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Wycliffe Canada • Spring 2005
Scriptures for 28 More Groups
Award-winning AIDS Prevention Materials
No More Falling Asleep
Spring 2005 • Volume 23, Number 1
F
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A Tale From
Two Cities
Two pastors live out the Word in the ancient
Malian cities of Gao and Timbuktu—now
fortified with the Scriptures in their
Tamasheq* language.
Articles by Deborah Crough
Photographs by Dave Crough
This man was chief of a group of Tamasheq from the Kelantassar tribe
living northwest of Timbuktu in the late 1990s. He confirmed numerous sightings by people living across the Sahara of a singular vision of
Jesus, hovering or flying about two metres above the ground, holding
an open book. All who witnessed this vision believed it signified the
return of Jesus. In March 1999, many asked Pastor Nouh in Timbuktu
what the visions meant. (See article, page 14.)
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Quoteworthy
“The Bible is not only written about us, but to us.
In these pages we become insiders to a conversation in which God uses words to form and bless
us, to teach and guide us, to forgive and save us.”
—Eugene Peterson, author, The Message
D
E
P
8 Gao
* Kel-Tamasheq technically refers to the people who speak the Tamasheq language.
However, for easier readability, we are using the latter term throughout this magazine
for both the people and their language.
A
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M
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Focus The Pen is Mightier. . . .
Word Watch SIL Partners Win Prizes for Translating
AIDS Information; and more
Eureka! No More Falling Asleep
Word Alive, which takes its name from Hebrews 4:12a, is the official publication of Wycliffe Bible
Translators of Canada. Its mission is to inform, inspire and involve the Christian public as partners in the
worldwide Bible translation movement.
Editors: Dwayne Janke, Dave Crough
Staff Writers: Janet Seever, Doug Lockhart, Deborah Crough
Design: Laird Salkeld
COVER
Witnessing no spiritual response, the first
Christian missionaries to northern Mali
eventually left the region, noting that there,
“even the water is dry.” As of January 2005,
the Tamasheq people, like the young man
pictured here, have access to the Living
Water of God’s Word in their language.
BY
DWAYNE
JANKE
Photograph by Dave Crough
The Pen is
Mightier. . . .
I
It all started with a young boy’s eagerness for a retractable
ballpoint “click-clack” pen. In fact, Nouh (pronounced Nock)
Ag Infa Yattara was so determined to get that pen, he endured
great hardships.
14 Timbuktu
25
Nothing Short
of a Miracle
Translation Update: Unprecedented unity
among church groups in the Philippines
makes a New Testament a reality.
By Janet Seever
Word Alive is published four times annually by Wycliffe Bible
Translators of Canada, 4316 10 St NE, Calgary, AB T2E 6K3.
Copyright 2005 by Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada. Permission
to reprint articles and other magazine contents may be obtained
by written request to the editors. A donation of $10 annually is
suggested to cover the cost of printing and mailing the magazine.
(Donate online or use the reply form in this issue.) Printed in Canada
by McCallum Printing Group, Edmonton.
Member: The Canadian Church Press, Evangelical Press Association
For additional copies: media_resources@wycliffe.ca
To contact Word Alive editors: [email protected]
For address updates: circulation@wycliffe.ca
Now a pastor in Timbuktu, Mali, Nouh recalls being kidnapped in
1959 from his resistant nomadic people. Like other Tamasheq children,
he was forced by the French rulers of the day to attend school in the city.
While the school had ink-well pens, Nouh noticed that some classmates owned “click-clacks.” The nearby Evangelical Baptist Mission station was giving them away—sort of. To get a pen, children had to recite
four Bible verses.
Nouh’s desire for his own “click-clack” outweighed
his Islamic fear of impurity for associating with
infidels. Nouh got his pen, despite a beating from
a Muslim priest when the young boy asked him
questions about Christians. Relatives told him that
Christianity “is only for white people.”
Four years later, the Baptist missionaries offered
to send Nouh to a Bible camp elsewhere in Mali. He
went, and was impressed by all the black Christians
there. The boy realized that race or language restricts
no one from belief, and he received Christ as Lord and
Saviour.
When Nouh returned to Timbuktu, his father tied
him up for a week, demanding he recant Christianity. The boy could not
deny the “peace and joy” he had found in Jesus. His father expelled him
from the family; street passersby threw fists and stones at him.
“It was during that hostile environment that I heard God’s call to serve
Him in full-time ministry,” says Nouh.
