Bob Arndt, the newest staff member as Sammy Tippit Ministries, has already made a vital impact in the role he plays of helping to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.  Arndt, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, is putting together Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani websites for STM. Below is an insightful interview with Bob about the role he plays at STM and how he developed his passion for people in a hurting world.

Please tell STM supporters a little bit of history about yourself.Mostly, I am a man who has been shaped in culture, nature, and character by my family, by Jesus Himself, and by circumstances I have found myself in.  I have known Sammy since 1983 where he was associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Bothell.  In the summer of 1983, before our move to Seattle, the Lord began pointing out various character qualities in my pastor at that time.  I felt in my heart that God was telling me that a man with that nature and those character qualities would be significant for my Christian life.  Those Christ-like qualities were exhibited in Sammy.   

As a result, my heart has always been eager to help Sammy communicate to people who Jesus really is and how much He loves them.  I'd never really had a “world” perspective (like most of us, I'm pretty self-centered) and shuddered at the thought of “missions” (let someone else do it).  But as I traveled with Sammy to India, Uganda, Singapore, China, Armenia, and other places, God has changed my heart.  On the way, I met many really good, humble people whose only drawback was that they didn't know Jesus.   I decided I just wanted to help them see the Lord in whatever way I could – especially since I'm not an evangelist or even a good street witness.  God has placed in my heart the desire to be a servant of His – no more, no less. 

When and how did you first get a heart for the people of Asia?

The first trip I took with Sammy was to Hyderabad, India.  I was scared.  I didn't really want to go to India, but was willing to open myself to the Lord to see if He would say 'go' (which He did).  The gentle and humble nature of the Indian people I met drew my heart to them.  They were very easy to grow fond of. On my first trip to China with Sammy, I experienced the same sense of love for the Chinese people.  The thought of doing something for the Lord has just seemed to ring through my mind and heart.  The Asian culture is quite different from European.  There is a lot more mysticism – and in some ways, more opportunity for faith than in our 'scientific', logical culture.  I feel strongly that people in those nations are more spiritual (more sensitive to spiritual things) – but just don't know who “the good God” really is.

 It is my firm belief that God has been preparing the Asian people to receive Him. Everyone thought the Chinese church had died during the hard years of the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  Yet, when we in the west were again able to view China, a huge explosion of Christianity had occurred – not at all attributed to man's efforts. God stepped into China.  Right now, we don't understand 'why' – but He appears to be pouring His Spirit out over that huge nation.  STM wants to be obedient to be a part of that move.  Recently, Sammy told me that God really impressed him one morning in his quiet time about how much God loves China. 

Please explain to the readers about the work you are doing for the STM Chinese website.Over the time that Sammy has been ministering to people, God has poured many life-stories and messages into his heart.  As he has spoken and written many of these messages, STM has recorded them in English – and other languages. Because those messages are universal (not culturally singular) and because God has been leading Sammy into so many international communities, it just seems obvious to get them translated into other needed heart languages.  Last week, the Lord pointed out a web site to me - http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm – documenting the most widely spoken languages in the world.  At the top is Chinese. China, being the most populous nation in the world, totaled more than the second (English), third (Spanish), and fourth (Hindi/Urdu) most widely spoken languages all together.   While I was living in China, God gave me a very deep desire to see Sammy's works put into Mandarin (Simplified Chinese - standardized during Mao's reign). 

Through various events and connections, we have been able to translate Sammy's five devotional series and four of his revival series into Mandarin.  Additionally, we've been able to dub in Mandarin over some video series done in other languages.  And finally, sparked by a Chinese pastor's comment that many people have MP3 players, we have almost completed audio transcriptions of Sammy's Devotional and Revival series messages.   What does this really mean?  With the advent of the internet (extremely popular in China), it means that Chinese literate people are able to hear God's Words of love and how to live life abundantly in their own heart language.  Today, if you go to www.sammytippit.org/cn, you will find almost all of Sammy's devotional and audio/video work available in Mandarin.  In addition, STM is coordinating with a Chinese publisher to print his latest book, Praying for Your Family.  In my heart, I am convinced that the Chinese people will be hungry for the message and principles that God has documented through Sammy's book.  The family is VERY important to the Chinese culture and is being pulled and torn at as China has opened itself up to the outside world in the last 20-30 years. 

As Sammy's name becomes more well-known in China, the Chinese people will be more receptive to the teachings God has given him.  Currently, STM's Chinese web-site is being visited very frequently – second only to his English site.

 Please explain to the readers about the work you are doing for the STM Indian and Pakistani websites.In the past, God has led Sammy into each of these two nations (India and Pakistan).  With India being the second most populous nation in the world, STM is putting Sammy's materials into some of the Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, and Telegu – to reach the people in the Indian culture.  STM is currently translating Sammy's text materials into Urdu and Tamil, and plans to start work on Hindi and Telegu when finances permit.  Two video series have been done in Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.  There are plans in process to put audio transcriptions in Urdu on the STM web site.   

At this time, there is a lot of turmoil in India and Pakistan.  Christians have been attacked and are being physically persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. They need encouragement and prayer.  Today, the Tamil materials are available on the STM web site.  By the end of July, we hope to have the Urdu materials also available for the Pakistani/Indian people.  The other languages will follow as finances permit.For the last several years, I have been getting the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) newsletters, which come out ever week or two.  As I observed the most recent newsletters, I noticed that there is a lot of persecution in India, China, and Pakistan.  These are three of the Asian countries that God has led STM to minister in and provide web site encouragement for.

 Please pray for Bob as he continues to work diligently on getting the message of Christ out to the people of China, India, and Pakistan.  Pray that he will remain faithful to God’s calling and that God will bless all of the tremendous work he is doing for God’s kingdom.   If you would like more information about the work Bob is doing, please contact STM at (210) 492-7501 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .