During December, a copy of the Hadiyya full Bible arrived, sent by Daniel Hankore. Daniel is a translation consultant in Ethiopia, but he and I first met when we worked together on the Hadiyya New Testament. That was published in 1992, and life moved on for both of us. Daniel was consultant for part of the Hadiyya Old Testament, and it was very satisfying to receive a published copy last month.
At the same time, we learned through another colleague, Simon Zekewos, also translation consultant, that the full Bible in Gofa had cleared customs, was in store in Addis Abeba, … but … that … the dedication was being delayed because of the drought, failure of harvest, and food shortage in the Gofa region of southern Ethiopia. I worked with Simon and other translators on the Gofa Old Testament.
In 2022, four full published Bibles arrived back in Ethiopia, three that Margaret or I worked on—the Gamo, Hadiyya, and Gofa. The last, still to be dedicated when food shortage is no longer uppermost in the peoples’ mind. Hadiyya’s closer neighbour-community, is the Kambaata, and a Wycliffe colleague now retired in Finland, told us that the Kambaata Bible also is in the printing stage, at long last. Margaret and I worked for years with the Hadiyya and Kambaata translators, handing over to two other colleagues when we set up the training programmes back in Nairobi.
These Bibles represent so much effort, so many thousands of hours of work and discussion, and now we are asking you to pray for their life-changing impact in the communities they were prepared for.
And this is not all. The Wycliffe Translation Progress Report for 2022 also came through the mail, and inside the cover, at beginning and end, are two pages celebrating the arrival of the New Testament in the Ilchamus community in Rift Valley, Kenya. That takes me back to the 1970s. Forgive me as I pick up the tale… … …
In 1978, an older man, the first Christian among the Maasai pastoralists of Kenya-Tanzania, was translating for his people. I played a small part, doing a consultant check of the book of Jeremiah, with the senior translator who had stepped in after the older man retired. Then I was asked to carry out some field research for Bible Society. The older translator was convinced his work would meet the needs of the Maasai and two other communities, the pastoralist Samburu people [between Marsabit and Lake Turkana], and the small community, the Ilchamus, pastoralists settled around Lake Baringo. The three languages were very similar; surely one translation would satisfy all. My research concluded that this was unlikely, and that Samburu needed a separate translation. Ilchamus also, a much smaller community, probably needed separate translation. Three instead of one. Since the older man would look at the Report, I put these conclusions in a letter which separately accompanied the Report, where I could say what I thought more openly, less hurtfully.
We left Kenya, and returned to Ethiopia, to Hadiyya and Kambaata, in fact. In Kenya, the Maasai Bible was completed, the Samburu New Testament was begun, and published in 2019. You can see some of the dedication on YouTube, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h0jd6szsks
The first I knew of translation into Ilchamus, was the same Progress Report mentioned already, through the photos below.
The Ilchamus dedication is in the long clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pq8YEiaml4 Enjoy the women’s choirs, dressed and dancing. The Ilchamus, Samburu and Maasai, love red and blue. As you will hear in this clip, work on Old Testament has begun for both Samburu and Ilchamus.
These are long threads, long stories, long years of effort. Watch the clips until the boxes of NTs are carried in, until your tears flow at the happiness you see expressed. And then pray for these books—in Ilchamus, Samburu, Maasai, Gofa, Gamo, Hadiyya, Kambaata and others—to change lives and give people Hope.
Thank you once again for your support financially and in prayer. We continue to channel some of your support to translators and consultants we work with.
Sincerely, in our Lord Jesus,
Ronnie & Margaret
Out of Africa 