledge, I reached out and God gave me His Word on comic book Bible tracts I found at the bus stop. Though foreign and hilariously offensive to my pagan sensibilities, I soon saw that God’s Word is written all around us. I heard His voice in everything, including movies, music, and television. I gave my life to Jesus on July 28, 2003 because of Scripture verses I read in comic books.
I’m thankful to be speaking to you today. One of my most common prayers before work, or even when just meeting with friends, is that I’ll provide encouragement by the time we part ways. Let it be so here, today. I ask this in Christ’s name.
I had the privilege of sharing some brief testimony at last year’s conference. If we haven’t met, my name is Daniel Bidulock. I’m a Wycliffe Bible Translator and Language Software Developer for SIL International. I came last year looking for people to finance my mission. I will always need new financial supporters, but am happy to report that for the next six months, I am receiving a full salary and have been released to my missionary assignment. Even if it’s only temporary, this is a great joy.
This post is motivated by the need to build relationships between self-funded missionaries and Lutheran churches within the CALC denomination. How does a missionary build relationships with a congregation? How do we engage and support a missionary raised up from within CALC? In laying out a tentative roadmap, I hope to help answer these questions.
Pastor Ed,
A few weeks ago I shared my testimony and work with a prominent member of my church, Saint Peter’s Lutheran in Cochrane. It was an encouraging and informative meeting. This man, Tim, has since committed to supporting my work as a Bible translator. Apart from this, he demonstrates what it means to be a dutiful and faithful servant of God. You know him as a member of our denomination’s national council, CALC. Over the course of our conversation, he had many questions about how I had been engaging CALC. I suspect he already knew that I hadn’t been, beyond attending our national convention this past October.
Ascension Lutheran Men’s Breakfast, March 30
How I came to Wycliffe
A Wycliffe missionary named Derryl Friesen visited Saint Peter’s in January (I think) of 2018. He spoke to our congregation about Wycliffe. As is often the case in Lutheran churches, Derryl and I got to talking over coffee after service. I learned more about Wycliffe and he learned a little about me. Enough that he connected me with Dawson Tennant, the man who oversees software development here in Calgary. He invited me to come for a visit. We talked, we shared, we prayed, it was wonderful. As a result of our time together, Dawson invited me to apply as a Wycliffe volunteer. I said, Yes, tomorrow I can start deploying Bible translations to the Dark Web.
