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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone; February 25, 1999 — “It is good to report that staff and Advisory Council members of the BSSL have escaped with their lives in the recent troubles that struck our capital, Freetown,” writes Mrs Pearce.
    “Unfortunately, Miss Clarke, the Society’s secretary, and also the BSSL treasurer lost their houses in the destruction caused by the fighting. Both properties were burnt to the ground, and they were unable to save any of their belongings, having to flee for their lives at the time.
     “I myself was trapped in the eastern part of Freetown where the rebels were, unable to get to important meetings. Now that things are a little calmer we open the office temporarily on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. But we still desperately need an honest solution to the political problems troubling our country,” she adds.
     In early January, when the rebels attacked Freetown, fleeing residents were caught between them and government troops who fired on anybody seen on the streets of the capital. Rebels forced residents from their homes and used them as human shields against government soldiers.
     Crispin Cole, General Secretary of The Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone, said: “Even as we ask God what is going on, we know he is our safeguard, our rock, someone we can depend on. Your prayers for God’s wisdom for government leaders and for church leaders will make a difference.”

BOJI, Ethiopia — They gathered in their thousands – members of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church, ‘Mekane Yesu’ – on the famous hilltop where, 100 years ago, the Oromo people had first begun to study the Bible. Some 10,000 Oromo-speaking people had come to celebrate the centenary of the first complete Bible in the Oromo language.

And now there was another reason to give thanks to God: the Bible Society of Ethiopia had brought copies of the recently-published Oromo common-language Bible in the Latin script. Only in the last few years has the government changed from the Amharic script to the Latin script in the schools’ educational program.

“We have to acknowledge the role of the Bible in the rapid growth of the ‘Mekane Yesu’ Church in Ethiopia,” said Dr Loren Bliese. “The Bible was the major tool God used to establish the church. And today the Western Synod has more than 700 congregations and is continuing to expand right to the Sudanese border. The three other synods are also experiencing similar growth.

“From a small seed has grown a very large tree, just as Jesus predicted in his parable in Luke 13:18-19,” Dr Bliese told the gathering. He pointed out another parallel with the Scriptures: many people had climbed into the trees to get a glimpse of the speakers.

PHOTO: Church leaders gather in front of the statue of Onesimus Nesib, who first translated the Bible into Oromo 100 years ago

The text of Isaiah 55:10-11 was printed on the programme for the celebration in the capital, Addis Ababa: “My Word is like the snow and the rain . . . They make the crops grow and provide seed for sowing and food to eat . . .” And it is not coincidental that the symbol of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was in 1899, and still is, the sower. In that year the first Oromo Bible was published by the BFBS and printed in Basle, Switzerland. Translator Onesimus Nesib had brought the manuscript to Europe for publication and he remained until the Oromo Bible was ready, despite the death of one of his daughters back home, in Abyssinia, as Ethiopia was known then.

He and fellow translator, Aster Ganno took the Oromo Bible to the people when foreign missionaries were denied access to them. They joined forces with the Rev Gebre-Ewostatos Zamichael, an Eritrean, and Daniel Dabala, an Oromo, who were already working among the Oromo. Together this team brought the good news of God’s salvation to the Oromo people, and the church grew into the great ‘tree’ it is today.

The new Latin-script edition of the common-language Oromo Bible was dedicated in all four synods of the ‘Mekane Yesu’ Church. First in Nakempte, one of the main centres of Western Oromo. Onesimus had lived and worked there after translating the Bible. The Evangelical church there is experiencing rapid growth with thousands of new members every year.

During the years of communist persecution, many of the churches were closed. Following President Mengistu’s flight and the establishment of a new government in 1991, the churches were re-opened, and since then, many new ones have been built. The graves of the two translators are located near the oldest Evangelical church in the Synod compound. More than 1,000 people gathered for the service of dedication and celebration.

A day’s drive took the speakers, church and Bible Society representatives, with their cargo of new Latin-script Bibles, to the birthplace of Onesimus: Hurrumu. There a statue of the translator has been erected in the town centre. There were thousands who came to the celebration service, heard the choirs, and joined in the worship and thanks to God for his Word.