Though eventually allowed back into his family, Nouh was mistreated.
Aided by a folk Islamic priest, Nouh’s disgraced mother decided to kill
her son with poisoned food. Miraculously, Nouh was unharmed. The
priest, however, became fatally sick. “Be careful with Nouh,” he warned
the people before he died. “A big Spirit lives in him.” Family members
and people in the city started to take Nouh’s faith seriously.
By the late 1980s, Nouh, now a pastor, felt a deep desire for a clear
translation of God’s Word for his people. His request to SIL resulted in a
translation of the New Testament in Tamasheq.
This issue of Word Alive takes you to Mali. We feature the ministry of
Pastor Nouh and colleague Pastor Ibrahim in Gao, and show how God’s
Word is taking root among a Saharan desert people, thanks to partnerships that span continents.
Wycliffe Canada Vision Statement:
A world where translated Scriptures lead to
transformed lives among people of all languages.
Canadian Head Office:
4316 10 St NE, Calgary, AB T2E 6K3.
Phone: (403) 250-5411 or toll free 1-800-463-1143,
8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. mountain time
Fax: (403) 250-2623. E-mail: [email protected]
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
3
A Tale From
Two Cities
Two pastors live out the Word in the ancient Malian
cities of Gao and Timbuktu—now fortified with the
Scriptures in their Tamasheq language.
he desert is full of the unexpected.
Only about 15 per cent of the Sahara is sand. Each year millions
of tons of it are blown across the Atlantic and over Europe by the
hot breath of the desert, or harmattan—seasonal winds which
perpetually erase and redraw the landscape.
Travel through its shape-shifting sands, mountains, hard scrabble flats, or
scrub is measured in days rather than fixed distances. Desert dwellers, like the
nearly 700,000 nomadic Tamasheq (pronounced TAWM-a-shek), navigate by
the rising and setting sun, the stars, seemingly insignificant landmarks and
even by the varying smell of the sand.
Historical evidence supports the belief that the Tamasheq were once
Christian, but wandered from that faith because they had nothing to guide
them. Even their name in Arabic, Tuareg, means “abandoned of God.” When
Islam swept across North Africa, the Tamasheq initially adapted rather than
adopted it.
This desert environment in the West African country of Mali sets the scene
for yet another layer of the unexpected—in the form of two pastors who are
decidedly not abandoned of God.
BY DEBORAH CROUGH
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVE CROUGH
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| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
Some 800 years old, the city of Gao supports a population of 55,000.
Situated near a bend in the Niger River, the city’s dusty streets lead
to bustling markets along the river, where one can still see hippos.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
9
“ The Book which I burned
came to my heart and
burned my heart.”
— Pastor Ibrahim
Ag Mohamed
As a young adult, along with a group of other young men,
Ibrahim burned Bibles and any Christian literature he could
find. According to their Muslim beliefs, these writings were the
corrupted Word of God, and therefore should be destroyed.
One day Ibrahim found a Gideon New Testament that
belonged to a cousin who had become a Christian several years
earlier. Ibrahim could see that his cousin’s life had changed
in ways that he admired. Also, his cousin prayed in his own
Tamasheq language, demonstrating it was possible to communicate with God in one’s mother tongue.
While reading the New Testament, two concepts struck
Ibrahim. First, the genealogy in Matthew outlined a history he
was familiar with, including such names as Abraham and King
David. His interest piqued, as chapter after chapter drew him in.
Then he read Jesus’ own words: “Come to me, all you who
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28,
NKJV). “This,” says Ibrahim, “is my best word in the Bible:
‘Come.’ It’s an invitation. . . .”
was sitting in this room alone,”
A Powerful“IIbrahim
continues. “Nobody was
Invitation preaching to me, and I stood up
and said, ‘You are telling me to come. I am coming.’”
That moment was very powerful for Ibrahim; he realized he
was a sinner separated from a Holy God and he rose to his feet
in repentance to meet the Lord.
“The Book which I burned came to my heart and burned
my heart,” he says.
A hunger to understand the Scriptures led Ibrahim to attend
the Evangelical Baptist Bible School in Gao (pronounced Gow),
where he studied for four years. He then went on to further
studies at a seminary in England. One of six Tamasheq pastors trained thus far, Ibrahim eventually desired to translate the
Bible for his people.
The more he examined God’s Word, the more Ibrahim could
see that it is ideally translatable, keeping its same vitality in any
language. In contrast, he realized that in translating the Qur’an
into another language, such as Tamasheq or French, it lost its
impact.
