We were blessed to have a returning son of Zion, Michael Ersland, speak during Bible study on July 5. Michael works with Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT), and will be going to Zambia next spring, where he will primarily be working in Bible translation.
Through this ministry, Michael hopes to bring the whole Bible to peoples in languages they can fully understand, their “heart language,” their mother tongue. Michael was drawn to the international mission field during his teen years, and has spent time in Botswana, which affirmed his missionary spirit and his call to the mission field. He pointed out that of about 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, nearly 2,000 do not have translated Scripture.
The mission of LBT is to help bring people to faith in Jesus Christ by making the Word of God available to those who do not yet have it in the language of their hearts. Since 1964, LBT has been working to make the Word of God accessible to those who do not yet have it. To date, they have helped publish four Bibles and 40 New Testaments.
Michael is the nephew of Bill and Laura Deardoff, and lived here while attending Concordia High School. He attended Zion, participated in the youth group, and worked at VBS and Midweek. He attended Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin and completed his BA in Biblical Languages and Missions in 2014. He recently finished his graduate courses and is now traveling the US asking for prayer and financial support.
There are “Supporting A Missionary” information brochures in the narthex with Michael’s story.
You can help Michael by becoming a prayer partner or a financial partner through LBT. Learn more, and become a partner, at www.lbt.org. You can make a secure donate at http://us.lbt.org/donate/ and contribute to the Ersland Ministry. In the Contact Information section for “Apply Donation To” enter “Ersland Ministry” so that the funds are directed to Michael's ministry.
You can also get updates from Michael on Facebook on his Ersland Updates page.