Photo: Choirs with banners lead the procession at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the translation of the Oromo Bible

The next stop, Dembi Dolo, was not reached without incident. Dr Bliese was driving in the Bible Society pick-up vehicle with Theophilos Qana’a, the translator mainly responsible for finalising the Amharic-script version of the common-language Oromo Bible. There was a heavy load of the new Bibles in the back.

Suddenly they had several punctures at once. They were forced to dig out rocks and earth from underneath the vehicle to get it off the single-track road. Fortunately, two hours later the other Bible Society vehicle arrived and took the flat tyres to be repaired at the next town.

The following day, the team arrived a few hours late, but the four meetings went ahead, and Theophilos was asked to carry the church banner to each of the meetings. It read: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” from Isaiah 9:2.

History of the Oromo Translation
The dream of German missionary the Rev Johannes Krapf, who worked throughout East Africa, was to reach the Oromo people with the Gospel. He encouraged the training of missionaries to work among the Oromo and himself began translation work in several of the dialects. The New Testament and some of the Old Testament in Central Oromo was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) in 1876.
     In the late 19th century Ethiopia was called Abyssinia and controlled by Italy. It was almost impossible for foreign missionaries to make contact with the Oromo people. In 1850, the Swedish Evangelical Mission began work in Massawa, on the coast of Eritrea. The missionaries were hoping to reach into the Oromo-speaking areas from there.
     But the authorities refused to allow them permission to even teach the Oromo to read. However, they started schools in Massawa and were eventually entrusted with some freed Oromo slaves. These young people were then trained in the mission school.
     Two of their brightest pupils were Onesimus Nesib and Aster Ganno. They were obvious candidates for further studies and the mission helped them to train as Bible translators.
     The language they spoke was Northern Oromo; but the advantage was that this was used and understood as a sort of lingua franca throughout the Oromo-speaking people in Ethiopia, extending as far as Sudan in the west and northern Kenya in the south.
     The Oromo Bible was finally published in 1899 by the BFBS. This Bible served the church for about 100 years as the main tool for evangelism and spiritual growth among the Oromo people.

Finally, the team brought the new Bibles to Boji, where the evangelists had first started telling the Oromo people about Jesus in 1898. At the graveside of the two evangelists, the Rev Gebre-Ewostatos Zamichael and Daniel Dabala, texts from the new Bible were read. One of them was taken from Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the Lord say, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘I will go! Send me!’”

A granddaughter of the Rev Gebre-Ewostatos told the story of how her grandfather had spent a year trying to reach Boji. One of his children was born on the way. His Excellency Emmanuel Abraham, President Emeritus of the ‘Mekane Yesu’ Church and one of the founders of the Bible Society of Ethiopia, recollected his childhood in Boji. He loved to sit on his mother’s lap and hear her read the Bible stories in Oromo. Like many other children, he was taught to read the Bible from early on.

All the Oromo Bibles carried to the services by the Bible Society vehicle were distributed. And the next Sunday, a service was held in Addis Ababa to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the main ‘Mekane Yesu’ Church organisation, EECMY, and to celebrate the centenary of the Oromo Bible. “It was interesting to see the great-grandchildren of the Rev Gebre-Ewostatos participating in the service and in the choir,” said Dr Bliese.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Sharon Samson is a woman determined to open the Bible to the many semi-literate people in urban communities. “People attend churches in great numbers, but few study the Bible,” she says. “The church is growing rapidly, but there are few trained leaders to teach the large numbers of new adherents.

Photo: Volunteers undertaking literacy research using picture cards to tell biblical stories

“Many church members who may be considered literate are actually semi-literate, and cannot read well enough to understand the Bible and therefore to teach others,” she said. That is why Ms Samson, a missionary with the Society of International Missionaries (SIM), is keen to produce results from her research into semi-literate members of urban congregations. And following her work in Liberia, Ms Samson has chosen the impoverished urban areas of Addis Ababa to complete her doctorate work for the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

According to Ms Samson, the churches may not be using appropriate methods in encouraging its congregations in the use of the Bible. Despite the large number of people attending church, which is an oral presentation, there is still only a relatively small number who go to the Bible studies, a reading-focused meeting.