“When you hear them reciting the Qur’an in Arabic, it’s wonderful; it rhymes. But translate that into French—no!” Ibrahim
explains. And yet “the Word speaks in Hebrew in the same
way it will speak in Tamasheq, the same way it would speak in
Greek. . . . It still keeps its power.”
Ibrahim’s core motivation for translating the Bible into
Tamasheq was so that his people would know that they are not
forsaken by God, as their Arabic name suggests. Rather, they
are beloved, treasured by God.
Like the wind changing the desert landscape, God set in
motion the new outline of Ibrahim’s life. (See sidebar, page 11.)
In the small town of Djebock, outside of
Gao, camel power pulls the ropes attached
to cowhide buckets, drawing precious water
from the 80-metre-deep well.
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As a child, Ibrahim was beaten for speaking his own language in
school. Now he reads and teaches from the Tamasheq New Testament
on a local radio station, his message heard by thousands of Tamasheq.
“Even we who are believers, we
are only pilgrims on this earth.
We are called to settle one day
in eternity, so we will not be
just wanderers.”
— Pastor Ibrahim Ag Mohamed
Ibrahim considers his ministry an urban one. His church includes
approximately 100 adults from seven different language backgrounds.
Tamasheq Translation Timeline
1989 Pastor Nouh of Timbuktu, along with Tamasheq Christians, writes to SIL
asking for a Bible translation team.
1992 An anonymous $8,000 (U.S.) gift through World Vision is designated for
linguistic training and Bible translation for the Tamasheq.
1993 Pastor Ibrahim completes SIL training in England.
1993 SIL’s Glenn and Jennifer Davis arrive and begin language learning.
1995 SIL’s Wilma Wolthuis and Mandy Lake join the team.
1995 Ibrahim’s cousin Zouda joins the project.
1998 SIL members exit the project and pass it over to Ibrahim, his wife Gosia,
and colleagues Mohamed Ag Sabou and Mohamed Al Housseini.
1999- Wycliffe U.S.A., as well as Polish, American, Dutch and British churches,
2003 provide funds for the Tamasheq New Testament project. The translation
is checked by every Tamasheq believer (50 in Gao and Timbuktu), as
well as many other speakers of the language—men and women, the
old and the young, in towns and camps.
2004 The Tamasheq New Testament is published.
Key translators Pastors Ibrahim (left) and Mohamed Ag Sabou (middle) speak
with Pastor Nouh outside Nouh’s church in Timbuktu.
Three In 1992 Ibrahim accepted an invitation to attend
courses at the SIL school in England.
‘Calls’ linguistic
There he met a young woman named Gosia, the
first Polish person to receive SIL training. Soon Ibrahim and
Gosia discovered that their mutual interest went beyond Bible
translation. The two were married in Poland in 1994.
Toward the end of his SIL training in 1993, Ibrahim accepted
a call to pastor in Gao. At that time he joined the Tamasheq
translation team, and began translating the book of Acts.
Gosia also joined the Tamasheq project. In the beginning,
she mainly typed revisions of the translation. In more recent
years she has become invaluable for her administrative skills
as project manager, finance manager, organizer and fundraiser. Gosia maintains her connection to churches in Poland
and to the Wycliffe partner organization there. When she and
Ibrahim, and their daughters Yemima and Lidya, visit her
home country, they have been able to encourage the church
there to pray for the Tamasheq. They have also received some
funding from Polish believers for the translation project.
life’s complexities, Ibrahim never
Holistic Despite
loses sight of the bigger picture. Though
Ministryof great importance to him, Bible trans-
lation is not the only focus of his holistic ministry. He can
often be found at the edge of town, visiting those displaced
Tamasheq who can no longer support themselves in their desert existence.
Two severe droughts, one in 1972, and another a decade
later, from 1982-85, drove many Tamasheq to the outskirts of
Gao. For these Tamasheq, the loss of freedom was devastating.
No longer nomads, but also not landowners, they tan hides to
make trinkets to sell, providing a meagre living for themselves.
With his family sometimes joining him, Ibrahim brings food
from the church to distribute among the displaced Tamasheq.
He encourages visitors to buy their wares. He influences everyone he knows to follow his example. He prays for them, and
he reads from the newly published Tamasheq New Testament.
In recent years, Ibrahim has communicated by radio with a
broader audience, teaching from the Scriptures in Tamasheq.
said that the only constant is change.
