PERU: A BIBLE IN A BACKPACK
	The gift of an unwanted Bible led Wes Reed to faith in Christ. But the power of God's Word in his own life led Wes to translate the Scriptures for others. When Wes was 19, he and his brother decided to explore South America. But before they left the United States, they visited their grandfather. He talked with the young men about Jesus, pressing tracts and a Bible into their hands. Wes and his brother were not interested. After all, they had no religious background and were heavily interested in science. Still, out of respect for his grand-father, Wes tossed the Bible into his backpack. A few months later in Mexico, a young American shared his faith with Wes, and gave him a Scripture portion. For some reason, it piqued Wes' interest - enough that he pulled the Bible from his backpack and began reading it as he journeyed. "The Holy Spirit worked through God's Word very powerfully," said Wes, "and while in Lima, Peru, I knelt down by myself and gave my heart to the Lord." Wes's love for the Scriptures drew him to Bible School in Seattle. Wes' language teacher was impressed with his language skills and gave him a book about Wycliffe and Bible translation. Challenged by the book, Wes wanted to learn more about the Organization. He attended a one-day Wycliffe Seminar on the needs in Bible translation. The event was enough to propel Wes on to SIL training at the University of Washington and then into becoming a Wycliffe missionary. He and his wife, LeeAnn, went on to spend 28 years in Papua New Guinea, working on Bible trans-lation in the Yopno language. They saw the Yopno New Testament and Psalms dedicated in August of 2010. Wes and LeeAnn now work as selection and assignment specia-lists for Wycliffe. They assist individuals who have applied to Wycliffe - particularly for lan-guage roles - and help them find an assignment overseas that fits their calling and gifts. "The Bible is the greatest book there is," said Wes, "and we Christians should believe that. It's God's revelation to us. The greatest message ever told - that ever could be told - is available to us but not to some. If we have the resources and the training, why not go and make it available?" [Wes Reed, Wycliffe, Joel News International 1088, July 2018].