Sending Church: First Baptist Church of Pasco—Pasco, Washington

It would have been far easier if God had planted a sign along Anna’s path: “I want you to be a linguistics consultant.” Instead, God led her on an extended journey that proved far wiser—it built in her a deeper faith and dependency in Him, characteristics a missionary greatly needs.

During Anna’s Bible college years, the Lord began dropping bread crumbs that kept Anna on the right trail, moving her toward her future ministry with Bibles International (BI). Because of her interest in travel and other cultures, Anna took several missions classes. When a mission trip to Asia came up, she signed on and enjoyed it, but missions as a career seemed impossible. She felt she was too introverted, and going as a single seemed out of the question.

So after graduation, she took a job while she considered her next steps. Deep down she still wanted a career that would help missionaries. She began exploring a topic she enjoyed in college—linguistics—and it exposed her to Bible translation. When Anna discovered how many people groups still have no access to Bibles or Christian literature, she was deeply moved. It struck her that people who know English can access dozens of translations and thousands of Christian resources. Yet many other language groups have none of these.

Despite her fears, Anna took a big step of faith. She quit her job to pursue a master’s degree in applied linguistics. Last summer, she participated in a BI internship in Africa. She observed Bible translation and took part in linguistics workshops. Everything about it fit her: being in a foreign culture, interacting with new people groups, and even doing repetitive, detail-oriented work. She realized that, even though she was introverted, this was a missions role she could see herself doing. Anna is now pursing her next step of faith: raising support to serve as a BI linguistics consultant. She looks forward to having a missions role that fits her so well: getting God’s Word to people groups that need it the most.