Free It’sThebeen
shifting desert sands demonstrate this;
the Tamasheqs’ lives embody it. Even so,
Indeed
Ibrahim’s life is established on the immovable. He identifies
with the physical and spiritual needs of his people, and having
compassion, he longs to demonstrate to them the unchanging
nature of God.
“Even we who are believers, we are only pilgrims on this
earth,” he observes. “We are called to settle one day in eternity,
so we will not be just wanderers.”
And on that day these nomadic desert dwellers, the
Tamasheq, can be free indeed.
Visiting with displaced Tamasheq (top photo) who live in poor encampments on the outskirts of Gao is very important to Ibrahim (bottom
photo, back to camera) and his wife Gosia (at left). Sometimes they distribute food from the church—but always there is discussion about the
Christian life, punctuated by laughter and inquiries about family needs.
A journey along the north side of the Niger River between Gao
and Timbuktu entails a 10 to 12-hour drive with a four-wheel drive
vehicle. Most drivers don’t rely on signposts—standing or not. In
the vast expanse of desert that lies to the north stretching into
Algeria, travellers have been known to erect small stone cairns,
which act as guides. Visible at a distance, these cairns serve as
waypoints, similar to the inukshuks constructed by the Inuit in
Canada’s far northern, barren landscape.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
13
To follow Pastor Nouh (pronounced Nock) Ag Infa Yattara
around his hometown of Timbuktu is to walk with a friend, one
whose life witness has stood the test of time. Everyone seems to
recognize him. He knows and greets rich and poor, Christian
and Muslim, all with equal warmth and respect. His widespread
rapport throws into contrast the unsuppressed cruelty he experienced in his youth.
Nouh credits God’s grace for bringing him to where he is
today, but the road has been long and arduous. (See Focus, page
3.) Kidnapped along with other nomadic children by French
guards, and forced to attend a government school, Nouh was
ultimately led to a profound relationship with God. Rejected by
his family and other Muslims, Nouh learned about unconditional acceptance from his Heavenly Father. Today, he reflects
that same acceptance to anyone in his presence.
Fast forward through young adulthood: Nouh received four
years of training from a Bible institute in Côte d’Ivoire, before
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| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
serving in full-time ministry in the north of Mali. He then
completed three years of training in economics and community
development in the U.S., earning a master’s degree in 1998 from
Eastern University in Pennsylvania.
Nouh gained much from all his travels and training, not the
least of which were an understanding of the global church, and
the ability to interface with and facilitate numerous aid organizations to benefit his people, the Tamasheq.
Pastor Nouh and his wife Fati greet some of the many visitors to their
home in Timbuktu. Over the course of history, the lighter-skinned, desertdwelling Tamasheq possessed servants and slaves, and intermarried with
darker-skinned Africans from regions such as present day Senegal and
Nigeria. Timbuktu emerged as a hub for slave trading, along with salt and
gold. For Nouh and his family, it is the Tamasheq language and culture, not
their darker skin, that identifies them as Tamasheq.
the end there was no question as
Back to Into where
Nouh would land. His desire
Timbuktu to show God’s love to his own people
guided him back home to Timbuktu. Unlike the common
perception of Timbuktu being the remotest location on earth,
this ancient intellectual and spiritual centre for the Islamic
world once surpassed many European cities with its universities, schools and libraries. Yet this crossroads of the Sahara’s
historical trade routes for salt, gold and slaves, now casts only a
shadow of its past greatness.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
15
(Above) The highly successful, church-run women’s centre provides a range of services and education to these Muslim women,
most of whom are single mothers, widows, or divorced.
(Right) Nouh’s church also operates a ministry to orphans,
providing a meal before the children go to school.
Pastor Nouh knows and greets
rich and poor, Christian and
Muslim, all with equal warmth
and respect.
When he returned to Timbuktu, Nouh began leading a small
fellowship of believers, the Evangelical Baptist Church. Sadly, he
found the spiritual climate discouraging, even dangerous. In the
1980s, Christians experienced the whole spectrum of negative
treatment, from a closed-door attitude to open persecution.
“It became an issue just to be alive here,” Nouh remembers.
“Nobody wanted to talk to us. Even in the market, we couldn’t
sell things.”
Making a living was increasingly difficult for the Christians.
“That is when we started to pray and even fast to see how the
Lord could change it,” Nouh recalls.
