Go Away!

There were children. Always so many children. Our children are a magnet for other children and so everywhere we go, they follow us giggling, trying to touch their hair, take their hands. The Bible dedication was no different. The group of children grew and grew, watching and commenting on my children's every move until the adults around said, "Go away!" They did, and then slowly crept back to continue their entertainment.

The plenary speaker, Bishop Kwashi (in maroon), greets the chief’s representative (in blue). In the background are many children behind the Yoder children. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf 

 

Then I (Christy) had an idea! I told them to follow me. I walked with them to a space behind a building and taught thema song in their own language using a Bible verse read poorly by me. They pronounced it well, of course—better than I did—and they learned the song and the dance movements easily. We walked back into the tent and they sat behind me, with purpose now because they were going to perform with me. When they got to talking, I would turn and say, "Shhhh..." and they would because now they had a part to play.

 

One of the lead boys sings “God’s Word is not chained” in the new Bwatiye translation. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf 

They did perform the song in front of all those people. It was beautiful. They did a lovely job. Two of the boys that were the leaders of the group, received their own transitional primer and Bible. When I handed it to them, the whole group of thirty children gasped. I told them they couldn't keep it to themselves, they had to teach their friends. They nodded solemnly. Please pray that God will call someone to disciple these Bwatiye children and that these two boys will lead the way.

All the children parade around the field singing “God’s Word is not chained” in Bwatiye. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf 

We Can Read Our Language!

 

Christy dances with women who have waited a long time for this joyous day. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

 
The old women who I (Christy) danced back from the river with were effervescent. Their stamina amazed me. The next day, as people left the Bible dedication, I saw four of the women I had danced down the road with, their eyes aglow, waiting to talk with me.

"Did you get it?” I asked them. “Did you get the Bible in Bwatiye?"

"No,” they said, we cannot get it."

I asked them to wait a minute. I stepped away and I bought four Bibles and transition primers to help them learn to read their language. But what if they couldn’t read at all?

"Can you read?" I asked

"Yes! We can read in our language!"

"You read in Bwatiye?"

With big proud smiles on their faces they said, "Yes, we have a reading class every week. We can read our language!" "Well, now you can read the Bible then." They all hugged me and I melted… they were so beautiful and eager. How I delighted in their joy in the Word and how I thank God that I will get to dance with them in eternity!

Please pray that the literacy classes in the Bwatiye language will continue and many will learn to read the Bible for themselves! There is also an audio version of the New Testament. Pray that many will get it and use it!

It has been a century a decade and a year

We land, welcomed by a crowd holding spears. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

“What would Dr. Brønnum think if he could be here today?” Mike Rueck and I (Zach) sit in a canoe, carried across the swiftly-flowing Benue River towards a crowd celebrating and rejoicing on the other side. The world has changed a lot in 111 years since Dr. Brønnum first crossed from the Royal Niger Company on the North bank to greet the Bacama chief under a tamarind tree. A giant dual-carriage bridge carries traffic into Numan. High-tension power-lines bring in electricity. Numan has become a large town. On the banks are gathered a crowd of people dancing and jubilating with spears—and cell phones to capture the event. I am moved almost to tears of joy in the excitement of the moment—the New Testament has finally arrived for the Bwatiye People in the Bacama (pronounced Bachema) language!

The Bishop thanks God for the Bwatiye New Testament. I doubt there were cell phones and power lines 111 years ago! Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

 

 

As the tour continues we get to see more extremes: so many have come to faith; there are many churches in Numan. The headquarters of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) has cathedrals, bishops, and large congregations. We enter the first church ever built in Numan, a renovated simple hut-style construction. There is no room for all the people who have gathered to enter, but Mariama and I have the privilege of praying with bishops and pastors in this historic site. We move on to the remains of a larger stone cathedral, only the entry and bell tower still standing. Rev. Caleb, the Bwatiye translator, addresses the growing crowd from the historic pulpit in the empty space where the church building used to be. He beckons Mike and me to join him there. As he speaks to the crowd in the Bacama language, I find it appropriate that he stands in the front, and we stand behind—a symbol of the lead that the Bwatiye people have taken in their project. What would Dr. Brønnum feel if he could stand in this pulpit again today?

 

Left to Right: Zach, Mariama, Mike Rueck, and Rev Caleb join many others in the first church in Numan. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

 

A Long Walk To the River

The young marching band in their crisp white uniforms and blue sashes walked rhythmically in the lead of the parade. Not far behind, a truck loaded with speakers reverberated the pulsing beat of the Bacema (pronounced Bachema) worship song that declared there is no power greater than God's power. Behind the truck danced the traditional dancers in beaded skin outfits, the men with spears twirling in their hands as they paraded down the street.

Left to right: Emily Gaddis, Lydia, Acacia, Christy and Mariama join the Bwatiye parade. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

I  (Christy) followed the dancers, holding my little girls’ hands, heading toward the river with hundreds of others. They ushered us to the front of the group where we saw the boats on the other side heading our way, going far upstream so they would land where the crowd waited to welcome the missionaries to their land as the first missionaries had come over one hundred years ago. It had been a long walk to the river, as it has been a long walk to this living water of the Word coming in Bacema. This was the day. Tears filled my eyes as my husband and our colleague Mike arrived, hailed by the traditional warriors, the pastors in their white collars, and the old women who had waited so long.

 

The Boys Brigade Leads the celebration. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf 

I had seen one of these old women passing an elderly man leaning heavily on his cane. After passing him, she turned to him and enthusiastically hugged him round the neck, something I've never seen before in Nigeria. This day was like no other, and it called for unusual, impulsive joy. The New Testament in Bacema had come for the Bwatiye people.

 

Translator Rev. Caleb raises the Bacema New Testament for the Bwatiye people. A new Lutheran Cathedral is in the background. Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

 

From the river we went to the place where the chief welcomed the first missionaries, the first small round hut that was the church, and the pulpit in a large stone patio that was once the cathedral where those missionaries walked and ministered. At the last stop, one of the translators addressed the crowd: "The missionaries only translated the first four chapters of Mark into our language, and then told us to finish the work. This great work has been finished and now you can hear these sweet words for yourself!" 

 

The first church in Numan Photo credit: Shadrach Yusuf

We went to bed that night, legs weary from the long walk, yet rejoicing that we witnessed the River of Life flowing in one of the Bwatiye people’s languages, Bacema. Please pray for the Bwatiye people as they learn to read and understand the Words of life in their language.