For this reason, many people fail to participate fully in church life due to their reading difficulties. And while a congregation may be growing, it does not follow that the number of leaders able to teach Bible stories will grow in the same way, especially if those people who have the time for this activity feel challenged in their attempts to read the Bible. This is true in many African countries where the churches are experiencing great growth, but where the vision for literacy is sometimes less than adequate.

In co-operation with the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church (KHC), which means ‘Word of Life’, and the Evangelical Theological College, Ms Samson started a research project to examine ways of helping semi-literate people to pass on biblical stories. Using plays, story-telling, picture-making, songs, and other non-print methods to convey Bible stories, the project aims to discover the best methods semi-literate people can use for teaching, and to develop resources and tools for this purpose.

Many of these people are mothers who are perfectly placed to pass on the Scripture message in a home context to the family and especially to the children.

Dr Mae Alice Reggy-Mamo (UBS New Reader Consultant) visited Ms Samson in January to help her with her research project. At the Kale Heywot Church in Akaki – an impoverished area on the city outskirts – she met the volunteers in the research group. The 15 Amharic-speaking ladies were all from low-income backgrounds – some had even been beggars before they became Christians, and they were all members of the local church. The women spent time reviewing some basic words on word cards, and they discussed the topic, ‘Why teach children?’.

A new song about ‘Creation’ composed by Ms Samson’s Ethiopian assistant had enough repetition to make it easy for the ladies to learn. Picture-sequencing meant arranging a set of pictures in the correct order of the story and to tell the story following the pictures. While this was happening one of the ladies who was blind was reading the text in Braille.

“I feel that Ms Samson’s research will be of help not only to the churches,” said Dr Reggy-Mamo. “The Bible Society has provided her with the New Reader series and audio cassettes. “Her research and use of these materials in her program will help the Society in the future preparation of Easy Reader materials and audio Scriptures.

“We can learn from each other, and help provide the churches with the tools they need to encourage and inspire their semi-literate members to pass on the biblical message to the next generation,” she added.
(WR 340/9 - 4/5.99) [PHOTOS]

Photo: Leaders from all churches who met together for the first time since 1994

KIGALI, Rwanda — A ‘Week of Prayer’ was held here from January 18-25. The event, which will be held annually, brought together churches of all denominations. The Bible Society in Rwanda had the role of co-ordinating the activities and the participation of churches and church leaders across the nation.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for us to promote the work of the Bible Society and the UBS,” said the Rev Anasthase Kajugiro, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Rwanda. “To be able to join together with other Christians, and give praise and thanks to God for all that he is doing in Rwanda, was a memorable experience,” he went on. “This was a great step forward in the Society’s relationships with the different churches.”

Services were arranged in every church throughout the land. An organising committee set up to achieve this was made up of representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, the Council of Protestant Churches, the Association of Pentecostal churches, and the Presbyterian Church.

“This preparation meeting was a real time of reunion for many of these clergymen, and the first get-together since the terrible genocide of
April 1994.”

Senior representatives from these four main church bodies gathered early in January to finalise preparations for the ‘Week of Prayer’. “We held this meeting in order to ensure full participation of all the churches in the week’s activities,” Mr Kajugiro said.

“We were very encouraged by the turnout: eight of the nine Catholic bishops contacted were able to come, although the Bishop of Cyangugu was forced to leave early due to the death of one of the priests in his diocese.

“This preparation meeting was a real time of reunion for many of these clergymen, and the first get-together since the terrible genocide of April 1994. We were able to share with everyone the ‘big picture’ of our aims and plan the activities in the churches. These centred around prayer meetings every night of the week. Also, the week would be rounded off with the churches coming together for services of thanksgiving held in the local stadium or the largest church available,” he said.

“I myself was able to attend the closing service held at the Regional Stadium in Kigali on Sunday, January 24. The Minister of Information was there, as well as the Catholic and Anglican Archbishops, the President of the Presbyterian Church, and the Methodist Bishop. Church leaders from the Pentecostal and Baptist churches, priests and pastors from every denomination joined with many church members.