Their prayers resulted in a vision from God to serve one of
the neediest groups of people: single mothers. Many women in
this society are abandoned, some by very short-term husbands.
The idea of serving this forgotten segment of society presented a paradox. In the midst of their own suffering, Nouh and the
other Christians in Timbuktu chose to reach out to others who
also suffered. The potential for positively affecting the rest of
the community gave added incentive to do the job well.
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So in 1990, with 15 participants, a centre for women opened.
Nouh, now a skilled networker, was in touch with World
Vision, which backed the centre and provided sewing machines.
The women were taught skills in sewing, embroidery, knitting
and tie-dyeing.
Transformation “It was just incredible,
transformation
and Elevation the
and quality of life we
brought to those ladies,” Nouh relates. To the delight of the centre staff, some of the women were able to remarry because of
the elevation in their social position.
A further mark of success was evident at the start of their
second year.
“The following year we had 70 women forcing the gates to
enter. Now we have more than 450 candidates wanting to enter
the women’s centre, but 90 is the maximum our buildings can
hold, and the support we receive can manage.”
The women’s centre, housed on the church grounds, has
operated at maximum capacity each year since 1992. Besides
acquiring a trade, the women receive instruction in literacy
in Tamasheq, health and hygiene issues (including AIDS and
malaria prevention), as well as Bible teaching. At the end of
their stay, these women re-enter society with improved productivity and status.
Success breeds success. Nouh continued to be approached,
sometimes day and night, by needy Tamasheq people, most of
them Muslim. In 2002 the church opened a small centre called
Elijah House, offering a program to the many local orphans
with funding from Partners International. Besides giving 30
kids breakfast, lunch and a place for a siesta each day, many
are assisted in organizing their paperwork, including obtaining
birth certificates.
During this time, in the early 1990s, another proposal of
Nouh’s was underway. In response to his 1989 request to SIL,
the New Testament was being translated into Tamasheq. (See
sidebar, page 11.) A Bible translation existed, but was considered too difficult to understand.
In the midst of these acts of service, Nouh could see God’s
design emerging. Out of the painful circumstances of his past,
and the turbulent climate his church had endured, God was
fashioning something of enduring value.
(continued on pg. 19)
“It became an issue just to be
alive here. Nobody wanted to
talk to us. Even in the market,
we couldn’t sell things.”
—Pastor Nouh Ag Infa Yattara
As reflected in its Christian cemetery (below), down through the centuries Timbuktu
has not always been welcoming to foreigners. Yet that did not deter explorers such
as the Frenchman, René Caillié. In 1848, although not the first outsider to reach the
fabled, yet forbidden destination, he was the first to return alive. He stayed two
weeks in this house (above), now marked with a plaque commemorating his visit.
(Above) The mud brick Djingareiber Mosque was built in 1325 and is
now classified as a World Heritage Site. It stands as a link to the golden
years, over 500 years ago, when Timbuktu attained the height of its
power and influence. It is estimated that inhabitants then numbered at
least 100,000, in contrast to the current population of 25,000-30,000.
At the time, Timbuktu was the centre of Qur’anic study in West Africa. It
maintained two universities, attracting scholars and students from as far
away as Cairo and Baghdad. (Right) It’s easy to make the argument that
freedom is the highest value the Tamasheq hold. It’s much more difficult
to sustain that freedom; to choose where to live and when to move, and
not to be subject to others. As the Tamasheq proverb goes, “Even though
a bird flies, his bones end up in the ground.”
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| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
March 1999, Nouh received a most
Explaining Inportentous
visitor. A highly esteemed
the Vision officer and seasoned warrior journeyed
from the desert into Timbuktu to tell Nouh about a vision.
He said that hundreds of people from the desert north of
Timbuktu saw the same vision: a man, hovering above the ground,
holding a book. They all identified the man as Jesus. Muslims know
that the Qur’an speaks about the anticipated return of Jesus, and the
visions provoked great curiosity and wonder.
Visions are foundational to Islamic belief, and interpreters of
visions inspire considerable respect. Yet the fact that this officer,
a fierce defender of Islam, came to a Christian pastor for a vision
interpretation, stepped beyond the unlikely, to the unheard of.
“I was sincerely nervous!” Nouh laughs, “[but] I just tried to keep
calm and to share what I know about the coming back of Jesus.”
Then the owner of an FM radio station (one of four broadcasting in Timbuktu), approached Nouh, asking him to talk about the
return of Jesus on the radio. That launched a weekly Sunday evening
broadcast.
