Colleagues in Cameroon: WBT President Bob Creson's Letter

This from Wycliffe's President Bob Creson about some colleagues in Cameroon:

SIL translators Dave and Cindy Lux and the team they work with are illustrations of this commitment to change and to a new way of working.  Dave and Cindy worked first with Noni (name of the people group) colleagues in the Northwest Province of Cameroon to complete the New Testament in Nooni (name of the language). They used what is often called the “traditional” or “classic” approach of one expat team living in a village, learning the language, and leading the project while working closely with local colleagues. Now the Luxes and three of the original Noni translation and literacy workers have expanded their focus to include six languages related to Nooni in the Misaje cluster. 

Recognizing the desire of Misaje speakers for God¹s Word as well as their willingness and ability to participate in the translation project, they and some additional SIL personnel are working together to help speakers of the six languages translate the Word for their communities. The team works in partnership with the six local communities, The Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL), SIL and The Seed Company (TSC).  The Nooni New Testament is serving as the starting point to produce Scriptures in the related languages. Dave and Cindy and the other members of their leadership team are still translators, but they are also facilitators, trainers, encouragers, and servants all at the same time.  The impact of the effort poured into the Nooni translation is being multiplied, and the six new translations will be completed accurately, clearly and naturally in a fraction of the time it took to produce the original Nooni translation.  

The day the Luxes received my email about the decreasing number of translation needs, Dave witnessed the first sharing of new Scripture in the six Misaje languages. He later described it in an email to Paul Kimbi, a Kom language speaker and CABTAL translation consultant. Dave wrote, "The Misaje translators yesterday afternoon divided up their newly printed shell books of the parables of Luke for distribution.  It struck me as an historic moment.  It was quite unknown by the world, and equally uncared for by the world, but from God's perspective it was precious to see these men taking steps for the first time for the six language groups to have the printed Scriptures in the hands of the people. Thank you for your part.  You truly helped us out by conducting the Translation Principles Course and the workshop for the Misaje Cluster."  

Paul replied. "Indeed, the world allows the more important issues of life to go unnoticed, like the entrance of the Word of God into those six communities. If it were an important government official coming into the village, the whole village would be mobilized. But here comes the Word of God (Jesus Christ) not to be compared to a government minister or even the president, and He comes relatively in the midst of oblivion. But God is using ‘the foolish things of the world to shame the wise’ and ‘the weak things to shame the strong’ (1 Corinthians 1:27)."  

Cindy forwarded the email exchange to Dallas, with the comment that this event was one small example of the large event that I had written about. Six more communities were hearing the Good News in their mother tongue. Six fewer communities were without any of the Word. Included in the parables that have been translated for the Misaje communities are the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. In both of these, Jesus illustrates the heart of the Father and the extent to which He will go for one person--God extending His grace and love to the least, the last and the lost.