In Their Heart Language

Global

Mar 19

THE NEW TESTAMENT COMPLETION FOR THE MISAJE CLUSTER

AUTHOR: KATRINA BOUTWELL

Dear Grace Community Church,

Receive our deepest appreciation for your faithful financial, prayer and encouraging partnership with the Misaje cluster team over the past 25 years. We are excited to share with you the historical event of the completion and dedication of the Misaje Cluster’s six New Testaments for Nchane, Kemedzung, Mungong, Sari, Naami, and Chung. Thank you for your years of investment in God’s Great Commission work.

The first NT dedication was held in the capital city of Yaoundé, Cameroon on December 11th and 12th, 2024. We, Rich and Katrina, were so blessed to be able to attend the event, especially as upon arrival to the Misaje area in 2004, no writing system, literacy materials, or Scripture were available in these six language communities. Although we primarily lived among the Nchane people in the village of Nfume, we served on a team reaching all six communities around Misaje. Our primary role was to assist in developing a writing system, understand the grammar of the languages, and train translators from the language communities to comprehend their language structure.

Each team member used their God-given gifts in areas like literacy, translation, Scripture engagement, and administration to advance His kingdom. The people that God sent to serve these people came from all corners of the world: the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, and Cameroon.

In the early years, about half of the population attended church, whether Catholic, Presbyterian, or Catholic, and yet very little of what they heard (or for the few who read in English) made sense. Many people attended church as another social gathering or another god to appease, rather than discovering a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Then, as the translation process started in 2010, their growth in understanding God’s Word began to flourish. This came about as God gave pastors and lay people a vision to develop their languages and engage with God’s Word through preaching, reading, and teaching in their language.

Rich working with some native translators.

What makes the Misaje cluster Bible Translation historic is that these six communities started and ended the translation process together. The churches, through the establishment of the Inter-church Committee, gave oversight and managed the translators and Scripture engagement activities. Their unity demonstrated the heart and love of Christ. God also protected the lives of all 23 translators from start to finish – amid accidents, civil unrest, and COVID-19. In fact, due to civil unrest, the six teams worked largely on their own from 2018 until now, with remote help from SIL colleagues. Our team vision had been to build the capacity of the local communities and leaders to manage their language development, and God showed His faithfulness to them by sustaining them to finish the task when SIL colleagues had to leave the area.

So, the second dedication was held locally in the town of Misaje, which is the central town for all six language communities on January 31st, 2025. This dedication was led by the local pastors, leaders, and churches – what an amazing celebration!

The beauty of translation is not the end product, but rather the transformation of lives through interacting with God through His Scripture. With the translation task “finished”, many of the translators have become pastors or catechists in the churches and also serve their communities with ongoing literacy and Scripture engagement activities. We invite you all to continue to pray for the Lord to be magnified in the work He has accomplished through so many people. Pray for people to purchase, read, and engage with the New Testament Scriptures in their languages. Over the coming months and years, pray for the Bibles to continue to be distributed and used by the churches and communities.

The Word of God is powerful and active. The Word of God is our daily bread providing nourishment for our lives, increasing our faith, and revealing who God is and who we are in Him. “Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). And the beauty and truth of God’s love for the people groups in Misaje, Cameroon is beginning to come alive in the hearts of the people.