Ultimately, the people’s hunger to know what the visions meant
grew into an interest in all of what the Bible had to say. The radio
program was satisfying an overwhelming desire for understanding.
Soon Nouh was teaching the gospel, not only over the airwaves, but
also by invitation from schools, hotels, offices, even Qur’anic schools
and the Islamic University of Timbuktu.
In all this, Nouh is amazed.
“We didn’t do anything,” he insists, except to follow “the road prepared by those people [who saw the visions].”
of Mystery—that’s how Timbuktu
Guided by City
has been described for centuries. Early
Signposts European explorers were drawn some-
times by nothing more than the allure and mystery of the name. But
many were disappointed once there—if they lived to tell the tale of
their journey, with its hardships, disease and attempts on their lives.
Now, some may feel disappointment in finding Internet connections
available in town.
The decades inevitably bring adjustments. Understanding the
times is vital for Nouh and the church in Timbuktu—as vital as for
the caravans of salt-bearing camels to find their way through the
desert to the mysterious city.
Looking for signposts, sometimes faint or indistinct, takes a
unique perspective; to be guided by them takes a cultivated trust.
As God directs Nouh’s life, He demonstrates that far from abandoning the Tamasheq, He wants to give them something to direct their
path, something to guide them to Him.
That is the greatest revealed mystery of all.
Looking for signposts, sometimes
faint or indistinct, takes a unique
perspective; to be guided by
them takes a cultivated trust.
“I want my people to understand the love of God and to
have the written Word of God in their hands. . . .” Pastor
Ibrahim references the Tamasheq New Testament—the
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| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
handiwork of the translation team he led for 10
years. (See article, page 8.) The dedication of the New
Testament occurred in Timbuktu in January 2005.
Nothing
Shor t
of
a
BY JANET SEEVER
A
Ancient rice terraces, looking like giant steps, filled the horizon. Wispy clouds floated in the blue sky. The setting in Barlig,
Philippines, on April 24, 2004, looked every bit like a picture
postcard. It was a marvelous day for a celebration!
Numbering nearly 1,000, an audience sat hushed, every
eye focused on the six men standing in a circle before them.
Representing the five church groups of the community, the
men reached their hands out toward the boxes that held the
Finallig New Testaments (see photo below).
Tim Ohlson
This display of unity was nothing short of a miracle.
Previously, the community had seen discord among the various church groups, with each claiming to have the truth. Over
the past three years, an unprecedented unity of purpose developed and has prevailed as the groups worked together to make
the Finallig New Testament translation a reality. Joy filled the
hearts of the people as the words of Apo Dios—the name they
call God—finally came to them.
The foundation for the translation project was laid nearly 30
years ago in 1975 by Wycliffe Canada Director Dave Ohlson,
and his wife Joan. Soon, however, Dave was called on to serve
as the director of SIL’s Philippines branch and had to turn the
project over to others. Over the years, workers continued the
translation process. One of them was Kiyoko Torakawa of
Wycliffe Japan, who worked on the translation for 18 years.
In 2000, Rundell and Judi Maree, from Wycliffe Canada and
Wycliffe U.S.A. respectively, began serving as the project’s managers. (Previously the Marees had translated the Ibatan New
Testament for a people group living on Babuyan Island, off
the northern coast of the Philippines.)Ultimate credit for the
completed Finallig New Testament goes to a team of hardworking mother tongue translators from various denominations,
assembled for the task of redrafting, updating, and checking
the Scriptures in the larger community. Greater community
ownership has made all the difference. For example, between
125 and 150 people from five different religious communities
were involved in reading through the final version of the translation to check for clarity.
The Finallig New Testament was one of two New Testaments
completed in 2004 with Canadian participation. The Limos
Kalinga New Testament, also from the Philippines, was dedicated on June 26, 2004. Canadians Hart and Ginny Wiens
initiated the project in 1974 and served in the Philippines until
1991. Fred and Evelyn Caress helped complete the project.
Hart was involved in the final checking in 2003. He currently
serves as director of Scripture translation for the Canadian
Bible Society.
Also noteworthy was the dedication this past year of the
Coastal Arapesh New Testament for more than 16,000 people
in Papua New Guinea. Alius Simatab, a national translator and
member of the Bible
Translation Association
(BTA), did the actual
work, while Wycliffe’s
Bob and JoAnn Conrad
served as project coordinators. This was the
fourth New Testament
project the Conrads
have helped with in 40
years. This language group is one of several Arapesh groups.
