CHINA — “It is like God has
finally spoken.” Li Bencong
cannot contain his excitement
about reading the Book of
Genesis in his own language,
Black Yi, for the first time.
The Black Yi live in Yunnan
Province. Their language, also
known as Central Yi, is spoken by
around 412,000 people. Black Yi
Christians have the New Testament
in their own language, but still have
to read the Old Testament in Chinese,
a language they find difficult.
A few years ago, though, a ray
of hope appeared.
“I heard that a team of brothers
in Luquan County had begun
translating the Old Testament into
our Black Yi language. Since
then, we have been dreaming of
catching a glimpse of this translation.
When the day finally came
and we were able to read a draft
copy of the Book of Genesis, we
were overjoyed.”
Suddenly, details that Li
Bencong and others had been
struggling to understand began to
make sense.
“God is really speaking to us
now,” he says. “We have found
out for ourselves more details
from the Book of Genesis. For
example, how God called
Abraham. How Abraham obeyed
and loved God. Comparing
Abraham’s faith and love for God
with ours, we are ashamed that we
have so little faith. We have also
read about the creation of the
world. How Adam and Eve
sinned; the events of Sodom and
Gomorrah; the lives of Jacob,
Esau and Joseph. There are just
too many beautiful things for our
eyes to behold!
My treasure!
“I have had the draft copy of
Genesis for some time now. It is
my treasure! It is God’s best gift
for me. The Lord knows the
weaknesses of his children and the
needs of those whose heart yearns
for him.
“At night, I read it under a
lamp. In the day, when I tend my
sheep in the mountains, I read it
on the grassland. Sometimes I
read it silently. At other times, I
read it out loud for others to hear.
God has given me this draft not
just for my own spiritual nourishment,
but also for me to share the
Good News with those around
me. When I read in our Black Yi
language, both young and old can
understand. The translation of the
Bible into Black Yi is important
for the understanding of God’s
Word by our own people.”
And the impact of the translation
is stretching beyond the
Christian community, he believes.
“When non-believers hear that
the Bible is being translated into
our language, they view the
Church positively. They feel that
the Church has a lot of potential
and have asked if we could help to
translate scientific books for them
after the Black Yi Bible translation
is finished. For example,
books on farming that will benefit
the farming community.
“There are many non-believers
who can only read Black Yi. It is
our wish that, before too long, we
will have all of the Old Testament
in our hands. The Black Yi Bible
will become an important part of
our cultural heritage one day. May
the Lord richly bless the Black Yi
Bible translation work!”
Based on a testimony written by Li Bencong, translated by United Bible
Societies’ Partnership Program Manager Tan Tan Yeo and published on the
China Partnership web site (www.ubscp.org)
For more information about
the Yi people and the story of one
of the members of the Black Yi
translation team, see World Report
400/27.
(WR 413/17 - 07.07)
[1 photo]
|