Kwanja New Testament Dedicated

Christ's Good News of Salvation, is Now Available for the First Time in the Cameroon West African Language of Kwanja...
for the Price of a Chicken

CAMEROON -- WEST AFRICA ... 12/30/06

The first translation of the New Testament into the Kwanja language was dedicated today in Yimbéré, an upcountry village 8 hours hard drive north of the capital city Yaoundé.

Crowds of joyful Cameroonians from a large area of the country joined other members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, missionaries, translators and North American representatives of Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) in a dedication and celebration ceremony. They praised God, welcoming the first bound volumes of the Kwanja New Testament to the country.

"We thank God for His help, and for the untold hours of work from our dedicated missionaries and national co-workers who worked together on this translation", said Marshall Gillam, Executive Director of LBT. "They can now help to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ through Scriptures they helped translate in their own language... the language of their hearts... which they can read, apply to their lives, obey and teach to others." Before this New Testament was translated and printed, Kwanja speaking Cameroonians would listen to pastors preaching in another language. Those sermons would be translated verbally "on the fly" into Kwanja by Cameroonians sharing with their countrymen. There is no consistency of message since various translators can and do translate the same words and passages differently.

This dedication is a day of celebration and culmination for LBT missionaries Joan and Martin Weber and their three children. For the last 22 years the Webers have served respectively as literacy advisor and translation advisor for the Kwanja New Testament. They’ve lived among the Cameroonians, experiencing and sharing their highs and lows, their joys and sorrows as they and their national partners worked on the Kwanja translation.

Frequently the rigorous, time consuming translation process can be delayed by a lack of resources, poor equipment, divided priorities and the need to cope with every day life and more immediate concerns.

"In Isaiah 55:11, God says, that 'My Word will not return to Me empty,'" the Webers said. "We now have a tool to help Cameroonians fight the evil enemy, to hear the Word of God and to speak its redeeming message with boldness in their mother tongue."

The Kwanja New Testament will be a precious book, helping the local Lutheran church and missionaries, as well as other Christian denominations, spread God's Word in a society that is 40 per cent Christian. The New Testament will also serve as a primary building block to help spread literacy among a population that is 5 to 10 per cent literate.

Cameroon is about the size of California. Located in equatorial West Africa, the former French colony has a population estimated at 16 million. Average per capita income is about $1700 and is probably much lower in the upcountry region where subsistence farming is the primary livelihood.

Lutheran Bible Translators is a pan Lutheran organization supported solely by prayers, gifts and donations. Based in Aurora, IL. LBT recruits and trains missionaries for a variety of language related services. It also provides and maintains essential resources, as well as a framework of support and emergency services while helping missionaries identify and communicate with prayer and financial partners vital to the success of their overseas ministries.

LBT missionaries emphasize and encourage national ownership of the translations by training, educating, equipping and working with local people as much as possible in the process. Before a finished New Testament that is usable and acceptable by all can be made available, the translation team, composed of local translators and missionaries undertake a painstaking, time consuming, expensive process.

That process usually involves most if not all of these steps:

• Creating a writing system for what has often been only an oral language.
• Training local teachers so everyone can learn to read and write the language.
• Wrestling with the Biblical text to understand its meaning and to express it in their mother tongue... the language of their hearts.
• Making and reviewing the first draft translation to assure it conveys meaning and nuance that is familiar and natural to those for whom it is intended.
• Assuring that the draft translation is faithful to the Greek and Hebrew texts of the original Biblical books.
• Keyboarding the translation into a workable printed format.
• Adjusting for style and formatting.
• Double checking for tonal and written consistency.
• Receiving the formal approval of the United Bible Societies after they have reviewed the translation.
• Delivering the approved manuscript to be typeset.
• Double checking the typeset proof copy to correct typesetting errors.
• Sending the final, approved manuscript to the printers.
• Receiving printed quantities of the finished Bible.

This process can take as little as 8... or as long as 25 years.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon has accepted the New Testament translation and taken ownership of it. The Bible Society of Cameroon will distribute the New Testaments as widely as possible. An occasional ceremonial copy of the Scriptures may be given away. But usually, they are sold at an affordable, subsidized price to help cover printing costs.

Roughly, a Kwanja New Testament will sell for about 1,500 West African francs, the equivalent of $3 (U.S.). It is not uncommon for individuals to pay for their Bible by bartering or selling an animal... offering the price of a chicken in exchange for the Good News of Salvation.

For the Webers, believe it or not, their work is not yet done here. They will probably spend several more years in this Kwanja speaking area of Cameroon. They will be spreading word of the Kwanja New Testament, encouraging people to read it, use it and believe its message; spreading literacy among the people... and helping the church translate other needed materials... such as the catechism and liturgy... into Kwanja.

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