Arapesh was included in From Arapesh to Zuni, a children’s
book published in 1986 to initiate prayer for 26 languages
needing Bible translation (see illustration above). The New
Testament is an answer to the prayers of many.
These New Testaments were among 28 published Scriptures
presented to people groups since our previous update in the
Spring 2004 issue of Word Alive. Wycliffe translators and literacy workers have served these groups, which have a combined
total population of 9.87
million people.
For a statistical summary of the 28 published
Scriptures, visit <www.wycliffe.ca/wordalive>.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
25
wa t c h
150 Translation
Projects
Interrupted
SIL Partners
Win Prizes for
Translating AIDS
Information
Wycliffe International requests prayer for
150 interrupted Bible translation programs
located around the globe. The affected language groups range in size from 200 to several million speakers each.
Trained translators have been called away
from these projects to do other vital support
jobs—teaching missionary children, and
working in computing, administration and
other duties—simply because no one else
was available.
Skilled translators and literacy workers
can only return to their roles if new recruits
can be found for the support work.
Bible translation news
from around the world
26
AIDIA , a partner organization of SIL in Peru, has embarked on an ambitious plan to encourage holistic development among a Quechua group in the southern part of the country.
The non-profit Christian organization of volunteer pastors, leaders and professionals from
different evangelical denominations, wants to promote a “just and responsible society through
spiritual, social and economic change” among the 409,500 Quechua speakers in eastern
Apurimac. Apurimac is the third-poorest administrative region in Peru.
Larry Sagert, an SIL member from Canada, says AIDIA’s strategies include translating the
Bible, producing biblical helps and literacy materials (both educational and agricultural),
promoting literacy, and developing investment projects and training for farmers (above) and
other local leaders.
SIL provides training, mentoring and funding for AIDIA’s projects, and helps it connect with
other potential partner agencies.
Wycliffe’s 100th
Recruit Passes
Away
Hilda Whealy, the first Canadian woman to
join Wycliffe Bible Translators and an answer to
prayer for its founder Cameron Townsend, died
this past September in Weston, Ont. The Toronto
native was 94.
Whealy (above) and her husband Herbert joined in 1943 at Townsend’s invitation, after the two men met during a conference in Mexico. Before their meeting,
Townsend had asked God to double the number of Wycliffe recruits that year, to
100 from 50.
When the Whealys arrived in Mexico, they were the 99th and 100th members to
join the fledgling organization. Wycliffe now has an international worldwide staff
of nearly 5,300 workers serving in 70 countries.
The Whealys worked among the Aztec people in Mexico. For two decades,
they were devoted to language study, Bible translation, literacy and administrative work. They then served as Wycliffe representatives in Eastern Canada, before
retiring in 1972.
Herbert predeceased Hilda in 1989.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
Finding
the Sichela
SIL’s Tanzania language
survey team found more than
they expected on a trip this
past fall to research the Nyiha
language. They discovered
speakers of Sichela, a language
they had only heard about but
hoped to locate (left).
“It’s no wonder the Sichela are such an unknown people group,” says Anna Lindfors, a member of the survey team. “They live in a really remote corner of Tanzania, with impassable roads during the rainy season.”
The Sichela, who number about 15,000, are just one of several thousand languages worldwide that must
be researched by survey teams to assess and clarify their Bible translation needs.
Ted Bergman, SIL International’s language assessment coordinator, says more than 3,000 languages
need survey globally. Two-thirds of them are found in nations generally located in three regions: central
Africa/Nigeria (727 languages), the Indonesian-Pacific archipelago (706), and south mainland Asia/East Asia
(610). The five countries most needing language assessments are Nigeria, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea,
India and China.
Many more personnel are needed to do this survey work.
“We have 68 surveyors working in the field,” says Bergman. “I’d like to have two or three times that many.”
Anyone interested in doing language survey should visit <www.sil.org/training/requirements_survey.htm>.
Anna Lindfors
word
with Wycliffe Bible Translators International
and its partner, SIL International.
Dr. Roger Gilstrap, 59, now coordinates
leadership development efforts for the international arms of Wycliffe, SIL and their affiliates. Assisted part time by his wife Kathy,
Gilstrap will travel extensively from their
home base in Spokane, Wash.
Gilstrap became leader of Wycliffe Canada in
2000. He handed the reins of the organization to
Wycliffe and SIL veteran Dave Ohlson this past
December (see Word Alive, Fall 2004).