“We were treated to a variety of choral recitals. Then the Catholic Archbishop opened the act of worship by giving an explanation of how the ‘Week of Prayer’ had come into being, and of its aim to bring Christians of all denominations together. The concourse was also reminded of Christ’s prayer that his followers ‘should be as one’,” Mr Kajugiro said.

“It was wonderful to get feedback from services held in other locations, especially those in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri where there have been years of violence. At these two meetings the Christians from many denominations eagerly joined forces to pray for greater unity and to thank God that finally they are experiencing a time of relative calm.

“We are asking God to be our guide and our source of wisdom as we try to rebuild our nation around the principles of peace, justice and freedom,” he added. “And God’s Word, and the unity of Christians will be key factors in achieving this goal.” (WR 340/10 - 4/5.99) [PHOTOS]

KEMPTON PARK, South Africa — The year 2000 has been declared ‘The Year of the Bible’ in South Africa. This was announced by the General Secretary of the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA), the Rev Gerrit Kritzinger, at the Society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at the Bible House, Kempton Park, on Thursday, February 18.

“There could not be a more appropriate way for Christians to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ,” he said. “Many churches have indicated to the Bible Society that they want to use the year 2000 to encourage their members to focus on the ‘Word of Life’.”

By declaring the year 2000 ‘Year of the Bible’, the BSSA, in liaison with the South African churches, hopes to persuade thousands of people to set aside 10 minutes each day in order to read the entire Bible throughout the year. The BSSA will distribute reading plans in all 11 official languages of South Africa, and these should encourage the people of South Africa to make their nation a Bible-reading nation.

In addition to the Bible Reading project, celebrations are also being planned throughout the land to make everyone aware of the Bible in this beginning of the new millennium.

At the AGM it was also announced that the BSSA had distributed a total of 1,224,450 Scriptures last year. This figure consisted of 671,283 Bibles, 96,330 New Testaments, 284,820 Portions, 75,265 New Reader Portions and 96,752 Selections in 102 languages and 127 versions.

Languages in which the largest number of Bibles were distributed were English – 163,459; Afrikaans – 139,986; Zulu – 106,641; Xhosa – 54,434; Southern Sotho – 50,179; Tswana – 49,331; Northern Sotho – 35,645; Tsonga – 22,937; Venda – 13,113; Portuguese – 11,258; and Swati – 6,651. In 1998 the BSSA also supplied 206,353 Scriptures – including 182,429 Bibles in 39 languages and versions – to Bible Societies in 20 other countries.

The Rev Kritzinger stressed that some 92.8 per cent of the Bibles distributed by the BSSA had to be made available at subsidised prices, well below the actual cost price. Only with the help of the churches and the wider Christian community would the Society be able to fulfil its task of making the Scriptures available to all, and he commended the churches and individuals that continued to pledge their support to the work of the BSSA. (WR 340/11 - 4/5.99) [PHOTOS]

MOSHI, Tanzania — The first in a series of translation workshops for local translation projects was held here last September. It was a joint literacy workshop for the Sukuma, Nyakyusa and Chagga language areas, and was led by James Kigamwa of Literacy and Evangelism Fellowship of Kenya (LEFK), and Dr Mae Alice Reggy-Mamo, UBS New Reader Consultant.

Fifteen Bible translators attended and learnt how to plan and prepare primers which will help new readers to grasp a basic set of words and sentence patterns. From these primers they will move on to the New Reader series produced by the Bible Society, and will then be able to read the Bible in modern language.

For the above language groups there is little available in a written form and few are able to read their own mother tongue. It is often part of a translation team’s work not merely to translate the Bible, but also to prepare materials in the language which will encourage people who are learning to read.

This, in turn, will get more people reading the Bible and will make the work of translating it even more worthwhile and widen distribution of God’s Word.

