God’s book is being opened today!

God’s book is being opened today!

Ani Marmar aku Kholbokha a Galdelain Korr Kitimi. (I am Marmar of Kholbokha family, the clan of Galdelan from Korr). This is how Pastor John Ndegwa, a Church Relations Officer at World Concern Nairobi office, introduces himself to me. He is Rendille by virtue that he served as a missionary among the Rendille people for a period of 9 years. Besides, his first months at Korr, Nick and Lynn Swanapoel, the first missionaries to serve with the Rendille project had hosted him, taught him how to read and write in the Rendille language preparing him for his new assignment.

As the dedication drew nearer, John was elated but making his way to Korr was proving strenuous; he had not settled on any means of transport despite time running out. Two days to the dedication, God opened a door for him. A deliverance church in Nairobi needed someone to deliver a new motorbike to one of its missionaries who is based in Kurkum, a 600KM ride from Nairobi. Unknown to him, two other missionaries had expressed interest to attend the dedication with him. “With my friends on board, we could not all fit on one motorbike. I chose to travel by bus so that my friends could ride on the motorbike to Korr. I knew how to find my way to the Old BTL Centre, the dedication venue,” John says.

 

“On the eve of the dedication, my missionary friends on their way to the dedication venue met an excited group of Rendille boys on the road. They asked them what the excitement was all about, and the boys in unison mentioned of a God’s Book that was going to be opened in their community. This did melt my heart. All age groups knew what was happening in their community,” John reports.

“The village and neighborhood was in dance and singing. I had never seen such a happy people. It was colourful and humbling to see their Daasanach friends in attendance. According to their beliefs, the camel had ‘eaten’ their Bible and that is why they never had one but on this day, the same treasured animal was returning their ‘eaten’ Book. It was indeed a new dawn for the Rendille people. A day we all had waited for long. ” John concludes.

As this became a reality, John was already in the future of this great community. In a period of five years, he prays for Rendille Christian marriages and stable families, Scriptures being taught both in primary and secondary schools, a church in every ‘goob’, (village) and a transformed community by the grace of God.

Praise God for the availability of Scriptures in the Rendille Language. Praise God for making the long awaited dedication happen. Praise God for all the men and women who took an initiative to bring this to fruition. Pray for the Rendille Church to grow in the knowledge of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Pray that the Word will go forth so that God’s people will experience His daily presence in their lives. Pray for funds and plans to start translation of the Old Testament.

Photo: Rendille Bible Translation team (left) Joshua Galimogle, Nick Swanapoel (centre) and Laban Eysinkeele (right). Photo credit to to Esther Havens and The Seed Company

By Daisy Kilel

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The Bible in Kiitharaka Language

The joy of receiving the Bible in Kiitharaka could not be hidden on the faces of the Tharaka people. The long wait of 30 years was finally over. They had been patient and weathered through orthography issues, harsh weather, limited access to holistic understanding of the scriptures but on 13th June 2019, nothing could keep them back.

Their Bible was finally being dedicated. Their hunger for deeper understanding could now be satisfied. Just as it were to the people in Jerusalem at Pentecost who heard Gods wonders in their languages, so it was to the Tharaka people, they could now read the great wonders of God in Kiitharaka. Reminiscing on the past, Hon. Susan, the MCA, pointed out that the Tharaka people have read other translations that seemed close to them but they could not read it fully. She noted “We could not read all the words because some were shameful to the Tharaka people.” “But,” she continued, “today we are grateful to God that we can read the Bible in our own language.”

BTL Tharaka_Bible_Dedication_5In words that affirmed her sentiments the Deputy President Hon. Dr William Ruto, who was the chief guest, reckoned that were it not for the scriptures that his father read, he could not have gone to school. “When a man reads Gods word in his mother tongue it touches his heart,” he added.

 

Climaxing the day was the dedication of the Tharaka Scriptures and the presentation of inaugural copies to some members of the community among them being the Governor, Senator, and key church leaders in the area. Both the leaders and the community at large were grateful to BTL and their partners for the resilience and commitment they had shown over the 30 years to see to it that the Tharaka people join the 10% of languages that have the Bible in their tongue globally. Furthermore, we are eternally grateful to God who has made all things possible at the right time. To Him be glory and honor.

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