Larry Sagert
Former Wycliffe
Canada Director
Begins New Role Partner Agency Pushes Holistic
Wycliffe Canada’s former executive director began a new leadership role in January Development in Peru
Three literacy and
translation workers in
Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, have
been awarded prizes in a
competition to translate
material on AIDS into
local languages.
Gahossou Dao (above) received a top award
this past fall from Madame Simone Gbagbo,
the nation’s first lady. Dao, who has served
with the Jula language literacy team for five
years, is currently working to set up literacy
classes in churches and training teachers, so
that they can use the Jula New Testament.
Carlos Goprou, a translator working under
a local SIL partner organization, also received
the first place award for translating the AIDS
information into his native language of Bété.
Paul Bozon got second prize for his work in
the Wobé language. He is currently doing Old
Testament translation in partnership with SIL.
An Ivorian humanitarian network
(REPMASCI) created the competition. It sent
out invitations for translations of AIDS prevention information into 18 of the nation’s
languages.
According to the U.N., Côte d’Ivoire is the
country most severely affected by HIV/AIDS in
West Africa. This is due in part to inadequate
access to information.
e u r e k a !
No More
Falling Asleep
T
The first thing that strikes you about Pedro Samuc is
his friendly, inviting demeanour. His genuine boyish
grin makes you feel as though this is the beginning
The challenge and impact
of translating God’s Word
As Pedro shares about himself, he jokes that since
he was born in 1960, he is on the down slope. With
an outstretched hand, he mimics a person climbing
a steep hill, cresting the summit, and beginning the
descent.
Pedro talks about his past—how he grew up in a
family in southwestern Guatemala that unofficially
followed traditional Mayan religious beliefs; how in
his early teens, friends invited him to attend Roman
Catholic services; how he later transferred to the
Protestant church and there accepted Christ as his
personal Saviour.
It was his experience in the Protestant church
that motivated Pedro to translate Scripture into his
mother tongue of Eastern Tzutujil. His pastor had
been troubled because he’d noticed that many people
in the congregation weren’t paying attention to his
sermons in Spanish. Some of them were even falling asleep. As a result, the pastor devised a plan. He
gave each of the deacons a stick. While he preached,
the deacons walked up and down the aisles. If someone fell asleep, they received a wake-up call from the
deacons! Pedro chuckles and continues.
“ They were teaching about
God’s love, but hitting us
with sticks!”
—Pedro Samuc,
Tzutujil translator
“It was horrible! They were teaching about God’s
love, but hitting us with sticks!” he says, smiling and
shaking his head in amazement. “What’s wrong with
this picture?”
Troubled by what he was seeing, Pedro decided to
take a survey of the congregation. Going door-todoor, he asked three questions.
First, “Did you enjoy this week’s sermon?”
Laird Salkeld
of a friendship.
Everyone said, “Oh, yes! It was wonderful! It
really touched me!”
Second, Pedro asked, “Which part spoke to you in
particular?”
To this, they had no answer.
Third, he questioned, “What was the passage that
the minister preached on?”
Again, they had no response.
“This gave me pain in my heart,” recalls Pedro, “so
I told myself, ‘I’ve got to do this translation!’”
Pedro struggled to
develop a rough draft of
the New Testament on
his own. Then he met Jim
and Judy Butler of SIL,
Wycliffe’s partner organization, dedicated to training, language research,
translation and literacy.
The Butlers were able to
help Pedro refine his translation. They told him there
were only two changes
necessary. The first one
was the alphabet he was using. The second was the
meaning of the text as it had been translated. Pedro
grins mischievously.
“Little did I know that those two small changes
would take a year to complete.”
When the New Testament translation was finally
finished, Pedro preached a sermon using the Tzutujil
Scriptures.
“The people were spellbound,” he remembers.
“The deacons put down their sticks; no one fell
asleep. The entire congregation was finally able to
understand the teaching.”
Today, more than 40 churches use the Eastern
Tzutujil Scriptures. Half of the local population of
50,000, located near Lake Atitlán, professes evangelical faith!
Pedro now works to promote translation and
the use of indigenous Scriptures on a national level
across denominations in Guatemala.
He may be ‘over the hill,’ but Pedro is far from
journey’s end.
Revised from an article by Matt Petersen, a writer with Wycliffe U.S.
| Spring 2005 | www.wycliffe.ca
27
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Y
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