Postscript

This is Rob.  He was our pilot for our domestic flights in Cameroon. He’s just a little older than me, and has been serving as a pilot in Cameroon for a few years.

Some areas of this country are quite remote, so pilots like Rob provide vital transportation services to the staff working in those areas.  In addition to transporting people, they sometimes transport mail, and medical and food supplies.  They also may assist with medical and emergency evacuations.

Photo by Zeke du Plessis

Rob flys and maintains a five-seater helio courier airplane. He is one of small team of pilot/mechanics assigned to SIL Cameroon (SIL is a partner organization of Wycliffe).  One person on that team flys a helicopter in order to transport staff in areas where it is not possible for a plane to land. Training for pilots who want to serve in a role like Rob’s is extensive because pilots must learn to take-off, fly and land in unconventional environments.  They also must be thoroughly trained as aviation mechanics.

Moody Bible Institute is one school that offers a missionary aviation program. But, even with this training often additional training is required before a pilot is ready to fly in remote areas where Wycliffe staff serve.  JAARS, a partner organization of Wycliffe, provides testing and training for pilots desiring to serve with Wycliffe abroad.  More pilots and aviation mechanics are needed in Cameroon and elsewhere around the world. Learn more about transportation needs and careers in Wycliffe.

Popularity: 34% [?]

…more than just giving people a book, even if that book is the Bible.  Discipleship is also about believers having relationship with God and other believers, and believers learning to apply the principles of scripture in their everyday life.

We’ve been with Shu-Mei the last few days learning about her and her role in Cameroon.  She is originally from Taiwan, but spent several years in Paris before coming to Africa.  She works in Cameroon as a scripture use worker. Scripture use workers help communities where Bible translation is in progress or complete learn to interact and use scriptures in church and every day life.  They may conduct Bible studies, help communities create scripture media (scriptures in an audio format, etc), help communities interact with social issues using scripture (e.g. AIDS), and more.

We flew to a village called Yimbere where Shu-Mei worked for a couple of years with a couple who were translating the New Testament into Kwanja, a language group of about 20,000.  Martin and Joan Weber began translation work in 1982, and the New Testament was completed and then dedicated in December of 2006.   The Kwanja now have scripture in their own language, but having a book is not the end.  Scripture use was part of this translation project all along.  Shu-Mei and a small team contributed to helping this project by conducting workshops with church leaders showing them how to conduct Bible studies and how to integrate mother-tongue scriptures into their church services (previously conducted in the national language, French).  Some churches in the village are now using the Kwanja New Testament often and have incorporated what they learned in scripture use workshops into their services.  A couple of people that Shu-Mei worked with are now teaching the principles she taught them to others.  The translation team there is now working on translating the Old Testament into Kwanja.

It had been a while since Shu-Mei had visited Yimbere, but while we were going around with her, it was clear that she was remembered and missed.  We heard people call out greetings to her.  Children were yelling, “Shu-Mei, Shu Mei.” Men and women would come up to her and greet her by name.   Her closest friend from the village invited us to her home where we talked, ate and prayed with her.

Photo by Zeke du Plessis

A highlight of our visit to Yimbere was going up a nearby mountain to pray.  We prayed for Africa. We prayed for the Kwanja people that God would touch their lives and transform the lives of more individuals as well as the whole community.  We prayed for each other.  We thanked God for His goodness and faithfulness.

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Yesterday, the first New Testaments translated into the Nomaande language were dedicated by the community that speaks Nomaande. We, that is my little media team, were present for their special celebration.  The lady in this photograph was an usher at the event.  It was so neat to see the excitement on her face when she held the New Testament in her own language for the first time.

It was my first time going to an event like this.  Music, special dances, special speakers, presentations–it was a full day including a big meal at the end. We took many photographs and some video clips of all the different aspects of the event.

Above: The directors of SIL Cameroon and CABTAL (two organizations involved in this translation) holding the New Testament in Nomaande.

Below: A few shots of those of us who were gathering photos and video footage at the event and around it.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Cameroon… another country, another experience.  I expected that it would be very much like Togo and Benin.  Not quite.  Every country I’ve been to in Africa is different.  Cameroon is too.

Photo by Zeke du Plessis

I’m traveling with two colleagues–Zeke from South Africa and Jennie from Taiwan. We arrived here late on Tuesday night.  I’ve been really looking forward to this trip, and I’m excited to be working with these guys.  Zeke is doing a 3 month internship with me.  He’ll be doing some writing and photography.  Jennie lives elsewhere in Africa and is on loan to me for a few weeks.  She’ll be doing some publicity writing for me in Chinese.  Even though they are both with me short-term, they are the first fruits of my efforts to build a publicity media team in Africa.  God led them both this direction.  We’ll see what God has planned now that we’re all working together.

We will be traveling all around Cameroon and also going to another neighboring country, interviewing and photographing the work of a few people who work in this part of Africa.  We have some specific goals for this publicity, but what I’m really looking forward to is seeing how God will use these efforts to further His kingdom.  And, I hope we have a little fun along the way!

Please pray for our trip: for traveling mercies, for good relationships, for us to be in tune with the Holy Spirit.  I’ll be writing more as we go and as I have internet access.

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A study of the arts of particular cultures can accompany Bible translation projects when an Arts staff member is available.  Arts workers, specialists and consultants study dance, drama, music, handicrafts, methods of story-telling, proverbs, poetry–all the art expressions of a culture.  Their study can create a foundation for working with a community to create art expressions that tell the gospel story–scripture songs, Bible story dramas, etc.  These tools help communities gain a greater understanding of scripture, and help them to remember key scripture stories and principles.

Learn more about using the arts in Bible translation.

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