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John and Rosalie Rentz serve jointly with The Mission Society and Wycliffe Bible Translators. The Rentz family ministered in the Solomon Islands for eight years, supervising the Aiwoo translation project in the Reef Islands. They now reside in New Zealand, serving in Wycliffe New Zealand’s home office.

While living in the Solomon Islands, John and the team of Reef Island translators would translate several chapters of a Gospel, then pass them on to a native speaker for review. This person would provide feedback on the clarity of the message.

One evening, John gave his friend three chapters of the book of Matthew for review. With the aid of a small kerosene lamp, his friend spent the whole night pouring over the chapters, verse by verse, and returned the following morning with extensive comments on all three chapters. He said, “I’ve heard these stories all my life. We had church in English, and I never really understood these stories. For the first time, they make sense!”

Now the Rentzes hear stories of transformation across the globe from their Wycliffe NZ colleagues for whom they provide member care services. Translators in the Philippines saw a complete transformation in the people group to which they were ministering. To be of this particular culture was to be at a disadvantage – so much so, that the people resented their own language because they were a minority.

After 20 years of working in that community, Wycliffe missionaries began to see a total transformation of the culture. Radio programs and newspapers were now in the native tongue. People began to celebrate their culture instead of despise it. The people group now sees themselves as valued because they were worthy of having the word of God in their mother tongue.