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‘Under the light of the moon
and stars’:
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| Members of the Mískitu community with Scriptures from the BS of Nicaragua. Photo: BSNicaragua (NIC06DJ-10.JPG) |
NICARAGUA — “Under the light of the moon and stars we showed the Jesus film, and because there was no electricity, the hum of our generator accompanied the sounds of the film. But the hundreds of people – young and old, men and women – did not mind: they reverently paid attention to each word that left Jesus’ mouth, marvelling at seeing and hearing him speaking their language.”
This scene, described in a report by Victor Rivera Moreno of the Nicaraguan
Bible Society, is one that was played out many times in different Mískitu
communities over 11 days in March. It was part of a project by the Bible
Society, Campus Crusade, churches of different denominations and other
Christian organisations, designed to introduce the Mískitu speakers
to God’s Word through the Jesus film, and provide them with
Scriptures in their language to take home. By the end, 64,000 copies
of Luke’s Gospel and 40,000 New Reader Portions had been distributed.
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| Boys from the Mískitu village of Tronquera with their newly-acquired Scriptures. Photo: BS Nicaragua (NIC06DJ-32.JPG) |
For the many thousands of people in different towns and villages who
watched the film, it was an evening they will never forget. Many had
walked long distances to be there, arriving early to watch curiously
while the Bible Society team set up the screen and projector.
First movie
“The Mískitu translator who participated in the project told us that for many children, it was the first time they had had the chance to watch a movie, and would probably be the only one they would ever see,” says Mr Rivera. “The children all crowded around, sitting on the ground, shivering in the damp forest air, while others brought benches and stools to sit on.
“In one place, as the film was shown, the people often asked
us to replay a scene because strong winds kept whipping the sheet we
were using as a screen, making it fall down. Many times we had to run
to put the sheet back up!”
Major impact
Despite these disruptions, the film had a major impact on many people,
and 500 committed their lives to God. Some teenage drug dealers were
among them. They were so moved by the film that they told the Bible
Society team that they wanted to give up their illegal trade and get
legitimate jobs. They were determined to turn their lives around and
were eager to learn more about Christ. Church leaders in their town
have committed to supporting them in their new faith.
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| Valentina Tela, 70, is a widow who lives in the Mískitu village of Tronquera where she cares for her four grandsons. Photo: BSNicaragua (NIC06DJ-27.JPG) |
Delighted
Valentina Tela, 70, was widowed in the war in the 1980s. She is poor and scrapes out a living for herself and her four grandsons by cultivating yucca and beans in their remote riverside village of Tronquera. She was delighted by the Bible Society’s visit and said that she loved seeing Jesus speaking in Mískitu. She was excited, too, to receive Luke’s Gospel, and said she looked forward to reading it as she had never read any part of the Bible before.
Crowded around
Many people were excited about receiving Scriptures after the film, and crowded around the Bible Society team to get copies, asking for extra to take back to family members who had been unable to attend. Children, too, came forward, some saying that although they could not read, they wanted a booklet so that someone at home could read it to them. Many children, teenagers and adults said that now that there were Scriptures in their language, they were more determined to learn to read and write.
A considerable number of Mískitu Scriptures had already been
distributed before the project began, due to an overwhelming response
to radio advertisements.
More Mískitu people need to be reached!“The Mískitu people live in extreme poverty,” explains Mr Rivera. “They number around 626,000, 90 per cent of whom live in communities which lack basic services such as water and electricity. The average monthly income of a family is only around US$15, so some of them have turned to drug trafficking to scrape a living. “Church leaders are desperate to have more copies of the Mískitu Bible, but the Bible Society has not published it for the last two years, mainly due to a lack of funds to sell it at a subsidised price. It’s impossible to charge a price that really reflects the production cost! However, we have been working on translating the Deuterocanon and revising the existing Bible, and we hope to be able to make 15,000 revised Bibles available in November. “For 2007, the Bible Society is planning to use Bible Portions in literacy work among the Mískitu people. It will also work with the National Police, the Army, the Roman Catholic Church, the Moravian Church, the Evangelical Church and the Ministry of the Family to fight drug consumption and trafficking.” |
On the radio
“We were invited by two radio stations that serve the areas where the Mískitu people live to come on air and give information about the Scriptures that we would distribute, and the schedule and location for the film showings,” says Mr Rivera. “While we were broadcasting, hundreds of people who had been listening turned up at the radio stations asking for Luke’s Gospel because they wanted to start reading it immediately.”
Pastor José Luís Díaz, who leads a church in Waspam, Río Coco, is enthusiastic about the project and the impact it is having on his community.
“These Scriptures are like the spring that God sent to the Israelites in the desert, because we do not have any other literature in Mískitu,” he commented. “Our community is being racked by problems such as drug addiction and prostitution, but now that we have these booklets in our own language, we will be able to evangelise people. In fact, we have already started seeing big results.”
Other pastors in Waspam also thanked the Bible Society for the Scriptures, but added that there was a desperate need for more Scriptures and for the whole Bible in Mískitu, which was published in 1999 (see World Report 350/26). “We are preaching without the Bible, using verses from memory,” said Pastor Francisco González. Another pastor, Ervin Pontín, said that his “biggest yearning” is for every Mískitu Christian to have the Mískitu Bible.
This report refers to projects NIC003 and NIC05479. (WR 403/20 - 07.06) [11 photos]