Workshops have since been held in Nyakyusa, Sukuma and all three Chagga language groups: Kimachame, Kimochi and Kivunjo. They followed the pattern of the Nyakyusa Bible Translation Workshop held in Mbeya in January. The goal of the workshop was to draft the Nyakyusa primer, and plan the implementation of literacy programs among churches in the area.

The translators prepared drafts of the Nyakyusa Primers 1 and 2 and a teacher’s manual. Some extra lessons have been added on in line with the government’s health education guidelines, and these give the biblical perspective on AIDS prevention. This pleased the local pastors greatly.

Dr John Taylor, Director of Literacy and Evangelism International (LEI), one of the workshop’s leaders, told how all the translators and staff had gathered around the final drafts of the texts and prayed for God’s blessing upon their work, that people would become more literate, and come to know Jesus Christ through reading God’s Word.

The drafts from the workshops are taken back to LEI headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, to be typeset and formatted. The final printing, following a correction process back in Mbeya, would be done by LEFK in Nairobi. There was hope that funds for the completion of these projects would come from the UBS fellowship. (WR 340/12 - 4/5.99)

BANGUI, Central African Republic — A situation exists here in which civilised government seems to teeter on the brink of social and economic chaos.

Often in the past, violence and fighting have erupted across the country and in the capital itself. A United Nations peacekeeping force has been unable to contain the disruption, except in the capital. While across the hinterland the rebels do as they please.

For the third year running, teachers, who have received no pay from the government, will refuse to work: the children are growing up without the necessary education. The hospitals are deprived of necessary drugs, and diseases are on the increase.

In this context the Bible Society in CAR has tried to carry out its activities, although heavily restricted both by people’s economic circumstances and by the insecurity. “Every journey we make outside Bangui is an act of faith, and an expression of love,” said Bible Society Executive Secretary, the Rev Thomas Touangai. “We have not allowed ourselves to be unduly worried by the prospect of bandits stopping us on the roads. We have relied upon the Lord’s protection and do so in every aspect of our work,” he said.

In the meantime, many visits were made to churches by Society representatives, to brief them on the role and service of the Bible Society and how they can both benefit from and support it. In addition, Scripture distribution has been carried out in several urban churches.

In two of the rural regions the Bible Society was able to reach churches with much-needed Scriptures. "On these occasions we are conscious of the gratitude among the people who receive the Scriptures with joy," Mr Touangai said. More than 10,000 Bibles, 4,500 New Testaments and 10,000 Portions and New Reader Portions have been distributed throughout the year. Also, more than 5,000 Selections were given away.

“We have heard some positive remarks concerning the Sango New Testament, which is currently being revised by the translation team. We hope to publish the revision in the year 2000 for this major language group,” he added. And he rejoiced that the Society had been officially recognised by the Bishops’ Conference of the Roman Catholic Church. This was indeed a step forward and would encourage many Catholics to purchase Bibles from the Bible Society.

“We remain optimistic that a new initiative for peace may succeed,” Mr Touangai said. “In this case the Society is poised to take advantage of any return to normal conditions. In fact, the Bible Society will be seen in a new light once peace has returned to our nation,” he said. (WR 340/13 - 4/5.99)

LUSAKA, Zambia; March 1999 — President F T J Chiluba of the Republic of Zambia has pledged his ongoing support for the work of the Bible Society of Zambia (BSZ). During the course of a visit to the Presidential office by a delegation from the BSZ and the UBS, President Chiluba expressed his personal encouragement for the work being done to make the Bible available to the people of Zambia and throughout the world. The President said he was happy to see Christians united around the Bible. UBS Regional Secretary for Southern Africa, Peter Mkolesia; Program Consultant the Rev Evariste Munyabarame; BSZ Chairman the Rev Peter Ndhlovu; and BSZ General Secretary Dennis Mpundu Mutala visited the President on February 10, to present him with a copy of the Good News Study Bible. They also thanked the President for his personal gift of US $60,000 which was used to purchase a vehicle for special Scripture distribution in the remote areas of Zambia. “My commitment to my people is dependent on my commitment to my God,” said President Chiluba. He was very happy to receive the Study Bible and said that it would be useful in his personal meditations. (WR 340/24 - 4/5.99)